Jackie's November message . . .
New books
Schedule for 2004/5
The garden in November (and what rose suits your personality)
A Few Recipes:
-
Choc Hazelnut Slices
Dirty Rice
Pate de Campagna Araluen, otherwise known as meatloaf
The Curse of the Botox Muffin!!!
I know it's spring when I throw the last mouldy kiwi fruit out of the fridge, and slice the last shrivelled Sturmer Pippin apple into a salad. (The apple may look shrivelled but it is stunningly delicious- Sturmer Pippins get better as they get wrinkly, unlike kiwi fruit, who just turn squishy.)
Spring is the time you feel like counting every tiny apricot on the tree, but don't, mostly because there isn't time and anyone who saw you would think you were bonkers. But it's such a promising time... the blossom turning to fruit, roses dripping from the trees.
We've had 120 mm of rain in the past three weeks- not a drought breaker, but given we had only had 73 mm all year, it has been stunning! The wombats are getting fat - and their droppings are soft and green, just like the grass, and everything has new leaves, except me and the wombats and I wouldn't be surprised if one morning we'd sprouted a few leaves too.
So it seems like we WILL be having the Open Garden workshop here later this month- I thought we'd have to cancel it, as most workshop goers expect a bit more than dust and limp trees and a few wombat munched veg. Actually I meant to start this by saying 'This is a short newsletter as I'm packing to got to New Zealand' first thing tomorrow (A promotional tour for Rocket into Reading and Pete the sheep), but somehow I got carried away. Spring tends to do that to you!
Anyhow the bag is packed, I found my passport at the bottom of the filing cabinet, have gathered up enough books- maybe- to read on planes and in any spare seconds before I fall asleep (it's a FULL schedule) and have even ironed a few things, which happens maybe once a month, so I'll look respectable.
I've made Bryan choc chip biscuits, Moroccan lamb, chicken in lemon and orange to eat while I'm away; have watered the vegies, and got my hair cut. And now I need to do this, feed the wombats, feed us, sleep, eat, and get to Canberra for the first leg on the flight
PS. It's been a great month. Bolinda school came to visit, ate cake, picked fruit, chose books, fell in the creek and just a few got lost Š and it seems very quiet without you all!
I had the great privilege as children's ambassador too, to hand out the awards for children's week to a most extraordinary and humbling group of people who really make a difference in kid's lives. It is impossible to thank people like that for the incredible work they do, but at least on one day of a year we can try. Ainslie School year 6 sang too, so beautifully I started crying and was worried I'd be too choked up to speak, and the Macquarie Primary Ensemble played, so well that it is a shock each time to turn around and see them and realise they were kids, not professional adult musicians. And again thank you!!!!
I also launched the Opera House's programme for young people for 2005- Hitler's Daughter will be workshopped by Monkey Baa theatre company (they'll tour with the play in 2006), as well as a host of other stunning things to go to.
It was strange to talk at the Opera House. Grandma used to take me to look at the progress every school holidays while it was being built, and I suddenly felt desperately sad I couldn't get the ferry across the harbour to her place and sit down with a cup of tea and a slice of her apple cake and say 'Hey Grandma, guess what?'
PPS. Nearly forgot Bordertown, and thank you to everyone who made my stay there so great! (and the food was extra extra extra great. Bordertown must be one of the great eating capitals of the world!)
New books
Rocket Your Child into Reading
Phredde and the Vampire Footie Team
Pete the Sheep (with Bruce Whatley...and the rest of the team who brought you Diary of a Wombat!)!!!!!
To the Moon and Back...with Bryan Sullivan, otherwise known as Him Who Mutters at the Wombat
Tom Appleby, Convict Boy
My Dad the Dragon
My Uncle Gus the Garden Gnome
Coming early next year:
They Came in Viking Ships
The Secret World of Wombats
Schedule this year and next:
November: release of Pete the Sheep with Bruce Whatley, a picture book about a sheep who does things a little...differently
November 11-14 Ourimbah Campus Children's Literature Festival, Ourimbah NSW
Release of Phredde and the Vampire Footie Team- a story to eat with an orange at half time
November 21. Open Garden Workshops in our garden. Bookings essential through the Open Garden Scheme. (We can't take books ourselves- it's only through the Scheme)
November 25. Talk on herbs for the CWA Goulburn, NSW. 6.30- Contact the Goulburn CWA for more details.
2005
Jan 9th Hobart Comedy festival
Jan 20 11.30 -12.30 Tuggeranong Library Canberra : free talk on The Secret World of Wombats for club cool kids and anyone else who'd like to come along!
Jan 26 Gladstone Australia Day celebrations and lots of talks!
Feb 12 The Braidwood Cup
March 10, 11, 12 Melville Festival Perth
March 17 Librarians conference Bright, Victoria.
March 18, 19, 20 Two Fires Festival Braidwood
March 27 Open Garden Workshops here...Bookings Essential. Contact the Open Garden Scheme for details.
So far I've accepted invitations to Hobart in January,
April 8, 9, 10 ASLA Conference Canberra
April 23, 24 Conflux sci fi Conference Canberra
May 4, 5,6, 7 Talks and workshops at Bowen QLD
August 15, 16, 17 Sydney Book Week talks
August 22,23, 24 Melbourne Book Week talks
Sept 30- October 1 Bega, NSW Rural Women's gathering
If you'd like me to talk contact Lateral Learning (Lateral Learning, bookings@laterallearning.com)- often I can fit in other events when I'm in the area. But please don't contact them just to get a message to me! (They had a few requests for recipes etc last month!)
PS really want to get to Brisbane a few times next year too!
The November Garden Which Rose is Right for You? The Rose Garden Personality Test
'I've bought a rose,' she said. 'Where do you think I should plant it?'
I didn't even have to look at the label to answer that one. When my mate Margaret buys a rose it's always an almost dead stick from the supermarket in one of those plastic wrappers like old fashioned corsets. Margaret is a sucker for any plant that needs to be rescued. And dead looking sticks from the supermarket are almost always hybrid tea roses.
'Full sun, good soil,' I said, though I needn't have said the latter, as Margaret was already planning how to bring her rose back to life with Thrive and Seasol and a load of old horse manure.
Most of us, though, buy the roses we like the look of, not the one that yells save me, save me- and believe me, if you think the type of shoe you wear tells a lot about your personality, your favourite rose style tells even more.
So what rose style are you? Have a browse below and see which one you fall in love with.
PS. It is GOOD to be extravagant with roses. If you buy a box of chocolates you can hog them all yourself- but if you buy yourself a rose the whole world- or the bit that passes you garden- gets to love it too.
PPS. There are some of us who love EVERY kind of rose- it just means we have a rich and varied personality
Hybrid teas
Good points: long stemmed cut flowers, flushes of flowers all season
Bad points: can be rather gawky, so they lack grace when seen as a shrub. Need pruning and spraying.
Best look: as a formal rose garden surrounded by low growing annuals, lavender or salvias to hide the bare thorny trunks.
How to cosset: prune in winter ie cut back each branch by about a third, and cut out a third of branches. Feed every month except in winter for lots of flushes of roses.
Loved by: those who fall in love with the great gorgeous flowers, or want to rescue a dead stick....
Floribundas
Good points: flower and flower and flower. They don't need much pruning except to cut out dead or straggly stuff, and one feeding a year is usually enough too.
Bad points: floppy stems, though with care they can look great in bud vases or poked into bouquets
Best look: as part of a formal rose garden, or in cottage gardens
How to cosset: trim out straggly or thin stems twice a year to keep the bushes neat; mulch and feed in spring
Loved by: secret romantics
Rambling Roses
Good points: grow FAST, laugh at droughts, low maintenance, masses of flowers
Bad points: neatness fanatics may think they look messy
Best look: rambling over fences, pergolas, over sheds, verandas
How to cosset: no need to prune, (except to stop your place looking like Sleeping Beauty's castle); feed when you get around to it.
Loved by: creative dreamers
Pillar Roses
Good points: Pillar roses are climbers with one or more straightish stems- a neater look than ramblers
Bad points:ramblers mostly find their own support- pillar roses need to be attached to posts or pergolas, or twisted around them
Best look: veranda posts, pergolas
How to cosset: prune straight after flowering, NOT in winter
Loved by: generous organisers
David Austin and old fashioned roses
Old fashioned roses vary from single China or rugosa roses to droopy cabbage type blooms - most visitors to our garden don't realise that our China and Rugose roses ARE roses, they look so different from hybrid teas. David Austin roses look and smell like old fashioned roses, but have the shape, hardiness and free blooming generosity of modern roses.
Good points: usually more graceful bushes than hybrid teas
Bad points: may need regular pruning and spraying for black spot
Best look: anywhere: suit formal rose gardens, cottage gardens or just to turn a corner of your garden into flowers and beauty
How to cosset: as for hybrid teas
Loved by: those who love adventure and new experiences
Weeping roses
Good points: stunning display when flowering
Bad points: may only bloom once a year; may look boring when not in bloom; difficult to mow or weed under
Best look: by themselves surrounded by lawn or low growing flowers
How to cosset: trim thin or straggly growth; do NOT cut back branches- either cut them out entirely or leave them alone.
Loved by: planners and perfecters
Standard roses
Good points: can make a stunning architectural effect in a garden
Bad points: stems may snap; avoid in backyard cricket or skateboarding situations
Best look: along paths and avenues. Also look great in a line of pots of a patio, with flowers spilling out of the pot below
How to cosset: as for hybrid teas
Loved by: those who like to do things PROPERLY.
Ground cover roses
Good points: flower and flower; hardy
Bad points: weeding is difficult
Best look: en masse down banks, spilling out of pots and hanging baskets or under taller roses.
How to cosset: feed twice a year; most don't need pruning or spraying; weed or mulch thoroughly
Loved by: rose addicts who like every square millimetres covered in roses
Patio Roses
Good points: hardy, long flowering, smaller bushes
Bad points: roses did not evolve to grow on patios, so you'll have to repot with fresh soil every two years and feed and water well.
Best look: on patios! Most patio roses tolerate some shade, but avoid baking deserts or full shade
How to cosset: use water retaining crystals, slow release fertiliser, mulch with coconut fibre, repot before potting mix turns to concrete; may need spraying for black spot
Loved by: rose lovers with a patio
What to do in November
On the patio:
. fill hanging baskets with pansies or petunias, water retaining crystals and slow release plant food. Give each basket a soak in a dish of water once a fortnight, as well as regular watering- potting mix that is allowed to dry out can literally become water repellent.
. train a potted cherry tomato bush up a tall stake or mesh, for months of fresh tomatoes
. how about a potted tamarillo, pineapple, or coffee bush? Or a wide topped pot of parsley, edged with white alyssum? Pot up an interesting selection now for Christmas presents
In the vegie garden:
. plant a punnet of 'lettuce combo' or other mixed greens to add zip to your salads
. consider a few unusual veg that you probably won't find in the supermarket: salsify (if you like parsnips you'll love salsify) , ornamental corn in a range of reds, black, purples, yellows and orange (It makes great Christmas presents) or encourage kids to grow the biggest pumpkin in the neighbourhood.
In the flower garden:
. roses are at their most glorious now. Wander through the nurseries till you fall in love with one or six.
. have a browse through some of the Open Gardens in your neighbourhood, for new garden styles or plant ideas.
What to plant:
Fruit and Veg
Cold, Temperate and sub-tropical: asparagus seed, beans, basil, beetroot, carrots, Cape gooseberry, celery, chicory, Chinese cabbage, celeriac, cucumber, eggplant, globe artichokes, gourds, corn, lettuce, leek, silver beet, spring onions, rhubarb, parsnips, tomatoes, zucchini, capsicum, chilli, radish, pumpkin, rosellas, salsify, sweet potato, strawberry seed, tamarillo seed, passionfruit seed, parsnip, mustard, melons.
Avoid pumpkin, melon and cucumber vines in hot humid areas; in cool areas potatoes, caulies and snow peas can still be planted now. .
Flowers: ornamental cabbages and kales, ageratum, asters, balsam, begonias, Californian poppy, coleus, cosmos, marigolds, nasturtium, rudbeckia, petunias, salvia, sunflowers, zinnias
Collect seed from agapanthus, jonquils, daffodils, dahlias, lilliums, echinacea,geraniums, pelargoniums, cannas- many garden favourites grow easily from seed, though they may take a year or two to flower. You'll also have a chance of producing your own stunning new hybrids!
A Few Recipes
Choc Hazelnut Slices
Place in a pan:
half cup sweetened condensed milk
1 tbs golden syrup
125 gm butter. Cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes.
Take off heat.
Add: 1 cup ground almonds
250 gm crushed milk arrowroot or granita or other plain biscuits
Press all onto a greased tray.
Now melt a large slab of chocolate- hazelnut is great, but so is any nut chocolate, milk or dark, or even fruit and nut or rum and raisin chocolate. Spread it thickly over the slice. leave to set.
Cut into SMALL squares- it's very rich- and keep in a sealed container for as long as you can resist them.
Dirty Rice
50 gm chicken livers
1 kg chicken wings (should be chicken necks and gizzards)
1 cup Basmati rice
3 cups chicken stock
3 tbs olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
1 stick celery, chopped- chop leaves too
1 red chilli
1 red capsicum, chopped
Fry chicken wings in oil till browned. Add veg.
Saute veg in oil till onion is soft. Add the chicken livers rice and stir till the rice is well coated with oil - about 2 minutes. Add stock and simmer till rice is cooked. Add water if it's still too firm when the liquid is all gone.
PS a few prawns added right at the end are good too.
Pate de Campagna Araluen, other wise known as meatloaf
500 gm mince
1 chopped red onion
3 chopped cloves garlic
3 tbs thyme leaves
1 cup breadcrumbs, or fresh bread soaked in milk
1 egg
1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
Mix. Place in an oven proof dish. Cover with a lid or alfoil. Bake at 200 c for 2 hours. Serve hot with home made tomato sauce, or serve thick slices cold with salad. makes a great sandwich.
The Curse of the Botox Muffin!!!
Never eat a muffin that is all top and no bum, all smooth and round like it's been botoxed. It will have too much SR flour in it and be dry as an old doormat!
These are really 'fairy cakes' not muffins ie they are moist, delicious and no, adding the syrup won't make then go soggy as a biscuit dunked in tea. They will be yum,. Trust me. (I've already eaten eight of them this week)
Botox Muffins
Syrup
half cup water
one cup sugar
juice two lemons
Muffins
2 cups SR flour
180 gm butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
just less than 1 cup orange juice
1 Pk/ 4 tbs poppy seeds
Cream butter and sugar; mix in egg; add other ingredients. Bake in patty cases of muffin pan, greased, at 200C for 20 minutes.
While still hot pour over syrup- about a tbs per muffin
Store in a sealed container; best eaten within three days but the syrup keeps them reasonably fresh for a while.