Making Olive Oil

We have 4 olive trees, I don't eat olives, so what do we do with all the fruit?

A number of years ago we decided to pick our olives and take them to a friends farm for pressing into olive oil.  We have not bought olive oil since and the best thing is we know exactly what has gone into our oil and where it has come from.


It is a laborious job picking the olives, but time passes quickly when you pick with friends.  We now have a small community who we pick with and then pool our olives into one big batch for pressing.

I bought this wonderful apron a few years ago from a market and it has made picking the olives a lot easier.  I have both hands free for picking and can just load the apron up to be emptied into our picking crates.

After pressing we decant our oil into upcycled bottles (my husband eagerly helps with emptying the wine bottles :))

We use our oil for almost all our cooking and it is delicious as a dip with some bread and dukkah.

My helper

Establishing a routine

Well, after some time off from Diva Farm Days, I’m back. I started working part time this year and have not been able to get a routine happening as yet. I’m trying to balance work, farm, home, family and me time.

My aim is to get a daily routine established, so that I don’t feel like I am running around like a headless chook.

So it has all started today (and no this is not an April Fools joke) with a morning walk to try and get fit and also to participate in the Heart Foundations MotivApril Challenge, to walk 250,000 steps in April.

I never tire of this view

Today's walking attire

My walking companion

One step at a time to establish my routine, I find that if I try and do everything all at once then I stumble and trip and any routine falls by the wayside.  First up is to start walking every day and to drink more water.  These routines are for me and my health, I will establish home, work, farm and family routines as they develop.

So, I encourage you all to sign up for the Heart Foundations MotivApril challenge, not only to join and support me but for yourselves and your own heart health.

Looking forward to seeing photos of you all out and about.

Cheers

Ann
PS: 10am step count is 3699

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How to make your own dishwasher powder

I have been making my own dishwasher powder for over 12 months now and haven’t looked back.
If you google the internet there are hundreds of different recipes for dishwasher powder, below is the recipe I use:

1 cup bicarbonate soda
1 cup washing soda
1/2 cup iodised salt
1/4 cup citric acid (or borax)
20 drops lemon essential oil
Shake it up in a jar.

To use: put 1 Tablespoon in the powder/tablet dispenser



I have not done a costing as I buy the bicarbonate and washing soda in bulk. But to me I feel that it is cheaper and better for the environment with no chemicals.

Before using please check with your dishwashers manufacturer guidelines.

Enjoy

Ann
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What to do with all that garlic....

I was given a bag of garlic by a good friend and rather than see it go forgotten in the pantry I preserved it for future use.

With a bit of help I peeled the cloves.
To make the skin come off easier I cracked the clove under the knife blade (push down gently until you hear the crack) this makes the skin "separate" from the clove and easier to peel.

The peeled cloves were put in a sterilised jar, tap the jar on the bench to allow the cloves to settle together and make more room on top for more cloves.

I then poured olive oil (from our olive trees) over the cloves to cover the top, gently tap the jar on the bench to release any bubbles and fill until covered allowing a bit of room at the top of the jar before putting the lid or seal on.

Store in the fridge for future use or in case of vampires.

Enjoy

Ann
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Perons Tree Frog

During the Summer months the Peron's Tree Frog (Litoria peronii) or Maniacal cackling frog (don't you just love that name) comes out of hibernation. 

We found him (for this article I will refer to him as a him) in various places around our garden, mostly close by to water.  

Unfortunately he also liked to crawl into the water reservoir of our old water cooler. 

Who else used to have one of these? Who still uses theirs? We start ours up in Summer when we are sitting outside on the decking and the fans are not keeping up with the heat. 

Some of the frogs were lucky, as they 'cackled' when we turned it on and they were duly rescued.  Some were not so fortunate.

The frogs are found on the Eastern side of Australia, mostly NSW, but stretching into Queensland and down into Victoria.  As you can see by the photos, they vary in colour according to temperature and whether it is day or night.

We haven't built a designated frog habitat, but they seem to appear wherever there is water.  We always keep a dish under the garden taps to catch drips so that the birds and lizards can drink.  

Enjoy

Ann

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