Catch up Time.. Aquaponics, Chooks & a wander through the veggie patch..

Has been a while since I ventured over here to blog land so thought I would do a bit of a catch up post..Think we shall start with he Fish..

Aquaponics...
I did a "What is Aquaponics" style clip a few weeks ago to help a friend explain aquaponics to her family members.. Not a real in depth one but it will gives a rough idea on how the system works including the relationship between the fish, bacteria & plants.. It also shows a bit of the growth in the system if your interested on how it's looking at the moment..

Not much has happened with the aquaponics of late which is a good thing on one hand but frustrating on the other... The fish are all well & happy (so they tell me) with the growth in the beds travelling along fine.. The celery is still being picked every couple of days & the strawberries have been fruiting well..

Harvested our first aquaponic pepino last weekend which was great.. There are a load on there with a few easily 50% larger than the fruit above :D
Really hoping to get the grow beds sorted out into their new positions by the start of spring.. First a wicking bed needs to be pulled down & the ground levelled to make room for them.. The new configuration should free up some space to try out a few new ways to grow plants with the system..

Hanging with the Chooks...
The chooks are at the top of their game at the moment.. Greedy decided to moult at the start of winter, which was a bit of a concern to us, but grew back back a fine set of feathers just in time for the few cool nights we have had this winter.. Have started to make up 2-3 lots of sprouted wheat a week for the girls.. I think they now recognise the sprouting jar as there is much flapping & excitement when we go wandering down to the pen with it.. Have also had a go at growing them some wheat sprouts as a fodder crop in the aquaponics but have shelved that idea for a little while :)

Hope to make a start on the modified feeder & shall do a bit of a report on that once it is done for those interested..


Wandering the patch...
Have got stuck into a few jobs around the place of late getting the patch ready for the warm season crops.. There are some tomato, eggplant & capsicum seedlings that have just started to germinate which is a great sight to see..
 

Some water chestnuts have also made it into some small 100mm pots to give them a bit of a head start before going into the sedge bathtub bed that will be set up near the aquaponics..

 The yacon are starting to throw up shoots  & I think we will have more than enough for our purposes this year.. Have quite a few earmarked for other people & have already given a fair few away.. 

Made a decent start in setting up the new front yard garden beds as well.. There are now 4 IBC wicking beds along the front retaining wall with another 4 going in over the coming weeks.. The first 2 beds have the asparagus in them with some heirloom corn planed for at least one of the other beds..  Hope to do a post on them by themselves once they are in & growing :)

Garden walk around clips..
Have a couple of clips on what's happening in the patch at the moment... The first is of the front yard last week before the new beds went in..

The pigeon pea still haven't been harvested but when they have I shall post about our attempt at making humus with them...Should be interesting methinks..


The second clip is of the backyard patch with a bit of a quick look at the 2 new pineapple flowers that have just started to form :)

Hope to make a proper start to the insect house extension soon as well (looks at list of jobbies).. After last seasons success with keeping the fruit fly out I think we might finally get a chance at growing some decent tomatoes & capsicums :) 

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Well that brings us roughly up to date... Shall post some project updates over the next few days to bring the blog up to speed all proper like ;)
Hope all are well & happy out there & have been having fun in the garden..
Cheers,
Rob..

Hot stuff from the patch.. Sambal oelek & Chilli Paste..

We have been very lucky so far this year in that we have had no **crosses every digit * fruit fly strike any of the chillies in the patch.. The bell chillies near the house were my big concern as they have no protection unlike the the large chilli in the hoop house.. 
A few weeks ago I decided to use up the collected chillies in a chilli paste so went searching on the interwebs for some inspiration.. An online friend (Tar Joy) pointed me in the direction of one she had tried & liked.. It looked promising but we were missing a few ingredients so I decided to make up my own using the recipe as a rough guide..
Below is what we came up with & am quite chuffed to say that the sugar & vinegar are the only ingredients we didn't grow ourselves :)»

Sambal Oelek...

• 500g/1 lb chillies, chopped
• 300g/10½oz galangal, peeled & chopped (some ginger would be nice as well as or instead of the galangal)
• 300g/10½oz garlic, peeled
• 4 stalks of lemongrass, chopped
• 2tbsp of grated lime skin (we use our kaffir fruit)
• small hand full of Kaffir lime leaves
• 350ml/1.5cup coconut vinegar
• 200g/7oz rapadura sugar
  
  

Add all ingredients, except for the sugar & vinegar, to the food processor & chop on high for about 30 seconds.
Slowly pour the vinegar in while the processor is on high until a smooth paste has formed.
Move the paste to a saucepan & bring to the boil.
Slowly add the sugar & stirred through until dissolved.
Reduced the heat & let simmer on low for 5 minutes. Adding a lid at this stage will aid in the clean up later as I found out ;)»

 This batch filled 3 sterilised 500ml jars..  2 of these were added to a hot water bath for 10 or so minutes so they could be stored for later use with one being gifted to some friends..

We have been very pleased with the fresh citrus flavour off this paste.. We have used it to spice up some leftover roast pork & also to make an AWESOME coconut prawn curry.. Can't wait to experiment with the next batch we make up..
Nice & easy Chilli paste..
A simple no frills recipe to make up this basic yet versatile paste..
Thanks to Granny Mel for a few pointers on the paste..
250g/½lb Chillies, chopped in ½
125ml/½ cup Vodka
15g/½oz salt
2Tbsp water



Process chillies on high for 30 seconds or until finely chopped.
Add to saucepan with water & salt then bring to the boil.
Reduce to a high simmer for 4-5 minutes.
Turn hotplate off & allow past to cool for 5 minutes.
Stir Vodka through paste then add to sterilised jar & seal.
I would recommend storing it in the fridge.

This is such a basic recipe that only takes 15 minutes to whip up & can be used in so many different styles of cooking..

Shall post the other chilli paste recipes later if I think they are tasty enough..

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Have a great one All...
:)»