Well it’s that time of the year as if it doesn’t come round fast enough. just finished the last of the tomato puree- I think I ended up with about 20 jars- which might see us through- we use it a lot- stews, casseroles, pasta, lasagne, soup- it’s so user friendly.

Our wood heater has finally arrived ( I went and got it). Forklift onto the trailer- man power getting off- me!!! And some old fashioned round bits of wood- a lot of persistence and help form my 7 year old. Her job was to get wood form behind me and kept putting them in front of the heater while I kept pushing and cursing (a little). This is all part of the grand plan to minimize electricity usage. The heater has a water jacket which will feed into the hot water header tank.

I had a breakdown in the tomato machine so had to bring old trusty out.

The Summer Garden is starting to show signs of giving up, they have bared all for me and my family and for that I am grateful. I have started the next season with Cauliflower, Broccoli, Cabbage and some leaks- I will plant onion and garlic a bit later in the cold. I still have some more beds to fill with dirt- build my Wood shed, finish my Preserving shed, put up my old hills hoist, finish some odd jobs around the yard. I have some internal painting etc to do as well. Then there is the harvesting as well it’s close to Deer season. I have also done some jams that I am happy about.

Good time to do some swaps with friends and family.

It’s also time to start digging up potato’s- check these first lot

Something we did recently was to visit Churchill island off Phillip Island- Western Port in Victoria- great farm- lots of old fashioned tools and sheds- I felt quite at home- took some photos of the old weights they used to close their doors- which I will hopefully recreate here

Something has come to light- the chooks I have are no longer laying, they are too old to roast, so I might have to make some chicken snags from them- I am hoping to change over to bantam Australorps