Coco & Mango: melbourne

Showing posts with label melbourne. Show all posts

Wednesday, 22 April 2015

Homegrown vegetables? Yes peas!

I love the idea of home grown fruit and vegetables, but I question how much stamina and dedication I have and whether my fingers are actually green. We tried our luck with five tomato plants this year and the daily watering beat us.

At this year's Melbourne Flower Show I made a snap decision to take the plunge with a set of five Greensmart Pots that are self-watering. Dare I say it, an intelligent (the pot not me) way to produce vegetables that "out-perform and out-yield those grown in traditional backyard gardens." (website blurb).

As we are in Autumn and hurtling towards winter, we have planted broccoli (the alien spiral one), mini and purple cauliflowers (may as well have a pretty selection), carrots (purple and dutch), onions (red and brown), garlic, radishes, chard (multi-coloured), spinach, rhubarb, beetroot, lettuce (mixed) and a selection of herbs that we use most often - all as plants and not from seed. We have also planted some peas from seed and the bright green shoots are already peaking through - now that is exciting! Quite a bumper crop and not something I would do if the process was more manually intensive. So we shall see whether they can out-perform and out-yield backyard counterparts!

Pots are made from food-grade plastic that will withstand the Australian climate.

Dave will be building a greenhouse type structure to ensure possums don't have midnight feasts.

Add water and food on a weekly basis and the pot takes care of everything else.

Chard, radishes, lettuce and beetroot

Rhubarb (nearest pot) and broccoli and cauliflower

Herbs

Carrots and onions. Garlic isn't visible yet.

Need to exercise a bit of patience before we see broccoli or cauliflower emerge.

Check out the fat radish back left corner of the pot!

If you look closely enough (try squinting) there are three pea shoots.

Sunday, 19 February 2012

To collect, or not collect, that is the question...

So... most people know that I have always wanted to collect "something" and that over the years I have found various things that I think would make a beautiful collection. But nothing ever stuck. Until recently when I found milk glass.

If you haven't heard of milk glass it is an opaque white glass which at first glance looks like porcelain. Fenton Art Glass is an American company and probably the most well known and desirable for milk glass collectors. I love trawling second hand and antique shops seeking out pieces here and there.

However, there isn't much milk glass in Australia and what there is can be overpriced compared to US sellers on sites like eBay and Etsy, and the really pretty pieces have not found their way across the Pacific.

But that is ok... I am happy window shopping on the internet. Well... I was until I spotted a couple of lovely milk glass cake plates on Etsy from Barking Sands Vintage. I ummed and ahhhed but eventually decided it was worth buying them and shipping to Australia. I bought! And I bought them both... very naughty...

Fenton Spanish Lace pedestal cake stand (picture from Barking Sands Vintage Etsy shop)

Westmoreland Petal and Ring low cake stand (picture also from Barking Sands Vintage Etsy shop )

I liked the different heights and thought the patterns looked pretty together. I was slightly nervous about shipping them all the way to Australia but my want for such pretty pieces won me over.

The box arrived and we eagerly started unwrapping... until I heard a noise. Not only was I devastated, I felt absolutely awful that something so pretty was now destroyed because I wanted it.

The good news was that the Fenton Spanish Lace plate was intact (and I love it!) The Westmoreland was destroyed beyond repair... Poor Jeni when I sent her the photos said it hurt to look at it. I know exactly what she means...

Jeni very kindly reimbursed the cost of the plate but it got me thinking it was very selfish of me to buy these plates and ship something so fragile. Should I continue collecting milk glass? And if yes, should I stick to the restricted choice in Australia or continue to buy from the States?

I haven't reached a decision yet. The reason I haven't reached a decision is because what I should do, and what I want to do, are two different things. What do you think? Do I find something else to collect? Do I stick to Australia only? Let me know what YOU would do!

In the meantime I have bought something from Pottery Barn in the US. But I am feeling less guilty (rightly or wrongly) as it is from a major retail chain that offers shipping to Australia and it is not an antique. Too cute to resist I am sharing a photo with you...

Bunny Dessert Stands from Pottery Barn

So it would seem I haven't learned the lesson yet...but let me know what you would do... and check out Jeni's Etsy shop whilst you consider my dilemma :)

And here are some pictures of the Fenton Spanish Lace cake plate with my red velvet cupcakes from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook to prove it arrived and is a welcome item in my home...