our little system was doing just wonders...strawberries going mad & lettuce seedlings emmerging but then....the heat kicked in...the tank is greening over a lot more frequently & everything is struggling in the grow bed. so i've just rigged up some shade (not shown, as my attempt to construct anything in the garden always looks awful). cross fingers that we get some progress coz i would love some plate size barra's by may.my lack of tomatoes hasn't stopped the preserving though. you can get tomatoes (good tomatoes) cheap as chips this time of year & i've even given whole tomatoes a crack this time round. still not enough yet, need to make some pasta sauce & salsa, plus probably some more passatta. stone fruit are also in abundance & the best chutney recipe ever is in Sally Wise's 'A Year in a Bottle'...if you're keen on preserving the seasonal harvest its fantastic.
so i'm off to order my side of beef, we order one each year. reason? here comes my rant...people go to the shops and buy meat each week...depending on their budget they generally buy the same thing over & over like rump steak. you buy rump steak all year & you've probably killed a couple of cows & basically disposed of most of it (don't think that everyone else is using buying the rest because it's highly unlikely). i buy 1/2 cow (i know they don't come in half sizes but a whole 1 is just too much...splitting with family is a good way to solve this problem) i know that way our family is responsible for the death of only 1 cow & we use every bit of it. sometimes its hard when all you want is a BBQ & all that you have left is casserole meat but we try & work with the seasons. vegetarian would be a much better option but this our compromise as a meat loving family.