June Urban Permies Meeting Update

This update is definitely long overdue. Andrew Rundle-Keswick http://www.webpagebuilder.co.nz an enthusiastic budding permaculturist wrote a really nice comment of my ever evolving garden so I have to share it :-)

I did a Permaculture Design course at Wanaka in May this year and as
part of that course I with other course participants did a Urban
Permaculture design for a urban property in Wanaka. The property in
Wanaka was a blank slate. We had a lot of ideas and sketched up
various ideas and concepts. When I visted your Permaculture property
in Palmerston North I was able to see lots of the ideas and concepts
in actual working application, plus many more besides. I think that
your property is a excellent example of how an urban Permaculture
property works. In a very small space you have a very large
production and it has inspire me to get on with converting my blank
slate property into something as good as yours.

Keep letting me know about your upcoming Permies Meetings as I would
love to come up again and bring my wife and children to show them
your property.

Andrew

Snow peas...

Apparently you can plant snow peas in autumn, winter and Spring and Summer....all year round
This is new for me too...

Lemon Meringue Pie

I know I'm supposed to be on a hunt for healthy sugarfree recipes but one can't resist a good lemon Meringue Pie. Had dinner with a friend and this dessert was served. Absolutely loved it…another great point about this recipe - you use up all the eggs... oh well tomorrow is another day

Ingredients
1 tablespoon Butter
1/4 cup Edmonds Cornflour
2 tsp grated lemon rind
1/2 cup juice of lemon
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup Boiling Water
3 egg yolks

Meringue
1/4 Heaped teaspoon sugar
Egg white of 3 eggs
vanilla

Instructions
Mix cornflour to a smooth paste with a little cold water; stir in boiling water.
Boil 2 to 3 minutes.
Add butter, sugar, grated lemon rind and juice; cool; add beaten egg yolks.
Line a pie dish with pastry; add mixture when cool and bake about 30 minutes.
Whipped the egg white and sugar until peaked, put the meringue mixture on the pie
Turned oven off and left it for 30 – 45 minutes
Serve as it is or with homemade vanilla icecream

Think Leeks and Brassicas and peas...

and then sow (seedlings) every two weeks to get a continueous supply. Once you plant a lot of seedlings into the garden sow the seeds for the next batch - it's a good habit to cultivate...a good reminder to myself here...

Still not too late to plant Snow Peas

If you had planted snow peas in autumn, you would be enjoying tonnes of yummy juicy and crunchy snow peas now. Anyway, I sowed about 20 seeds a week ago. They are sprouting nicely and hopefully will survive the slugs and snails attack.

Chocolate and Vanilla Swirl cookies

My father in law has recently been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I'm
now on a craze for REAL sugarfree biscuits. He loves his biscuits and
being a good daughter in law, I naturally like to impress....came to the
rescue is www.diabetic-recipes.com with an array of wonderful recipes...

(makes about 60 cookies)

1/2 cup (120 g) butter, softened
2 tablespoons (24 g) honey
2 teaspoons (10 ml) vanilla extract
6 tablespoons (90 ml) of egg
1 1/2 cups (210 g) organic wholemeal floor
1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) baking powder
1/4 cup (60 ml) organic raw milk, warmed to room temperature
1 teaspoon (5 ml) unsweetened cocoa powder

1. Cream butter, honey, vanilla, and egg. Beat well. Add flour, baking
powder, and 3 tablespoons (45 ml) of the milk. Stir to thoroughly mix.
Divide dough into 2 parts.

2. Add cocoa and chocolate extract to one part, stirring until well
blended. Chill both halves for at least 1 hour.

3. Working on a floured surface, roll out each part to a rectangle about 3
inches (7.5 cm) wide. Place chocolate part on top of white part, pressing
together tightly with a rolling pin.

4. Brush the chocolate dough with remaining tablespoon (15 ml) milk. Roll
up like a jelly roll to make a log about 1 1/2 inches (4 cm) in diameter.
Wrap in waxed paper and chill until firm, about 2 hours.

5. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C), Gas Mark 5. Slice cookies 1/8 inch (.5
cm) thick. Place on a nonstick cookie sheet that has been lightly coated
with cooking spray.

6. Bake for 8 minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer to a wire rack to
cool.

Per 3-cookie serving: 85 calories (53% calories from fat), 2 g protein,
5g total fat, 8 g carbohydrate, trace dietary fiber, trace cholesterol,
73mg sodium

Diabetic exchanges: 1 carbohydrate (bread/starch), 1 fat

July Meeting

We visited an Organic Dairy Farm. It was an interesting trip learning about the pasturing organic cows and the health benefits of milk from Jersey cows (A2 milk), non-pasturised milk. The facilities is simple but hygine is strictly observed to ensure that end product is at tip top condition for consumption.