Beautiful Goldenrod

Since our move here to Nova Scotia we have been amazed at the abundance and variety of wild flowers around, not only on our property but all over. We were used to seeing pesky weeds and crop sprayers that killed most wild flowers, shame.
These beautiful flowers are a huge food source for bees, wasps and butterflies. The Goldenrod is not only a wild food for the local insect population but also a wonderful food for us and boasts many medicinal properties. It is thriving on our property among a Smorgasbord of other amazing wild food sources. I intend to check out the edible parts in the next few days.

Cherry Trees

Despite our drought and limited planting we did have three cherry tress that needed to be put in the ground. It has been very hot and humid and not kind planting weather for human or plant kind.
Today we finally mustered up the courage, and heavily laden with drinks we planted the cherry tree's. One Bing Cherry, one Stella Cherry and one Montmorency Cherry.

Start of the Orchard

Hopefully, in a couple of years time if they survive they will start to produce some wonderfully tasting cherries. I cannot wait!

Rain Dance and Water Recycling

We are currently in a drought, we have seen little to no rain for some weeks and this is causing problems with our new planting scheme that has unfortunately slowed down due to lack of water to water the newly planted enough for their survival.
We are now in emergency water recycling mode to at least try to save the garden and our latest additions from a dry death.
We are saving the water from washing up, scooping it out of the sink and using that on the garden. We are putting the plug in when we shower and using the bath water after bathing. This is the only way that we can conserve the water supply in our well and water the thirsty plants outside. We use natural washing up liquid so we don't need to worry about poisoning anything either!
We hope that we do not need to resort to jigging a very loud rain dance in the backyard, not only would that send the local deer population running for cover but it may also upset the family feline apple cart.
Lets hope for rain soon!

 As you can see from the photographs are garden area is so dry, even deep into the ground.

A Few Fishy Tails!

We are very lucky to have a few lakes that are within a short drive of our home, one of which is is less than five minutes away. After much talking about it we finally got the canoe and double kayak out on the water. We have been fishing from the shore with mixed luck, some days we would catch one or two smallish fish and on some days non.
The lake is teeming with fish, this is both good and bad! The bad side is the fish in question happen to be Bass and they are not fussy about what they eat, including the poor native species of fish that were once plentiful. So it would not be wrong to say a problem fish.
On the good side they are quite easy to catch, their greedy nature helps with that! We simply trolled a rooster tail lure behind the kayak and the canoe and the eager fish did the rest.

Cleaned and ready to cook

The fish were cleaned and sliced to allow the lemony thyme garlic butter I made soak into the them.

BBQ Fish ready to eat

A Beautiful Bounty of Wild Blueberries

Recently we discovered that our acreage is home to quite a few wild blueberry bushes, quite a few is probably a bit of an understatement. These sweet and plentiful berries are a lovely addition to our self-sufficient lifestyle.

Wild and Free

After a recent hot and humid  pick I made a simple but satisfying pudding -

Blueberry Grunt -
4 cups of blueberries
1/4 cup of runny honey
1/2 cup of water
2 cups of flour
2 tbsp of butter
1/4 cup of sugar
1/4 to 1/2 cups of milk

In a pan gently heat the blueberries, water and honey until there is lots of juice and the blueberries start to break down.
Pour into a large cooking dish
Mix the butter into the flour until it resembles course breadcrumbs, add sugar and baking powder and then enough milk to form a soft dropable dough (it will fall of a spoon!)
Drop spoonfuls of the dough onto the hot blueberry mix and bake for 15 minutes on 350 degrees.
Serve hot!

The fruits of our labour!

Pending New Arrivals

In a few weeks time we we be welcoming an 8 year old Dexter cow and her 6 week old heifer calf to our homestead. She will be our future source of delicious milk with which we will make an abundance of tasty goodies.
She is currently awaiting the romance of a Durham bull, so we can be assured cross fingers she will produce a good beef calf next Spring and we will have a good milk supply. We are all excited about the prospects of finally becoming free of purchasing dairy products from the store!
Watch this space for further updates!

Mookie and Summer

Garlic Scape Pesto and Broccoli

Recently on my sister Facebook page (link on here) I penned a small article about bolted broccoli. Sadly bolted broccoli seems to end up on the compost heap or garbage, and fed to livestock which is fine but I prefer to use it in the kitchen. Folk seem to be afraid of those longer stems and yellow flowers but we are a hardy bunch and don't mind a bit of extra chew in our broccoli.
I made a delicious and simple pesto which was gently heated in a large frying pan, then the bolted broccoli was stir fried until just tender.

Pesto -
1 large handful of garlic scapes
1 small handful of nuts (I used cashews but walnuts work well too as do other nuts, experiment)
Extra virgin olive oil, enough to allow easy blending
A squeeze f fresh lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

This pesto is also very good with crackers and cheese, especially for those raw garlic lovers!

Served here with turmeric roast potatoes and carrots

Fish Pie

We are overwhelmed here on the South Shore of Nova Scotia, our new province and new home by the variety and cheaper cost of the most freshest fish and seafood we have seen for a very long time. It is a fish and seafood lovers dream!
We enjoyed a fish pie for mealtime the other night, it was a frugal and inexpensive dish that lasted two meals.
The bottom of the pie was a simple white sauce made with softened onions, garlic, flour, butter and milk. I cooked a piece of cod, haddock and striped bass until just tender and flaked it into the white sauce. This fishy mixture was put into a square cooking dish and topped with a mashy mix of potato, swede and cauliflower. The swede and cauliflower was a little past its best but was good in the mash. The final touch before baking was a generous sprinkle of cheese and once cooked a scattering of fresh parsley.
A fresh, fishy and frugal meal in itself :)

Starting from scratch

It is hard to leave a garden that has sustained you and your family so well for many years to start over again with literally a blank canvas, in our case pasture. However, it is also a great and exiting challenge to start over in a new Province. Here in Nova Scotia we have a much friendlier climate and the opportunity to grow more delicate crops is there for us. We have big plans for our acreage, and with a small start already made progress will be steady.

Small Scale

It is a huge job digging the pasture for a garden but we have made a start, we have planted an area of blueberries and honey berries too. 

Work to do!

 

Just a small section of what we have to work with. With a lot of hard work we will transform this into a productive garden, orchard, herb and soft fruit paradise.

Not so rusty fishing rods!

During our eight years in Manitoba and to our disappointment our fishing rods saw little action and our fishing tackle box was rarely opened. We have been in our new Province of Nova Scotia for three weeks now and we are amazed how much fishing we have done. Both freshwater and saltwater fish have joined us for supper on regular occasions. Caught, cleaned and cooked within a short time of being caught. Fresh wonderful fish!

Twelve Mackerel ready to cook

Frying in a cast iron pan on a camping stove near the beach

There was nothing better than eating these wonderful fresh fish sitting with the smell of sea air in our nostrils. Absolutely delicious served with homemade buns!