Spring has sprung!

The Polly tunnel has had its polly cover taken of.
we are the 4th day into spring, the weather has wormed up considerably,
Minimum night temp 16 - 17C., day temp in the high twenties.

we still have quiet a crop of Tomato's both ripening as well as green yet to mature, I have my new plants in and flowering , ready take over when this lot has finished

an other addition to the Cheese cave, "Greek Fetta Cheese Limos style"

I made the cheese at the beginning of the week,

Fetta is easy to make but messy messy.

I only used a little more that 1/2 the recommended Salt which seems sufficient,

Fetta by tradition is very salty, but I tasted my way through the process.

Fetta is ready for use within 5 days and keep well in the fridge after spending 30 days in the cheese cave.

the Cave is set at 10 C where as the domestic fridge is set at 2 - 3 C.,

the cave temp. is for the maturing and the domestic fridge with a much lover temp stops the maturing process.

Gardening update for those of my followers that are now gardening in elevated beds,
the cabbage and potato bed is progressing well, hope to pick red cabbage and Brussels sprouts in about 4-6 weeks, and potato in about 6 weeks.


The 2 different species of Avocado that I planted together in the same hole last year has done extremely well, the Haas has put on twice as much growth on and would eventually kill the green one, therefor i have joined them with a graft cut and tied them together about 10 inches above the root graft , this was done about 2 months ago, and the union has taken, the bark is joining them both well, this way they will both feed from the same root system and if weaker root system dies it doesn't matter



here is the garden helper 7 year old Couch a American foxhound cross, we think the cross is a Labrador?, he is a lovely dog and a gentle soul.

Savoy cabbages, 6 week old in new garden bed are forming a head cone , we will be starting to pick them in 3-4 weeks perhaps earlier - the same bed from a distance.

I used the cheapest of Bunnings potting mix , liberally added Blood and Bone meal,

Lawn Dynamic lifters which is a finer granule than the normal chook poo pellets, therefore breaks into the soil almost instantly.

a liberal application of Dolomite Lime and some trace element and sulphate of potash for plant strength and strong health and of course some "Sea Mun Gus"

the Bunnings potting mix has a lot of fine pine bark through it and keeps the moisture in as well as gives good drainage.

same garden bed from a different angle

and here is the loyal gardening companion again, and he gives me a nudge on the leg from time to time to be patted on the head

The Rosenborg Danish style White Castello Cheese has surpassed all expectations, the flavour and texture is perfect flavour mild the way Genni like her cheeses, I like it a little more mature.
It goes well on a small dry biscuit with Sundowners!!!

The Potato and Cabbage patch are thriving well


The New bed I build at the beginning of July is doing well all the vegies are growing fast.

Another new garden bed, there is no longer room for any more,

this one is for Rhubarb, Horseradish, Ginger, Eggplant and its kind.

Truss Tomatoes

Berry Tomatoes

My Tomatoes have been doing extremely well this winter in the "Polly Tube" as we now call a plastic hot house, to be politically correct!!!

All 3 of my tomatoe strains have been cultivated together and have had the natural cross pollination between Cherry tomatoes as well as the Black Russian, the green and yellow striped and others, therefor the growth and height of the bushes has changed dramatically the last 3 years. They are all a medium to small table size tomatoes and very sweet and tasty.
Each season I pick one of the best fruit of each my tomatoes for seeds for the next season

The Stilton in ready to be halved and wrapped,the flavour is there but very mild, it will be ready for eating at the end of the first week in October.

I have made an other Parmesan cheese yesterday, now in the Brien salt bath before the Cheese cave to morrow, the Parmesan takes 10 months in the cave, so I will be making one every couple of months.
And to day my Cheese taster arrived from USA. I was unable to obtain one here in Australia, the only one I could get here was the very large industrial one which is not suitable for home making Cheese!!!

To day we have made Corizo Sausages, a Spanish com Mexican recipe,
very tasty and slightly hot.

Our first real Cheese platter for tasting shared with Merilyn and Patrick this afternoon

The Danish Blue cheese is ready to be cut into vegges, the flavour is great, Patrick and Merilyn visited this afternoon for the first real cheese tasting and approved of the products

The Stilton Cheese is ready for the Cave, it takes 4 days in the moulds turning the mould several toms daily before the stabbing process takes place and the cheese is confined to its cage, being turned several times a week for the maturing.

The texture and nose is there but the taste will take some time to mature,
I was surprised that the Blue growth didn't happen, all was white till the morning of the 4th day and there it was the green/blue , very exciting!!!
We are eating the earlier Brie/Camembert at the moment, very tasty and the flavour and texture is spot on.

The planter box for my Turkish miniature Fig trees has finally emerged,from close to 7 meters of treated pine sleepers, completely lined to avoid any of the chromium arsenide in the soil, as well as a filter mat in the bottom to avoid any roots escaping the planter box, in addition of the mass of the root ball the boxes each took 50 litre of potting mix with the addition of aged sheep manure and some fruit tree fertilizer.
Gemini is posing for the historic event!!!

The process of making 4 wheels of Danish white Castello Style Cheese,
now in the Cave

we had a taste of the first Brie\Camembert at Lunch to day, the cheese is 30 days old normal maturing is from 30 - 45 days, it is ready.
to mu surprise the cheese has developed extremely well and the texture and flavour is perfect.
I will be making many more of that one!!!!!!!

Fynbo Danish style Cheese

6 litter Milk next time use 8 litter for the Square Mould
Calcium Chloride
¼ cup of Thickened Cream
Italian Parmesan couture
Flora Danica culture
Thermofilic Couture 092
¼ teaspoon Lipase
1 tablespoon Salt
For Caraway cheese 2 tablespoons , boiled in water for 10 minutes
Then added the seed and waterto the maturing milk
Vegetable Rennet cut after 1 hour slowly elevate temp to 100F over 20 minutes stir occasionally
Then elevate temp to 124F over the next 20 minutes, stir often!!!
Leave at 124F for 5 minutes before straining the curd in a cheese cloth then mix in the salt
Before placing in to the square mould
2 kg pressure for 15 minutes
Redress! 5 kg 30minutes
Redress! 10 kg foe 1 hour
Redress! 11 kg for 12 hours
Please in salt brine for 24 – 36 hours
Then dab dry and air dried at room temp for 3 days
If not dried for waxing after 4 days
Place before the fan and dry before waxing
Age for 12 – 14 weeks, longer for stronger taste

Well the Veggie garden again, the new beds is going from leaps to bonus all is growing well, and we ave had a warm spell the last couple weeks or so, 18 low to 24 high, not bade for winter temps.!!!

I A lot of Scandinavian Cheeses is square, for what reason I don't know, perhaps it is to make it easier to use the continental cheese slicer.

I have created a square cheese mould yesterday and then made a Danish Fynbo style cheese with Caraway seeds, next week I will make plane one with out the seeds, Gemini is not all that fussed on Caraway seeds,
I love the seeds in my cheese perhaps because that I grew up having that kind if cheese.
the weather is perfect to day so now into the garden.