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Permaculture Diary: 7th January 2008

Copyright © Beverley Paine

Orders for my books started arriving on the weekend and we sold two 2007 National Home Education Conference DVDs to international customers. Our small publishing business, Always Learning Books, is selling these DVDs on behalf of the Home Education Association of Australia as a fundraiser.

Sometimes it is hard to find a balance between all the things we do in a day. I'd like to spend a couple of hours a day, five days a week at least, working at my desk on whatever writing project is on the top of the pile, but life isn't so neat and tidy. Plus I tend to binge work - put all my efforts into something hard and fast and pay little attention to anything else until it is almost done or I've lost interest. It is a motivation and discipline issue I need to continue to focus on changing.

We made steady progress on the storm-water trenches at my father's house yesterday. My father's health as well as the sun ensures that we don't binge on digging. Yeah, right! The water we put into the shallow trenches did its work on the red clay, which although still difficult to cut through and heavy to lift on the spade, was okay to work. The unsoaked patch was like rock.

After lunch it was back to cutting and preparing fruit for drying. Our son made a batch of tomato salsa, adjusting the chutney recipe to suit his taste: cutting back on sugar, substituting peach for apple, adding chili flakes. I cut up some soft mangoes ready for a treat with icecream for the next day. Robin made a batch of straight carrot juice, plus juiced some sweet grapefruit. We drank half straight away, then combined the two for a refreshing drink after digging tomorrow.

The three of us spent an hour or so proof-reading Kathi's seven games booklets that Always Learning Books is about to publish. Our son has never helped us with editing before but he soon got into the swing of it. We talked about grammar - where to put punctuation in parentheses, etc. We swapped booklets after checking, so that each booklet was examined three times. Although it seems a thorough process I feel sure others will find the odd error or two when they begin reading the booklets.

Early in the day we met some friends in the bank and shared joyful news: they are to become grandparents for the first time in July, and our daughter became engaged last week. Chatting under the shady trees by the bank was pleasant but not quite satisfying so we arranged to go to their house for dinner. Robin and I went for a walk along the beach before arriving: a pleasant prelude to a great evening with friends.

Tomato Chutney

3 lb of tomatoes, (blanched and skinned if you prefer), chopped
1 lb of apples, chopped (we substitute some apple for peacherine or peach)
generous handful of sultanas and/or currants
1 lb of sugar
1 pint vinegar
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves
1 level tspn ground ginger
salt to taste
pinch cayenne pepper

Place all ingredients in heavy saucepan and boil for 1 to 1.5 hours or until thick. Stir frequently. Remove cloves if you prefer. Pour into pre-warmed then sterilised jars leaving half an inch at the top.

 

 


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Copyright © Beverley Paine 2002-14. Article from this website may be downloaded, reproduced, and distributed without permission as long as each copy includes this entire notice along with citation information (i.e., name of the periodical in which it originally appeared, date of publication, and author's name). Permission must be obtained from the author in order to reprint this article in a published work or to offer it for sale in any form. Please visit Bungala Ridge Permaculture Gardens for more original content by Beverley Paine.