Building Food Forest For Chickens Ducks Geese The Whole Story

Growing And Harvesting Black Cumin Nigella Sativa

I think I don't need to say much about how much goodness the Black Cumin / Nigella Sativa contains. However, in my opinion, it is also very important that the seeds you use are really healthy and grown organically and there is only one place where you can be sure about it. Your own backyard! I hope that I can get you excited to grow your own :)



If you like to have a nice read about the history and ancient use of Nigella Sativa follow the link here. I am not associated with this website, I just find it very interesting.

Regarding the Nigella Damascena, apart from this that some websites are wrongly using the photo of the Nigella Damascena saying it is the Nigella Sativa, there is also lots of controversy whether the Damascena is safe to eat. I have done lots of research on both and the only one I want to use in my kitchen is the Nigella Sativa. However at the end everyone needs to decide by himself what he wants to go for.

Second Food Forest Just Started Progress November 2017

This video shows our second food forest we are just setting up. The first food forest is two years old and going good :) Hope you enjoy this video here.

Here below some links to the videos I was talking about in the video today:

Our first, two years old now, food forest

How to grow pumpkin from cutting and why:

How to save seeds from tomatoes and grow your own:

How to grow potatoes in straw or mulch:

Rhubarb Orange Marmalade - No Gelling Agent Needed

Super delicious and super easy to make and you only need three ingredients. I got some rhubarb from my lovely neighbor so I made some rhubarb-orange marmalade. Yummy!! Why rhubarb orange? Because orange peel got lots of pectin so you don't need to add any store bought gelling agent. 

Rhubarb Orange Marmalade

• 800g rhubarb stalks, peeled and cut into 1-2cm pieces
• 1 whole orange including the skin, washed in warm water (or water with baking soda and rinsed if its store bought one), cut into very small cubes
• 800g raw sugar
• optional some vanilla and lemon/lime juice to enhance the flavor

Combine all together in a heavy pot and let the mixture sit for about 1 hour.

After one hour, mix through, place on a hot plate and bring it to boil on a medium heat while stirring. Reduce the heat and boil on a low heat for about 30 minutes or longer if you like it thicker. Check the consistency on a cold plate.

Fill the hot marmalade into prepared jars (both, jars and lids super clean and rinsed with boiling water) and close with the lid immediately. You can store it that way on a shelf for good few months.

Enjoy!

Tips

• I love to cook marmalade in an enamel pot as the fruit doesn't stick to the bottom so quickly but you can also use a heavy stainless steel pot.
• place a small plate in a freezer before you start so you can easy check the consistency later

Chocolate Cake With Almond Meal - No Flour

Healthy version of a regular chocolate cake. Very easy to make and super delicious. I always buy whole almonds and make the almond meal myself in the food processor. Its cheaper and fresher with lots more almond flavor than the almond meal you buy at the shops.  

Chocolate Cake With Almond Meal - No Flour

• 250g butter
• 1 cup raw sugar
• 3tbs water
• 3tbs pure cacao
• dash of vanilla

Heat it all up and bring to boil while stirring. Pour off a 1/3 cup off and safe for later. Leave the rest in the pot and let it cool down up to room temperature. Then add the following:

• 5-6 eggs
• 1 1/2 cup grind almonds or almond meal
• 2tsp baking powder

Blend it all together with an electric mixer. Pour into a heat proof dish or tin lined with baking paper and bake in a preheat oven at 160°C for about 30-40 minutes depends what kind of baking dish you use. Make a toothpick taste if you are not sure. Take the cake out of the oven and let it cool down for few minutes. Pour the 1/3 cup of the chocolate souse you saved before over the cake and let it cool down. 

Enjoy! :)

How To Grow Pumpkin From Cutting And Why

Collect Seeds From Tomatoes You Love And Grow Your Own

Two Years Old Subtropical Food Forest October 2017 Garden Tour

How To Grow Potatoes In Mulch or Straw - All Steps

It was the very first time for me to grow potatoes and I am happy with the result. I got over 8kg from a 4m x 2m raised bed. I can imagine it could be even better if I add more mulch next time.

Here below the video how I have done it. I hope you like it. 

And here the leyers again:

1. Cardboards
2. Mulch or loose soil mix
3. Mature animal manure
4. Sprouted potatoes
5. Mulch
6. Manure
7. Water
8. More mulch as the potatoes grow. See the video

Worm Farm From An Old Fridge - Reuse And Recycle

...we have build a second worm farm... it is bigger than the first one and made from an old fridge which wasn't working anymore. We re-used old materials we had in our shed. The only part we bought for it was the tap to drain the worm juice :) 

Here the video how we have done it. I hope you like it.

No Flour Banana Chocolate Cake Recipe

What are you doing with too many bananas? You bake a banana bread or banana cake or even better, you bake a banana chocolate cake with no flour like this one :) Happy to share this recipe with you now as it was super delicious.

 No Flour Banana Chocolate Cake Recipe

• 1/2 cup of olive oil (one cup is 250ml)
• dash of vanila
• 2/3 cup of raw sugar, you can take less if your bananas are overripe and super sweet
• 3-5 very ripe or over ripe bananas(depends on the size), the skin can be dark brown already
• 4 Eggs
• 1 cup of grind almonds or almond meal
• 1 cup of desiccated coconut
• 2 tbs cacao
• 2 flat tsp baking powder 
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 175°C
2. Whisk olive oil with vanilla and raw sugar. 
3. Combine all dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
4. Add alternately eggs, smashed bananas and the combined dry ingredients gradually. Whisk until combined.
5. Bake for about 45-50 minutes until ready (toothpick test)

To make the the chocolate glaze, add into a small pot: 1 good tbs of butter + 1 tbs of cacao + 3 tbs raw sugar + dash of vanilla + 2 tbs water. Put on a medium heat and bring to boil while stirring. Ready is your glaze!

Tips:

• I always buy whole almonds and grind them in a food processor. The taste/flavor is much better when you grind them just before use.
• The baking time always depends on the tin/tray you bake the cake in but also on your oven. That is why I like to make the toothpick test when I think the cake might be ready. Open the oven, stick the toothpick into the cake. If it comes out with just few crumbles or dry, your cake is ready. If the toothpick has some wet batter on it, your cake needs more baking time.
• Do you have any question? Just comment below or contact me via G+ or facebook

How To Make Quark Or Cheese from Kefir

This is how my mum always used to make a fresh quark/cheese form a raw milk. She started with letting the milk on the kitchen bench for a couple of days until it turned into kefir and then she turned it into super soft and creamy quark. The recipe is very simple and the quark is delicious. I am using kefir I make form a pasteurized milk (as I have no access to raw milk) using the kefir grains or how some people call them the Tibetan mushroom. You could probably also use store bought kefir if you don't have the grains or try the old fashion way how my mum did it.

How To Make Quark Or Cheese From Kefir
You need:

• kefir
• cheesecloth

1. Pour kefir into a small pot and place it in a larger pot filled with water. The smaller pot needs to "sit" in the water.
2. Place it on a low heat for about one hour at around 45-50°C
3. Turn the heat off and leave it until the water cools down.
4. Place a double layer of cheesecloth over a sieve and place over a bowl. Strain the kefir.
5. Wait until most of the fluid goes through, grab all the ends of the cheesecloth and wrap it together or secure with a clip. 
6. Depends on the room temperature and your liking, you can either hang the cheesecloth over the bowl and leave it in safe place or place your nearly ready cheese in the cheesecloth together with the strainer and the bowl in the fridge. Leave it there for few hours or over night until the cheese is ready. You can either gently push it through the cheesecloth to check but usually your quark/cheese is ready after about 5-6 hours.

Tips:

• If your cheese taste too dry, just shorten the warming time. The longer you warm the cheese, the more dry may come out. It depends also on the type of the milk you use.
• You can either drink the remaining fluid you collected in the bowl or give it to the animals if you have any. It is very healthy and it would be a wastage to throw it away. It taste better when its cold. Some people use it to make lemonade. 
• You can use cow milk, goat or sheep milk. Raw milk is always the best but it also works very well with the pasteurized milk you can buy in the local shops. 
• Any question? Just ask and I am happy to help :)

Serving idea :)

Daikon Radish Salad With Ginger And Turmeric

This was our last night side dish we made for dinner. I had a fresh Daikon radish which had to be harvested as the greens wanted to go to flowers already and this was the result! Super fresh and delicious salad! As usually it was a spontaneous idea so I just had to make a record of it. Now happy to share with you all.

Daikon Radish Salad With Ginger And Turmeric

• 1 Daikon radish together with some of the green top leaves
• few green onions stalks, washed and cut into small pieces
• 1 tsp self made sweet chili souse (the recipe is in my blog) or fresh chili and raw sugar
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and grated or cut into very small pieces
• some fresh ginger and turmeric, peeled and grated
• 2-3 tbs vinegar
• 2-3 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

1. Wash and peel the radish. Wash the leaves. We have taken few of the younger leaves. I usually pick the outer leaves for eating as well while the radish grows. They taste delicious on a sandwich!
2. Grate the radish and cut leaves
3. Mix the remaining ingredients in a little bowl
4. Combine everything together and ENJOY!

How To Build A Cheap Or No Cost Worm Farm From An Old Laundry Tub

Everyone knows that the worm juice is very good for all your greens in the garden. Here is a simple video of how we made a no cost worm farm made of recycled materials. You can sometimes get an old laundry tub for free or very cheap from your local recycling center or garage sale. The net can be any net, even an old insect net will do if it doesn't have any holes. if you don't have a strap, use a rubber band :) You could improve it further like install a pipe with a tap from the drain down to the bucket. We haven't done it as we already started to build a second, larger warm farm so this one won't be needed soon. If you want to see the larger one, also build from recycled materials, subscribe and stay tuned! Cheers :)


Here some info about what the worms like and what not:
Feeding Worms

Compost worms will consume all your house hold organic kitchen waste and yard trimmings, as well as all your old news papers and scrap paper, you can also put all your pet waste [pet poo] in you worm farm and the worms will eliminate this for you as well without any smell or pest problems.

What are the Requirements for compost worm feeding?

Compost worms will consume all your house hold organic kitchen waste and yard trimmings, as well as all your old news papers and scrap paper, you can also put all your pet waste [pet poo] in you worm farm and the worms will eliminate this for you as well without any smell or pest problems.

Worms like:

– Fruit peelings and vegetable scraps
– Tea bags
– Bread
– Rice
– Grass cuttings (after heating stage)
– Organic green yard waste (after heating stage)
– Animal manures (beware of worm medications)
– Scrap paper
– Newspapers
– Napkins
– Soil or sand – To help with their digestive systems and provides a source of decomposer bacteria.
If worms are not consuming a certain food, do not put in again.

Warning: If you are using animal manures, make sure that the animals have not been given any worm medication, as this will be fatal to your worms. We age all our animal manures for one month before feeding to our worm stock.

Worms don’t like:

– All fatty foods (The oil can suffocate the skin breathing worms.)
– Onions
– Garlic
– Chillies
– Capsicums
– Any spicy foods
– Dairy products (will make your worm farm smell)
– Citrus foods
– Meat (Will cause flies and maggots and make the bin smell)
It is very important to only feed enough food for a couple of days at a time, when there is only a small amount left re-feed the worm farm but in a different position in the worm farm. As your worm stock increase you can increase the amount of food that you are feeding.

Make sure that you keep an eye on the moisture levels in your worm farm, as some food has quite a lot of moisture. You might find that you will never need to add water if there is enough moisture in the food source.

Lemon or Lime Cheesecake

Super yummy cheesecake for any occasion. It is very easy to make and it tastes just delicious! Super fluffy and refreshing summer taste. We had plenty of limes from our food forest and didn't want to waste them so that is how the recipe evolved. Try it and you won't regret it :)

Lemon Or Lime Cheesecake

Ingredients for the base:

• 150g bread crumbs
• 1 tbs raw sugar
• 1 tbs dessicated coconut
• 80g melted butter

Combine and press the mixture into the pan lined with baking paper. The loose-bottomed tart pan is best.

Preheat the oven to 160°C

Ingredients for the cheese cake:

• 500g cottage cheese (Coles or Woolworths are the best)
• 4 whole eggs plus 2 extra egg yolks (keep the egg whites for the topping)
• 125ml lime or lemon juice
• finely grated rind of 1 lime or lemon
• a dash of vanilla essence (optional)

Process the cottage cheese with a stick blender until smooth, then gradually add all the remaining ingredients until just combined. Pour over the base and bake for about 30 minutes (the cheesecake should still have a slight wobble) Remove from the oven and set aside to cool slightly for about 15 minutes. Use the time to make the topping:

Ingredients for the topping:

• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 cup raw sugar or caster sugar
• 1 cup desiccated coconut

Place the egg whites in a clean and dry bowl, whisk until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar and beat till thick and glossy. Fold in the coconut gently.

Carefully spread meringue over the cooled cheesecake. Return to the hot oven and bake for further 10 minutes or until very light golden and firm to touch.

Remove from the oven, cool down a little until safe to touch and place in fridge for at least 4 hours before you cut it.

Enjoy! :)

Madagascar Bean With Feta And Veggies Recipe

Madagascar bean is a perennial vine which grows up to 7 years in a warm climate. It not only grows very easily but the beans are also very tasty. If you want to see how the Madagascar bean grows in my garden, just click on the video below the recipe.
It was the very first time for us to cook a meal with Madagascar bean and it was a big win so I am happy to share with you the recipe now.

Madagascar Bean With Feta and Veggies

Ingredients:

• dried Madagascar beans, I took 12 large table spoons but this is to your liking
• 2-3 tbs smoked bacon chopped into fine strips
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 2-3 garlic clove, finely chopped
• fresh tomatoes peeled and finely chopped or tomato puree
• 1 carrot
• 1 capsicum
• 1-2 fresh and young eggplant
• 1 large or 2 small finely chopped celery stalks
• some feta finely chopped
• fresh or dried oregano and basil finely chopped
• some flat leaf parsley
• olive oil
• sweet chili souse
• soy souse

Soak the beans overnight in plenty of water as they will double in size. I have placed the pot in a fridge in the morning until I started to cook them late afternoon.
Drain and rinse. Cover with fresh water and cook until nearly soft. Drain and set aside.
Heat the olive oil in a large pan, add onion, garlic, bacon and eggplant and cook until soft. The onions should be light golden, not brown. Add remaining veggies, tomatoes and or tomato puree, herbs and simmer for about 3 minutes. Add the cooked beans, sweet chili souse and soy souse and stir through gently. Add Feta on top, put lid on and simmer on lowest heat for about 3-4 minutes. Garnish with some fresh parsley on top and ENJOY! :)

Madagascar bean in my garden

Perennials In Our Food Forest - Madagascar Bean

A quick video about the Madagascar Bean we grow in our food forest. It is a perennial bean and definitely worth growing if you live in a warm, subtropical or tropical climate. I could imagine they would also grow in a colder region as an annual.

Simple BBQ Recipe: Prawns With Greens From Our Food Forest

Fermented Pumpkin

Our food forest is giving us plenty of pumpkins and I was looking for some different ways of preparing and eating pumpkin. I love fermented cucumbers which are very popular in Poland where I was born so I came to the idea to try the same with pumpkin and it is a big success!! That is why I want to share the recipe with you. While I am writing this post, we have already eaten the first two smaller glasses :) The texture is great, the taste lightly sour and little bit sweet. Just delicious! Try it yourself and let me know how did you go! Enjoy!

Fermented Pumpkin

• "half-way" ripe pumpkin
• water + salt: 1 large table spoon of salt per 1 liter of water. You might need more than 1 liter of water depends of how many jars you make.

You also need per one medium to large size of jar:

• 1 fresh, dried or frozen dill stalk
• 2-3 large fresh garlic cloves
• 1-2 cloves
• 4-5 black pepper seeds
• 1 horseradish leave (optional)
• about 1cm length of fresh ginger (optional)

1. Boil water with salt. Let it cool down up to room temperature.
2. Clean the jars and lids! Wash in a dish detergent water, rinse and sterilize with fresh boiled water. It is very important to use super clean and sterilized jars!
3. Wash pumpkin, dill and horseradish leaves. Peel garlic cloves and ginger.
4. Wash and peel the pumpkin and cut into 2cm large cubes or 1cm x 4cm pencils. Keep some of the pumpkin skin.
5. Fill each jar very tight with one pumpkin peel, pumpkin cubes, together with garlic, dill, black pepper seeds, cloves, ginger and horseradish leave. The horseradish leave is optional. It is preventing your pumpkin of getting too mushy but I have also fermented cucumbers without the leaves in the past and it was good as well. Leave some room at the top.
6. Fill in the salt water. The pumpkin needs to be covered entirely but you still need to leave at least 2cm free room under the lid.
7. Close the lid and leave in a dark place in room temperature to ferment.

Depends on the room temperature, the pumpkin will be ready in about 7-14 days. Open one jar and try. It should have a nice sour-sweet taste and pleasant flavor. 

Once ready, keep it in fridge for up to 3 months.

Tipps:

• Pay attention to cleaning everything thoroughly! If you get some unhealthy mold under the lid or your fermented pumpkin goes off, it means that you either didn't clean it properly or you have overseen a faulty dot on your pumpkin 
• Place the glasses on a tray in case some water comes out of the jar during the fermenting process. It happens sometimes if you don't leave enough free room in the glass.

Here some photos of the whole process:

The photo below shows the glasses after 12 days of fermenting

 The pumpkin has kept the beautiful yellow colour and it taste delicious.

Slow Smoking Pork and Cheese - Our Latest Smoking Session

As many people were asking about the process itself, here is a video from our latest smoking pork and cheese session. I hope you will like it :)

Daikon Radish Salad Recipe Simple And Super Yummy

Daikon Radish salad :) So easy and so yummy! Perfect with fish or meat or just with other veggies on the side. It is definitely one of my favorite vegetables :)

Just grate it, add Greek yogurt, salt and pepper and enjoy! Here a short video of how we prepare it. Hope you like it :)

Our Beef Steak Tartare Recipe - Simple And Good

It is super tasty and so simple to make. If you never tried a steak tartare, you should definitely have a try. If you like a nice and juicy steak from BBQ, you will love steak tartare, too!

Beef Steak Tartare

• one nice piece of beef, topside is the best
• onions, we take about two small to medium size onion for about 700g beef
• 2-3 egg yolks
• soy sauce, salt and pepper

Mince or cut the beef into very small pieces. Add all other ingredients and combine. Taste and add some more spices if needed.

Keep in fridge. You should eat it all on the same day. 

Here my video of how we do it :) I hope you like it.

 

Mum's Apple Pie Recipe - Szarlotka

It tastes and smells like home. This is my mum's recipe. It's easy and delicious with only few simple ingredients. Try and enjoy!

Mum's Apple Pie - Szarlotka

For the shortcrust pastry:

• 400g wholemeal
• 160g warm but not running butter
• 180g raw sugar
• 2-3 egg dots
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 5-6 tbsp milk

For the apple filling:

• 1kg apples
• 3-4 tbsp raw sugar (depends how sweet or sour are your apples)
• some sultanas
• pinch or two of cinnamon
• some lemon juice

Combine all ingredients for the shortcrust pastry until you get a nice smooth dough. Wrap in a cling wrap and put into fridge for about 20-30 minutes. In the meantime prepare the filling. Grate the peeled and cored apples on large holes of box grater. Add sultanas, cinnamon, lemon juice and sugar. Mix through with a spoon or fork to combine

It is up to you but I always line the bottom of the spring-form pan with a baking paper. Roll out a good half of the pastry on a floured workbench then transfer and line out the bottom of your spring-form allowing excess to overhang up to at least half of the height of the pan. Transfer the apple mix. Roll out remaining pastry and cover the apples. Make few holes with a fork in the top pastry layer. 

Bake until gold at about 175°C