We had a mockingbird that was pecking the big ones ans stealing cherry tomatoes. We netted the big ones and let him have as many cherry tomatoes as he wanted. Our teo bushes has grown to over 3ft in diameter and 2.5 ft. In height. Plenty to share.
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I have no technical ability to gauge whether or how well this is doing what you intended it to but it certainly produces an excellent stream of excellent tracks.
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For much of my childhood I thought that went âJust in time, rose Mary and TomâŚâ I pictured them being late for school or something and thought that was an odd thing to write a song about! 
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Itâs one of those things that, while youâre building it, you tell yourself that youâre doing it for reasons other than people listening⌠which is only a partial lie. So thank you, thatâs made my weekend.
Anyway, when it works, when you donât notice when one song ends and the next begins, itâs a thing of beauty. It doesnât happen often enough, partly 'cause there are tracks there that just wonât, and partly due to the platform limitations. Iâd rather fix the platform than homogenise the music : )
Thanks for listening.
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Tomatoes and peppers are winding down and the cold snap this week will finish them off. Still have beans, beets, lettuce, peas going strong. I pulled three pounds or so of beans yesterday and cut all the basil and sage for drying too
Eggplant will have to get picked this week. They were planted late so I didnt get much production
Kohlrabi going strong. Hopefully Iâll get some fall brocolli too. The cold wont harm them.
Canned a gallon of pasta sauce and a gallon of salsa too.
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Can confirm that it is. Well done.
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What do you use the dried sage for? My sage plant is mostly used for feeding bees, it has great flowers and it starts blooming in may and there are still flowers on it now.
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First time growing it, so currently I have no plan. I might use it to make stuffed pork chops.
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I mostly use it for tea. Couple of leaves and turmeric and chili powder, sweeten (or not) to taste.
Sage also goes nicely in any kind of stuffing or dumplings. Also various meat dishes such as saltimbocca or @anon87143080âs stufed pork chops.
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dried sage can be bundled and burned like incense is all I know to do with it.
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Besides all the other suggestions, you can make a great iced tea which is also a great cocktail base if youâre into that kind of thing. Make a nice strong sage tea, adding honey while itâs warm. I also toss in some lemon balm if I have some. I make it in a big mason jar then put it in the fridge. Once cooled, I like to dilute it with still water or soda water for a nice stomach soother, or dilute with soda water and add a dash of gin or vodka for a nice refreshing cocktail.
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Thanks for all the suggestions!
Do you use fresh turmeric? The ground stuff can very quickly make everything taste like brick dust mud for me. The fresh however you can grate away into your pilau or whatever and the only risk is dying yourself and everything around you.
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Not usually. Fresh turmeric is so much more expensive/hard to get/store compared to powdered that itâs not worth it to me.
I know what you mean. A little of the powder goes a long way.
For tea you can at least get rid of the âdustâ part by using a decent filter. Obviously if you use a cloth filter, you wonât be using it for anything else afterwardsâŚ
Personally I just use very small pinch of turmeric and let it settle before pouring.
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Oh itâs so worth it for me. And itâs really quite cheap, like the price of fresh ginger but you use much less.
Obviously having a lot of Muslim shops nearby helps.
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Speaking of destressing with moldable products, has any played with Sago Brothers Air-Dry clay? itâs distinctly pleasant. We call it âfoamy clayâ because it really has the texture and mass of a slightly-heavier shaving foam. It has a great matte finish, and smells faintly of toasted marshmallows. you can roll up individual balls then lightly press them together and they stick like glue, but it doesnât stick to much else, and totally repels plastic.
A couple early experiments:
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Like Sculpey, but you donât need to use an oven?
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A bit, in that it does become quite durable after it dries, except even once it has dried it is an ultra-light foam that actually is quite bouncy and so matte that itâs almost fuzzy, as opposed to a hard plastic/ceramic feel of sculpey. Also working with it is totally different, you donât really do the scarring and blending to attach segments, it just sticks. You can also easily attach more things to a dried piece. Iâm playing around with pipe-cleaner armatures and will post my experiments soon. Itâs hard to describe satisfactorily, but if you need a calming sensory experience mixed with casual crafting I highly recommend it.
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I spent a few days oiling my deck this week, using the cheapest available decking oil:
https://www.bunnings.com.au/enrich-4l-deck-and-exterior-timber-oil_p1520341
Previously water would soak in. Now:
Based on the existing splash stains on the downpipes etc, I think the previous owner used the same stuff to coat the whole house.
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