Goodbye Mr Slug Part 2

I posted this: http://denleydiaries.blogspot.com/2010/01/goodbye-mr-slug.html a while back when I was last having mighty trouble with slugs.  Well, they're back with a vengeance.

I went to check on my bunnies last night, and almost stepped on one.  I have no idea what came over me, but I had read that salt kills slugs.  This one was on concrete and it was HUGE!

I hadn't seen what salt does to slugs.  I hadn't even read what salt does to slugs.  Can I just say that I don't think I'll try this one again.

I poured some table salt on the slug, and it started to froth immediately, much to my son's delight.  He just jumped around yelling "IT'S GONNA BLOW...IT'S GONNA BLOOOOOWWWWW".  Great help he is!

Needless to say, "Goodbye Mr Slug number two".  He won't be coming back anytime soon.

And just because you might like to look at all the goriness I got to see through my camera last night, here's one for you:-

This slug was about 5 cms long last night when it was headed for my Butter Lettuce.  A quick sprinkle of salt and the lettuce is safe...for now.

August in the Garden

How did we get to August already?  And how did we get to nearly the end of August already?  I would like February back please!

I thought I'd better get my garden back into some sort of order after the hibernating I did all Winter.  Here are some hidden delights I found:-

Some pots with random things in them - mini strawberries, petunias, a rose bush and the seeds planted are rocket, possibly Zucchini, marigolds and a 'surprise' seed.  I have since learned to label what I plant straight away, rather than wait a few days.

My Spinach - protected from the sparrows that love to munch on it. 

I'm not sure how this butter lettuce survived the onslaught of Sparrows, but it did.  Now the slugs are trying their hardest.  I must have planted a gazillion lettuces and the rest were all attacked :(

Yes, there IS a rubber snake in that pot too.  The sparrows don't like it very much but it hasn't stopped them trying to snack away.

Parsley, growing back after a struggle with a herb-munching-bunny.



Basil growing without me planting anything!  Hooray!!  There are some Spring Onions planted in this pot too.  Somebunny decided to eat the last lot.  I don't think Spring Onions are really all that good for bunnies!

A passionfruit vine that has a mind of its own.  A very SLOW mind!  It has been slowly growing for well over a year.  I guess at least it is growing!

Pretty sure this is Rhubarb.  Mine is weird though.  It doesn't turn very red i.e. the stalks stay mainly green, but get tinges of red.  I haven't been game enough to pick any and eat it yet, although it has been growing happily for about 3 years now.  Rhubarb dies off in Winter, then green shoots start to come out of the 'cone' about July.  Soon is is going to be HUGE (hopefully).  I also have flat leaf parsley growing wild in my garden.  Free food for the bunnies!

Marinated Chicken

I can't even remember how long I have been making this, but is a an easy, fail-proof recipe that my family loves!

Here's what you need:-

1. Some olive oil (not the extra virgin type, just the 'normal' kind)
2. Chicken salt and/or chicken seasoning.  I usually add in a little salt you buy from chicken shops for chips as well, but I decided to be good today and go easy on the salt.
3. Sage.  Either fresh or dried is fine.
4. Chicken. Breast or thigh fillets.

Splosh some olive oil, chicken seasoning and the sage into a bowl.  Mix away.

Add in your chicken.  Depending on how you want the end result to be, you can either cut the chicken into strips, or have it in bite-sized chunks.  I want to eat ours with veggies on the side, so I did strips.  Put it in the fridge until you need to use it.  I leave mine in for 3-4 hours to get the marinade going all the way through.

When you cook it, put the flavoured oil in as well.  Obviously don't save the oil because it has raw chicken juice in it!

Pan fry it until it is golden brown.  It cooks in its own oils and ends up YUMMY.  On to absorbent paper and you're done.

You can put the marinated chicken on sandwiches or burgers.  It can be BBQ'd. I put it in an Italian Pasta Salad I make.  You can probably even marinate wings or drumsticks and pop them in the oven with foil over the baking tray to avoid oil splattering everywhere.

Enjoy! 

SMOKEY

Smokey is the daughter of Pepper and Charcoal.  She is one very pretty grey bunny, with a very docile temperament.

I'm not sure if she is going to a new home soon, but she has been offered to a gentleman who would like another female bunny, and because of her gentle nature, and the fact that she isn't bonded, I thought she would be perfect.  I know she will be going to a good home as well, and be as loved there as she is here.  I will find out over the next few weeks whether she will be relocated.

She has these amazing blue eyes.  She is a bit of a mix.  Charcoal was a Seal Point French Lop, and Pepper is a Havanna (but looks like a Himalayan). I'm not sure - would this make her a Seal Point Blue?

I love these friendly bunnies of mine!  They love to come up and put their noses just under my hand and beg to be patted.  All except Midnight that is.  She is a bit broody at the moment and although isn't agressive (none of them are), she is certainly grunting at everything that moves and doesn't want to be cuddled.  Fair enough!

Week 34 of the 2011 Food Storage Challenge

$10 Plan
Store 2 large cans fruit

$20 Plan
Store 4 large cans fruit

You can store:-

• Peaches
• Nectarines
• Apricots
• Plums
• Pineapple
• Cherries
• Lychees
• Two Fruits
• Fruit Salad
• Apple pie filling
• Mixed Berries
• Pears

Etc.

I love having canned fruit on hand.  It is really yummy with egg custard made in the Thermomix, or with ice cream in Summer.  You can make fruit crumble with it, turn it into pies if that particular fruit is out of season.  I guess the whole point is that if for some bizarre reason our fruit supply went downhill, we could still get some of those nutrients out of our tinned fruit.

I dehydrate fruit as well.  I still have some fruit-leather bananas from before Cyclone Yasi hit.  Unfortunately we're not so big on bananas as my place, but my son will happily munch on these, or snip some up and put them in his porridge.