Schedule when you have energy

It’s complex to eat all the veg that comes through our garden.

What works best for our family is to schedule ahead, so that decisions around which vegetables to eat when are not based on how we feel in the afternoon. Because usually Eugene and I feel tired in the late afternoon, and want things to be simple.

In contrast, it doesn’t feel difficult for me to plan and even cut and cook veg early in the morning, because in the dim early morning light it feels like I’m pouring love into my family. Here’s some other ideas that are helpful to us:

• Eat veg first before eating proteins or carbs. Before you’re full.

• We ritualised making dumplings for Monday lunch, which means I can put whatever vegetable I like into a pot to cook early in the morning.We wrap with dumpling skins (we use the Maangchi recipe to make the skins). Today, I included gotu kola, spring onion, napa cabbage, carrots and beetroots.

• Sunflower microgreens are easy to eat a few of with every meal. Plant a tray, harvest a tray every day. Pet store sunflower seeds work fine.

• For leafy greens, cooking with a tiny bit of water, then putting a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter in halfway through cooking can make new greens less daunting. If you’re not sure about a leafy green, you can always just do 50/50 mix of English spinach/NZ spinach, or Swisschard/mustard greens, etc.

• Check in the early morning which veg you’d like to eat that day and pick them ahead of time. Then make sure afternoon prep is easy enough for the energy you’re likely to have. Don’t make decisions when you’re tired and hungry.

Raising quail and ducks: Exploring alternatives to chickens 31 August, 10-11:30 Saturday, 31 August 10-11:30 Have you ever considered raising quail or ducks instead of chickens? By providing an overview of quail and duck's needs, I hope to help you decide whether quail or ducks might suit your context. We'll cover: health and feeding requirements, space needs and preferences, and much more.
Raising Dairy Goats 14 September, 10-11:30 I wish more people knew about the possibility of raising dairy goats, even in the suburbs! Still, there were a few important things that we needed to get right to be good caretakers. I'll cover goats' social, space, and housing needs, fencing, diet, supplements, breeding and milking... all in 90 minutes! You'll also get to meet our beautiful baby goats.
Nettle workshop 21 September 10-11:30 How to include nettles in your diet and life. They're growing like crazy, and if we can harness all that goodness, we get a lot of food for very little effort.
Cheesemaking basics 29 September, 10-11:30 In this workshop I'll show you how we make soft cheese, as well as explain what is required to make hard cheeses. I focus on soft cheese because this requires less milk for home cheesemakers without goats...
New date Summer Growing Part 2 Sunday 3 November, 10-11:30 While the first summer veg workshop was to get you prepped, the second part will look at how things are growing, check what we can improve, and make plans for the rest of the season.