Sustainable Garden: Worm Towers

Sustainable Garden: Worm Towers

I am biased, but I think that a love of good food will lead you to a love of the freshest ingredients, and the freshest ingredients come from your own garden. The next natural step is a gardening and doing that in a sustainable and ethical way is also a cost effective way. Sharing your wins, lessons and seeds with neighbours, friends, family and well, anyone, is just a natural way to help us all live sustainably :)

Inspired by a number of permaculture and sustainability websites and blogs, particularly this one, I decided to make a number of worm towers for our vegetable gardens and to put some near our fruit trees. I can honestly say, that they have been excellent!! By far the best composting venture we have undertaken in the garden. Within a couple of hours, from either recycled or new materials, you can have worm towers in the ground, or in a large pot on your patio!

The idea is to put all your vegetable and fruit scraps (excluding onions or garlic, as the compost worms can die from them) and let the compost worms and their castings fertilise your plants for you! It is not smelly at all, and it is SO simple. (Compost worms are a red variety that you can buy from garden shops or perhaps a friend can get you started with some of theirs).

I took some PVC pipe left over from a plumbing job and drilled a number of good sized holes into the sides, leaving about 30cms at the top without holes. I've also used an old tall bucket with a lid for another large one. Recycle away!! Ours have been so successful that I'm keeping an eye out on council clean up days for spare pipe left on the curb for rubbish collection, so that we can up-cycle them to worm towers.

Then bury the pipes into the soil; leaving about 20cms above the dirt line.

Cover the top of the pipe with a piece of mesh or old t-shirt (to keep the flies out), and upturn a pot over the pipe and cloth to keep the vermin and possums out.

Time to get it started. Add layers of manure, straw or other dry composting material, add the composting worms (you can buy them from some garden centres e.g. Bunnings or perhaps from a friend's existing worm farm) and then add fruit and vegetable scraps, and cover with something dry e.g old paper or more straw/mulch. Put the cloth and lid on and you are done! Give them a water once every couple of weeks and keep adding the food and mulch.

The upside down brown pots in the vege bed are all that you can see of the worm towers :)

They are super easy, super efficient and not smelly. They are unobtrusive too. My 4yo daughter and my husband cycle through the worm towers and fill them up over a number of weeks. Easy!!

Have fun and give them a go.

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Baked Brown Rice & Bean Risotto

Baked Brown Rice & Bean Risotto
Serves 4
Prep time 5-10mins
Cooking time 1hr 15mins

Baked Brown Rice & Bean Risotto

1 cup Brown rice (or 3/4 cup brown rice + 1/4 cup millet)
4 Tbsp Basil pesto verde (bought or Cashew Basil Pesto Verde)
1 Red onion diced
8 button mushrooms halved and sliced
1 Tsp salt
cracked pepper to taste
3 Tsp Nutritional yeast
400gm can of beans (I used kidney beans).
3 cups of boiling water.



This is super easy. I think even a child with supervision could do it! (It's also a great end of the pay week dish!) And of course it's gluten free, dairy free and vegan :) My daughter exclaimed that I was the best mum ever for cooking this, gave it a thumbs up and promptly hoovered it. As a mum, that's about as good as it gets with food!

Combine all the ingredients into a pyrex lasagne or baking dish and add the boiling water. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 Deg C for 1hr 15mins. You could throw this on and in the oven, then get on with getting kids / home / stuff organised ;)

This is a great dish to prepare in advance and either keep warm or serve immediately with a nice crisp salad or some baked vegetables e.g. carrot, beetroot. parsnips and onion, or some steamed veges or pan-fried English spinach.

There are many variations for this dish that will keep it fresh, interesting and seasonally relevant.

Variations: 

• Replace some or all of the mushrooms with some grated zuchini and / or carrot.
• Use different beans eg Borlotti, navy beans, or chickpeas, or peas, or corn, or lentils or any legume you like.
• Grated pumpkin and chickpeas.

Enjoy :)

Bon appetite!

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Creamy Pumpkin, Pesto and Pea Pasta

Creamy Pumpkin, Pesto and Pea Pasta
Serves 4-6

Creamy pumpkin, pesto and pea pasta.

1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1 red Spanish onion diced
1 brown onion diced
1 cup pumpkin (diced into approx 2cm cubes)
1/3 cup cashew nut basil pesto (recipe here!)
1/4 Tsp salt
cracked pepper to taste
1 Tsp lemon juice
1 1/2 cups of non-dairy milk (I usually use Bonsoy)
1 cup cold water
2 1/2 Tbsp arrowroot powder
1 1/2 cups of thawed frozen peas
1 packet of pasta - I used gluten free amaranth and  rice pasta.

This sauce marries the flavour of the pumpkin with lovely little bites of peas. It's is very easy and super yummy!

To a warmed saucepan with the olive oil, add the onions. Caramelise the onions and then add the pumpkin.  Cook until the pumpkin is soft (cooked all the way through). Add the basil pesto, salt, cracked pepper, lemon juice, non-dairy milk, and water to the saucepan. Combine and blend with a slender blender until smooth. Stir over medium heat until the sauce has thickened. Add the thawed peas and heat.

 Cook your pasta as per the packet directions. Drain and finish with a little oil oil and salt.

Pour the pasta sauce over the pasta, stir gently and serve.

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Cashew Basil Pesto Verde (vegan, dairy free & gluten free)

Cashew Basil Pesto Verde
Makes out 1 1/2 cups

Cashew Basil Pesto Verde - Vegan, dairy free, gluten free.

2 cups of basil leaves (packed in fairly firmly)
1 cups of cashew nuts
10 cloves of garlic
1 cup extra virgin olive oil + extra for the top
A small squeeze of lemon juice
1/2 Tsp of salt or to taste
A little cracked pepper.


Our Italian basil has done so well this season and I have made LOADS of this pesto. It is absolutely delicious and a firm favourite at our place. The use of cashews, instead of pine nuts, in the pesto makes it sweeter (and cheaper) than a pesto made with pine nuts. It is beautiful and bountiful.

Verde is naturally dairy free and gluten free, and vegan :)

Making it is super easy ...
Add all the ingredients to a food processor and blitz until the desired texture is achieved. Place into an airtight container and cover with a little olive oil to slow the oxidisation (browning). Done! Very easy and delicious.

It goes great with the Creamy Pumpkin Pesto and Pea pasta, on a cracker, added to our favourite salad dressing base, or stirred through some plain pasta.

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Wholemeal Spelt Hot Cross Buns

Wholemeal Spelt Hot Cross Buns
Makes approx 12 rolls

Wholemeal Spelt Hot Cross Buns - no added Sugar.

Buns:
2/ cup warm soy milk
1 Tsp dried yeast
1 cup Apple & pear juice (or just plain apple or pear juice)
4 Tbsp Rice bran oil
500g Wholemeal spelt Flour
1/2 Tsp Ground cinnamon
1/2 Tsp Ground cloves
1/2 Tsp Ground nutmeg
1/2 Tsp Allspice
3/4 Tsp Salt
1/2 cup Sultanas + 1/2 cup Currents, or 1 cup of any mixed dried fruit (organic if you can as they are sulphur dioxide free and taste the best)

Cross:
1/3 cup wholemeal flour
water to form a paste

Glaze:
1 Tbsp Rice malt
1 Tbsp hot water

Easter for me is ALLLLL about the buns. For some people it's about the chocolate (and the Jesus part). But for me, unashamedly, it's all about the buns. I LOVE Hot Cross Buns :D I refuse to buy hot cross buns no earlier than 2 weeks before Easter.. otherwise they don't feel special :D The best hot cross buns are home made with love and fun. Why not give them a go? (Palm oil free & preservative free ...)

These are made with no added sugar - > yes, fruit juice, dried fruit and rice malt both have sugars in them, but it's not got the same glycemic kick as regular sugar (glucose), and if you want you can forgo the rice malt glaze. The fruit juice gives the bun a lovely light sweetness that allows you to savour the little hits of sweetness from the dried fruit.
 

Making the dough:
Line a lamington tin or lasagne dish with silicon paper or grease with oil.

Add the dried yeast to the warm soy milk, plus add 1 Tbsp from the flour and mix until the yeast has melted/ dissolved. Let the mixture sit for 10mins until it starts to foam. Add the apple and pear juice.

Combine the flour, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice and salt. Stir through the oil. Add the yeast mixture and dried fruit. Mix until all the ingredients are combined.  This will be a wetter dough than normal bread. The wetter/stickier dough will help provide a lighter and fluffier bun. Knead for about 5mins either by hand or in a machine. Let the dough rest in an oiled bowl, covered with a plastic bag (I recycle my shopping bags for these jobs) or plate. Place the bowl in a warm place for 40mins to 1 hr until the dough doubles in size (first proofing).

When the dough has finished it's first proof, knock the dough back by kneading it for a couple of minutes with wet hands and a damp bench (this stops the dough sticking to your hands and bench). Cut the dough into 3 sections and then divide those sections into 4 pieces - you will have approx 12 rolls. With your wet/damp hands roll the dough pieces into balls and place in your prepared dish. Once the rolled buns are in the dish, you need to cover the buns and let if proof again.

To to keep the moisture in and the bugs out, plus stop the dough from touching the bag/sticking, I create a tent from a plastic bag by placing the bag over the dish using the base/seam of the bag as the top of your tent and tuck the handles until the dish/tin. It should trap in some air to keep it from collapsing onto the rolls.

Preheat the oven to 220Deg C. Set aside to proof for approximately 40mins or until the buns have roughly doubled in size.
 


Making the cross:
Combine the 1/3 of a cup of flour with some water until you have a thick paste. If it's too runny the crosses will end up being very fat and too thick and it could be hard to pipe it out. Pipe the paste onto the buns to form crosses or smiley faces if you prefer :) I used a snap-lock bag (a small corner cut out) as our piping bag burst.



Baking & Glaze:
Bake the buns for approximately 10-15mins until golden brown. Remove from the oven to cool on a wire rack. Combine the rice malt and hot water and brush onto the buns immediately after they come out of the oven.

I used silicon paper, which enabled me to lift the buns easily out of the dish and cool quickly without any sweating.

Enjoy! Happy Easter to all those celebrating at this time :)

Wholemeal spelt Hot Crossed buns

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