neglected
It's been so long since I posted a post that I forgot how to log into my blog host.
Oh, neglect.
Works well in many instances. Pumpkins. Best left neglected (as long as there's a bit of rain) and all of a sudden you've got a paddock of pumpkins. So many pumpkins that I'm dizzily taking photos of pretty pumpkin flowers, it's like I woke up completely pumpkin crazy. Look! So pretty, right?!
I've started stacking pumpkins against a wall. Dad suggests I put them (this below is a little portion of the crop) on the roof of a shed, like they've always done, but then I won't be able to admire them! That's part of it, right? Being able to admire a massive stack of pumpkins outside the laundry, not totally in everyone's way?
And our bees. A tad neglected. And THEN! Adam opens the hives and VOILA! They're awesome! and have made lots of HONEY!!! (More on this shortly.)
I'm a dedicated proponent of benign neglect as a parenting strategy. If we don't entertain them, they will go off and write comic books or play on a flying fox or build a base (whatever that is) or dig up all the beetroot seeds you planted yesterday. (Yes, *cough*, a strategy not so effective for two year olds.)
And of course there's the dreadfully neglected promise of a Monday's cake. Dreadful. We need more cake around here, I'm sure you'll agree.
Meanwhile we've been baking and packaging biscuits, crackers and oatcakes all day for our local food co-op order tomorrow, chatting to chicken customers, ordering a swine tattoo and trying to figure out additional accommodation for laying hens.
Swine tattoo? Perhaps not what you think. It's a temporary ink brand you paint on a pigs bum before they have their one bad day, in order to identify the farm they came from and where they need to be sent to.
It was a few very short years ago all I did was a bit of bookkeeping in an office.
I'm so happy to be here.
Hope your heart's not neglected either. Was your day fun? Even a little bit? Do you just totally adore pumpkins?
xxx
Melanie @ M&M
April 17, 2013 at 11:53 pmYes I totally adore pumpkins! And it’s so lovely to “hear” from you again. Thank you for sharing your days, time, and photos with us.
We are spring cleaning around here and warming up quite nicely.
Happy Wednesday to you and yours : )
Lyssa
April 18, 2013 at 12:52 amOh my, those pumpkins are looking delicious! I would leave them out where I could see them too ; )
Thunderstorms and tornado weather is what my area is currently experiencing, but I still feel spring around the corner!
Penny Hannah
April 18, 2013 at 1:42 amGlad to have back on the blog again: but then, how you manage to do that as well as all 1,001 things a country wife, business manager and pumpkin grower has to do. is beyond me! I can almost smell pumpkin scones here……
Lisa
April 18, 2013 at 5:20 amGreat photos , Pumpkin cake maybe?
innerpickle
April 18, 2013 at 6:43 amHi Melanie! Happy Spring cleaning! We had a bit of a rough summer with the heat so Im pretty happy were on the other side of the seasons over here right now. Bring on Winter!
innerpickle
April 18, 2013 at 6:50 amPumpkin scones, GENIUS idea Penny, thanks xx
Charley
April 18, 2013 at 7:34 amGood to hear from you again! Are you going to be at Gerringong markets this Saturday? 🙂
Sarah
April 18, 2013 at 9:09 amI have a backyard full of pumpkins. While I admire their life force (mine are self-seeded)I despise their taste. But I’m not one for letting good fresh produce go to waste so pumpkin curry is on high rotation, as is pumpkin cake. Anything where you can’t actually taste the pumpkin!
Linda Halkyard
April 18, 2013 at 11:19 amHi fantastic to hear from you I have been checking every day I am a creature of habit ,pumpkin soup is my fav but I would like to learn how you make pumpkin scones I am new to this cook from scratch thing ha ha anyway have a good one .
Linda
Deborah Taylor
April 18, 2013 at 11:34 amInner Pickle is back and the world is good again, welcome back.
Bee Girl (AKA Melissa)
April 18, 2013 at 1:48 pmGlad you’re back! And yes…Pumpkins really are the best 🙂
innerpickle
April 18, 2013 at 4:34 pmOh thats lovely, thank you for that xx
Alex C
April 18, 2013 at 9:30 pmYay, you’re back. I’ve missed seeing how you are doing! I made Thai pumpkin soup the other night – very yummy. Good variation on ye olde traditional version. Next you’ll have to plant a coconut tree for the coconut milk!
Julie
April 19, 2013 at 1:21 amOh to have such devoted followers as you do! I miss all the baby pics any chance of another?
This year my husband, Will planted heirloom supersweet corn, in rounds. After the corn was 6-inches tall, he planted rattlesnake pole beans and sugar pie pumpkins close by. This is called The 3 Sisters and the Native American Indians found that by planting their crops this way the corn provided a pole for the beans. The beans provided nitrogen for the corn, and the pumpkins kept the raccoons and other corn eating varmints away from the corn and kept the ground weed free! I’ll let you know if this works for us :- )
Your pumpkins are just lovely! My favorite is stuffed pumpkin filled with savory sausage, diced onion, mushrooms, celery, slivered almonds, sour cream, Parmesan and an egg to bind it all together! Absolutely yummy! I’m also very fond of pumpkin pie!
Write when you are able! I love hearing about your country adventures!
xxx
innerpickle
April 19, 2013 at 7:08 amI am definitely trying that delicious stuffed pumpkin idea! Ideally with savoury pork sausage! Thanks Julie, that sounds gorgeous. x
Jo
April 19, 2013 at 8:00 amYay you’re back. I missed following all your farm adventures
Jo
Just Joyful
April 20, 2013 at 7:34 amIt’s so good to see you back – I have missed you! I’ve been off the air for a couple of days myself, whilst we made the big move from Sydney out to Bathurst. We are so excited! Once we have finished unpacking, I can start on my big plans for a vegie patch – but I don’t know if we have enough room for pumpkins on the scale that you have them. They look wonderful!
Sue
April 21, 2013 at 7:22 pmOooh, that’s all lovely stuff going on! I’m having a quiet cup of tea with you, my dear, and vegemite toast, mmmmm-mmmm. The kids are watching tv- it’s going to be warm and lovely a bit later, when the sun gets to the back garden and melts off the frost (!) but for now, eh, whatever. They watched Nickelodeon last weekend, which reminded me how forgivable cBeebies is.
I’m just about officialy ready to give up on the idea of having chooks, (we back onto train tracks, and the foxes are unbelievably bold, and active all day and night,) and thinking about bees. Only thinking, though. Really, with the neglect? I try it on my kids every single day, but it never works out for long. But early days yet- I’m not giving up.
I love pumpkin, and those are so pretty they could sit by the front door, too. We usually have a few on the doorstep when the jack-o-lanterns come out, but rarely carve anything- then you cant eat them!
I have such fun ideas of what the pigs’ tattoo could look like!
And hey, speaking of cake, I have a question for you, but only if it’s quick and easy. I have had a packet of ground rice in the cupboard for so long I’ve forgotten what I bought it for. It was probably something I saw here, but browsed back and couldn’t find anything- any ideas?
Anyway, I came backwards through these last few posts, so must move along and say other silly things. Glad to have you back.
innerpickle
April 21, 2013 at 9:54 pmGround rice? Or rice flour? How fine is it? I use rice flour in shortbread, Id try ground rice in crackers? Not ringing any bells babe… xxx
Robyn R
April 22, 2013 at 9:26 pmYou take aweome photos. But get yourself a macro lens and have some serious fun with those pumpkin flowers. I took some hippeastrum photos with macro lens a while ago and …. WOW! Takes the run-of-the-mill ordinary household flower into something extraordinary.