Digging Into Serenity

05/11/2026

Psst... your smile looks good on you! 🐘💕

05/11/2026

04/11/2026

My life has been busy lately, but I'm trying to make time to follow through with the goals I've set for myself. ❤️

For the second time, I'm having a go at making homemade kimchi! This time I'm using a fermentation crock with a water seal rather than glass jars that need burping every day. Hopefully, this makes the process a little easier and keeps things ticking along while life carries on around me.

I'm using 1.5 kg of chopped Napa cabbage, and here's the recipe I'm following.

🌶️ Homemade Napa Cabbage Kimchi

Ingredients

- 1.5 kg chopped Napa cabbage
- 45 g non-iodised salt
- 1.5 litres water (for brining)
- 50–60 g Korean gochugaru (chilli flakes)
- 60 g garlic, minced
- 30 g fresh ginger, grated
- 100 g carrot, julienned
- 100 g spring onions, chopped
- 30 ml gluten-free tamari
- 1 tbsp sugar (optional)
- 2 tbsp rice flour
- 250 ml water (for rice paste)

Method

1. Dissolve the salt in 1.5 litres of water and add the chopped cabbage. Leave for 1½–2 hours, turning occasionally.
2. Rinse the cabbage thoroughly 2–3 times and drain well for 20–30 minutes.
3. Whisk the rice flour into 250 ml cold water. Heat gently, stirring until thickened. Allow to cool completely.
4. Mix the cooled rice paste with gochugaru, garlic, ginger, tamari and optional sugar.
5. Add the carrot and spring onions.
6. Mix the seasoning paste thoroughly through the drained cabbage until everything is coated.
7. Pack firmly into your fermentation crock, pressing down to remove air pockets. Leave enough headspace and use the weights supplied with your crock to keep the vegetables submerged.

Fermentation

I'll leave the crock at room temperature and keep an eye on the fermentation. Once it reaches the tanginess I enjoy, I'll transfer it to the fridge to slow things down.

Here's hoping the second attempt is a success! There's something satisfying about making your own fermented foods and adding another little bit of self-sufficiency to everyday life. 🌱

03/11/2026

I had been walking past the snow peas for days thinking, "I really must pick those!"

Oh boy, was I in for a surprise! 😱

Hiding amongst all those snow pea vines were HUNDREDS of pods! Not bad for seeds that were YEARS out of date! 🤣

700g of snow peas in ONE picking, and I didn't even strip them all!

I left some of the older pods to save seeds from and some of the younger ones to grow on a little longer.

I did pick a few of the older pods because I know that if I julienne them, they'll be perfect for throwing into a stir-fry. Easy peasy! (Oh yes, I absolutely did 🤣).

The smaller, tender ones can go straight into the pan whole.

I also took the opportunity to harvest some of the root crops to make room for summer plantings like tomatoes. So kohlrabi, turnips and beetroot came home with me too.

Feeling very lucky right now. ❤️

It's moments like this that make all the digging, planting, watering and waiting worthwhile. There's something incredibly satisfying about seeing your hard work finally pay off.

And apparently, those old seeds still had plenty of life left in them! 🌱

03/11/2026

Critter spam from morning walkies ❤️. Lots of kangaroos this morning and the three Amigos tried to convince us to go pet them. We didn't feel like getting spat at so took photos instead!

02/11/2026

Do you chide yourself for not getting enough done?

I had been giving myself a hard time for not getting the four beds filled in a timely fashion, especially when the change of season knocked me around.

I had the mulch, the sheep manure, the rock dust, the blood and bone meal. I even had the two elderberry trees, along with the peppermint and spearmint plants.

I noticed the mint was struggling, so I dropped some sheep manure into the saucer underneath the two pots.

The mints did what mints do! They moved into the saucer! 🤣

This is exactly why, if you plant mint, you need to keep it contained. My apple, common and chocolate mints all have concrete or slabs underneath them.

For the latest bed, I used geofabric underneath the deep raised bed. As always, I filled roughly two-thirds of the bed with mulch, then added blood and bone, rock dust, minerals and sheep manure.

Why so many fertilisers?

Well, I only eat plants, so those plants need nutrients to give back to me! Our Aussie sandy soils can be deficient in a range of micronutrients, and when I'm building new soil, ensuring there's a broad spectrum of nutrients available to support the soil microbes is frightfully important.

Anyway, enough soil geekiness... this is about the mints!

They filled their little pots and then happily moved into the saucers. Perfect!

Once youngest had easily lifted the elderberries into their new bed, I got to work on the mints.

Each root ball became two new plants. Each pot of spearmint and peppermint gave me five or more new plants!

So perhaps I wasn't as far behind as I thought.

Sometimes being slow has hidden benefits. In this case, it gave the mint time to multiply, leaving me with even more plants to fill the garden.

Progress doesn't always look like progress. Sometimes it's quietly multiplying in a saucer. 🤣💚

02/11/2026

Spring growth is finally happening! 🌱❤️

While I'm watching my Northern Hemisphere homesteading friends enjoying their bountiful harvests, my little Western Australian garden is finally waking up and showing some serious spring growth!

The newest BIG bed, Colossus, is putting on a remarkable show!

Pumpkins, zucchinis, bush beans and lettuces are practically doubling in size every day. It's so exciting to see that kind of progress after all the work that has gone into building these beds and getting them planted.

Unfortunately, the chooks seem to think I've created an all-you-can-eat salad bar just for them. Hahaha! 😂🐔

The overwintered golden tomatoes are also producing beautifully, so I enjoyed a lovely fresh garden salad for lunch today. 😋

Snow peas, sugar snap peas, celery, fresh herbs and some of the baby lettuce leaves all made their way into the bowl.

There's something special about walking out into your own garden, picking lunch and enjoying the rewards of all that effort.

After months of planning, planting, mulching, watering and occasionally questioning my life choices, these little moments make it all worthwhile.

My heart is happy. ❤️🌱