Sweet Memories & Mysteries

Almost first harvest time... of Lughnasadh... of the grain, and what feeds me.... and so, I turn to the garden once more for inspiration, to find that almost every square meter of garden I've made holds memories of people I have loved, and places I've lived. 


Much of my garden has travelled with me throughout my life, and without the familiar scents and textures, I feel a little lost... Cuttings and seeds, saved from my own precious crops, and plants generously given to me as gifts, or passed down through families and friends, tell the story of me to myself... So precious is my small collection, yet to someone else, they may simply be greenery...

For instance, this wild-looking Penstemon, comes from a handsome plant by my mother's front gate, that so cleverly shaded the roots of her elegant, formal hybrid tea roses... I remember her fondly, working away in her front garden, each time I walk past this delicate little treasure.

And this little rose, was originally propagated for me by my mother-in-law, a wise plantswoman, who taught me much about gardening. She loved this plant because it was a French rose her husband loved, and remembered it growing in his own mother's garden in Guernsey. When I moved to this place, my dear friend propagated a new rose from the one I'd been given. It had grown too large to be transplanted, & is rather rare. The same friend, gave me an elder tree, lovingly grown from a cutting taken from her farm, when she moved to the city... Now I have a small orchard of them, all grown from cuttings, and each one producing the frothy white flowers I love for midsummer champagne, which she says is as a Faerie's kiss... Ha! So on the story goes, my garden history merges with hers.... 

 Another friend, years ago, was given a root cutting of this excellent red rhubarb by her father... I was fortunate to be the recipient of another piece, when she was dividing her plot, and last winter, I passed on 5 more crowns from my own thriving clump to my son, who now has the delicious ruby jewels growing in his own little patch of Paradise....

So, as you can see, there is much history in my garden, and in the gardens of all gardeners who treasure plants because of their associations, as much as their usefulness.

In every garden plant, there is a story connecting it to someone's life.... it may reach back through history... it may have touched the heart of millions, or just one... Such is the mystery of gardens...

 

Happy New Year

Already into 2014,and still scratching my head, wondering what it all really means...

In the Southern Hemisphere, the calender flip in January, occurs in high summer. Winter solstice, signalling return of the light & traditional New Year occurs here in June, which means we are out of sync with nature's seasons, as indicated by a calender, formulated for the Northern Hemisphere.... or out of sync with the calender.... whichever way you look at it, it's confusing.....

I find myself making a distinction between the 2 worlds of Home & Hearth, and Business & Commerce, when actually, I know they are all one experience, and my heart yearns for some sort of balancing of dates that reflect the seasons... yet we must follow the rest of the world in times & dates, which are. after all, just human constructs, designed to make life easier in the first place...

Which brings me to think this may account for a sort of covert awe of old traditions, combined with a certain degree of skepticism, & even cynicism in an Australian psyche... feeling out of time, and out of place.... Not knowing if we are working forwards or backwards, and constantly having to change and adapt our experiences in order to reconcile them with what is supposed by the rest of the world to be "correct"...



When you're in high summer, and exchanging cards with snowmen and robin redbreasts, drinking a wee dram of warming whisky & singing Auld Lang Syne although might be 35 degrees and you don't know if the fireworks will be allowed at midnight due to high fire danger, New Year celebrations can feel a bit silly...

Like so many Australians, I am getting better at working backwards.... not following dates & times as much as getting a job done when it needs to be attended to, taking as long as it takes for completion...

So here's to a 2014 of deeper understanding, of seeing the essence of things, and of creating new traditions that include everyone.

Wishing you a very kind year, wherever you are, and whatever the season.

A Brilliant Summer Solstice to You

Summer Solstice and time once more to do a bit of a personal review.... 
... I've achieved a lot this year... and I feel pretty pleased with the way things are going... of course, there is always room for improvement. It seems to me, that the more encouragement I get, the easier it is to shine brightly. Well, after all, that's what Marigolds do, is it not?

But not only Marigolds... everyone can shine, and everyone has something of value to contribute to the world... It seems tragic not to shine for fear of being cut down by criticism...

So, I would like to see people being kind.... actively encouraging each other to shine - to reach further and glow brighter.... It's not only for ourselves that we need to beam out our brightness, but it is for the world, which can't be the same without every single individual.... 

Every single flower makes a beautiful garden.


Wishing you a splendid Solstice, and I'm looking forward to basking in your brilliant illumination!

The importance of working at play

I feel a big shift in my attitude to work this year, & am joyful...

my workspace - a creative play room for an adult

I used to feel guilty, having so much fun when I was meant to be working! Ha!

Engaged in creative work, I relax, & enjoy life... I'm in the child-like frame of mind required to connect with the creative process ... my ideas can take flight, & I am free, feeling light & strong...

                one small room contains my tools for creating happiness

As a child, almost everything I did was a creative act... constructing worlds in the sand pit, creating creatures in plasticine, drawing, painting, making with glue & scissors... even arranging peas on my plate, or soap bubbles in the bath...


You can read my first guest blog post here: 
http://annefallas.blogspot.fr/ - 
   It's about women & transformation, & the invitation to write this piece really encouraged me to take the required playful element of my work very seriously.

It is part of the process of acceptance... of who I am, what I am, & how I fit into the pattern of nature.... just as I am... 
..... part of growing up....

Where is the spirit within art from?

Working with clay lately, has me wondering where ideas really come from. Is it from the collective unconscious, or my own unconscious mind, or am I simply opening the door of my mind, & letting in entities that want to manifest in this material world, and use art as their entry point.

I wonder about the latter, because we so easily form a personal relationship with famous subjects of great art, like Mona Lisa or Michelangelo's David, who are from a different time & place, yet we can still relate to them as individuals. It is the daemon of each art work with which we connect, not just the design. By that, I mean the spirit that inhabits the work - much like the spirit of place of any particular location... we "know" it intuitively.

My own process with sculpture, is a completely intuitive affair. It seems any preconceived idea I may begin with, is quickly thwarted, as the clay morphs & changes, the end result often a complete surprise to me, the maker. Even the end of a piece can come as suddenly as the jolt that wakes a person sleeping on a bus... Without warning, a piece is complete, & the process over.

Completely unpredictable, I wonder just how much of me is actually in my work... and yet, I know that nobody else would produce anything the same as I, & that I can not produce any work the same as that of another artist...

I like to think this is a great mystery, and that it can never be explained, and wonder how many other people find this is their experience too.

Bouquet Garni Vegetable Garden

In my unruly spring vegetable garden, space for new plants is scarce.The current residents are still busy self-seeding, and look beautiful. This happens every year, and every year, I vow to aim for nice neat beds and thinner plantings for higher yields, but it never happens, because I prefer a lovely tangle of spilling flowers and lush greenery....

More importantly, the plants, left to their own devices, companion each other without my interference. Where once was juicy borage, is now a lush mop of silky parsley, growing in borage's improved soil, and around strawberries, sweetly-scented chamomile offers filtered cover, hiding succulent, soft fruit from predatory birds... Nasturtiums romp everywhere there is space, and are a decoy for caterpillars on soft, green lettuce and brocolli... Rabbits haven't discovered the tender seedlings hidden within what must feel like a jungle to the furry gourmets... There are so many examples of nature's intelligence here...

So, for now, I am willing to abdicate responsibility, and harvest less produce... I feel quite satisfied... and I suspect so do the ladybirds and butterflies...

As You Like It South-East Asian Inspired Soup with Chilli

MISS MARIGOLD'S HOT CHILLI SOUP "RECIPE" (feeds 4-6, depending on how hungry!)

Welcome to Miss M's Cookery Class!
I love making soup, & it's really easy if you just follow a few basics... it's slow food, soul food for the whole person, not just the body... when you cook soup, take time... stir in good intentions... it really makes a difference...if you make extra,  you can freeze it for when you're cold & want something quickly... but cook it slowly... cook it lovingly... er... better read this before you begin as well!

There's no official "recipe" for this soup... so, as with almost all my cooking, it's "as you like it" - quantities will be whatever is in the store cupboard or garden, & it's never the same, but always sustaining.

I do need a few basic INGREDIENTS though:

onion, garlic, fresh ginger, chillies, & when I can purchase it, fresh turmeric, limes or lemons (can add a little of the zest as well - especially if supplies are short!) ...
carrots, chopped coriander (fresh, preferably with the roots attached), red capsicum... I like finely chopped fennel for sweetness & aroma...

*fish sauce (vegetarians substitute a little soy), soy sauce, tinned low fat coconut milk (ok, dessicated if you must!), sweet chilli sauce, good quality powdered vegie stock, good quality vegetable oil... sesame oil if you have it...water...salt - as pure & clean as you can get it - cheap supermarket salt leaves a nasty taste on the back of your tongue...

VEGETABLES: It's an "anything you've got" meal, so try to balance the flavours & textures to please your palate : create!
mushrooms, silverbeet (chard), baby spinach, baby bok choi, peas, snow peas (mangetout) green beans, shredded cabbage, mung bean (or any) sprouts, watercress, finely shredded kale
I have been known to add crushed tomatoes, extra fennel, zucchini (courgettes), broccoli, & I can't remember what else.

RICE NOODLES OR COOKED LONG GRAIN RICE can be added for "bulk" in cold weather. In fact, I'd even chuck in some cooked, diced potato, but remember to balance the flavours - starchy things seem to dull the piquancy...


USE : HEAVY BASED POT WITH A LID, (I also need a trivet on the stove, as I sometimes burn the bottom!) & NICE LONG HANDLED SPOON TO STIR (so you don't burn yourself!) and PLEASE make sure your KNIVES are SHARP so you don't cut yourself as easily, & so you actually slice through the vegetables, rather than bruising them... nicely cut vegies actually taste better - it's worth the trouble...

 METHOD:

Collect your ingredients... 

Chop 1 onion, & separately,
finely chop together 2 or 3 cloves garlic, peeled fresh ginger, about the size of your thumb or less, 2 long, sweet de-seeded chillies, or 2 fiery birdseye chillis, - whatever you think (NOTE BELOW)
peeled fresh turmeric 3/4 size of thumb & a few cleaned coriander roots, if you have them - impossible to say how many - taste varies so much, so at least 6, & no more than 10, & powdered tastes different, but is acceptable)... a MORTAR & PESTLE are satisfying, & bash the tough coriander root well, but I prefer a sharp knife...hmmm...

So, as with any soup, slowly sweat your onion in a tablespoon (or so) of oil with lid on pot, 10 mins at least (do NOT burn it - this is crucial to the success of good soup!), to release its delicate sweetness, and then add the above ingredients, along with a dash of sesame oil, & a little citrus zest if liked, then cook very, very gently, until all is soft and the aromas combine... your kitchen will smell divine!

Add hard vegies, like a couple of carrots & a sliced capsicum & some fennel - sweat them gently, until they release some juices, then sweat some mushrooms if you like, for a bit of depth... then water to cover about 3/4 of vegetables, & some of the citrus juice, turn up the heat to simmer, & then begin to add the sauces & stock - PLAY with this part... adding just a dash of each at a time, & tasting in between until you're happy with it - fish sauce stinks, & overpowers the dish very easily - BE CONSERVATIVE!... add vegie stock before any salt - is already salty, & recommended stock/water ratio is on the packet! Add more water to cover well... simmer... taste... add coconut....taste... adjust sauces & seasoning...taste...there should be a balance of sweet & sour flavours... keep topping up the water if it evaporates.. (boiling from kettle is best) 
Maximum 10 minutes before serving, add freshly chopped coriander, keeping some aside for garnish... herbs loose their robust essential oils if overcooked... and if you're using rice noodles or cooked rice, (or potato) this is a good time to add them, to stop them going gluggy (yuk!)... also, slivers of fennel, or bean sprouts or anything very tender should go in at the last minute, to keep them firm & fresh tasting....a final taste... adjust seasoning.

Serve in bowls, garnish with more chopped coriander (or whole leaves if you like) & finely sliced red chilli, with  a bowl of sliced chilli on the side, & slices of lemon or lime, soy sauce, salt & extra sweet chilli. I'm pretty sure you already have your favourites!

... golden & steaming, smelling clean & fresh, tasty & nourishing... worth using fresh ingredients, organic if possible, & preferably from garden to plate!

BUON APPETITO!


*notes on chillies - they vary in heat! If you're unsure as to how hot they are, carefully try nibbling a bit without the seeds... if it's mild, use it whole, but if hot, de-seed - you can always add more as a condiment when your soup is cooked & WASH the juice off your hands, board & knife!!!