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Mary Riekert's Groups
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Gemsquash
2 members
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Root Cellars and Food St…
63 members
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Southeast Asian Food Ent…
14 members
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Tomatoes
67 members
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Recipe Exchange
73 members
Mary Riekert's Discussions
Winter Seed Catalog Mania
Not such a bad idea. I wonder if they would get past our quarantine service? How long can you keep seeds? Some of mine are more than a year old but have germinated when I planted them the next summer…
Replied Jan 20
Winter Seed Catalog Mania
Penelope, it's a global phenomenon! It's great to think that while we southern hemisphere gardeners are busy growing and harvesting you are dreaming about what you will plant in the spring. Then in J…
Replied Jan 12
Mary Riekert's Page
Latest Activity
Profile Information
- Where do you live and garden?
- Seville, Victoria on 1.2 acres
- How long have you been growing food?
- forever!
Mary Riekert's Photos
Comment Wall (11 comments)
- At 10:04pm on January 11, 2010,
Kathryn said…
- Hi Mary, I noticed in your post you said you have mulberry trees. If you are looking to make something different from them you could try this. Harvest your mulberries and squeeze them to make juice, I used a cheesecloth and help of my son and squeeze out about 10 kilos, you then just boil the juice down until it becomes the consistency of a syrup. This is very healthy can be used as a desert syrup, used here as a tonic for everything and in some cases as a sugar substitute.
- At 8:06pm on January 10, 2010,
Gillian said…
- Hi Mary,
I have never been to Perth but have heard how similar it is to South Africa, and of course that there are a lot of ex South Africans living there. I have tons of gem squash seeds so you are welcome to have a try. I know it is too humid here, but keep hoping that I get a window where they will work :) I have some that came up from some compost, but we are in the height of the wet now, so doubt they will survive.
I have had some of those pink guavas - bought them at a farmers market in Cairns, and they tasted (and smelt) just like I had remembered. I meant to share them, but before I knew it they were all gone! Remember the tinned gauvas with custard? I loved that! Happy new year and take care in that heat!
- At 1:15am on January 3, 2010,
Gillian said…
- Hi Mary,
Just wanted to let you know since you also come from SA that we bought some gemsuash through a mail order catalogue. I have saved the seeds so if you want i can send you some. I think they should grow during your summer - I will try here duing our winter - it is too hot and humid at the moment. did you grow them when you were in Durban? I know they grew well in JHB. Just send me your address if you are interested to vemvaan@ gmail.com and I will pop some in the mail.
- At 5:59pm on November 23, 2009,
Sally Parrot said… - Thanks Mary! We'll try and get down at the weekend. wasn't the rain fantastic!!!!!!
Sal
- At 11:19pm on November 17, 2009,
Steph Webb said… - Gee thank you so much Mary....I will be going to see if i can get one for myself....My mother and grandmother were great bottle preservers through out the years...but they did it the old fashioned way and my mum also used to use a pressure cooker to do her bottling. She was bottling some curried fish while out camping one year, i was really little , and the bottle exploded and the lid of the pressure cooker came adrift and she ended up with the most terrible burns on her arms , which she had instinctively raised to protect her face ! She still has the scars and as a little child i used to ask her over and over again about the incident. Gosh! funny how memories come flooding back...that was in the '60's :))))
- At 5:10pm on November 17, 2009,
Gillian said…
- Hi Mary,
Yes I am getting used to the tropical climate, although I will never enjoy the humidity. I cannot imagine dry temperatures in the mid thirties though - the highest it gets here is about 30, but the humidity is what gets you. I do love all the tropcial fruits and vegetables (and flowers). My hubby quietly informed me the other day that he thinks I might like snake beans a bit more than he does! I am game to try anything new and different, especially if it grows prolifically.
- At 12:54am on November 17, 2009,
Steph Webb said…
- Hi Mary...oh my goodness i cannot believe we have simular roots! wow! I lived in Durban before coming here in 1999. It has been an adventure getting used to the climate and changes day by day, also knowing what to plant and if things grow the same here etc...but i am so getting there!
I see Maggie made a comment about myself and Gillian in our gardens already...i just couldnt wait to get going! I have been working full time for the past 9 years with very little time to garden and even less inclination with the weather either being too hot or too cold...i know excuses ..excuses... :) I have now gone onto a 1 day a week position , which suits our family much better and gives the time and motivation to get gardening...yay yay yay! I have tried bottling things in the past , my mother was fantastic with preserves..and i have a fantastic recipe book to go through too...keeping it handy...so if anyone needs a recipe , i will look to see if i have the one you need :)
- At 12:41am on November 17, 2009,
Maggie said…
- Thank you for your kind words Mary.
I love the KGI site. It is great to learn from others.
I like the preserving and kimche groups.
I am growing lots of chillies and am going to try drying them in the sun.
I have lots of bundles of herbs outside drying in the shade.
- At 11:54pm on November 16, 2009,
Maggie said…
- Hi Mary,
Welcome to KGI, it is great to see more Aussies on this site.
I see Steph and Gillian busy in their gardens.
We are having this November heatwave here is SA, so when ever it is not 40 degrees Celsius we are out in the garden.
- At 11:51pm on November 16, 2009,
Steph Webb said…
- Thanks for the comment and advice there Mary, my potted veggies and fruit trees are only temp for another 6 to 8 months until we move into our new house. It will have a small backyard which i am going to plant my food in and keep a couple of chooks. I am concerned about the winters and how best to protect the fruit trees and grow veggies etc...so i really can do with all the advice i can get :) Thankfully one can get a bigger variety of fruit trees now which will grow in Melbourne area. I have been reading up about how to set up a permaculture garden but i am still feeling a bit unsure of whether i will be placing things in the correct places...I think i will keep the trees in pots for a while until i am more sure of what i should do...so thanks for the info... I love the look of your profile photo...looks really well established.
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Notes
HOW TO - ADD A LINK
Several people have experienced difficulty putting working links into comments and blogs etc and I know it is clumsy.... so here is how you do it.....
First type the text you want to appear.... ie IAN'S PAGE
Then go back and highlight the link text.
Then hit the hyperlink button...a pictogram of a chain link.
Your browser may intervene and request permission to allow temporary scripting or some similar message. Allow it and go back and highlight the text again
… ContinueCreated by Ian Jun 7, 2009 at 7:28pm. Last updated by Ian Jun. 8, 2009.
Forum Policy
Hi, I'm starting to put together a few guidlines on using the discussion forum on here.
I would be happy to hear any comments you may have. This is very much a work in progress so plese feel free to ask me to add anything you think is needed.
I don't want to make our community hide bound by rules and regulations but I think that, as the community has grown, some explanation of what is expected is needed.
Administration
You can refer any que
… ContinueCreated by Ian May 23, 2009 at 1:55am. Last updated by Ian May. 25, 2009.
Climate maps
Hi following recent discussion I have put climate maps of the USA, Australia and Europe on here for reference..
… Continue
Created by Ian Sep 12, 2008 at 6:20pm. Last updated by Ian Apr. 14, 2009.
Recipes, Recipes, Recipes
Hi Everyone, I've started to collect together recipes from various posts on the site and put them all together here.
If you have a recipe you want to add on here, just post it on the site and leave a comment on my page telling me where it is and I'll go and fetch it back here.
They are organised in Contributor Order but I'm open to better suggestions!
BEVA'S RECIPES
… ContinueCreated by Ian Jun 2, 2008 at 9:54am. Last updated by Ian Apr. 13, 2009.
US STATES ABBREVIATIONS
US STATE ABBREVIATIONS
AK - Alaska AL - Alabama AR - Arkansas
AZ - Arizona CA - California CO - Colorado
CT - Connecticut DC - Dist of Columbia * DE - Delaware
FL - Florida GA - Georgia GU
Created by Ian Jan 27, 2009 at 4:27pm. Last updated by Ian Jan. 27, 2009.
HOW TO - MAKE COMPOST
Recently there was an excellent discussion about composting. I’ve pulled together all the various comments here. You can also watch KGI's video on composting here.
KATE’S ADVICE
I used to have a tumbler that we made from a wine-barrel but
1 you have to fill it up all at once
2. it seemed mostly
… ContinueCreated by Ian May 30, 2008 at 5:29am. Last updated by Roger Jan. 15, 2009.
Notes Home
Welcome to Notes.
To view notes that are in the system hit the "all notes" button above.
ContinueCreated by Ian May 28, 2008 at 12:10pm. Last updated by Ian May. 30, 2008.
A Note about Notes
I have just written this note so that I can see what we can achieve by using this new feature.
If you read this and have any suggestions then please leave a comment on my page or email me.
Ian
ContinueCreated by Ian May 28, 2008 at 6:19pm. Last updated by Ian May. 28, 2008.
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