Wrigglers

From the Wangi Garden Journal

I noticed that there are 'wrigglers' in the small garden pond.  I grew up calling mosquito larvae - wrigglers.  When I was a kid growing up on a couple of acres on the outskirts of Brisbane (Australia)  we only had tank water.  Sometimes you would pour yourself a glass of water from the tap and there would be a wriggler swimming in your glass of water. Time to treat the tanks. Of course these days, water tanks have screens and filters to prevent mosquitoes breeding in the tanks.

For my pond I need to get some native Australian fish which will eat mosquito larvae. Kevin Casey suggests in his book "Attracting Frogs to your garden" -

Pacific Blue Eye - I think we are too far south for these

Fly specked Hardyhead

Australian Smelt

Rainbow Fish from your local area

I managed to get Crimson Spotted Rainbow Fish from the local pet store.  Apparently they are native from Coffs Harbour to Tamworth.

I removed the Bacopa plant from the pond and left the Gotu Kola so there would be more room for the rainbows.  

The species I planted is an Australian Native Gotu Kola, Centella asiatica, which is recommended for frog friendly ponds. (Here's hoping - we hear frogs on rainy nights but have not seen any yet)  Gotu Kola also has medicinal properties.  I always found it quite useful for people who have trouble sleeping. It won't help you get to sleep but is more helpful for those who wake up during the night.  It may also be helpful for clarity of mind, arthritic pain and fatigue.  

One of my pet dislikes is the amount of Soy that is in our food.  Most processed food has soy in it.  Soy has been promoted as an amazing health food.  And yes, how it is eaten in the traditional Japanese diet is healthy - naturally fremented and only in small amounts.

We were not meant to eat Soy flour, textured vegetable protein or drink Soy Milk.  For more information go to Soy Alert at The Weston A Price Foundation. Gotu Kola may be helpful to those who have had too much soy in their diet.

The recommended daily dose of Gotu Kola is two leaves of 40mm diameter per adult, or the equivalent in smaller leaves. It will be bitter if grown in full sun.

Gotu Kola is usually considered safe.  However there are a few side effects to taking too much of this herb - mouth ulcers, sensitivity to the sun, increased blood sugar levels, stomach irritation and nausea.  

As with all plants allergic reactions may occur.  

Gotu Kola is contraindicated in pregnancy and while breast feeding. 

Local Climate at Wangi Garden Journal

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Local Climate at Wangi Garden Journal

Solar Power

Its been almost a year now since we installed a 1.75kw solar power system and evacuated tubes solar hot water.  We don't have a north facing roof so we placed the evacuated tubes hot water on the nw corner of the roof and the solar panels for electricity on the east facing roof.  The front of our house faces east. We also have a lot of very tall gum trees in the neighbourhood which tend to block the sun early morning and late afternoon.  The only time we have had to turn the electric booster on for the hot water were those few times that we have had cloud and/or rain for about 3 days. 

Where we are at Wangi, our electricity company is Energy Australia.  We signed up to a new contract earlier this year where we feed 100% of what we generated back into the grid and receive 66c per kw paid to us each quarter through the buy back scheme.  We then receive our electricity bill as normal where we are charged different rates for Peak, Shoulder and Off-Peak.

We do use more electricity than we generate.  Even though we have replaced lights, fridges, freezer, dishwasher and washing machine with more energy efficient alternatives and try and schedule the use in the off-peak period .  However, because of the attractive buy back scheme the cost of our electricity is covered most quarters.

Our biggest problem is living in a pole home (wood) with polished wood floors with no insulation.  Come winter and the house is freezing when the westerlies blow up the hill.  We are in the process of building in under the house which should alleviate most of this problem.

We are very happy that we invested the money in solar electricity and don't think we could have received a similar return if the money was invested in shares or sitting in a term deposit.

Recipes for Vegetable Lasagne

I have just posted the 3 recipes that make up my vegetable lasagne recipe.  Very healthy recipe and tastes great too.  Enjoy!!!

Yoghurt Topping

2 cups of non fat yoghurt

3 eggs

1 tablespoon of dried parmesan cheese— low fat

1 teaspoon of garlic powder (optional)

1 teaspoon of onion powder (optional)

1 teaspoon of  parsley

Mix all the ingredients together and place on the top of pasta, vegetables or casserole before baking. Top with your choice of cheese.

This dish needs to be cooked (baked) before eating.

Yoghurt Topping may be stored in the fridge 1 day before required

Tomato & Herb Sauce

2 cans of organic tomato pieces (approx 410g cans)

1/10 teaspoon of  Stevia Powder

1 teaspoon of garlic powder

1 teaspoon of onion powder

1 teaspoon of dried oregano

1 teaspoon of dried parsley

1 teaspoon of dried basil

1 teaspoon of miso bouillon

1 bay leaf

Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and simmer for 30 minutes.

This sauce can be used as a sauce for pasta, vegetables or meat.

Make extra and freeze.

Vegetable Lasagne

1/2 a butternut pumpkin

1 teaspoon of Coconut Oil or Olive Oil

Tomato & Herb Sauce

1 cup of cooked spinach

2 onions sliced and sautéed in water

10 gluten free lasagne sheets

Yoghurt Topping 

1 cup of grated Mozzarella cheese - low fat

1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese

Method

Peel, clean and slice the pumpkin into 1.5cm slices. Brush both sides with Natrim Coconut Oil and bake in a moderate oven until cooked.

Grease a baking dish approximately 28cm x 18cm.

Place in ingredients in layers in the following order:-

Cooked pumpkin

1/2 Tomato & Herb Sauce

Layer of lasagne sheets (5 sheets)

Spinach

Onions

Remaining Tomato & Herb Sauce

Layer of lasagne sheets (remaining 5 sheets)

Yoghurt Topping

Mozzarella Cheese

Parmesan Cheese

Bake in a moderate oven until cooked.

Serves 8-10

Serve with a fresh garden salad

Will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days after baking

Cut into serve size pieces and freeze.

May be assembled 1 day ahead and stored in the fridge until ready to bake.

For variety, replace pumpkin, spinach or onion with vegetables of your choice.