Megan Palmer

Saffron has traditionally been used as a dye as well as a spice.

How fresh was the garlic that you used - was it homegrown?

Older garlic that is starting to desiccate can sometimes develop a bitter taste.

I’ve eaten all of my last batch of lacto fermented garlic, however it remained shelf stable for several years, I tend to mainly dehydrate and/or ferment whole garlic cloves in honey when I have excess.

The lacto fermented garlic was a tan colour by the time i got around to finishing the last of it and had retained its crunch without any bitterness.

I would put it away at the back of a shelf and taste again in a few months!

Do report back if you do decide to keep it.

Revisiting this thread and noticed that my last post was three years ago to the day.

There was a storm last night and the wind was loud enough to wake us.

It also brought fresh snow onto the mountains and blew quite a few blossoms off the blackboy peach tree at home.

Over the years, I have successfully grown numerous peach trees from stones by simply planting them in pots after eating/processing the fruit as Bryant recommends.

Every year, I plant a selection of peach, plum, apricot and nectarine stones, the former usually fruit within 3 years.

The seedlings are repotted and allowed to grow on for a year ot two before planted in the community garden or given away.

Despite an electric fence around the gardens, possums have managed to get into the gardens and they have gnawed on the trunks and branches of many of the fruit trees so it is prudent to have back up trees to plant.

Have you considered onion skins?

I’ve only ever used them to tint white embroidery canvas because I didn’t want any white bits to show so don’t know how colour fast it is.

Our library only has the Beamafilm service for movies and documentaries.

The Libby app is also available for electronic and audio books through our library membership.

Can you post photos of your carport so we can get an idea of how the cats are accessing it?

I had in mind a a lattice of fishing lines sitting on top of the surface of your carport but you would need access to at least two sides to fasten it down.

The frame would be 4 pieces of timber with nails around the edges that the fishing line is wound around.

Since the cats can't easily see the fishing lines, when they try walking across your roof, they would find it an unpleasant enough experience they would hopefully move to another site to do their business.

However, a fence to stop them gaining access could be just as effective a deterrent!

Just make your frame a U shape with uprights that the fishing line can be woven between so that the cats can't perch on the top.

Cats can jump really high so broom handle height ought to do the job.

Tereza Okava wrote: I need to think about how I can attach it without destroying my roof in the rainy season

Would it be possible to attach the lines to a frame on the ground, lift onto the carport then secure all four corners to the carport so it doesn’t get blown off in strong winds?

Is there any way to string a lattice work of fishing line across the top of the carport to dissuade the cats from walking across the roof?

William Bronson wrote:
I imagine mutton is more strongly flavored?

Mutton definitely has a stronger flavour, however the breed of sheep also affects the flavour.

My father would never allow mutton to be cooked at home, he disliked the smell of it cooking.

Many people won’t eat goat because they think that the meat will taste gamey.

I have never found that to be the case despite only ever having eaten wild goat. Admittedly, they have all been does or kids, never bucks.

Both mutton and goat meat benefits from long slow braising.