Ro and Kieran get ready to step into our shoes

Two old friends of ours are about to step into our shoes for seven months so that we can achieve our lifelong ambition of walking the Appalachian trail, on the eastern USA, from end to end - 2,120 miles. Rosemary and Kieran have recently retired and are very excited about taking on the role of looking after our B&B guests, running the fruit tasting and the farm. We are booked to fly to the USA on the 29th March and return on 20th October. Rosemary and Kieran have stayed with us on several occasions over the years at Cape Trib, and love the area.

Rosemary most recently worked as a child psychologist in schools, but has swapped problem parents and challenging adolescents for the peace and quiet of the vegetable garden.  Now there’s also more time for other interests such as the local environment, listening to music, reading and cooking home-grown food.  Travelling has always been a particular passion, and after spending six months last year exploring outback Australia, especially the Kimberley and Pilbara, it’s time for the next adventure sampling life in the Wet Tropics and eating lots of exotic tropical fruit while Digby and Alison take a break.  

Kieran has a background as a culinary herb farmer and has worked both as a voluntary and professional bush regenerator for the National Trust and a private company in Victoria’s Yarra Valley.  Kieran’s main interests are bird-watching and environmental weed control.  In 2003 he was awarded the Centennial Medal by the federal government for his efforts in protecting native vegetation and was named environmental achiever of the year by his local government authority.  He is the founder of several conservation groups and is the editor of a monthly 14-page conservation newsletter.   
Kieran and Rosemary are both looking forward to the experience. The photo above shows Kieran, Rosemary and Digby enjoying a hamburger at Glen Helen Gorge in the Northern Territory. Ro and Kieran acted as our back up team while we walked the Larapinta Trail over 21 days.

Opening of our new packing shed

 

 A gathering of supporters for the official opening of the new packing shed by Mayor Val Schier

A poem to celebrate the completion of the new packing shed

Journey of a lifetime - By Alison Gotts

Who would have thought it would take twenty one years?
I could have raised a child,
Become a barrister or a town planner.
Instead I chose to be
A mangosteen nurse-maid.
Twenty one years - weeding, feeding, weeding, feeding.
Don’t forget the whipper-snipping
Five whipper-snippers - four slashers - three tractors
Weeding, feeding, weeding, feeding
Feb 99 - Cyclone Rona
Her eye on our orchard
A message received in Tasmania
Gotts, your property destroyed by cyclone
Two hours to get from the front gate to the house
Breadfruit trees like toothpicks
Durian trees -  that dream is dead
The lychee screwed out of the ground and gone
Mangosteens still standing
Leaning at 45 degrees in heavy rain
Get them up – stake them
Thanks Gill and Kellie
That job wasn’t in the house-sitting agreement
Chainsaws, cutting, loading, clearing,
Day after day, month after month.
Am I too old for this?
What if it happens again?
October 2000 - petals on the ground
The first flower
Mangosteens at last
Eleven years hoping
More years creep by - the fruit dribbles out
Hoping, waiting, weeding, feeding
April 2006 - a small commercial crop
Don’t complain
5,000 bucks is better than a kick in the pants
Raining, raining, hoping, waiting, weeding, feeding
No crop – too wet
Is this how I want to spend my life?
Waiting for fruit that never comes
September 2009 - Hot – too hot – no rain
Trees start dying
Brown leaves - dead branches
Stress – mine and theirs
I didn’t plant these trees to die
Heavy rain at last
Flowers - more flowers
Three flowers on one stalk
Twenty one years of waiting
Here it is – so many fruit
Every tree loaded
How to pick them all?
Get organized
Ladders, scales, boxes, pickers,
New packing shed
Paint it purple
Count down to zero
February ‘10
Twenty one years of waiting
Ready for a new journey
FREEEEDOM!

Repairing erosion after the flood with gabions

Last January our creek overflowed its banks, and the walls of the creek undermined our driveway, very close to the house. We discovered that this could be repaired using Gabions - strong wire baskets wired together and filled with rocks and built in stacks, each layer slightly overlapping the layer underneath.It has taken nearly a year to get to this job. Here you can see Digby with Suzy and Alistair, two WWOOFAS from Scotland who are spending Christmas with us, starting the rock layering. Very hot work.

Recipe for mango salsa to serve with grilled prawns

This recipe is a winner - we tried it at our staff christmas party and it tasted excellent. . Serve mango salsa on the side with prawns or duck breast or scallops. We ate the salsa with cooked prawns - the hot spicy and sweet flavour of the salso worked well with the prawns. The recipe comes from Stephanie Alexander - 'The Cook's Companion'. Thankyou Stephanie!

Mango salsa

Ingredients
1 mango peeled and diced
2 slices of red onion chopped very finely
1 fresh red chilli, seeded and finely chopped
1/4 cup of chopped fresh mint leaves
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Method
Combine all ingredients and allow to stand for several hours before using.
We think that vietnamese mint would work well instead of normal mint too.

Drinking Mango Bellinis for Xmas

A christmas celebration with all our workers - we couldnt do it without the team.

Make a soursop daiquiri for christmas - here is the recipe

Prepare the fruit to get the juice
The soursop should be avocado soft but not squishy. Hold the fruit with one hand and peel away the skin with other hand. Once you have removed as much skin as possible, break the ripe fruit open, and remove the core and the flesh with your hands. Place the flesh in a mouli or a sieve and push the fruit through the mesh so that the seeds and pulp are left behind and the juice is collected underneath.

The cocktail ingredients
60 ml juice, as prepared above
45 ml bacardi rum
15 ml white curacao
5-8 ice cubes
a maraschino cherry for decoration

Method
Place all ingregients in a blender and blend until smooth, pour into a large cocktail galss and decorate with cherry. Yum!