For the week of: Wednesday 7th November 2007

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING?:
The weather is still a little disapointing 15mls of rain again over night and temperatures below what we should be experiencing at this time of year. Gardens are behind and there has been little growth yet. The vege gardens have had the potatoes frosted and many gardeners have returned to replace tomatoes and cucumbers taken by the frost last week. Just as well we're a hardy lot or we would have given up weeks ago. Still flowering are the Rhodo's all looking good and the last of the flowering cherries. We still have some half price prunus in our car park at Lorneville. Fruit trees are all flowering, looks like we'll have a good crop of fruit this year, make sure you get your fruit trees planted. Raspberries, gooseberries and black currants are great too. They don't take up as much room and produce good crops as long as you cover them against the birds. Plenty of colour around, annuals are starting to flower lobelias, marigolds, petunias instant for pots, baskets or garden beds. Selling a few seed potatoes again, the first early crops have been bandicooted (stratching underneath to see if there's any potatoes big enough to eat) We sell potato seed up untill Christmas time these will mature at easter.

WHAT SHOULD YOU BE DOING?:
General tidy up after the wind, there's been some late prunning and fallen trees to tidy up. Compost bin is filling up with the lawn clippings, get some activator into it and don't forget some dry matter (peastraw, leaves) to help the decomposing process. Weeding and pest control are the main jobs we won't have to worry about watering for a couple of days.

THIS WEEKS SPECIAL:
Selected flowering cherrie trees now half price, only while stocks last.
At North road Diacks only.

THIS WEEKS PRODUCT:
Grosouth Tomato fertilizer. Only $16.99
Fertilizes all Tomatoes, gives them a better flavour and brightens their colour.

SUPER SAVE PET DEPO
Buy Nutrience (active Maintenance) Adult large breed dog food 20kg only $99.00 and recive a free retractable lead valued at over $30 also while stocks last.

PLANT OF THE WEEK COMPETITION:
Take a look at the plant attached below and if you recognise it e-mail us with your answer. If you are the first to guess correctly you will win!
Last weeks answer: Phebalium nottii
Last weeks winner:

RECIPE OF THE WEEK:

ONION RINGS

1 cup flour
1 cup beer (the brand of your choice since there will be some left to cool you during the cooking!)
3-4 cups shortening for frying purposes
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
seasoning salt (optional).

Combine flour and beer in a large bowl, blending thoroughly. Cover and allow batter to sit at room temperature for at least 3 hours. Afterwards gently stir in the sugar and salt.

Cut onions into one-fourth inch or larger (depending upon preference) slices. Separate slices into rings. Heat shorting to 375 degrees F. (You can determine this temperature by dropping a sample ring into the hot grease -- it should begin to immediately sizzle and quickly rise to the top or a one inch square piece of bread will brown in one minute in 375 degree oil.) Dry sliced rings and roll in flour. Then dip onion rings into batter and fry until delicate golden brown. The batter can be made thicker by adding more flour or thinner by adding more beer.

This batter can also be used successfully for frying okra with a batter-that-sticks. The only complaints received have been those who let the batter stay in the bowl overnight and dry. I was told the batter sticks so well to the bowl that it has to be chiseled out!.

JOKE OF THE WEEK:
What is a Honeymoon Salad?
Lettuce alone, with no dressing.