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FEBRUARY 2009 JACKIE FRENCH NEWS

In this month's news:

• Introduction: How to Survive a Heatwave, anywhere…
• Wombat and Wallaby News
• Latest Books
• Schedule for 2009
• The February Garden
• What to Plant
• Plant of the month – luscious Strawberries
• A Few Recipes … cool drinks and fruit crushes and frappes
  • Chilled Mint and Orange tea
  • Mint Crush
  • Lemongrass and Ginger Ice
  • Passionfruit and Lemongrass Milkshake
  • Lemongrass and Pineapple rush
  • Lemongrass Daiquiri
  • Orange and Lemon Verbena Slushie
  • Spiced Tomato Juice
  • Berry Frappe
  • Pineapple Crush
  • Red Cherry Frappe
  • Apricot Gin and Grapefruit Frappe
  • Orange Frappe
• The Essential Ingredient: Sugar Syrup

Introduction: How to Survive a Heatwave, anywhere...

I’m writing this as it’s 39C outside, and soon to get hotter. The valley is full of smoke from the bushfire about 20k away, and the world smells like someone is cooking hamburgers. I’ve just had an email from a friend in Victoria - she’s been without power for two days as the power stations are overwhelmed, the trams aren’t running and neither are most trains.

The cities can’t cope.

Once upon a time we created cities to shelter us. Cities still shelter us - but only while the power still runs. Take away the power and the lights go out, the lifts stall, the water no longer flows, people in high rises and even hospitals start to die - you need air conditioning to survive in them.
Okay, many places have had their hottest day in 70 years ... but it’s not much hotter than other years. If we’ve had weeks like this 70 years ago we’ll have them again. To put it bluntly, our power stations can’t cope with peak energy demands now - and yet our population is still rising. Most of our towns and cities don’t have enough water either ... and nor do most of our farming areas, not just in the Murray Darling systems.
Repeat: we don’t have enough power and water now. What’s going to happen as our cities and our population grows?

I don’t mean this to sound like doom and gloom. There are ways around all the problems. The simplest most immediate solutions would be to legislate for all new buildings to be self sufficient in power and water, with tanks, cisterns, solar panels and solar roof tiles as cladding on large buildings. The power would feed into the grid ... and each building would also have a store of batteries charged by the grid to keep the power going in blackouts. And yes, a 26 story building can store a heck of a lot of water in walls and underground - it’s excellent insulation, too.
Sometimes I think the real problem is that we are more and more reliant on governments - and governments are conservative, even the most radical of them. Governments respond to yesterday’s problems. They don’t do much about tomorrow’s. Fifty years ago we were a nation of improvisers. Now everything from our food to housing to our entertainment (TV) is neatly packaged for us.

In this lot of blackouts another friend’s sister queued for two and a half hours to get something for dinner. It didn’t occur to her to put on the barbeque, or even gather up a bit of debris from the garden and make a fire, much less make a quick solar oven. Our solar oven has been going great guns all summer … one thing about a heat wave, you can cook a heck of a lot of cakes and roasts and stews, just with the heat from the sun. But for her, you either cooked on your stove, or you bought food others had cooked.

It’s the same problem with a bushfire burning about 20k from here. For the last three weeks the helicopters have been water bombing a fire in the Budawangs. According to national parks it’s ‘inaccessible’ and can’t be fought on foot.

Nonsense. Twenty six years ago a small group of friends and I did exactly that - borrowed McLeod tools, hiked two hours in to almost exactly the same bit of forest, and within ten hours had the fire under control. It’s rainforest in there, so it wasn’t a crown, or tree top,  fire, but a  slow moving ground and trunk fire even with the wind behind it, the sort that responds best to hand fighting. That ten hours steady bashing was enough to put out one fire front, and when the wind changed that night, as it does every night there, it blew back on itself. A few days mopping up was all that was needed.

The people managing that fire these days are far away. They’re not locals. They don’t know the terrain - and they have no idea how the fires there have been successfully managed in the past. Instead they ‘go big’ - water bombing, bulldozers, helicopters, tens of thousands of dollars. And the fire is still burning, and will be for weeks or months.    

Maybe what’s needed is a compulsory afternoon every week for all everyone from 5 - 25, called ‘Survival’. Kids would be taught how to improvise, how to think about a problem and work out several solutions (if you think there is just one solution to a problem you haven’t thought about it enough) - and then choose the best and do it, damn it, without waiting for officialdom to take over.

Jobless? Don’t wait for a job to be provided - think of a dozen ways to make money without an employer. Yes, you can build your own house for about $20,000 - including a house that won’t burn, too. You can grow your own food, create your own power system, collect your own water, and form a micro community of friends, family and friends-who-become-family who’ll support you through the bad times, too, as you support them.

We’re a clever species. We invent things. We get things done. But increasingly our kids are being taught to ‘leave it to big brother’ to sort out, to accept life that is the social equivalent of frozen pizza - prepacked, and it doesn’t taste good either.

If an alien landed tomorrow and looked at out cities - hot, crammed, polluted - their report back would probably just say ‘silly.’

Sorry - end of lecture. Will now go and have a glass of home made lemon cordial, a dish of lemon ice cream, and contemplate the wombat hole. It’s always almost the same temperature year round down that hole - and the same humidity too. If Mothball wombat can do it, so can we.

Wombat and Wallaby News

Mothball is getting old and grey now. But she’s still enormous, and still scratches her back under our bedroom every night. The wombats don’t come out till dark at this time of year, when the earth is cooler, and they make the trek down to the creek before they start to eat. In cooler damper times they can go several days without a drink at all.

But the good news is that the wallabies all up and down the mountain have been mating. Which means that here at least it should be an okay sort of winter, with nice wet stuff coming from the sky.

Latest Books

Recent books …

How High can a Kangaroo Hop? all you never realised you didn’t know about our best known marsupial.
A Rose for the Anzac Boys: World War 1 seen through the eyes of three courageous young women
Emily and the Big Bad Bunyip: another hilarious Shaggy Gully picture book with the magic Bruce Whatley
The Camel who Crossed Australia: The Burke and Wills expedition seen through the eyes of Bell Sing, crankiest of camels, young cameleer Dost Mahomet and Englishman John King.

… Coming soon:

The Donkey Who carried the Wounded - Most Australians know the story of Simpson and his donkey; the courageous digger and his mate who became heroes at Gallipoli for transporting the wounded to safety. 

Yet while Simpson has gone down in ANZAC folklore, few people know the story of the donkey.  Where did he come from?  What happened to him after World War I?

Plus!

The Night They Stormed Eureka
School for Heroes: Lessons for a Werewolf Warrior
Baby Wombat’s Week

Schedule for 2009

As ever, I’m afraid I won’t be able to manage much more than the list below – which, with the rest of my life amply, no, more than amply, fills a twenty-four hour day….

The February Garden

Jobs for February

• Off with their heads! Cut off roses and other old flowers to encourage more blooms
• Mulch! (Yes, more!)
• Don’t feed unless it pours!  You may kill plants if you feed when the roots are dry. Wait till it rains - lots!
• Wander round your house and hunt for hot sunny windows. That’s where you need to plant some deciduous garden shade this winter!

What to plant in February

This is the month to plant for winter! Veg and flowers planted now will be blooming and feeding you all winter long.

Subtropical and tropical areas:
Food plants: evergreen fruit trees, strawberries, sweet potatoes, passionfruit vines, parsley and other herbs, seeds of beetroot, capsicum, carrot, caulies, celery, cucumber, eggplant, pak tsoi, pumpkin, radish, silverbeet, sweet corn, tomatoes, watermelon, plus lettuce seedlings (lettuce seeds may not germinate in the heat),
Flowering plants: flowering vines, hibiscus, bougainvilleas, ageratum, celosia, cosmos, coleus, Iceland poppy, salvia, sunflowers.

Temperate to cold areas:
Food plants: citrus, avocadoes and other evergreen trees, strawberries, passionfruit and banana passionfruit, rhubarb,  blueberries, artichoke, beans, beetroot, broccoli, cabbage, carrots  coriander, sweet corn ,leek, lettuce, white onions, parsley,  salad greens like corn salad, mizuna, cress, red Italian chicory, silverbeet, spring onions, spinach.
Flowering plants:  spring flowering bulbs like iris, daffs and jonquils (look for heat tolerant ones in warmer areas, like freesias and watsonia) alyssum, stocks, plus winter blooming grevilleas, daphne or thryptomene and lots of  annuals to bloom through winter- pansies, violas, primulas, Iceland poppies, wallflowers, polyanthus.

Beat the heat with summer bulbs!
Summer bulbs survive long hot or dry periods by 'living on their hump' like camels ... Acanthus, agapanthus, dahlias (miniature or single ones that don't need staking), cannas, clivias, dietes, red hot pokers (I prefer the miniature yellow ones) and day lilies can provide a wonderfully hardy backdrop of colour all through the heat.

Plant of the Month

Luscious, luscious, luscious strawberries….

Needs: full sun, mulch well. They’ll survive drought once established, but need moisture to fruit.
Where to grow: anywhere from Hobart to Darwin. Grow in big pots or self watering hanging baskets on patios.
Which varieties: there are dozens to choose from, including massive but very sweet Japanese ones, and stunning tiny yellow ‘wild’ ones that explode with flavour.  Ask your local nursery which do best in your area.

A Few Cool Recipes

Chilled Mint and Orange Tea

This is most easily made in a teapot. Remember to clean it out well afterwards!

Ingredients:
1 tbsp mint
1 tsp grated orange zest
1 cup water, boiling

Pour the water onto the mint and orange zest. Leave five minutes. Strain and chill.

Mint Crush

A crush is halfway between a sorbet and a drink - you scoop some of it out and drink the rest. Although it contains alcohol most will evaporate during the boiling.

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
2 cups water
½ cup white wine
1 tbsp mint, chopped finely
2 tbsp lemon juice

Simmer everything but the mint and juice for five minutes.  Take off the heat. Add the chopped mint and lemon juice. Cool.
Place in the freezer in a plastic container with the lid on. Leave it till the edges are just frozen, then stir well with a fork. Beat it again at least three times before it fully freezes.

To serve: take it from the freezer about 20 minutes before serving. beat again so it's all slushy then pour it into glasses. Decorate with a sprig of mint if you are feeling flash.

Lemongrass Drinks

There is nothing quite as lemony as home grown lemon grass. Not even lemons come close. Snails also love it - you can use it as a trap crop by planting lemon grass around your garden in frost free areas, and checking it for snails each morning. Squash them and add to the compost.
In really cold areas you can grow lemon grass in a pot and bring it in to a sunny window in winter.

Lemongrass and Ginger Ice

Ingredients:
1 bunch lemon grass
½ a root of ginger (about 3 tbsp) chopped
1 cup of sugar
2 cups water
1 tsp tartaric acid

Simmer 15 minutes. Cool and strain. Keep in the fridge till needed- it should last about a fortnight.
To serve: fill a glass with ice; add about two fingers of the syrup, then fill with iced water or iced mineral water. Actually a slug of gin goes nicely with this too - for adults only.

Passionfruit and Lemongrass Milkshake

Ingredients:
1 bunch lemongrass
½ a cup sugar (this can be left out if you and your kids aren't used to the usual very sweet milkshakes)
2 cups water
10 passionfruit
1 litre very cold milk (can be low fat or soy milk)

Simmer lemongrass, passionfruit pulp and skins, sugar and water for ten minutes. Cool and strain.
Mix the syrup with the milk. Serve at once.

Lemongrass and Pineapple Crush

Note: You need a blender for this recipe.

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 bunch lemon grass
1 cup water
1 small ripe pineapple, peeled, chopped and cored

Simmer water, sugar and lemongrass for 5 minutes with the lid on. Turn the heat off. Cool then strain. Add to the chopped pineapple and blend.  Place in a plastic container with a lid. Freeze till crystals form around the edge; whip well with a fork. Let it freeze around the edge and do the same; repeat this three times or so till it is all frozen.

To serve:  remove from freezer about 20 minutes before serving. whip with a fork again before pouring into glasses.

Lemongrass Daiquiri (Adults only)

Add rum to the lemon grass syrup as above in equal measure. Fill a glass with ice and pour the mix over it.

Lemon Verbena

Any of the recipes above can also be made with lemon verbena. Lemon verbena leaves are almost as lemony as lemongrass leaves, but lemon verbena also survives severe frosts. It's an attractive bush, with a haze of white flowers in mid summer, though as it loses its leaves in winter you'll need to dry some branches to use it throughout the year.

Orange and Lemon Verbena Slushie

Note: You need a blender for this recipe.

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
4 cups water
1 cup lemon verbena leaves
1 tbsp grated orange zest
4 cups orange juice - fresh if possible.

Boil sugar, verbena leaves and water for five minutes. Scoop out the leaves. Add the orange zest. Freeze in an iceblock tray.
To serve: add the iceblocks to the fresh orange juice. Whizz in the blender till the iceblocks are slushy. Serve at once in chilled glasses. Garnish with slices of orange or springs of lemon verbena.

A Touch of Heat

Strangely enough the heat in chilli cools you down rather than warms you up in this drink. But make sure you warn anyone who might drink it that's it's HOT- otherwise you may turn kids off tomato juice for life!

Spiced Tomato Juice

Ingredients:
4 cups tomato juice
1 red chilli
1 tbsp garlic chives

Blend. Serve very cold with ice and a slice of lemon floating on top.

Warning: make sure any herbs in these recipes haven't been sprayed with pesticides, fungicides or herbicides; wash them well; remove all beetles, slugs and other wildlife, and make sure any bottles you use are scrupulously clean. None of these drinks contain preservatives, so they will have a very limited shelf life and must be kept cold. If any of the drinks become cloudy, look or smell strange or bubble, throw them out.

Fabulous Fruit Frappes

When I was a kid going into town on a hot summer’s day meant two things - a visit to Barker’s Bookshop, then pineapple crush at the café next door.
Pineapple crush was just that - crushed pineapple frozen to a wonderful slurry in a tall cold glass. You ate it with a spoon, then slurped the melted bits with a straw. The fibres caught in your teeth and nothing I ate as a kid was ever quite as wonderful.
Decades later I met my first fruit frappe, and the memories came flooding back. But no café fruit frappe is ever as rich and fruity as those pineapple crushes.
Unless you make your own. Which actually is easy - you don’t even need special equipment. Just a blender (a hand held one is fine) or at a pinch a potato masher and a good strong hand.
Each of the recipes below serves four delicate appetites, or two greedy people.

Bountiful Berry Frappe

This is wonderful with home grown mulberries, but good with any berries, including strawberries, raspberries and blueberries, or a mix of several berries. Fresh berries are best, especially sun ripened home grown ones. But commercial frozen berries are better than no berries at all!

Ingredients:
2 cups frozen berries
1 cup sugar syrup (see below) or apple juice

Blend or mash. Serve the slush at once in chilled glasses so it doesn’t melt too fast.
OR
Roll any amount of frozen berries in castor sugar. Blend - the moisture in the berries will provide the liquid. Eat at once.

Pineapple Crush

Ingredients:

3 cups pineapple, peeled and cored
½ cup sugar syrup
½ cup water
3 mint leaves

Blend everything but the mint leaves. Place in a plastic container in the fridge and stir well every 20 minutes till slushy … or freeze entirely and leave out twenty minutes before you want to eat it, then mash well.

To serve: place a mint leaf in each glass and pour in the crush.

Glorious Red Cherry Frappe

Ingredients:
3 cups cherries, frozen
1 cup sugar syrup
Blend. Eat.

Adults only Apricot, Gin and Grapefruit Frappe

Ingredients:

3 cups apricots, stones removed
juice of two grapefruit
2 cups sugar syrup
2 tbsp gin

Blend everything together. Place the result in a plastic container with a lid and freeze, stirring well every 20 minutes. Serve when just frozen.
If you make this the day before let it partially thaw then blend it again just before you eat it; otherwise the ice crystals will be hard and splintery rather than soft and slushy.

The Simplest Orange Frappe of All

Take a big ripe orange. Cut off the top like a lid - then put it back on the orange. Place the orange in the freezer overnight.
Take the lid off, and eat the contents of the orange with a spoon. The flesh will be all soft and sorbet like as you scrape it out ... and for the rest of the school holiday the kids will forget about iceblocks and bung oranges in the freezer instead.

The Essential Ingredient: Sugar Syrup

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
juice of  a lemon
½ level teaspoon tartaric acid

Boil the lot for five minutes. Use at once, or keep in a sealed container in the fridge for up to a week, or freeze for up to three months.

For more information from Jackie, please go to her website: www.jackiefrench.com

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