Welcome to fayhelwig.com
Fay Helwig is the owner of Das Helwig Haus B&B near Stanthorpe on the Granite Belt established in 1993. Since 1996 Fay’s garden and The Remembrance Field of Red Flanders Poppies, dedicated to the fallen of all wars, is open to the public every year during October and November.

Archive for April, 2009

27   Apr
Filed Under (Self-sufficiency) by fhelwig on 27-04-2009

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AN ABUNDANCE OF TOMATOES 2

I wrote an earlier post about what I did with an abundance of red tomatoes, one of the summer crops grown by the farmers of the Granite Belt, who generously give me boxes of ripe fruit. I also commented that I usually only grow cherry tomatoes in my organic garden. About fifteen years ago I purchased a packet of golden ripple cherry tomato seed from the Diggers Seed Club and since then I’ve never needed to purchase more seed, nor do I save the seed. Every autumn at Das Helwig Haus B&B, about a month before the frosts arrive, a flock of Satin Bower birds return from the rain forests to overwinter in our garden. They are a fruit eating bird and quickly turn their attention to the fruits of my garden, clearing any remaining figs, picking at the half ripe persimmons and enjoying the cherry tomatoes. The fertile seed of the tomatoes pass through the bird and is deposited throughout the garden. Thus it is that these tomatoes have now become one of my most prevalent weeds. They are easily recognized and transplanted or pulled if found in inappropriate positions. This particular tomato has a tendency to climb or ramble, and would be useful grown in hanging baskets on patios. The photo below shows how one tomato bush has rambled over the tops of roses and up the trellis of the gazebo railing.

Cherry tomato bush in the rose garden.

Cherry tomato bush in the rose garden.

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07   Apr
Filed Under (Self-sufficiency) by fhelwig on 07-04-2009

EBERHARD’S BLACK FOREST CAKE

Eberhard's Black Forest Cake

Eberhard's Black Forest Cake

One of Eberhard’s Black Forest cakes famously appeared on TV eleven years ago when SBS TV sent a production crew to Das Helwig Haus B&B on the Granite Belt to film him preparing and serving a German Christmas Feast. The feature film has repeatedly been shown on the SBS TV Food Lovers Guide to Australia. Eberhard will be 83 years of age in July and my daughters and daughter-in-law decided that it was time for him to pass on his secrets to them. Thus I was able to capture in film the process. One of the girls wrote down the recipe. Read the rest of this entry »