WE WALK AMONGST VEGETABLES

When pegging out our house extension in 1993 for the guest wing of Das Helwig Haus B&B, Eberhard realised that the northern veranda would abut against the rockery garden. As the house was positioned on a slope falling away to the south, the ground for the extension would have to be excavated to the sixty-centimetre depth demanded by the Stanthorpe Council. A bulldozer was hired to clear the site and push rocks and subsoil to form a hill on the south-western side of this site. The weather was hot and the pile of decomposed granite, which forms the whitish subsoil of the Granite Belt, produced a barren moonscape. The glare reflected off this site and into the kitchen and living room was horrific.

“As soon as we can, I must plant a fast growing leafy tree against the back veranda to shade our kitchen,” I said.

“Make it a deciduous tree,” Eberhard advised. “Once the new wing goes in it’ll block the sunlight from the north. During winter months we’ll need light!”

Sweet-corn beside the persimmon tree December 2004.

Now the gooseberry bushes, quince, persimmon and fig trees are well established and by December are lush with green foliage.”

This area where I’m leading our garden visitors is the service area for our home. A huge concrete rainwater tank was constructed on site and a hole was blasted out of the rocky ground beside it to admit the bio-cycle tank, which handles all the gray water from our guest accommodation before it is recycled on to shrubs.

Frank Musumeci brought his bobcat to build rock retaining walls and level off the pile of subsoil to create a broad terrace. I watched mesmerised as he wheeled the machine to and fro, selecting large rocks from within the earth and delicately dropping them into place, forming a semi-circle of boulders.  Finally, he leveled off the fill to form a platform. Later we spread topsoil over this area, which is the sunny high ground carrying the currant and gooseberry bushes, the asparagus and rhubarb. Read the rest of this entry »

WWOOF at DAS HELWIG HAUS

Everyone who visits my garden asks me how I manage all the work. My answer is, “With the help of Wwoofers”. Wwoofers are Willing Workers on Organic Farms and Das Helwig Haus B&B is a WWOOF host farm. Our 14 hectare farm has a huge garden producing fresh fruit and vegetables organically grown.

 As I write about my garden I will feature these remarkable young people and show my readers the type of work they undertake and how they enrich my life.

Yuki is Japanese by nationality. She arrived in the winter of 2007 planning to stay only two weeks, but enjoyed our company so much that she stayed two months. We are one of the WWOOF host farms within Australia approved to ensure that young International travelers with Work/Travel Visas are able to meet the conditions required to enable them to obtain a second year extension to remain in Australia.

In the photo above Yuki had stopped pruning a weeping mulberry tree to give it a hug.

When she was joined for a short time by another young Japanese girl, they decided to cook a Japanese meal for our household. In this they were aided by a third Japanese wwoof girl from the nearby Mt. Stirling Olive farm. We feasted on soup, vegetable pancakes and sushi.

Japanese Wwoofers at work in the kitchen

The sushi is prepared

After a quick visit back to Japan, Yuki rejoined our household for another two months before leaving us for employment in the tourism industry in Cairns.

It was with great pleasure that we welcomed her back for a winter visit this year. She said she wanted to experience ‘cold’.

Due to the altitude the Granite Belt is the coldest district in Queensland. Visitors come here hoping for starry night skies and frosty mornings when the ice will crunch under their feet. Yuki was not disappointed.

One day when it was too cold to work outdoors we decided to make up a batch of Raspberry Jam as my supplies were getting low. In the peak of summer when I have an abundance of fruit I frequently freeze produce until such time as it is needed. Also, if I’m only picking a small quantity of raspberries each day it is easier to freeze them until I have sufficient to make a full batch of raspberry jam.

Please note: a recipe for Raspberry Jam is available in the Australian Women’s Weekly book of Preserves, but we omitted the suggested Framboise.

Yuki learns to make Raspberry Jam

I explained to Yuki that most jams require equal quantities of fruit and sugar, plus some lemon juice to add pectin. We used 4kg of raspberries. As you can see from the above photo, I have a large stainless steel boiler with a copper base for making my jam. I consider this pot beyond value and have used it for more than thirty years. Yuki thawed the raspberries and placed them in the boiler over a low gas flame where she stirred them until mushy. The 4 kg of sugar and 5 tablespoons of lemon juice were added. The gas flame was turned to high and the jam was stirred as it boiled rapidly. Until the sugar is added to jam the pectin in fruit may be destroyed by high heat, but after the sugar is added it is essential that jam be cooked quickly to ensure a bright colour for the finished product. When the jam thickened, we poured it into jars, sealed it while hot and turned the jars upside down for two minutes. This action not only creates a vacuum seal for the lid, but the heat of the hot jam sterilizes the air within the jar.

Hello, I’m Fay Helwig of Das Helwig Haus B&B near Stanthorpe on the Granite Belt.  I grew up on a cattle property and later lived on different farms in varied climates where I always established a garden.
 
I now live in a cool mountain district famous for being the coldest region of Queensland. Due to the cool climate the area is recognised for its high altitude wines and apple orchards. A district attraction is the Girraween National Park famous for granite mountains and Australian wildflowers.
 
I have combined all these features Wildflowers, Wilderness and Wine as my title for a book about my lifestyle.
 
My aim with this blog is to share with you the fun of tourism festivals, the joy of growing a huge and productive garden and the self-sufficiency skills I can teach you.  My blog will include photographs, recipes and anecdotes concerning the training of young WWOOFERs – willing workers on organic farms.
 
 Das Helwig Haus B&B was named the best Bed and Breakfast in Queensland by the journalists of the Sunday Mail. The Remembrance Field of Flanders Poppies was featured on Burke’s Backyard and the German Christmas feasts are shown on SBS Food Lovers Guide to Australia.