The Black Hen Magazine Summer Edition

Summer Edition

The Black Hen Magazine

a beautiful endeavour

Summer Edition

The natural world, bringing the outside in.

Welcome to this summer's edition of The Black Hen eMagazine.

In this issue we share the stories of three talented artists, all working with elements of the natural world. Their work involves either pressing, twining or carving, using what they find or forage for.

We are thrilled to be able to share with you their creativity.

There's so much to enjoy in this issue, such as the wonderful 'She Shed' stories, filled with all the visual inspiration you need to start considering your own, a great article on how to make your own house broom, and plenty of delicious recipes for you to try.

We have another wonderful life story from Wendy Newton and Steph Phillips, two of our regular contributors, and we are so thrilled to have the

photo by STEPHANIE PHILLIPS

2

wonderful May Petschel (instagram @may_ petschel) showing us what happens when you decided to forage for your Christmas decorations, mixing them with her unique and wonderful vintage style.

I think deep down we are all gatherers at heart, whether it's a small stone collected to remind ourselves of a place, or a twig that looks just too interesting to leave behind. We can't help ourselves, bringing the outside into our homes.

We hope you enjoy our combined stories as we explore and celebrate the beautiful act of living, working and playing in the natural world, and feel inspired to embrace the gatherer within.

Thank you, Julie and Noel Hall

This handcrafted magazine was contributed by Angela Palermo trained in pastry, she is a cook, recipe writer, food blogger, and now, owner of the cooking school; The Village Cooks. Angela brings a wealth of knowledge, skills, experience and passion from her Italian heritage to share the art of good food. www.thevillagecooks.com.au Instagram: @thevillagecooks

Deborah Williamson is a former arts educator who finds immense joy in creating with natural, foraged materials. Seeing life through an artist’s lens she is a passionate ‘maker’ and an advocate for enjoying the simple pleasures in life and seeing beauty in the humble and handmade. @twoinateacup

Wendy Newton is the author of two nonfiction books, and her short stories and features have appeared in many international and national literary publications. Wendy is a lover of vintage and of her fur babies.

Instagram: @wendynewtonlaunceston

Mathew Simms lives a modest life, living from what he makes and sells.

Mathew is an admired local who plays bagpipes and tin flute, makes baskets, clogs and dolls. A collector of blacksmith hand tools. You can find Mathew most Sundays at the Evandale Market, Evandale, Tasmania.

Steph Phillips is a writer and maker.

She is passionate about creating a slow and simple life that treads gently on the earth and restores a strong connection with the natural world.

She shares her thoughts here on www.greenandgrowingthings.com @greenandgrowingthings

Deborah Brearley is committed to a lifestyle of creativity, of making do, living simply and working with, and closely to, nature. Deborah is a painter, designer and a whittler.

Instagram: @firetailfinch

Front cover

Front cover image: The hut that Noel built as part of the creation of our new vegie garden area. You'll find more on this story called Growing Food and Creating Spaces on page 20.

3

grow

C O N T food

The Untamed Garden

pg.10

Angela Palermo summer recipes

Growing food & Creating Spaces

pg. 22

Lemon cookie wreaths

Water Spirals

pg. 30

Feature Manteau Noir - Australian Designer, Victoria Varrasso pg. 16

pg. 35 pg. 102

E N T S home

Slow Exchange

pg. 6

make

It's Like Breathing - Deb Brearley Story

pg. 74

The She Shed Movement

pg. 16

Things From Clay - Chris Kerruish Story

pg. 78

Growing a Home

pg. 56

With So Much Love - Deb Williamson Story

pg.82

The Red Shed Restoration

pg. 71

How to make a House Broom

pg. 88

A Natural Christmas

pg. 92

Slow Exchange

6 6

I'm sure you've heard of the slow food movement.

I see her I'll tell her that she’s beautiful and wonder

Coining a phrase that describes what Noel and

who she may have been.

I do is difficult. Then to describe every stage of the process from the sourcing, and restoring, to

It doesn’t just stop with the admiration of this lady’s

photographing and listing, and only then, offering

looks, but the frame that she sits in, the beautiful

these finished pieces to you can involve at least 15

detail and colour of the gesso, the sticker on the

hands-on processes to get these vintage treasures to your door.

Just like the pieces themselves, mostly vintage and for years loved by many families before you, it certainly could be seen as a slow exchange!

Falling in love

back marking who the portrait was framed by - it’s all gold to me!

She is lovely company in the kitchen, as I cook and bake, I also like to change, when needed, the arrangement on the mantel to suit her colours and the season.

When you realise you’ve fallen in love with vintage, it truly is the strangest thing. It can creep up on

Our little cottage is filled with similar pieces, pieces

you, and all of a sudden, you’ve started a collection

that speak to our hearts. They may not be expensive

without trying too hard, just because there’s something about that particular item that draws

pieces, but I don’t think that actually matters, what

you close and makes you feel special.

matters is how they make us feel.

You'll find yourself scouring the internet to add to

Both Noel and I have been admirers of vintage for

a collection or to find that perfect piece that will finish off the ‘vintage story’ in your home.

most of our lives, it is a wonderful feeling to be able to turn that admiration into a living.

For me, the best things about owning anything vintage is knowing that it has had another life, or how well things were made back then and how they still seem to have a special place in today’s world.

Whether we are sourcing for you or finding small treasures for ourselves, I could confidently say that the ‘old stuff ’ will always be in our lives.

We recently acquired a beautifully framed portrait of a lady. She adorns my kitchen fireplace and when

Thank you, Julie and Noel

shop online at www.theblackhen.com info@theblackhen.com @theblackhen 7

A Natural Christmas Let us show you how easy it is to bring the outside in for Christmas, through the beautiful styling and images of May Petschel in her gorgeous old cottage in Mildura, Victoria. (page 88)

8

SKINCARE - HOME - GIFTS Salamanca Skincare Co @salamancaskincareco www.salamancaskincareco.com.au

9

The

10

Umtamed Garden Story by WENDY NEWTON photography by JULIE HALL

Grow The man who mows my lawns quips that I have a Jack and the Beanstalk garden.

Things here grow quickly, unexpectedly.

Uncontained. It’s the rich, old soil, I think, decades of leaf mould from the deciduous trees and a natural composting you can’t replicate in new gardens. But there’s something more in what he says; a magical quality in the wildness.

Here, the dwarf apple trees curtsy with their loose, espaliered branches, tied with garden string and held into the ground by tent pegs, instead of straight, steel wire. Pear trees bend towards the sun, and cherries and plums fan out in their own idiosyncratic ways. Vegetables mingle with flowers in the potager garden in their wooden and steel beds, strawberries hang from baskets, and grapes climb the steel fence on the side. Paths bend with old, broken bricks for edging and salvaged, rusted iron fences in the garden beds, unable to fully contain the sweep of roses and sprouting aquilegias that tumble over and through it.

A secret garden, my mother used to call it, romantic.

But when the bindweed clings and the elder shoots, I feel more like Snow White trapped in a thicket of thorns. There may not be a Prince Charming, but if ever there were fairies at the bottom of the garden, you’d find them in mine.

If this had been a blank page when I moved in, I wonder if I would have created something different.

In my mind I imagine a classical garden, one with straight, perfectly hedged lines, and even, stone paths and ordered, repeated plantings and all-day sun for the vegies. If only I’d levelled it all, I bemoan every now and then, cut down the giant silver birch that creates so much shade, and drops its spindly branches and seed pods in every wind, ripped out the couch grass that invades every garden bed, nuked the yellow mallow and the blue borage with the tap roots you can never dig out. Then I would have the garden of my dreams, instead of my wild garden. I pretend it’s a style, shabby chic for gardenlovers, a new design aesthetic that might take off.

11

Grow

12

Then the neighbour complains because my crab apples have fallen onto his neat driveway, and the other one asks me to pull out the giant thistle in the front before it goes to seed and takes root in their garden.

“Who plants crab-apples in their front yard?” he moans, and the house painter chips in with his advice, that if I did a better job of pruning my roses, the front of my house would look better. I want to explain that I quite like it this way; it’s as if you stumbled down a country lane and found this sweet cottage, with its crooked chimney, and tumbling roses, and blousy hedges of tea camellias spilling out onto the pathway. Nature taking over, in all its untidy, abundant ways, making shelter for wildlife and food for the birds. Instead, I make amends by sweeping up the fallen crab apples and leaving boxes of pears, apples and grapes from the garden on their doorstep. Then I plan on how I’m going to rip out the front plantings and replace them all with standard iceberg roses that don’t smell as sweet but are far neater than the ones I have.

Grow I guess even fairy tales have their dark and their light.

Fairy tale or not, I still dream of the vacant block of land where I can start anew, planting neat, ordered rows of vegetables in wooden, raised beds, a white picket fence to keep the wildlife out, an orchard with a wildflower garden, where the trees can be netted from the birds to increase yield, and there are wide, laid paths around the weed-free garden beds. But for now, there’s contentment in letting go of what I can’t do or grow. I’ll never be self-sufficient. Have a glasshouse or a lemon tree. I can’t on-sew to have a constant supply of veg and the walled garden with its pumpkin patch will have to wait until my next house.

But I’ll never get over the joy of eating a tomato, warm from the vine, of drying garlic and plaiting it into thick ropes to hang inside my pantry, of tasting the ambrosia of elderflower cordial in the depths of winter, when I’ve harvested it from my own spring patch and made it myself. In rose season, I can’t pass a rosebush without cutting the blooms, until

13

Grow

I can’t pass a rosebush without cutting the blooms, until every room is filled with their blousy petals and sweet scent

14

every room is filled with their blousy petals and sweet scent, while in winter, I wake to the perfume of hyacinths and violets next to my bed. In summer, I cultivate kale, snow peas, broad beans, and every herb imaginable, and while I don’t have enough room to grow everything I’d like, there’s enough to always find something from the garden for lunch.

Discarded birds’ nests become art, and when the frogs and cicadas and birds sing, it sounds like the sweetest of symphonies. I can’t grow figs, as much as I’ve tried, but a single quince supplies me and my friends with all I could need, and I have a greengage.

What more could I want?

Maybe that’s what ‘having it all’ means: having a dream and a real life.

“The flower doesn’t dream of the bee,” wrote poet Mark Nepo, “It blossoms and the bee comes.”

Things grow and thrive in the right place and conditions. People, as much as plants. Nature can’t be contained, but it is abundant when we stop fighting it, and let it find its own balance between the light and the shade. And I can’t help but think that in a world that’s becoming more and more ordered, a little chaos is what’s needed to restore

Grow the balance. At least I tell myself that, when the hellebores self-seed in my gravel paths, and the forget-me-nots take over everything else, and I can’t dislodge the thorny, self-seeded blackberry from its roots in the kale patch.

Garden designer Vita Sackville-West once said that every gardener should be an artist along her own lines. What else for a writer, then, but a garden that people imagine as a fairy tale? And if Prince Charming never comes, it’s lucky for me I have a good pair of leather gardening gloves and a mean set of secateurs to cut through those thorns. Now I find myself more curator, than creator, though; Mother Nature knows her own mind. I’ll tend to what I can, in the time I have with all the other busyness in my life and let her do the rest.

There’s a wild garden outside my home, a part of it I always bring inside for the joy it brings, and a whole heart of it deep inside me. In this, my heart buzzes like the bee finding its flower.

Maybe in a garden, like any good story, we find a piece of ourselves within in.

Or maybe it finds its way inside of us.

15

Beautiful, timeless and ethically produced linen womenswear

Australian designer Victoria Varrasso (pictured above) moved with her husband and animals to the popular central Victorian 'spa town' of Daylesford in 2013. Her now coveted eclectic retail store, Manteau Noir opened its doors in early 2014, and it was here that Victoria sent her natural fibre womenswear brand out into the world.

The initial concept for the Manteau Noir brand was to create ethically produced, sustainable, timeless and ageless womenswear with a focus upon transeasonal wardrobe staples. The garments convey a feeling of authenticity in cut, quality of make and choice of cloth.

Unlike most brands, Manteau Noir womenswear is meticulously made in Melbourne (in varied sizes and silhouettes) from the very finest textiles sourced from Europe and Japan.

The brand is flourishing. We asked Victoria about her concept. “I hope that each garment will bring a sense of pleasure and comfort to the wearer. I’m obsessed with texture, so linen is at the core of my design process. Simplicity and high-quality natural textiles are my focus. I carefully plan each collection, developing and translating my ideas, imagining at first glance that I want to see the woman before I see her clothes. The garments must 16

be approachable and not overpower or overstate, harmonious, gentle and fluid,” says Victoria.

“We are waking up and becoming more aware and concerned about ethical practices in general and sustainable fashion is an important aspect of this process. I work with our exceptional, like-minded team and we hope that our store reflects integrity, beauty and creativity. Many people talk about the feeling of the store and the wonderful experiences that they have. This means everything to us and we’re so grateful that people respond in this positive way,” explains Victoria.

Launching her eponymous Italian-made shoe collection in 2017, Victoria will add ultra-fine merino knitwear to her offering for winter 2020.

All brands are available at her Daylesford store, online and through selected stockists nationally. www.manteaunoir.com.au @manteaunoir Shop 1/27 Vincent Street, Daylesford, Victoria Ph: 03 5348 1902 Photographer - Danny Wootton Location - Bank House Newlyn,Victoria.

Special thanks to Andrew Loath and Nigel Smith.

1717

Previous page: Manteau Noir Camille Linen Dress $330 Victoria Varrasso Dillon Lattice Suede Boots $875 Top: Manteau Noir Seville Linen Top $195 Bottom: Manteau Noir Papa Linen Top $185, Jules Pinafore $305

18

Top left: Manteau Noir St Helena Shell Top $160 Prairie Linen Pinstripe Skirt $315 Victoria Varrasso Bloomsbury Boots $650 Top right: Manteau Noir Marseilles Linen All In One $275 Bottom: Manteau Noir Camille Dress $330

19

Top and next page: Manteau Noir Marcella Linen Jacket $335, French Raffia Hat $95 Bottom left: Manteau Noir Adelaide Linen Shirt $225, Grove Linen Skirt $295 Bottom right: Manteau Noir Chloe Linen Dress $315

20

21

2121

Growing food & creating spaces written and photographed by JULIE HALL

22

W

e love both - growing food and creating spaces! We don't claim to be experts in either, but what we lack in knowledge we make up in enthusiasm.

Growing food isn’t for the select few, anyone can do it. Anyone can grab some soil and poke a little seed into its belly, add a little water every day, then watch and wait for it to pop up - and this is why we love growing food so much, because essentially, it's that easy!

To start with you don’t need to have the big fancy set up; all you need is a little pot and a bit of encouragement and the willingness to give it a go.

Who remembers the school experiments of sticking a carrot top into a wad of wet cotton?

Well, it must have sparked something off inside me, as well as growing up with part of the family backyard turned into a food growing area with vegies and fruit and nut trees, because it seems ever since I've been interested in growing.

Oh, those nut trees! One of my favourites would have to be the almond tree. I remember climbing up into those branches as a kid, sitting there grabbing handfuls of the open furry shells, peeling

Grow them back to snap open the hard shell inside and gobbling them down. Pure delight!

Noel and I have been growing food at home for the past 10 years. We started with the previous owner's vegie garden and a few large pots. We tidied them up and grew in them for a season or two. Then with some changes, we moved it to where there was better sun for more of the year, and over the past 8 years we’ve modified it, learned from it and started to give it a personality.

I think one of the best books for growing in Australia would have to be Peter Cundall's, 'The Practical Australian Gardener', this gives you month-by-month instructions of what you should be planting, pruning, feeding and so on. I only seem to manage a fifth of what Peter recommends and still manage to grow a selection of veg.

Just remember, growing food has been done for centuries, and usually by the hardest-working people on earth. When you’re in the garden digging away, no one cares what clothes you’re wearing or whether you’ve got makeup on or not.

And that’s the other thing from childhood, getting dirty must mean you're having fun!

23

Grow

Like with everything in life, effort put in will equal the reward received.

I had to giggle to myself when I received a great email from a reader, explaining how discussions will continue with one's husband on how to stack wood the 'Mike’s way', as per our last issue, a story on the right way to stack wood. And payment for said effort would be a batch of potstickers, also from our last issue. Effort equals reward, simple!

There have been plenty of occasions in our household when cake is the dangling carrot for a job completed.

“I promise I’ll make you your favourite cake” I would say in hope that an eyebrow would twitch, and a small task considered. I mean, who wouldn’t want cake as a reward?!

The latest request wasn't going to be small and I'm not sure if a cake was going to cut it this time, because I needed help to create an additional vegie garden area, using a German method call Hügelkultur (pronounced Hoo-gul-culture, means hill culture or hill mound), a no-dig raised bed with a difference.

They hold moisture, build fertility, maximize surface volume and are great spaces for growing fruit, 24

Grow

vegetables and herbs. (ref: permacultre.co.uk)

be used to build and replenish our Hügelkultur's.

In addition to this, we discussed building another little shed, something that we could use to store the pumpkins or sort out onions and garlic then hang them. But to be completely honest, when we discussed the new shed, which we now fondly call 'The Hut' it also had to be a great place to chill out, to look at the pond and to cook in.

By using the Hügelkultur method to make these garden beds it's going to do three things, use a something we already have, clean up our paddocks and create great beds to grow veg in.

BUILDING A HÜGELKULTUR One thing we have here at home is plenty of branches, sticks, leaves and grass clippings, and these are the main ingredients to making a Hügelkultur!

These resources normally get piled up on a bonfire or put into the compost bin, but from now on they'll

We've decided to make smaller versions of these amazing beds, but already by creating three beds, we've tidied up under a few of our big trees. And as time goes by, we'll continue to build them up into a higher mound.

HOW TO BUILD A HÜGELKULTUR After digging the ditch for the first layer of rotting wood to sit in, we then layered leaves, hay and twigs and built it up, covering the very top layer with soil ready to plant in.

25

Grow BUILDING A HUT As with everything we do, we do it in consultation.

These 'discussions' are always lively. But that's what happens when you put a left-handed person together with a right-handed person; even folding bed sheets becomes a challenge.

But one thing I can say about us two, we usually end up at the same place at the same time, we just come at it from different directions.

Noel, over the years, has been storing materials, such as old timber and rusty corrugated iron, waiting for such a project. So, other than a box

26

of screws, no money has been spent on building the hut.

This is why it's so important to see value in old windows or doors or that stick of timber, if you salvage it, reclaim it and store it, you just never know when you might need it.

Over time this second vegie garden area, with its HĂźgelkulturs doing their thing, should turn into a beautiful productive growing area and it will be a pleasure to maintain and to learn from. And the hut and its little fireplace made from an old metal grain box and its weathered boards will be a wonderful space for entertaining and storage.

Grow

27

GROWING FROM SEED Keen on giving it a try? When I first started to grow my own food, I was unsure of what I was doing, so I started with lettuces and herbs.

You can buy seedlings and plant them on, but I have found that growing from seed grows a stronger plant, one that becomes accustomed to your conditions will be stronger and more productive.

Also, buying a pack of seeds is more economical.

You can get more seeds growing than the usual six seedlings in a single punnet, and all for about the same cost.

If one or two plants don't grow so well, you've still got the rest of the pack to try again.

As long as you buy yourself a bag of good seed

28

raising mix from your local hardware or nursery, there's no reason why you can't grow from seed.

Grab yourself some of your favourite lettuce or herb seeds, read the back of the pack, find some pots and a nice sunny position, water often and you'll be eating a lettuce/herb sandwich in no time.

It is one the most rewarding things you can do: grow food that you can eat, share, or give away.

Within no time you'll be handing over your surplus rocket, dill or carrots to your neighbours saying, I grew these!

Please don’t be scared or worried about having a go at growing food; sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, that’s all part of the experience.

CREATING SPACES This is a very individual thing, and clearly we like to reuse rustic materials to build with, and I am lucky to have a husband that can interpret my ideas, add his own thoughts and then without a drawing, build something from nothing.

some that might mean having a hose that can reach the new garden area or it could mean putting in a new line. 3. Do you have wildlife visiting your garden? Decide if you need to protect or encourage with either fencing or food. 4. Adding features such a water features or rustic pieces...or as in our case, both!

But let's forget about huts, sheds and outhouses.

When creating a space outside you need to think about two things: what you want to use it for and what time you have spare to maintain it. Purpose and Momentum! Once you've got that sorted then you can start to create an outdoor space.

When adding vintage pieces, or as many like to call it, rusty gold, into a garden I always like to have a purpose for them. Will I plant in them, will it be a tool I can use, or is it just there for its good looks.

Things to consider: 1. Pots are great for some plants but not all, so you might have to create some garden beds 2. Having access to water is important. For

Balance is everything; just a little of this and a little of that and you've got yourself a unique and individual garden space. Good luck with your garden and you're welcome to write to me with your successes. info@theblackhen.com 29

Water Spirals written and photographed by CHRIS CRERAR

30

Visiting Sally Johannsohn's beautiful garden on the slopes of Kunanyi/Mount Wellington above Hobart, you can begin to appreciate where her idea to create water spirals came from.

With their unique copper heads generating a dancelike movement to their sprays, the spirals create an artful energy befitting of a beautiful garden like Sally’s.

“We’ve conceived a spinning sprinkler with a mesmerising pattern of gentle rain when in motion, and a beautiful garden sculpture when not in use,” Sally says.

“Sprinklers were always ugly. They were orange or lime-green plastic and you need to put them away.

So it’s nice to have something in the garden that you can leave in a permanent position and that will act as a sculpture,” Sally says.

“They water really well because they create big drops of water, which penetrate the ground more.

The plants look invigorated, in the same way they do after a decent rain”.

Working with a local craftsman to bring a range of water spiral designs into being, Sally launched them to widespread acclaim at the 2001 Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, even winning a Bronze Award for their display.

31

After several years of success bringing the spirals to gardens across Australia and overseas, the droughtinduced water restrictions of the early 2000s, alongside a host of new projects for Sally, saw production of the spirals reduced to an on demand basis.

Then in 2014, the water spiral story took another turn when Sally was approached by Belinda Swift, who was seeking a mentor in plants.

“I was totally floored by the beauty, practicality and simplicity of the water spirals,” Belinda says.

“I quickly developed a passion for them and felt they really needed to be back out there and available for garden lovers”.

Belinda wanted to support Sally in that “she had designed such a wonderful product” and suggested that they collaborate to relaunch water spirals, making them widely available to more gardeners in Australia and internationally.

Their craftsman is again busy working with the beautiful malleability of copper, hand making the spirals after a highly successful relaunch at Mt Macedon’s Garden Lovers' Fair at Bolobek.

In true collaborative fashion, the now close friends relaunched water spirals together, even showcasing

32

a reticulated version on one of Bolobek’s ponds.

Since coming onboard with water spirals Belinda has been continually astounded by their longevity.

“They really are an heirloom. Almost 20 years later, many of the original water spirals are still going strong. We know of spirals that have been handed down through families, still working and having developed wonderful patinas across their copper piping.

In 2019 we are still celebrating the longevity and integrity of Sally's unique designs. In fact, these objects become even more beautiful, more compelling, as time goes by.” Belinda says.

Sally says that the spirals represent the antithesis of our largely disposable culture.

“I was driven by the desire to create something not only beautiful and sculptural but built simply and to stand the test of time.” Sally says.

Sally and Belinda say that the low-tech simplicity of the spiral’s designs mean that they can always be repaired, but if treated with care they will keep on watering a garden and enhancing its beauty for decades. www.waterspirals.com

The Juggler

3333

Stanton Farmhouse Derwent Valley Tasmania

a beautiful country stay

Visit my website to find out more and book your stay.

I have a special offer for 'The Black Hen' summer edition lovers. Get 10% off your room rate when you use the code: blackhen I'd love you to be my guest, Lisa x

www.stantonfarmhouse.com

34

Food

Angela Palermo

p h ot o by JA N E G R OV E R

w r itt e n by A N G E L A PA L E R M O My parents hailed from the south of Italy, Calabria, and both were raised living off the land. They grew their own vegetables, collected drinking water from nearby springs, preserved their homegrown fruits and vegetables, made their own olive oil, wine, and bottled tomato sugo and salami. They had chickens that produced daily eggs, goats that provided fresh milk, pigs for salami, as well as ducks and rabbits;

farm to plate style. They also baked their own bread and pizza in large wood ovens.

A little of this they brought with them when they migrated to Australia in the 1960’s. Like many other Italians, Dad had a large vegetable patch in our back yard. He grew grape vines, chickens, fruit trees, and an endless array of vegetables.

35

Food

Basil Ice Cream

p h ot o by L AU R A R E I D P HO T O G R A P H Y

36

36

Food

Gelato al basilico Yes, you read correctly, this is basil ice cream, and it is refreshingly delightful on a hot summer’s day, similar to those expectations of mint ice cream. I

liken the flavour to a savoury sweet taste: clean and bursting with gusto. It is heavenly on its own or served with a slice of cake.

In g re d i e nt s 250ml milk 250ml thickened cream 60g basil leaves, roughly chopped

pinch of sea salt 200g caster sugar

To m a k e a C re m e A n g l a i s e 1. Bring milk, cream, basil leaves and pinch of salt (the salt aids in maintaining the basil green colour) to just before it boils in a heavy base saucepan.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow to sit for 45 minutes to 1 hour to infuse the colour and flavour of the basil (can sit in refrigerator once cool enough). Use a hand blender or transfer mixture to a blender and blend until the basil is finely ground (about 1 to 2 minutes). Return to the saucepan and heat up once again till just before boil.

2. In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks and caster sugar until pale and thickened slightly. Slowly pour in the warm basil milk/cream liquid while whisking simultaneously to combine. Return the mixture into the saucepan and place over low heat, stirring

37

constantly with a wooden spoon, until mixture thickens and coats the back of spoon leaving a clear line. Do not allow mixture to boil as this will curdle the eggs in the mixture. Immediately remove from heat and pour through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl (this will remove any egg solids that may have formed when heating mixture. Set bowl in a larger bowl of ice water and stir until cold 10-15 minutes.

3. Pour into ice cream maker and churn until it begins to set. Then transfer into a container to freeze; preferably overnight.

Serve scoops in a bowl or on a lovely slice of cake.

37

Food

Stuffed Zuchini Flowers

p h ot o by A N G E L A PA L E R M O

38

Fiori di zucchini ripieni Zucchini flowers – this delicate blossom is such a delight to eat. It grows in abundance even with just a few zucchini plants! You can employ them in fritters or your omelette, or even better; stuffed with a filling of your choice, coated in a light batter & then fried in a bath of hot oil.

For this recipe, I prefer to use the male flower

Food

that grows on a long stem from the centre of the zucchini plant. You can, however, use the female flowers which has a little zucchini attached.

The filling can vary with cheeses, anchovies, breadcrumbs, herbs such as parsley, and much more! The batter to coat (when fried) is light and crisp and just heavenly!

In g re d i e nt s 12 male zucchini flowers, remove inner cavity (pistil) & discard grapeseed oil, olive oil or sunflower oil for deep frying Stuffing/filling 300g fresh ricotta, strained from any additional liquid 25g parmesan cheese, freshly grated

zest of a lemon, medium size, finely grated sea salt, a good pinch black pepper, a good pinch, freshly ground nutmeg, a good pinch, freshly ground Batter/coating 250g “00” flour, sifted 1 tsp or 5g fine sea salt

Me t h o d 1. To make the batter; put the sifted flour and sea salt into a bowl and make a well in the centre. Mix the olive oil with the warm water and tip into the centre well of the flour. Using a hand whisk or fork, work the batter until smooth and then leave it to rest for at least 1 hour.

2. Meanwhile, to clean the zucchini flowers, gently brush off any dirt with a dry tea towel or cloth (don’t rinse them with water). Check inside for any insects and shake them out. Ensure that the inner cavity (pistil) is removed.

3. To make the stuffing; combine in a mediumsized bowl, the ricotta, parmesan, lemon zest with seasoning – sea salt, black pepper and nutmeg.

Carefully place 1 to 2 tablespoons of the cheese mixture into each flower, being mindful not to overfill, and gently twist the ends to close.

4. Return to the rested batter - using a clean hand whisk or an electric whisker attachment, beat the egg whites until stiff and then fold gently into the rested batter until combined. Use the batter immediately.

5. Pour the oil into a large saucepan to a depth of 6 or 8cm and heat until 180°C (a small cube of bread should brown immediately). Prepare a tray or plate lined with paper or kitchen towel. When the oil is ready, dip four zucchini flowers into the batter, then add to the hot oil and deep-fry for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to prepared tray/plate to drain. Repeat with the remaining zucchini flowers, reheating the oil between batches.

Serve immediately with a sprinkle of sea salt.

39

Food

Summer Peach Tart

p h ot o by L AU R A R E I D P HO T O G R A P H Y

40

Crostata di pesche estive This is the easiest way to serve a tart in my opinion.

No lining pastry into a flan tart tin. Rather, a freestanding baked pastry encasing seasonal summer slices of peaches and nectarines.

I have created this shortcrust pastry using an ancient grain flour named kamut or khorasan

Food

wheat. This large amber wheat grain is closely related to durum wheat. I love using it for its buttery, nutty flavour. It works extremely well baked against the jammy sweet warm peaches and nectarines. Serve it with a dollop of crème fraiche or a large scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream and I am in heaven.

In g re d i e nt s kamut shortcrust pastry 115g or 1 cup kamut flour 150g or 2/3 cup plain flour, unbleached 50g or ½ cup almond meal, toasted in oven (see first step in method) 69g or ¼ cup caster sugar pinch sea salt, fine ground 160g butter, unsalted, diced into cubes 4 tbsp, chilled water

filling 5-6 each yellow peaches, cut in half, seed removed, cut into segments 2-3 each yellow or white nectarines, cut in half, seed removed, cut into segments 2 tbsp of homemade or farmers market-bought peach or nectarine jam handful of breadcrumbs egg wash (1 egg) handful of almond flakes pure icing sugar, dusting crème fraiche for serving

Me t h o d 1. Place almond meal on a tray lined with baking paper and place in preheat oven at 150°C for 5 to 10 mins or until it is evenly golden brown. This will intensify the almond flavour to your pastry. Allow to cool completely before adding to remaining ingredients in next step.

5. Preheat oven to 180°C.

2. For the kamut pastry: In a bowl add the flours, almond meal, caster sugar, sea salt and butter and using rub-in-method, rub the butter using your fingertips, into the dry ingredients until you form breadcrumbs or pecorino crumb texture (can do this process in a food processor).

7. Place segments of peaches, nectarines in the centre of the pastry (ensure to leave that 5cm boarder). Fold over the pastry boarder edge in towards the centre. Brush over the edges with the egg wash. Sprinkle with almond flakes all over the pastry boarder and centre of the tart. Place in preheated oven and bake for 40-50 minutes or until pastry is golden colour and pastry baked on base.

3. Add one tbsp at a time of chilled water until a dough begins to form.

4. Turn mixture out onto a surface and form together by hand. Form into a flat round disc shape. Wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate to rest 30 minutes (or longer if possible – 2hrs or overnight).

6. Once rested, roll out pastry to form a large round disc. This can be rolled out between two sheets of baking paper. Leave a boarder of 5cm.

Sprinkle base with breadcrumbs. Spread jam.

Lightly dust over the whole tart with pure icing sugar.

Serve each slice with a dollop of crème fraiche.

41

Food

Stuffed Tomatoes

p h ot o by A N G E L A PA L E R M O

42

42

Pomodori ripieni Stuffed vegetables are something I ate a lot growing up in an Italian household. My parents (Calabrese, Southern Italians) grew loads of vegetables and had a real knack for employing them in various guises. Admittedly, this was my favourite way to eat vegetables – stuffed with additional ingredients Heirloom tomatoes are a favourite of mine;

Food

however, you could use any type of tomato you wish. I mention in the note below, you could subsequently substitute tomatoes altogether with other summer vegetables such as zucchini and capsicums.

In g re d i e nt s 4 to 5 ripe heirloom tomatoes, large size

1 to 2 eggs, whole, free-range or organic

1 brown onion, finely chopped

60g pecorino cheese, finely grated

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

sea salt

7 mushrooms, medium, small diced

black pepper

½ small bunch parsely, finely chopped 3 tbsp olive oil 3 tbsp butter, unsalted 100g breadcrumbs, homemade best, mix of breads Me t h o d 1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. 2. Cut the top off each tomato and set aside. Spoon the seeds and pulp from inside each tomato into a bowl, and chop the pulp into small pieces.

3. Heat a medium saucepan over medium to high heat. Add the olive oil and 2 tbsp of butter. Add the onion with a good pinch of sea salt – cook stirring for 1-2 minutes. Add the garlic – stir for a few seconds, then add in the mushrooms and parsley.

Cook stirring for 3 to 4 minutes or until mushroom cooked. Add to bowl with tomato seed and pulp.

4. Now add to the bowl – breadcrumbs, pecorino cheese, eggs and seasoning. Mix until it combines

43

together. Stuff each tomato with the filling mixture and place a teaspoon of butter on top and then seal with their tomato ‘hats’. Place in a large saucepan or pot (that has a lid) and drizzle with a good dash of olive oil. Cover with a saucepan lid (if you don’t have a lid, use a sheet of foil) and place in oven for 40 to 60 minutes, or until cooked through. Ensure to take off the pan lid or foil in the last 10 minutes of cooking to roast the hats of the tomatoes.

Serve hot or cold with a side of garden salad.

Note: you could use this same stuffing (filling) for other summer vegetables such as zucchini and capsicums.

43

Food

Apricot Almond Tart

p h ot o by A N G E L A PA L E R M O

44

Crostata di mandorla all’albicocca I love apricots. I love summer because of apricots. I love this tart because it has apricots in it!

There were two apricot trees in our backyard growing up. I would sit underneath eating my skirt filled pouch of apricots. Their sour-sweet flavour

Food

with creamy flesh is such a pleasurable delight for me. However, baked apricots teamed with almond frangipane and a flaky short pastry is absolute heaven. Ensure to add a dollop of double cream or vanilla ice cream.

In g re d i e nt s Flaky Short Pastry 265g butter, unsalted, cold (but softened a little), diced 375g plain flour 1 pinch sea salt, fine 40g egg, yolks 40g egg, whole 40g caster sugar 60g milk, full cream

Frangipane filling 125g butter, unsalted, very soft (left out overnight) 25g plain flour, sifted 125g almond meal, sifted 125g pure icing sugar, sifted 2 whole eggs (room temperature) 1 egg yolk (room temperature) handful of almond flakes

Me t h o d 1. Weigh out ingredients - weigh the whole egg, egg yolk, sugar and milk together and stir well to ensure sugar has dissolved in liquid. Keep in fridge as must be kept cold. Weigh flour and salt and place on a clean surface. Scatter cubes of cold butter throughout flour. Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips, or if you have a pastry cutter – use it to ‘chop’ the butter into the flour.

Ensure to keep the butter lumpy throughout the pastry. Work quickly to ensure the butter does not melt. Leave lumps of butter the size of small olives in the flour.

2. Make a well in the centre of the mixture, pour the egg mixture. Use your fingertips to gradually pull flour into the centre until all the liquid has been absorbed. Aim is to have a chunky crumb, not melted combined dough.

3. Then place crumbs in a heaped line, parallel with your body, and using the heel of your hand, slide the crumbs on the bench away from your body in a sweeping motion, in long strides. Aim is to layer the butter through the dough, to layer the butter through the loose dough (French technique called Fraisage).

4. Once completed, using quick swift movements, combine loose dough together to form one dough: even out with the palm of your hands into a rectangle shape of about 2cm high. Wrap in clingwrap and allow to rest in fridge overnight or for at least 3 hours.

5. After rest time roll out piece of dough on lightly floured surface until 3mm thick and then using rolling pin, roll pastry up around the rolling pin and then unroll pastry over flan tin – use a 20cm flan tin. Allow to rest in flan tin and in the refrigerator for 2 hours or overnight (preferable).

6. Preheat oven to 180°C (conventional oven). Take out of refrigerator and cover with baking paper or alfoil and baking beads and blind bake for 30-35 minutes. Take out of oven and remove baking beads with alfoil. Return pastry to the oven (reduce oven heat to 160°C) and bake for a further 10-15 minutes to further bake pastry until a pale golden colour all over. Take out of oven and allow to cool (return alfoil and baking beads to the pastry while cooling to assist in maintaining pastry structure).

Once ready, fill with frangipane filling. (on next page)

45

Food

Frangipane for Apricot Tart

46

Food Me t h o d Meanwhile, prepare the frangipane.

creamy. Gently fold in the flour until combined.

1. Place butter in bowl of an electronic mixer fitted with a paddle. Mix the butter on medium to high speed until pale, smooth and creamy (2-3 minutes).

4. Spread frangipane batter in the cooled blind baked pastry case, filling 2/3 of the tart shell.

Smooth out the frangipane & place halved apricots (inner flesh facing upwards or bums facing upwards – you choose) around the top and then sprinkle with almond flakes. Return tart to a preheated oven at 175°C conventional heat and bake for 35-45 minutes or until the frangipane is baked through and a golden colour. Allow to cool in tin for 10 minutes. Remove from tin and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack. Serve at room temperature with a scoop of double cream or homemade ice cream.

2. Add almond meal and pure icing sugar and continue beating until very pale & fluffy (2-3 minutes).

3. Slowly add the lightly whisked eggs (a little at a time), making sure each addition is incorporated before adding more. Also ensure to scrape the sides after each new addition. When all of the egg is added – it should look fluffy, pale in colour and

47

Food

Heirloom Tomato Salad

with baked ricotta & black olives

p h ot o by L AU R A R E I D P HO T O G R A P H Y

48

Insalata di pomodori cimelio

Food

con ricotta al forno e olive nere

Heirloom tomatoes refers to varieties of tomatoes whose seeds have been passed down for generations, some as old as 50 years.

Don’t you just love that you’re eating a piece of history by eating an heirloom tomato!?

And you pay a little extra for eating this history!

This type of tomato costs more than your regular hybrid tomatoes (for the obvious generational heritage), but in addition, as they are not as

resilient to disease, they don’t produce as high a yield, and they don’t have a long shelf life.

Nonetheless, heirloom tomatoes are by far, my favourite choice of tomato to have in a salad such as this one through summer - and not just because of their history.

They boast a glorious wonderful sweet flavour and they are available in a large range of colours and shapes which creates a visually beautiful dish.

In g re d i e nt s 6 to 8 assorted ripe heirloom tomatoes, thickly sliced 400g ricotta, cut into 5cm thick wedges 160g or 1 cup black olives ½ red onion, thinly sliced 1 tsp dried oregano drizzle of extra virgin olive oil drizzle of red wine vinegar sea salt and black pepper basil leaves, handful Me t h o d 1. Preheat oven to 190°C. Place ricotta wedges on a baking tray lined with baking paper, scatter over olives and oregano, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and season to taste with a pinch of sea salt and pepper. Bake until ricotta is golden in colour (1525 minutes) and cool to room temperature.

2. Arrange thickly sliced tomatoes on a serving platter, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar and season with salt and pepper.

Crumble over baked ricotta, scatter with black olives and scatter with basil leaves.

49

Photo courtesy of Plain English Kitchens

AGA & RAYBURN OVENS . CHEMINEES PHILIPPE HEATERS THE ENGLISH TAPWARE CO . THE LIMEHOUSE LAMP CO 58-60 William Street . LAUNCESTON . Tasmania Ph: 0363313499 www.glasgowengineering.com.au @glasgow_home_appliances 50

Growing a home Story and photography by STEPHANIE PHILLIPS

51 51

Home

A

t dusk I light a beeswax candle. In a small corner of my kitchen I watch the flame dance for a moment and survey the parched hills out my window; the sky is softening as it finally begins to give way to dark. This seemingly endless twilight enthrals and exasperates me in equal measure. It is a summer dance that I will perhaps struggle with for some time to come. I lower my garden-stained hands into the washing up water and begin the simple task of cleaning my space. I inhale the quiet.

I yearn to turn down the volume of the modern narrative. A cultural story of shiny stuff, new stuff, more stuff. Curated homes with matching furniture and trend driven colour palettes. Fads and ideals that whip away on a summer’s breeze, only to make way for 'newer and better' decor and homewares to trump the Joneses. Everywhere we turn there is a loud and glary message that what we have is not enough. We are lured to believe that a home can (and should) come flat packed in boxes from countries abroad and screwed together in little more than a weekend. I rest my hands on the time weary bench tops and survey my humble surroundings.

A scattering of furniture more melange than motley crew with its honeyed timbers, worn paintwork and

52

makers’ marks. Pieces that speak to my soul and whisper stories of simpler times. Of times filled with toil and hardship but of contentment; a deep-rooted gratitude simply for a space to lay your head. Clay, carved wood and rich linens holding memories of travel, of adventure, of creative souls following their hearts. And all of it collected slowly over time. Some pieces stumbled across, some saved scrupulously for, some made with great intention and the odd wonky nail or two. But all brought together gently and mindfully over time like a Vermeer painting with its gradual building of layers.

And everywhere there are wisps of nature.

Ephemera from my wanderings, little memories snatched up with a smooth stone or mottled leaf and buried in my pocket for later rediscovery where I’ll be transported back to that moment in an instant. Eucalyptus branches hang in the bathroom and with each steamy shower, yield their potent and cleansing aroma. A bowl of sea shells still dusted with sand remind me of impromptu fish and chips at the beach with my little people. Late summer poppy seed heads in their crowned majesty, a handturned wooden vase of feathers, a dried sunflower all nostalgic in its dried form. Transient fragments of my days.

Home

53

Home To bring the natural world into our homes is to transcend the four walls containing us and blend ourselves with the abundant life growing all around. When we bring reverence to the simple yet astonishingly beautiful leaf, the spiralled shell, or the fading bloom, we elevate ourselves from a world of consuming mindlessly in order to satiate our wants, and find a place of serenity with the wealth of beauty we already have. It is a declaration to ourselves that beauty is important, abundant and everywhere.

And yet a home is more than the trinkets and treasures we put in. It is, when we choose to steer away from the status quo, a collection of rhythms and rituals that shape and guide our days. Where importance is planted in the intentions, we set for how we want to live our lives, where we honour the rising and setting sun and imbue our days with remnants of each season. It is the simple yet profound ways we nourish our souls and those of our loved ones with gentle presence and care.

Where we challenge ourselves and ultimately grow.

It is the warm washers drenched in lavender water to soothe sun kissed skin, homemade raspberry jam, sunshine scented sheets, open windows for fresh air. It is the wicker picnic basket packed with enamel mugs, a thermos, a bottle opener and a

54

few jam jars for glasses, just waiting quietly at the back door for summer’s spontaneity and delicious warm afternoons to catch our attention and whisk us away on an adventure. It is the saying yes to life in whatever guise fits us best, elevates us and sees us shine with disregard to the norm of 'should'.

Perhaps it’s the shifting of belongings, the culling and the moving on, to carve out space for long hidden passions. summer’s long days may see a small desk find a place in your house, a tiny spot to sketch or paint the plethora of eucalyptus leaves around your home, or an old wooden crate of cookbooks screwed to the wall in your kitchen to ignite domestic creativity. Or maybe it’s an antique drinks trolley for balmy Summer evening cocktails and connected conversation with your love. A small table that surrenders to the bower bird in all of us by proudly displaying nature’s baubles; seed pods, feathers and stones.

It is with these intentions and desires that I will use Summer’s languishing days and its abundance of growth as a metaphor for life. I will embrace slow, imperfection and authenticity. And as I tend my garden with patience and an understanding that time is the most potent elixir for growth, I will gift the space around me with the same mindset. I will grow my home.

AUTENTICO AUSTRALIA Beautiful, all natural furniture and wall paints - be inspired.

Find our collection at www.autentico-paint-australia.com.au NEW STOCKIST ENQUIRIES WELCOME 55 55

The She Shed Movement Story and photography by JULIE HALL

T

hree women, five questions! That's all you need to get a better understanding that having a she shed is not only lots of fun, but is also important for women's mental health and wellbeing.

Having experienced my own joy of owning a little shed in the garden, bursting with all the things I need to better look after the vegie patch, or to mow the lawns or tie back that rose bush that's enjoying a growth spurt, I can highly recommend it!

In fact, my addiction to sheds has grown from a little one in the vegie patch, to a bigger garden shed, as pictured here, to a newly built little hut, up near the duck pond.

56

The feeling of true happiness and contentment that comes from having your own space outside of the home is magic!

A place where it's yours and yours alone, a place to explore your creative side, a place to express yourself without judgment or interference.

I could even go as far as to say that having your own she shed breaks down expectations. The expectations we put on ourselves to produce something that others will appreciate or enjoy.

Because at the end of the day, when you're in your she shed, you've only got to please yourself!

Having that special place for the thing you enjoy doing the most makes you feel good!

Home

There's plenty of information online about she sheds, even books published on the topic. Whatever the case, it seems she sheds are here to stay, and ladies want them now!

In the next three interviews I ask five simple questions. And as you will read, there is a common

theme that connects them all.

Complete happiness can come in the form of a small building in your backyard, free standing, with a window or two, a vintage door and filled with all the things you love.

57

The Gardener's She Shed

58

Sandra Roberts

Did you build, re-purpose or buy your shed?

My husband built my shed while I was overseas, it was a true gift. I had started gathering the materials to build the shed for a long time beforehand, hunting down my own windows and doors, these then sat there while I worked out the specifications of how I visualised this little shed would look.

Traditionally men have had the sheds, why do you think sheds are so important for women to have?

I believe women need their own space away from the rest of the world, it’s good to have your own space that you can do anything in. This is my space to do as I wish, no one interferes in my space, I love it that way!

Has having your shed made a difference to how you would have done things before?

Before I had my shed all my gardening things were spread everywhere. Having my shed has made a home for those bits and pieces, it’s the epicentre of my garden, that makes tending it a lot easier. And where I put things, they stay!

Home What do you love the most about your shed?

I love the way it feels like home! A little home away from home. Because it has plants around it, on it and in it, it feels like home. I love my garden. I come from a long line of gardeners, Mum and Dad had their own flower garden and vegie garden, in which they grew everything we ate. My grandfather had his own allotment and showed prize winning dahlias in Sydney. Our family were originally from Scotland, in fact my great-uncle was a gardener at the botanical gardens in Edinburgh, so it seems it’s in my blood.

I'm also part of the Mole Creek Garden Club. Every month we have gardens to visit, someone organises it within different areas and we all get in our cars and go around to different gardens. Probably around six gardens each time, these are not gardens that are part of the opening garden scheme. These are all privately owned by people who are passionate about gardening and like to share their garden with others, as many gardeners do.

How often do you get to be in your shed?

Probably a couple of times a week, as I work three days a week at the moment. But when I do spend time in my shed I like to spend at least half a day, pottering around inside and outside. If I haven’t been out there for a little while I feel like something is missing, it’s soul nurturing.

59

Home

60

Home

61

The Quilter's She Shed

62

Kerry White

Home

Did you build, re-purpose or buy your shed?

needs doing elsewhere, definitely therapy!

I have re-purposed my shed. When I purchased my home, the shed's original use was unclear, it looked like an extra room, but it wasn’t.

Has having your shed made a difference to how you would have done things before?

So when I moved in I stripped the space out completely, including the carpets, the kitchen cupboards and the sink and tap, that weren’t actually connected. Once it was all cleaned out I painted everything white, from the ceiling to the floor. I always wanted to have that look for out there.

My Mother said to her friends back home that I had bought a quilting studio with a house attached!

Knowing how much I wanted to have a shed of my own to do my quilting.

I like having the shed as my space, rather than a room inside the house. I can shut it away and if I’m working on something that I need the whole floor space to lay it out, then I can leave it there.

Traditionally men have had the sheds, why do you think sheds are so important for women to have?

Women have traditionally had the house, but that’s usually centered around doing things for other people.

It's great to be able to say, this is my time and I’m entitled to this and this is about nurturing me.

When I go out into my shed and sew, I can feel my shoulders start to relax and I calm down, I can process things much better in there. It just starts to happen naturally and I’m not thinking about what

When I had my children at home, the sewing stuff was in a little box in the cupboard and you’d get it out when you had the chance, in between looking after everyone else. So I would have to say yes, having my shed has made a world of difference.

How often do you get to be in your shed?

More now I am retired, at least two or three times a week, but when my other home renovations are finished, I hope to be out there almost every day.

What do you love the most about your shed?

I love seeing my garden from my shed, and that’s why I put my table in front of the window. I can sit there with the window open and feel the breeze and enjoy my quilting.

Also, when I look around my shed it’s a combination of what looks pleasing to me and it’s been done in a way that's completely how I wanted it.

The expectations of how things ‘should be’ doesn’t matter when it’s your shed, you can do exactly what you like and how you like.

63

Home

64

Home

65

The Writer's She Shed

66

Wendy Newton

Did you build, re-purpose or buy your shed?

I had my shed built for me. I found the two front windows in a salvage yard, they then became the start of the design of the shed, and I always wanted a high pitched roof.

I initially thought I would use it for all my preserves, and my mum, who helped me with the build, secretly dreamt of moving in. I will always think of my mum when I'm in my shed - mum was a writer too, and now that I use the shed as my writing place, I think she would really love that.

Traditionally men have had the sheds, why do you think sheds are so important for women to have?

You've got to quote Virginia Woolf here don't you?!

"A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction" If I'm going to the shed to write, the short walk is enough to completely disconnect from the house and connect to the garden and the sound of the birds, in many ways this little building helps to define that. I make that switch, so when I'm there, I know what I'm there for.

My shed allows me to let go of roles and provides me with a connection to place, which is bound up in who I am and my identity.

Home Yes, definitely in terms of writing, I started writing in the front room, the study. But it faces out to the road and you're constantly distracted by cars or people walking by, it's also a cold room and you still feel bound to the bricks and mortar of the house.

The shed, for me, when I'm out there, makes me feel like I'm part of nature, part of my garden. Somehow it really feels like I'm in a different world.

It really is the adult version of the cubby house from childhood, because it gives me permission to play and it's all about creativity.

How often do you get to be in your shed?

I try to write on the three days I don't work, that is my usual routine. Some days I will write after work, but most of the time it is on the days I'm free. It would be lovely to get out there more, and that will come in time.

What do you love the most about your shed?

I love that it is completely immersed in the garden and when you look out, whether it's through the window or the door, it is surrounded by my garden.

My shed has a spot to lay down, if I need a little kip, and I love the pitched roof, it reminds me of a little summer house.

Has having your shed made a difference to how you would have done things before?

67

Home

68

Home

69

Home

Sourcing for your She Shed Keen to start sourcing for your own She Shed?! Here's a few places you might like to try to find those one off pieces that will make your shed look amazingly vintage!

TIP SHOPS Check your local area for where the tip shops are, call your Council as they may be able to help you, or check with your local tip to see if they have a tip shop.

SALVAGE YARDS Salvage yards are becoming a thing of the past; but buying from a salvage yard is always a great thing!

Check your local papers, or simply try googling salvage yard and see what you can find.

SECONDHAND DEALERS There are lots of places second-hand dealers are selling now, there's usually a facebook page for your area that offers buy, swap or sell. So try there!

There's also plenty of small businesses out there that specialise in second-hand windows and doors. The best ones also sell vintage architrave and fencing: these materials can become your walls or dress up that vintage window you've just found.

Remember, recycling old windows, doors, timber etc is a great thing to do; if you use these materials you'll get yourself a shed with character and you're helping reduce wastage and landfill.

HARDWARE STORES Some hardware stores, like Bunnings, offer little sheds already made. They are quite good and come flat packed. It's then up to you to make it your own with what you put inside.

REPURPOSE AN EXISTING SHED Do you already have a shed in the backyard? If all it needs is a good clean out, then get out there and get to it. You could still add those vintage features to make it all yours!

70

The Red Shed Restoration

Stef Pye owns and operates The Red Shed Restoration at 47 Wilmot Road, Huonville. Specialising in vintage, antique and restoration pieces - Stef also offers a paint removal service, great for getting those gorgeous doors back to their original timber.

Ph: 03 62641144 Mobile: 0418 131050 http://red-shed.biz

71 71

72

Our mate Stef owns and operates The Red Shed Restoration in Huonville, Tasmania. He has a huge range of doors, windows and decorative architectural pieces dating from 1860 to present.

You'll also find a wide range of ever-changing vintage and rustic goodies.

Also offering a painting removal service, Stef can strip a door or any small pieces of furniture and have it back to you looking fantastic in its natural state.

Moving to Australia in 1994 Stef and his wife, Jan, both fell in love with the Huon area. Having run similar businesses in England's Lakes District area, Stef knew that that's what he wanted to do again.

Starting off in a small apple shed it was only three years later that he was looking for a bigger premises to house his wonderful eclectic range. Buying the shed, from which he now operates, was the best move.

Now 22 years on, Stef is still doing really well and has sold countless pieces to vintage and renovating enthusiasts alike.

Mention you saw this story and Stef will be sure to look after you on price.

73

It's like breathing story and photography by JULIE HALL

7474

Make Deborah Brearley is one of The Black Hen's regular contributors, a very kind and generous woman whose enthusiasm for the simple life makes you want to rid yourself of all the things that make your life complicated, and go bush! In fact, she told me that the way she lives is simply a glorified version of camping.

She is not only inspirational in the way she lives, but her creative pursuits make you feel nurtured, cared for and loved. For Deb, creating is like breathing, as she said to me, "It's my air, Julie!"

It was 7 years ago that Deb sold her home on the mainland and made the move to Tasmania. Having visited Tasmania for many years she felt a real sense of belonging whenever she was here. And even though Deb loves the Australian bush, there is something very special about the environment here in Tasmania, with its more European setting, that taps into her ancestry and a real sense of 'been here before'.

Having settled in Deloraine, in the North West of Tasmania, Deb now enjoys the ease of access to nature and the natural resources right on her doorstep. "Being here is like finally being honest with myself "

Deb reveals "This is where I'm meant to be" .

It wasn't until later in life that she actually needed creating and making to be part of her everyday.

Looking back she now realises, why as a child, she was so interested in watching her father work in the shed. Clearly remembering standing on a box, so as to reach the bench height, her father placing a piece of wood into a vice and handing her a spokeshave, which is a woodworking tool, and letting her 'help Dad make things'.

When I caught up with Deb she was sitting at her work bench twining what looked like string around a timber reel, a new experiment for her. By using the inner bark of the elm tree, removed in thin shavings, Deb would instinctively roll them into lengths of string. String that is quite strong and extremely useful in her work.

"Wood is such a beautiful and versatile material to use" she says.

Once she's made her little figurines or sculptured pieces, like the birds, her ladies or the spoons, Deb feels like she needs to hold onto them for a little while, and watch them change as the wood dries or moves.

75

Make

It's been difficult to do sometimes, but she tries not to part with any of her creative endeavours, whether it's her paintings or sculptures, to simply 'make a living'. Choosing rather, to part with her skills or knowledge through workshops or written articles, such as the 'how to make a house broom' story she and Mathew Simms have put together for this issue.

there's something to admire or lose yourself in.

Even as you walk up the stairs to her space, every conceivable ledge is used to display finished work, or work in the process of being finished.

When Deb is ready to sell her paintings or sculptures she shares and advertises them through her instagram page @firetailfinch and can be contacted via direct messages for any enquires.

"It's exciting to think what I might be doing in a year or so, or even tomorrow".

It seems no matter where you look in Deb's studio

76

It's a fairy tale space where her making is the most important thing for her to do right now.

Deb hopes to open a small studio space to sell from in the near future. But for now, she will breathe life into her work at home.

Make

77

Things from Clay story and photography by JULIE HALL

78

"I have been making things from clay in various forms since a very young age", Chris Kerruish explains as we sit down to a cup of tea at her beach shack located at Tasmania's South Arm Peninsula.

Make

"I don't consider myself a ceramicist, I have never gone down the formal road of wheel thrown ceramics, which is where I believe the real skill of being a potter lies".

But there's no denying it, it takes talent, passion and years of experience to produce these pots.

And when you feel the textures there's an instant connection to an earthy beauty. And it's visual, too.

"It's the green glaze that seeps into our most primitive subconsciousness and draws out that desire to be surrounded by things that are natural.

"I guess those same feelings are why people are drawn to these primitive handmade shapes".

"That sense of connection could be related to experiences that are buried so deep, it almost feels primal." Chris expresses.

79

Make Chris grew up in Tasmania's Midlands. Her father was a farmer and her mother was a potter. This combination of land and ceramics has always been a touchstone for Chris, and as inspiration from her childhood, has been a driving force behind her designs.

"This is not a career or a job, it is my way of life!"

Chris was clear in saying.

Chris graduated from University of Tasmania some 20 years ago, after completing a Diploma in Art, Craft and Design in printmaking, and then again in 2016 when she completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts, majoring in printing. Chris's work today is a stunning collaboration of family history, her own love and perspective of art and design and the use of the found and foraged.

This love is easily seen in all of Chris's work, where patterns made from hand-carved pieces wood and lino cuts are combined with her trademark green glaze: a glaze made from an old recipe, that is ever changing and organic.

80

Chris's deep connection to the natural world translates beautifully to her wares, sometimes inspired by the intricacies of a sea urchin shell or the veins of a leaf, which she uses to emboss her work. Each of these designs are one-off pieces that are not only gorgeous to look at, but functional too.

"Making large pieces is fun!" she says, "but the intimacy of my small pots, these shell-like objects that fit perfectly in your hand, are even more endearing.

To feel the surface, the variation in the glaze, from the smooth glassiness of the glossy green to the rough patterns made by leaves, seaweed, sticks, flowers and lace. That's what I love, where you can explore within your cupped hand".

As we finish up our cup of tea Chris invites me to her shared studio space, just a short walk from her home along a sandy track, where little Mr Smith, Chris's dog, leads the way.

We arrive at this huge studio/shed filled with light and interesting woodworking projects that belong to Chris's friend, who shares the space with her.

Make

While using a small kiln - that Chris absolutely loves, she explains that there are plans afoot for a bigger one! But like her pieces, that are mostly small and intimate, the small kiln works a treat and is more than fine for now.

Chris has a stall at Salamanca Market that was started by her mother back in 1975. Chris has held that same stall now for the past 20 years and shares it with her sister Lynda Salmon, who is a silversmith and a family friend Mark Doran, a furniture maker and designer.

Making and markets have been in the family blood for more than 40 years and are still going strong.

Chris's mother, Jocelyn, may not be able to sit at a pottery wheel anymore, but her love for handmade continues, through her doll making.

You can find Chris Kerruish and her beautiful wares every Saturday at Salamanca Market, Hobart, stall number 203, or make contact via her instagram page @chris.salmon.art

81

With so much love written by DEBORAH WILLIAMSON photography by JULIE HALL

8282

Make

When Julie asked me to think about writing a short piece on my ‘nest’ making, I thought about how I began this journey, which has been such an important part of my life for the last 10 years. I think my nests have always been about protection, nurturing and creating a safe haven as a way of grounding our own life at home.

When our first daughter, Freya, was born with profound cerebral palsy our world suddenly became a chaotic blend of doctors, hospitals, sleepless nights and emotional turmoil with bucket loads of tears but balanced with so much love! When our second daughter, Mia, was born we were still in a frenzy of caring for Freya around the clock, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We were very housebound and getting out as a family was difficult, however, when we did venture out for a walk or a short visit to the bush or beach, I would always be gathering and collecting every sort of natural thing we could find to bring home with us.

I have always been a collector but now I was taking this to the extreme! Gradually our tiny house began to be overtaken with twigs, leaves, vines, feathers, dried seed heads, moss, shells and all manner of my foraged finds from nature. Because I so rarely

got out into the world, I needed to bring nature from the outside, inside! On one outing, I pulled some twisting wild vine out of a tree and wrapped it around in a circular motion to form a sort of freeform oval bowl shape: this became my first nest.

With Mia, we embellished this rudimentary nest form by adding autumn leaves that were fresh and golden from our garden. It was Easter and so this became our official Easter nest to which we added painted eggs and rose hips from my prunings.

I remember the feeling of creating this freshly gathered and handmade nest with Mia and her joy in adding her own found items to it.

I have been making nests ever since! Just as birds rejuvenate their nests from season to season I love that, when a nest I have made begins to fall apart or look a bit worse for wear, I can rejuvenate it by adding fresh moss, feathers and twigs or give it a seasonal twist. It is a good metaphor for life really - when things look like they are falling apart there is a way of mending and strengthening it again.

As our life became almost totally home based and rather difficult, I think I began to concentrate on the small things that could bring us joy and hope.

So, the ‘micro’ world, in a sense, became my focus and making nests seemed to reflect this.

83

Make

When I make a nest, I like to create the basic shapes and then sit them on our kitchen bench for a few days to let them settle into their final form – each one has a mind of its own so some will tip onto their sides while others seem to create hidden centres.

After this stage, I enjoy the process of winding in and attaching all the different ferns, seeds pods, feathers and moss that combine to give each nest its individual character. It might sound a little odd, but I like to imagine a specific bird for each nest I make and imagine from what it would choose to build the nest and make it its own beautiful little home in which to nurture its chicks.

I love that nests can be held in our hands and have such a safe, protected centre – which is probably what I was unconsciously doing when I started making them. Freya was severely disabled and remained very small for her 21 years so she needed us to hold her for most of her waking hours.

Although I didn’t realise it at first, I think the nests had become a mirror for what I was trying to create at home.

Our family mantra has always been “don’t leave the house without a collecting bag” – you never know what you might find to bring home. At the moment, 84

I have plans to build a large grape vine vessel after filling the back of the car with vine prunings collected from a recent winery visit! As a lover of vintage books too, I am also experimenting with wrapping twigs in old book pages to incorporate into a nest form.

Make

85

Make To make your own nest you need to collect materials that are flexible for the body of the nest such as vines, creepers, birch twigs, reed, and even dried grasses can be bunched and bound together to make the shape.

It is easiest to use fresh green material to create the basic shape but remember it will shrink as it dries. If using dried vines, these can be soaked to make them easier to work with.

Twigs can be wound into the nest as you are building it, or they can be added after by threading or poking them down into the walls of the nest until they are secure. It is a good idea to lay out your collection of seed pods, feathers, ferns, herbs etc. so that you can consider the shapes and

86

colours that will best suit your nest as you begin to add the decorative details.

Materials that need to be flexible are best worked with while they are in their green state whereas the more decorative elements to be added, are often best dried so that you know the final colour and brittleness they will have before incorporating them into your nest.

For cleaning older nests, I use a paintbrush to remove any dust or cobwebs that might have settled on it. Fresh moss, twigs and leaves are always lovely to add if your nest needs freshening up a little.

Happy nesting!

Geelong Art Supplies Ar t i s t Qu a l i t y Ma t e r i a l s S o u r c e d Wo r l d wi d e

Instagram @geelongartsupplies1

92 - 94 Ryrie Street Geelong Victoria ph: 03 5221 8654 245 Murray Street Colac Victoria ph: 03 5231 3635

87 87

House broom

story and photography by DEBORAH BREARLEY & MATHEW SIMMS

8888

Make How to make your own house broom Making a broom from found and foraged materials is lots of fun! Brooms can be part of your everyday life, for indoor or outdoor use.

You only need three things to make a house broom: a stick for the handle, either a tin can or string/ twine to hold the broom head in place, and enough native grasses or tree cuttings to make a big enough broom head.

Start by looking around your outdoor environment, being careful not to disturb nesting birds or animals' homes. Or check out what you're throwing out in your green waste, some small tree branches can become the best broom handles.

Please be aware that all organic matter shrinks when it dries, so if the handle shrinks after the broom is assembled the broom may come loose.

BROOM HANDLE Broom handles can be any length you like, depending on what you wish to use your broom for.

The stick that will become the handle needs to be strong. You can cut a small branch from a live tree if you need to, then let it dry for about four months out of the weather. But you may find a suitable stick that is already dry.

We like to whittle our handles, removing all the outer layer of bark, to give a smooth finish. Using a small axe, chop one end of the handle into a point.

This will become the end that gets pushed into the broom head later in our instructions.

89

Make

THE BROOM HEAD The soon-to-be broom heads (pictured above) have come from native grasses, sedges, fruit tree pruning and new-growth shoots from a willow tree. Or you could use the new seasons growth after the pruning of a hawthorn hedge.

It is trial and error as some collected materials may not wear well, but that is part of the fun, learning about your local foraged materials and making something from nothing.

Even if the materials are ideal, be aware that the broom head will have a lifespan, and you can simply replace the head material every season.

When drying the materials for the broom head, it's a good idea to tie up small handfuls of the grass or twigs and hang them to dry.

Drying the broom head is an important step. As you assemble your broom if they are not completely dry the head and handle will come loose and the broom will shed as you sweep.

90

The drying time also allows you to assess whether the material is going to be suitable for making a broom. Some grasses, sedges or twigs just collapse when dried. It’s trial and error when exploring your local resources.

When twigs, grasses, sedges start to fall out of their tie you know they have dried enough, so now is a good time to start to assemble your broom.

HOW TO SECURE HANDLE TO HEAD OF BROOM We've found great success in using a small tin can, like a soup can, to secure your handle to the broom head. Other materials you could try are wire or strong garden twine or string. We've even used blackberry canes, but they need to be flattened with a hammer first.

TO MAKE YOUR BROOM USING THE CAN - Cut both ends out of a small tin can with a can opener. When you look at the broom head material, there will be a thick end and a thin end, place as much of the thick end into the tin can as you are able.

Grab your handle and insert the pointed end into the centre of the can and broom head material. Turn broom upside down and tap handle on ground to 'hammer' in handle firmly. If you have used grasses or sedges to make the broom head, you can trim off the bottom with an axe or secateurs to tidy up the ends. Then get sweeping your garden path!

Make Please note that one of the brooms pictured below has a hole drilled in the handle and the tin can. A wooden peg whittled from a small piece of timber has been hammered through the head and handle to make a stronger version. Drill a hole through the handle before inserting in the broom head at an appropriate position. What process you use to make a broom depends on the tools you have at hand.

USING STRING, TWINE or WIRE A variation to using the tin can is simply hold the broom head material together around the handle's pointy end and start to bind the broom head tightly.

Then hammer the handle in place by tapping the handle on the ground while holding the broom upside down by the head. Your broom is now ready to use!

These instructions are to stimulate and get the creative juices flowing and to encourage you to see garden 'waste' with new eyes. A stick, a twig, a fruit tree pruning can be so much more if you venture beyond the fleeting glance.

91

A Natural Christmas photography & styling by May Petschel story by Julie Hall 9292

Christmas

A

dried leaf, a couple of berries or a twiggy twig, that’s enough to keep May happy when it comes to creating her own Christmas decorations.

A true gatherer at heart, May Petschel commences her annual Christmas forage in her own private forest she and her husband, Steve planted over 20 years ago. "When you’ve got big beautiful trees that drop pinecones and grow lovely soft new branches, dressing the cottage for Christmas becomes an all-natural affair," May explains.

With her favourite basket cradled in her arm, collecting not only becomes an enjoyable process, but quite a romantic one. The basket is a great size, sturdy and made of waxy woven cane. Ideal for this job of gathering.

A ‘basket’ holds more than just acorns and a sprig of this and that, it holds a connection to the past, of simpler times. Back in the day, the basket would have travelled with its owner to the general store, gathering ingredients such as flour and butter.

These would then be lovingly covered within the safety of the natural weave, carried back home to be set aside awaiting its next basket journey. A most necessary accessory, just like the apron, part of everyday life.

“Deciding to decorate naturally is a wonderful way to use what we have in abundance” May explains “I love the simple palette of greens and browns, and it’s all free!”

photo by AMILIA PETSCHEL

93

Christmas

GIFT WRAPPING & BASKETS FULL OF FUN Brown paper with some small Christmas detail is May's preference, then wrapping hemp string around a number of times will give that special gift feel.

Using calico or muslin as the wrapping paper would also look lovely, adding those layers of string to hold it in place or to hold the gift tag.

Your collected tree decorations can also become

94

your gift decorations, adding that sprig of pine, holly or any dry foliage, there's always beauty in decay.

Why not try gumnuts or other seed pods combined with a Christmas decoration, still leaving you with enough room for the gift tag.

Below is May's little diorama made from wood she found in the wood pile and a bit of leftover paint.

This also gets a little Christmassy, with the addition of little pine trees.

Norfolk pine from Bunnings or check your garden centres, planted into an old washing machine tub then onto a tray to catch the water. Visualising a triangle shape, May set her table high in the centre going down to the place settings.

95

Mantle pieces or shelves are decorated by laying larger branches of the Radiata pine, then the small, softer new branches are woven in, filling the gaps. Small branches of holly and hawthorn are placed in and around, then bleached pinecones to bring it all together.

Using Christmas baubles would help to finish off the display.

Fairy lights are also wonderful, May prefers to use candles for that soft glow in the evenings.

9696

Christmas

WREATHS AND MANTLES This wreath is simply a metal ring from a craft store with fresh oregano twined around it, letting it dry.

You could also use ivy or silver birch branches.

All the suggested greenery used on the mantelpiece will have an approximate four week lifespan; as it dries it still looks beautiful. Add a bit of fun by hanging a vintage sock stretcher and some Christmas bells on string for that festive sound.

"I enjoy using Jo Sonja paints" May adds, "to add that bit of Christmas glitter and glimmer to pinecones or acorns. My favourite is colour called rich gold, which picks up on the candlelight or fairy lights and shines".

"To apply I use a small paint brush adding highlights to the ends. I have also paint dry autumn leaves, this I do with a soft cloth". These tiny decorations are placed on the Christmas table or mantlepiece.

97

Christmas

A live tree is a great way to bring the outside in at Christmas time.

Here May has potted up a Castlewellan Gold Cupressus into a large plastic pot, then placed the pot into a vintage hat tin. You could use anything as long as it's watertight.

Saved birds' nests or dried foliage is used to disguise the top of the plastic pot. Finish off with fairy lights and it becomes a simple but lovely little Christmas tree that can be moved to wherever you like.

Creating this natural experience in May's 1930's cottage at Christmas time is only enhanced by using her beautiful vintage pieces.

98

By using pinecones as counterweights, May figures out a clever way to keep her small candles vertical on her Norfolk pine branches. Start by drilling a small hole through the pinecone then thread some wire to act as a hanger. Hang the pinecone off the end of the branches helping pull the branch down just enough so the small candles stand upright.

To make the small candlestick holders, place a screwdriver into a vice to hold it firm, then curl wire around the top of the screwdriver. This wound wire should be small enough to hold these tiny candles. Leave a small amount of wire at the bottom of the now made candlestick holder. This will be used to attach to the branch.

Christmas

The dark and worn appeal of pewter for placemats is a favourite of May's, then crisp white plates on top gives that contrast that's so appealing.

Adding the linen napkins introduces a softness and warmth. They are paired with May's painted acorns and leaves, giving off just enough shimmer.

All that's left to do is add candle light.

Using test tubes is such a clever idea. Placed into these candle holder clips that are fastened onto the napkin, May fills them with either dried flowers or herbs - sometimes even a sprig of pine looks great.

In the one pictured is a dried flowering bush.

It's the resourcefulness of May's approach to dressing a table that is so appealing. It's an adventure to explore what she has used to make an interesting table setting. You are only limited by your own imagination.

99

"Our cottage was built in the 1930s during the Great Depression. The State Savings Bank built affordable homes for returning soldiers and those looking to buy. Its style is Californian bungalow, with two bedrooms and a bay window frontage.

When we purchased it in 1982 we were the second owners and it was still in its original condition.

With the old bricked-in copper in the washroom, located under the back verandah, a claw foot bath, an old wooden sink and wood stove in the kitchen.

Even the light bulbs were still candle power ones.

Keeping it as original as we could, we have renovated it sympathetically to its era, without destroying any history. All we needed to do was bring it into the twentieth century.

In the kitchen we have installed a Falcon stove where the existing wood stove was, and have kept

100

the kitchen cupboards all freestanding, as they would have been when the house was built.

When we purchased 10 acres in 1998 just outside of Mildura's township area we had already decided to move the cottage from its inner town location to this new property.

I couldn’t bear to part with her. To find another cottage in its original state with high ceilings, open fireplace, and mantles would be very rare. We have since turned the original washroom into a scullery, and have built a freestanding wash house in the garden."

- May Petschel To see more of May and Steve's home, follow May on her instagram page @may_petschel

A welcoming style greets you on May's front porch.

101

Lemon Cookie Wreaths

102102

Christmas

Sneh Roy is an award-winning food photographer and blogger based in Sydney, Australia.

She writes at Cook Republic (www.cookrepublic.com) sharing fresh recipes and stories from her daily life.

She is also the author of the Tasty Express cookbook (Random House, 2014). She lives in Sydney’s Upper North Shore with her husband, two boys and a pen full of chickens.

LEMON COOKIE WREATHS Preparation Time – 20 minutes + 20 minutes chilling time Baking Time – 15 to 18 minutes Makes 16 INGREDIENTS 90g butter, softened 1 cup (220g) raw sugar 1 cup (120g) almond meal or ground almonds 1 cup (150g) plain flour 1/2 teaspoon baking powder grated rind of 1 large lemon juice of 1 large lemon 1 teaspoon vanilla extract pure icing sugar, for dusting

METHOD Preheat oven to 160C(325F). Line a cookie tray with baking paper. Place butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer for about 5 minutes until pale.

Add almond meal, flour, baking powder - lemon juice, lemon rind and vanilla extract. Beat for a further 2 minutes until combined. Refrigerate the dough for 20 minutes.

Roll the dough out between 2 sheets of baking paper to about 5mm thickness. Using an 8.5cm (approximately) fluted cookie cutter, cut 10 rounds

from the dough. Place these on the prepared baking tray. Using a 3.5cm (approximately) round cookie cutter, cut a round from the centre of each cookie.

Gather the cut rounds and offcuts of the dough.

Roll out again to a 5mm thickness and repeat the process until all dough is used up.

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes until golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool on trays. Dust with icing sugar to serve.

Tie with festive ribbon and hang up on Christmas tree for instant edible decorations.

103

Thank you........

A special thank you to all of you! All of you who have subscribed to this, our Summer Edition of, The Black Hen Magazine. We appreciate your support!

We would also like to thank everyone involved and we hope that we will see you all again for our next edition at the start of autumn.

Sponsorship: We are now looking for sponsorship to help grow this little concept of a magazine. This can happen through a number of ways. If you would like to donate towards the ongoing creation of this magazine, then please make contact with me at info@theblackhen.com where we can discuss how that sponsorship might look.

104

Writers and photographers: so far this endeavour has been contributed to by a very small group of people all doing it for the love of the idea. And until it becomes sustainable anyone interested in contributing will also be doing it for the love.

Advertisers: For more information please contact Julie at info@theblackhen.com Feedback: We always welcome feedback. You can email us or private message us with your thoughts or suggestions.

Thank you, Julie and Noel