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- By Natalie Pitfield
I’d planted nut trees as a way to offer shade to our pig and chook paddocks. They were side by side, and I put in a macadamia and an almond tree. It took some time for them to mature, but once they did, I found I’d inadvertently done something really stupid.
I had no idea that rats absolutely love macadamia nuts. Or that it’s common knowledge amongst nut growers that if you have macadamia trees, it’s basically Club Med for the local rat population.
Once my tree started to fruit, I did my research as to when the nuts would be ripe. I’d check the tree sporadically and was a bit confused as to why there didn’t seem to be many ripe nuts. Then I saw the nutshell by one of the holes underneath our chicken coop. I did more research, and suddenly it all became clear.
It was bad enough that chicken coops attract rodents, but adding macadamia made me look like a madwoman. I accepted that it was unlikely I was going to be quick enough to get to the ripe nuts before the rats did. I certainly managed to harvest some. But it felt like a losing battle thanks to the established rat population under my concrete coop floor.
The almond tree was on a slight slope, and over time it leaned a little. But the roots held strong, and it bore a huge amount of almonds. I did check when to harvest them. I felt like Goldilocks. At first, I harvested too early. It was a struggle to get the fuzzy outer casing off.
The next year, I waited too long for the outer casing to crack. The amount of rain we had meant that the outer casing started to rot from being waterlogged. I knew there was a middle ground that I’d hopefully find next season.
This year, the almond tree is laden. I’ve watched carefully. The outer casings are cracking open, so shortly I’ll be harvesting a ton of nuts. And hoping this year they will be just right.
Corn fritters
Ingredients:
• 100g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper
• 1 egg
• 100ml milk
• 1 tin sweet corn (drained)
• Oil
Method:
Sift together dry ingredients. In another bowl, beat egg until light in colour. Then beat in milk. Make a well in the flour mixture and stir in egg mixture gradually along with the sweet corn.
Heat just enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Drop batter in by the spoonful and fry until crisp and golden, turning with a spatula. Drain on paper towel.
These are so versatile. Serve for breakfast with bacon, sour cream and chives.
Serve for lunch with avocado, sweet chilli and sour cream. Add a savoury mince on top.
For slightly fluffier pancakes, substitute buttermilk for half the milk quantity.
For creamier fritters, use creamed corn rather than kernels.
