WE GET so busy with life sometimes that we don’t pause to ask what constitutes a good life.

Surely gardening would have to be in there somewhere.

A decades-long study by Harvard University has found that good relationships, family and friendships are the most important factor in determining satisfaction with life, while wealth, status and possessions can’t predictably guarantee happiness.

Relationships are a mix of independence from and reliance on others and a balancing act of being rewarded as both a provider and as a receiver of care, whatever form it takes.

Gardening has always been somewhere in this care transaction between people and of course between people and the natural world.

We have written before about the social connections that gardening creates, but the process of nurturing, sharing and receiving through gardening is essentially a caring one.

What can be more rewarding than planting and tending something, harvesting and preparing it and then presenting it to be appreciated by someone you care about?

Perhaps, being the recipient, we hear you say.

The change of seasons has always challenged us to not only prepare for what’s ahead, but to make the most of the season just closing.

Hard won self-sufficiency innovations and wisdom have helped humans pursue the good life, strengthening our family and community connections along the way.

Excess tomatoes

STORING and processing tomatoes for Winter use doesn’t have to be laborious.

Some people go to great lengths to bottle their excess tomatoes, peeling the skins and getting them just right for Winter use.

While it fills us with wonder when someone can perfect their tomatoes like an old fashioned Italian Nonna, we have found a simpler path.

Use simple varieties like Roma or small bush tomatoes that can be picked in abundance.

Place them in a bread bag and stick them in the freezer.

When you need tomatoes for a dish, just pop the frozen ones into a tub of cold water.

Within minutes the skins are easily rubbed off and the frozen tomatoes used straight away in your casserole or curry.

Stir fry vegetables

WE’VE become very used to meat being the main ingredient in our dishes, but a vegetable dish can be just as nourishing and satisfying.

When you have an excess of garden veggies, a vegetable stir fry with rice, or even fried rice is a great way to reduce the excess while providing you with a varied diet full of fibre.

Most stir fry sauces call for chicken, beef or lamb, but leaving these things out won’t actually alter the taste of the sauce.

Using a diverse range of veggies will give lots of texture and you won’t miss the meat at all.

Eat the stalks

TALKING to a Chinese friend a few years ago about cultural differences, we were interested to hear that she found it so surprising that Aussies throw away the stems of veggies such as broccoli and cauliflower.

Stems of vegetables hold just as much, if not more nutritious value than the outer fruiting of flowering part of the plant so it makes sense not to waste them.

Of course chopped stems can be frozen and make a colourful addition to a dish without losing taste. In fact, you’ll find many chopped stems in the bags of frozen veggies you find at the supermarket.

Skins on

IT SEEMS with all the food processing technology, we’ve become obsessed with skinning and peeling veggies and we forget how interesting and tasty they can really be.

Nothing is nicer than beetroot picked from the patch, simply brushed under the tap and then roasted in the oven.

The skins fall off in the cooking and eating process, saving time and giving a depth of flavour.

Garlic is another favourite roasted in the oven with the skin intact.

Many vegetables come with their own packaging that can be eaten, or if you really don’t like it, then simply cut open and discarded.

Pruning ‘dos and donts’

LATE Autumn is not a good time to administer a hard prune to most evergreen plants.

Evergreens will need plenty of leaves over the next few weeks to assist in storing enough energy to get them through the colder Winter months.

Hard pruning and reshaping evergreen ornamentals is best left until Spring.

For deciduous trees that go dormant in the Winter you have two options.

If you want to increase the tree’s size and vigor, prune in Winter.

If you want to reduce size and vigor, prune in early Summer.

Jack Frost

AS MUCH as it pains us to think about, good old Jack Frost has already started to show signs we could be in for a cold Winter.

The wonderful thing about these low temperatures is how it is necessary for certain fruits like mandarins and oranges to really sweeten up.

The not so wonderful thing is how quickly it can wipe out your tender little seedlings.

No need to panic though, just be really vigilant on the weather forecasts.

Invest in some good quality frost cloths and set up little systems where you can peg the cloths, so they stay in place.

Winter colour

IF YOU’RE after some quick Winter colour, it’s time to plant pansies and violas.

If you prefer natives, grevilleas won’t let you down, often flowering right through the cooler months.

Some of the lovely ground cover grevilleas are already showing their spidery-shaped flowers.

A lot of plants endemic to warmer areas do all of their serious flowering at this time of the year, including everything from Correas, Grevilleas and Helleborus, Camellia japonica, Hardenbergia as well as Primulas, Poppies and Pansies.

French lavender will flower from now all through Winter and into Spring.

Some new hybrid lavenders will also start flowering soon and continue right through to Spring.

Cauliflower Time

PLANT cauliflower now to make the most of them in your Winter cooking.

It is important to fertilise cauliflower regularly to give it the nutrients require to produce its large, tasty head.

As the head grows, wrap leaves around it to protect from the sun and discolouration. Some of the smaller varieties are really good if you are short on space.

Plant of the month - roteas and their relatives

These interesting and hardy plants hail from southern Africa and belong to the same family of plants (Proteaceae) as Australia's native Banksias, Grevilleas and Waratahs.

Proteas and their close relatives leucadendrons, leucospermums and aulax, thrive in low maintenance, low water use gardens.

Enjoying the same conditions as natives, Proteas complement Australian native gardens. They provide year-round colour with the added bonus of spectacular cut flowers.