Selwyn Times: September 15, 2021

Selwyn Times Wednesday September 15 2021
SELWYN RURAL LIFE
Farmers shun regional
water storage solution
If there’s a master plan for regional
water storage in central Canterbury then
we’re yet to see it adopted, a report on the
Canterbury Water Management Strategy
(CWMS) says.
Ten years into the CWMS, irrigation
targets have only been partially met,
Environment Canterbury says.
Efficient, reliable irrigation is still a
work in progress and large-scale regional
storage “has not been progressed”, the
council says.
One of the CWMS goals is to increase
reliability for irrigated areas by improving
water management at farm and scheme
level.
Infrastructure projects that make
use of and build upon existing
irrigation infrastructure to contribute
to environmental outcomes are now
operational in both the
Selwyn and Ashburton
regions – the largest irrigated
land areas in Canterbury.
ECan’s report on 10 years of
the CWMS notes farmers have
improved the efficiency of
their on-farm storage systems
in the past decade, allowing
them to irrigate larger areas
more efficiently.
These infrastructure projects
are associated with other
CWMS target areas, including
environmental flows, braided
rivers, and ecosystem health
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and biodiversity.
Water management highlights in
Selwyn over the past decade include the
commissioning of the Waikirikiri / Selwyn
Near River Recharge project. The recharge
facility uses Central Plains Water consents
and pipe infrastructure, discharging it
into the groundwater system near the
Waikirikiri / Selwyn during dry periods.
However, they made improvements to
new and existing infrastructure rather
than build new large-scale regional water
storage, ECan says.
Looking ahead to CWMS targets for
2015, the council promises to continue to
“facilitate the development of a regional
infrastructure solution that aligns with
the new requirements of the Essential
Freshwater Package and the intentions of
the CWMS targets.”
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24
Thick, juicy portobello mushrooms are a handy vegetable to serve with
dinner, or as a meal on their own. Add mozzarella to boost the experience.
Add cheese to your
accompaniments
Mozzarellastuffed
portobello
mushrooms
Serves 4
Ingredients
28gm butter, place in frypan
and melt, then add:
4 cloves garlic, crushed
4 large portobello mushrooms
8 grape tomatoes, halved
Mozzarella cheese, sliced
¼ cup balsamic vinegar,
place in smallest saucepan
with:
1 tablespoon sugar
Directions
Brush butter/garlic
mixture over both sides of
the mushrooms and place
them on a baking tray
lined with non-stick tinfoil.
Place tomato halves inside
the mushrooms along
with slices of mozzarella.
Bake in oven at 180 deg
C for 30min, during which
time boil the vinegar/sugar
until liquid is reduced by
half and it thickens.
When mushrooms come
out of oven, drizzle vinegar/sugar
over them.
Grilled mini peppers
with mozzarella
Serves 4 – 6
FOOD
Ingredients
2 x 2 tablespoons olive oil,
place two tablespoons of
it in frypan
1 small onion, chopped
Pinch cayenne pepper
Salt (to taste)
Peppercorns
1 x 390gm can chickpeas,
rinsed and drained
¼ cup parsley, finely
chopped
125gm mozzarella, grated
350gm mini peppers
Directions
Saute onion until softened,
a
dd cayenne, salt, peppercorns
and chickpeas, heat
for a few seconds then
roughly mash, then stir in
the parsley and mozzarella.
Cut tops off mini peppers
and scrape all the
seeds out from the inside.
Fill the mini peppers
with the mixture and push
the lids back on.
Spear two mini peppers
per skewer, threading from
the cap ends through to the
points. Brush with the second
measure of olive oil.
Grill on medium-high
for about 10min, turning
often.
Or cook in conventional
oven at 220 deg C for
30min, turning over halfway
through cooking time.
Slow cooked beef
casserole
Serves 3-4
Ingredients
750gm-1kg blade steak
Latest Canterbury ne
Beef casserole with tomatoes and chickpeas can
be cooked in the crock pot for about six hours.
(can use any steak –
cubed)
1 x 400gm can tomatoes
(can use any flavour)
1 x 400gm chickpeas
½ cup beef stock (can use
red or white wine, or even
chicken stock)
1 tablespoon tomato
paste
1 tablespoon brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
Peppercorns (or can use
½ teaspoon ground pepper)
2 bay leaves (optional)
2 heaped teaspoons cornflour
Directions
Grease the crockpot
with melted butter.
Put steak/tomatoes/
chickpeas/stock/tomato
paste/brown sugar/salt/
pepper/bay leaves in, stir
gently to mix, spoon out
about six tablespoons of
the liquid into the cup
containing the cornflour
and mix to a paste.
Stir the cornflour mixture
back into the other ingredients
and mix through
thoroughly.
Set crockpot onto low for
six hours.