organic vegetable gardening courses, growing tips and homegrown recipes.
I was very glad I'd stashed a bag of our own herbs, salad and spinach leaves for a weekend away. It meant I could start my Saturday with herbed scrambled eggs and spinach without leaving the comfort of our delightful cottage. There was enough salad for lunch that day too - most of the way up Mount Holdsworth at Powell Hut. This is a picture of … [Read more...]
I'm downsizing my flock of chickens so I'm selling a couple of my Rhode Island red hens on Trade Me to make room for some new ones next year. There's a reserve of $50 for the pair so if you'd like to give these lovely girls a new home, make a bid soon as the auction closes on Friday. … [Read more...]
You'll need some rocket seeds and some potting mix. Mark out a square in your garden bed about 30cm x 30cm, remove any weeds and water it well. Spread a layer 1cm thick of potting mix. Make sixteen equally spaced indentations (4x4) with your finger, about 1/2 cm deep. Sow two seeds in each dip. I don't cover the seeds. Water very gently - a hand … [Read more...]
150g fillet of hoki topped with lemon zest, some dill leaves and and wrapped in a couple of strips of proscuitto. Drizzled with sesame oil and lemon juice and baked for 20 minutes at 180 degrees C. Rested for five minutes and then served with new potatoes and salad. … [Read more...]
Now's the time to sow your greens for winter - cabbage, broccoli, pak choi, lettuces, kale, silverbeet, spinach, rocket, mizuna, mibuna, claytonia and spring onions. If you want to read more about growing winter salad crops, Joy Larkcom is my favourite expert. Root vegetables can go in now too - sow radishes, carrots, turnips and beetroot. With … [Read more...]
This is based on Delia Smith's recipe for apricot preserve from her classic book Delia Smith's Summer Collection: 140 Recipes for Summer. Peaches contain less pectin than apricots so it takes more boiling to get this to set. It's delicious when you do though - a sweet, sticky summer jam. 1kg peaches 1kg white sugar juice of a large … [Read more...]
