organic vegetable gardening courses, growing tips and homegrown recipes.
Strawberries work hard all summer. If you're lucky you might have picked a few recently due to some sunny weather and plenty of rain. I renew my strawberry beds every three years with the second season being the most productive one. That means I pull out one third of my strawberry plants each autumn and in the spring plant a similar number of … [Read more...]
When you want to fill the tins quickly, a loaf is better than muffins. You can cut it into small pieces to feed a crowd and those who want more can have second or third helping. This loaf doesn't need butter as it's moist and sweet. It tastes like banana cake. Choose the freshest walnuts you can find as they quickly go rancid. New Zealand produces … [Read more...]
A friend's generous gift of some fragrant quinces demanded another outing for the Let's Preserve It book on a wet morning. Listed under 'Q' were quince cheese, jam, jelly, marmalade, preserve and chutney. Plus some preserves where quince is combined with apples, cranberries, pears, marrows and pumpkins. I chose the simple approach of simmering the … [Read more...]
This red cabbage was languishing in the garden. It clearly hadn't read the seed packet label as it was supposed to be a 'red express' but I'd sown the seed in October and after six months it weighed in at 850g. Cute as a button, perfect and solid, but hardly speedy. It harboured a few slugs but was untouched by cabbage white butterfly … [Read more...]
Pears and ginger are a wonderful combination of flavours. A kind friend gave me some marvellous dark-chocolate coated ginger and I decided to enliven a couple of windfall pears with the few remaining pieces in a muffin recipe. I thought it would stand a fairly robust texture so used an oat-bran muffin as the base. They freeze well. 150g plain … [Read more...]
Do you create great compost? Have you got some trusted, tried and tested methods for compost making? Is your recipe something special? Do you tumble, turn or layer? I'm doing some investigation into how to make the best compost with the minimum of effort and in the shortest possible time and in a real garden with typical ingredients. If you're … [Read more...]
I picked the first baby leaves of mesclun sown a month ago for a green salad this week. Dog inspected for freshness of course. I usually prefer choosing a single variety of salad but this experiment has worked well and I'll be picking the leaves for many weeks to come. You can grow mesclun for baby leaves in a pot or polystyrene crate for a 'back … [Read more...]
Some of my corn is past its best so ideal to use in soup. Roasting brings out a sweet and nutty taste in most vegetables. Use the best stock you can as this makes a material difference to the finished product. Garnish with some freshly chopped herbs. Four cobs of corn, husks and silks removed One medium potato, peeled and chopped into a few … [Read more...]
The mornings are drawing in and getting cooler but that means plenty of rich pickings. I've made ruby-red Omega plum jam this week with boughten plums. Also some bright greeen pesto with some vigorous basil and lots of garlic. I freeze what I can't use immediately. You can get some help with how to best use your produce from A Good Harvest: Recipes … [Read more...]
I saw Omega plums advertised on the main street in Greytown in the Wairarapa. It's worth the short detour to Murphy's orchard as their plums are picked perfect, sweet and prolific. Particularly if your husband tells you that his third favourite jam is plum jam (behind blackcurrant and apricot). Omega plums are ruby red all the way through which … [Read more...]
