The first shoots of garlic are coming through at last (planted 1 June). No sign of the elephant garlic, sown at the same time, yet. There’s even the tip of an asparagus spear appearing above the mulch.

The broad beans are doing well too. The seeds I sowed mid-May managed to avoid getting eaten by mice or rotting in the ground. I’ve mulched them with a fine mulch from my shredder, to reduce weeding. I’ll do the same with the garlic once all the shoots are through.

I knew the chooks were laying with the days starting to lengthen but I had to confine them to their run for three days before they decided to lay an egg in the right place. They’ve been roaming around freely and no doubt have stashes of eggs in all sort of places. Rodriguez the rooster is looking very fine and has started hopping over the fence into the vegetable garden. A habit I am keen to nip in the bud and another reason to get them out of the habit of roaming so far.

Rhubarb and silverbeet are staples at the moment so I’ve made silverbeet, feta and pine nut triangles and rhubarb gingerbread.

Our three pure bred Dexter heifer calves are for sale. Very handsome, hardy and hairy. Well washed and blow dried. Frida, Flora and Fifi were born February / March 2010. If you’d like more information, please email me.

If you haven’t planted your garlic yet, now’s the time to get it in the ground. If you’re fed up with the rain, try some indoor gardening.

These North African spice mixes are easy to make with store cupboard ingredients. I sprinkle some over a salad, use them as a topping for fish or a steak or serve them as a pre-dinner dip with a bowl of extra virgin olive oil and slices of home made bread. The nuts and seeds must be fresh. You can toast the nuts and seeds in a dry, heavy bottomed pan but I find it easier to put them in the oven for about five minutes in a roasting tin while something else is baking. Kept in the fridge in an air-tight container they’ll be fine for a week or two.

Za’atar

2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, removed from the stems

2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted

2 teaspoons ground sumac

Half a teaspoon salt

Grind the ingredients together in a spice mill or coffee grinder.

Dukkah

Quarter of a cup sesame seeds, toasted

One tablespoon cumin seeds, toasted

One tablespoon coriander seeds, toasted

One tablespoon fennel seeds, toasted

Half a teaspoon black peppercorns, toasted

Quarter of a cup raw almonds, toasted

Two teaspoons ground paprika

One teaspoon salt

Grind the ingredients together in a spice mill or coffee grinder.

I’ve tried three alternative cocoa varieties after being disappointed by the offerings from both Cadbury and Nestle in the supermarket. Left to right:

Trade Aid Fair Trade (available from Trade Aid shops)
Blooker
Valrhona (available online from Sabato) – by far the best colour, taste and texture.

I discovered afterwards that ‘dutched’ cocoa has a different pH to other cocoa and consequently you need to adjust the raising agent in your cakes. Next on the list to try is Equagold (available online from Zealand Foods), although apparently Homebrand cocoa from Woolworths is very good for the price.

Now Cadbury is messing about with the formula for its chocolate to reduce costs and stealthily reducing the size of its blocks. You knew you should have been buying Whittaker’s instead. In a blind tasting of 70% cocoa solid chocolate by three experts (me and two friends), Whittaker’s came second in front of seven other chocolates, including premium and International brands. It was just beaten by another delectable Kiwi chocolate, Bennetts of Mangawhai.

These miniature toetoe (chionochloa flavicans) eventually got too big to interest the rabbits. They looked lovely in the winter sunshine this week. The most useful book on New Zealand native plants for your garden I’ve found is the aptly named 100 Best Native Plants for New Zealand Gardens. It’s recently been revised and updated into a much more attractive format than my version. I used it as a guide to put in my winter order of native plants from Taupo Native Plant nursery. Even with the book and a research visit to the wonderful Otari Native Botanic Garden, I’m still intrigued to see what arrives in my boxes of plants.

It’s half way through the year so definitely time for some spiced leek and potato soup.

It might also be time for a New half-year resolution. You could do worse than try a ‘Speechcraft‘ course to improve your public speaking skills. Run by Toastmasters, it starts on Friday 3 July for eight weekly sessions 7 – 8.30am (yes, that really is the morning) in Grey Street, Wellington. Ten places, $250 per person.

I’ve been delving into the most recent addition to my cookery book shelves, Jo Seagar’s The Cook School Recipes. A lovely fat book, full of inspiration to bake and cook.

The beast has arrived at last. The kitchen garden has managed to negotiate a very favourable advertising deal. After sixty years, the Land Rover Defender 110 looks remarkably similar to the 1948 version. To celebrate the anniversary the special edition has stickers, special wheels, comfy seats and a GPS. The best four by four by far.