Courgettes

Courgettes or Zucchini are growing madly in my garden. I harvested this beauty on the weekend and realised tonight that I had not yet done anything with it!

Currently I am on a vegetarian diet and not having anything for lunch tomorrow I wondered what I could do with this without turning it into a pie! Turning to Edmonds, Courgettes Provencal (page 159) was the only recipe.

In less than 5 minutes Courgettes Provencal was made and it smells divine. I had to omit the onion as I am allergic to it but this little dish is full of flavour. With a sprinkle of cheese this will make the perfect lunch tomorrow.

Way To Many

How many cookbooks do you own? I currently have 47 cookbooks and don’t cook enough from them! I am inspired by Robyn and her blog The Edmonds Challenge. She has been cooking her way through the Edmonds cookbook since March 2010 and her blog is a wonderful read. Edmonds is a New Zealand essential must have for the kitchen and a large part of New Zealand history.

Armed with my Edmonds and three bananas in need to be used, I went straight to the trusted Banana Loaf (page 26). Overlooking it’s lack of beauty, this is a great recipe. Looking forward to morning tea tomorrow!

Garden, Chickens & Books

The garlic is dry, so tonight I cleaned up the first 10 cloves

The chickens are getting used to their new feeder, they have taken to it really well but still have their training wheels on.

Peas are still growing, we just harvested 200 grams of them tonight  - super sweet flavour. 

And a new book, while I don’t agree with some of the ingredients used in the book they can be adapted. I have not yet made anything within 15 minutes but let me tell you … 15 minutes to make a meal like that has got to be a dangerous sport! I have made parts of meals from the various pages all are very yummy. To say I am over the tomato bolognese sauce is an understatement and Jamie’s recipe for capsicum sauce is divine!

New Garden & Garlic

It has been a long time since I last posted! We have moved house and have had to start the garden from scratch. Luckily I had a lot of our veggies in pots so they were relatively easy to move. Now we have a very small back yard (3 x 8 mtrs) but so far I have rosemary, oregano, thyme, peas, olive tree, guava tree, zucchini, berlotti beans, red kidney beans, green beans, spring onion, beetroot, cauliflower, cabbage, sunflowers, corn, purple beans, carrot, spinach, strawberries, cucumber, tomatoes, potatoes, pumpkin, silver beet, pak choi, lettuce, micro greens and two chickens!!!!!!! All in my tiny back yard!!!!

Today I harvested 23 bulbs of garlic grown this year in pots.

I am just a little chuffed with myself as everything I have growing I have grown from seed! Diggers has become a favourite place where I spent my birthday a couple of weeks back. It’s a constant source of inspiration.

What’s growing in your garden?

Something Absolutely Gross

Just saw this on river cottage face book page ….. Little to say my insides turned!!!!

Winter Garden

I have been so un organised and completely neglecting my garden, so much so it is now starting to let me know how un loved it is feeling!!! The passion fruit leaves some have gone yellow, the peas look like they need a hug and seedlings are desperately trying to push their way up be kissed by the little amount of sunshine we have had. Last weekend I gave everything a good feed and after 24 hours I could see the difference in the plants as started to perk up.

While surfing on line I came across these wonderful cue cards of what to plant when for the cold temp areas. They are just to good not to share !

Nutrient Deficiency