The Mad Gnomes Strike Again!

Home-made Burgers

2012-01-27T15:41:00.004+10:30

This time we made them with Irish Soda Buns. (Not to be recommended for burgers, as they are too crumbly, and the tomato sauce softens them even further. Big mess!!)Oh oh. Tricky. How to put the second half of the bun on top, without everything collapsing?Whatever you do (mess or no mess), it's delicious and very enjoyable.

The best sweet corn ever

2012-01-26T16:42:00.003+10:30

Even though it does not look perfect. A few gaps, small, etc. but it's our own. We grew it. Just bung it in boiling water for a minute or two.
Then a dollop of butter on the cob, let it melt, tuck in. It was incredibly sweet, tender and creamy. Not that I am biased or something. But it was the best sweet corn ever. :)

Zucchini pizza

2012-01-23T14:44:00.003+10:30

Move over artichoke hearts! Zucchini strips are the go! Just use your vegetable peeler to get long thing strips of zucchini. Throw them on to your pizza.
Half the pizza has pesto instead of tomato paste. Plus some olives. YUMMY!

Today's harvest

2012-01-22T18:39:00.002+10:30

We've been picking zucchinis (who hasn't?) and cucumbers (variety - Home-made Pickles) and started with a few little cherry tomatoes. The big ones are still very green and will need a bit more time to ripen.
What are you picking at the moment?

Salmon, dill & new potatoes tart

2012-01-11T10:28:00.002+10:30

This is a really delicious recipe from the Hairy Bikers' 'Perfect Pies' cookbook.It looks rather rich, but is light and more-ish. Perfect with a green salad.

Zucchini salad with tahini dressing

2012-01-09T17:20:00.003+10:30

Yes, it's zucchini season again! There are just soooo many ways to enjoy them.

This is a new recipe that I tried, and loved. I'll definitely make this one again very soon. It's from Hugh Fearnely-Whittingstall's new book "Veg Every Day". Just love that book.

Carrot flowers

2012-01-08T10:41:00.004+10:30

I always let some vegetable plants go to flower/seed. Not only are they pretty, they also attract all kinds of insects and bees, and also supply us with next year's seeds.
Isn't this carrot flower pretty?

Butterfly on Meadowsweet

2012-01-06T14:31:00.002+10:30

The title says it all really.

Did Mr Kiwi...

2011-12-25T11:23:00.003+10:30

...do the right thing by Ms/Mrs Kiwi at last?
Did he finally send out flowers?To enable the bees to pollinate the female flowers? And we'll finally get some fruit?So far the fruit is the biggest it ever grew. So, maybe this year? That would be nice! :)

More berry treats...

2011-12-22T09:02:00.004+10:30

This time another berry tart. The best so far, I think. The pastry is very crisp and the filling very light. It's very more-ish. Everyone had a second piece!

I keep experimenting with the crust and filling, so no final recipe yet. The filling is mainly quark, yoghurt, eggs and some sugar. With tons of berries on top. I crammed in as many as I could. The pasty is shortcrust.

Hydrangeas

2011-12-21T14:02:00.004+10:30

The hydrangeas are looking spectacular at the moment.
Let's hope they won't get burnt in the next few hot days. The temperature is supposed to reach 37C by Saturday. We will just have to wait and see. (And take pictures while they are looking that great.)

Cucumber "Home-made Pickles"

2011-12-19T11:47:00.003+10:30

The plants are looking rather good at the moment.
There are lots of tiny cucumbers on the plant.
I'm just hoping that they will all be pollinated and result in lots of yummy cucumbers to munch on. Even though they are called "Home-made Pickles", I will be using them to eat in salads. There are still plenty of jars with pickled cucumbers in the pantry.

Berry pancake ...

2011-12-18T12:43:00.002+10:30

... for brunch. Pancake recipe from Jamie Oliver's "Happy Days". Always a winner. Can't fail with plenty of berries, a dollop of thick cream and some maple syrup or honey.

A glut of berries...

2011-12-17T12:40:00.005+10:30

...and no more room in the freezers. Plenty of jam made. Also experimenting with berry liqueurs. And still the berries keep coming. Everyone is getting berries as pressies, but still.... So, now an experiment in making berry wine. This is a mixture of boysenberries, silvanberries, raspberries and blackberries (frozen from last year). The colour is fantastic!
Let's hope it's better than last season's blackberry wine! It was disgusting. At least it was, when we last tried it. Might have to check again, it may have improved.

Twins!

2011-12-16T08:42:00.004+10:30

Our zucchinis are early this year. Yeah! I took a gamble and planted them a lot earlier than I usually would. And it paid off - we weren't hit by late frosts - and we have already enjoyed a few zucchinis the last few weeks. The first variety to produce a good-sized zuke was the Lebanese zucchini, then the old faithful, Fordhook.

This is the first of the golden zucchini.Twins!

Laughing Kookaburra

2011-12-11T10:02:00.004+10:30

...sitting on a post.
It sat still for quite a while and I was able to get fairly close. They are lovely birds, aren't they? I love hearing their laughter in the trees.

Then it had enough of all that and flew off.

Have you ever seen...

2011-12-10T17:49:00.004+10:30

...a chook with a leg in plaster?

Here it is.
No, this is not one of ours. A lovely friend, whose name I shall not mention to protect the (crazy? mad? very caring?) person, had to take this chook to the vet. Blame the new dog, who caused this accident. Anyway, after the X-ray (which revealed a broken leg), the plaster was put on. Isn't she cute?

Berry brekkie

2011-12-02T14:39:00.004+10:30

One of the marvellous things about a glut of berries is that breakfast turns into pure indulgence.

Take bowl, fill with selection of berries.Mix in (home-made) yoghurt. Enjoy. Simple but - oh! - so good. :)

Berry season

2011-11-30T09:06:00.004+10:30

Berry picking has started in earnest in Gnomesville. This year we had to net the berry patch as the birds had started to move in.
First we had the little birds (wrens, thrushes, etc.), and we didn't worry too much. But then the magpies came in great numbers, and finally the yellow-tailed black cockatoos. That's when we knew we'd have to net the patch, as the cockatoos do a lot of damage. Not just eating the berries, but breaking off branches.
This is yesterday's haul. All together 3.5 kilos of berries.
There are raspberries, silvanberries, tayberries, yellow raspberries, boysenberries.And strawberries.

Potato & Brie Pizza

2011-11-24T10:38:00.003+10:30

This is such a great combination!Thin pizza dough, sprinkled with fresh, chopped herbs (thyme, rosemary, etc.), drizzled with good olive oil. Then a layer of brie (it works really well with blue cheese, too!), a layer of very thinly sliced potatoes, then another sprinkling of herbs and a drizzle of olive oil. Then a good grating of black pepper. Bake in very hot oven till potatoes are done and pizza base is slightly crisp! Yum!

Garden Stir-Fry

2011-11-22T12:00:00.004+10:30

We are still harvesting quite a good array of veggies.

Here's a garden stir-fry. Everything's from the garden. Onion, carrot, broad beans, asparagus, garlic. All picked just a few minutes before they got thrown into the frying pan. :)

Elderflowers

2011-11-17T09:23:00.004+10:30

The elder tree is laden with flowers again.
What a gorgeous sight that is!It started flowering a few weeks ago.I never get tired of our beautiful elder tree and its flowers.

Busy bees

2011-11-16T12:50:00.004+10:30

The bees have been very busy during all these sunny days. It's a great pleasure to see them buzzing about. All you can hear on a quiet day is the buzzing of the bees. We will have another look inside the boxes very soon to check that everything is okay, and how much work they've done.

Mullein

2011-11-08T15:43:00.003+10:30

This is a fairly new addition to my herb garden. It's a stunning plant. The leaves are a gorgeous silvery-green colour, and the long flower spike is laden with flowers, when in full bloom. Every part of it can be used for medicinal purposes, but I haven't experimented with it yet. It's also very low maintenance - always a bonus! :)

The Red Hot Pokers...

2011-11-07T15:23:00.002+10:30

....are a-poking madly.

Strawberry bed

2011-10-26T18:26:00.003+10:30

The strawberries are looking really good. However, they are still very small and green. The structures are in place - so that we can put netting over the bed when they ripen up. So, grow, strawberries, grow! :) We are ready!

Strawberries...

2011-10-24T10:36:00.004+10:30

...and Chocolate Velvet Torte.The strawberry season has started!

I love farm-gate sales! We were able to get some spray-free strawberries that were picked on the (organic) farm, and when they were at their peak. They tasted just like home-grown strawberries! Ours are still little, green balls, so we'll have to wait a bit longer to eat our own.

Chocolate Velvet Torte

2011-10-21T14:13:00.006+10:30

Looking for something really decadent? A great treat? But also gluten-free, dairy-free, and without white sugar? Plus plenty of good (70% cocoa) chocolate.

This is the torte before it goes into the oven. Absolutely delicious! After putting it into the oven, don't forget to lick the beaters, the bowls, the spoon, etc. before cleaning up. Do it quietly, so you don't have to share. You won't regret it. It's like chocolate mousse!Watch it rise in the oven...
...then shrink while it cools.
See the gooey middle? Oh yeah!Really nice with a dollop of good cream.Or a really good dollop of cream.The recipe is from Elana Amsterdam's "Gluten-free almond flour cookbook". Unfortunately, it is not on her blog yet. And I'm too lazy to type it out. Also, I have to go and check now whether the cake is still as nice as when we tried it yesterday. Gotta go.... :)

Miner's lettuce flowering

2011-10-20T09:25:00.004+10:30

Spring is such a beautiful season!One of my all-time favourite winter veggies is now flowering. Miner's lettuce.I let it go to seed every spring, and come autumn after the first rain, it pops up again. No work involved. :) What's not to like about this?!

Asparagus

2011-10-17T16:09:00.002+10:30

We are still harvesting the occasional handful of asparagus. What a treat this is!

Our first year of harvesting our purple asparagus. Isn't it just stunning?!
The spears have also become bigger over the years.
Just enough for an asparagus omelette. Life is good! :)

Busy as a bee!

2011-10-16T13:37:00.005+10:30

Now I know where that expression comes from. Have you ever watched the entrance to a bee hive? It's amazing to see all the activity. Especially on a sunny day.

Yes, we finally have bees! Yippeaahhh... *happy dance*... etc.

That's the bees' new home. Sunny first thing in the morning, protected from the worst winds, slightly shaded in the afternoon to protect them from the worst of our summer's heat.They are still in their 'travelling' boxes, called nucleus.This is a nuc from Kangaroo Island. These bees are guaranteed disease-free, very docile and placid, and have a tested, mated queen. Let's hope all is well in the nuc, as one frame has broken off. They seem to be busy inside the box, cleaning up (2 dead bees already thrown out of the hive). Hopefully, there aren't too many squashed bees, due to the broken off frame.This is the nuc from Roy, a beekeeper around the corner who catches swarms. He told us he's catching 1-2 swarms a day at the moment. Spring being the time, when bees tend to swarm. His nuc also has an opening at the top for a bottle with sugar syrup, to feed the bees.Anyway, we'll transfer the KI bees and their frames into the proper hive box in the next few days. Roy's bees are still a few weeks away from transfer. Exciting times! :)

Mad protea bunch

2011-10-13T12:32:00.003+10:30

This is one (ONE) stalk.
With 9 (NINE) flowers. Excuse the capital letters - but isn't this amazing?!
And incredibly beautiful.

Blossoms

2011-10-10T10:58:00.003+10:30

The fruit trees are covered in blossoms and the bees are busy buzzing about.
The whole orchard looks a treat!

Apple blossoms.Bee busy on apple blossom.
Some pears have already set.Getting excited about our potential fruit harvest! Fingers crossed. :)

Pigface!

2011-10-07T13:16:00.002+10:30

You callin' me pigface?!

No, no, yes! Here it is. A flowering Pigface.

French toast

2011-10-04T16:00:00.004+10:30

I never understood, what was so special about French toast. For me, it was only some (stale) bread dunked in eggs, then fried in a pan.

But then a gardening friend stayed over a few years ago. And she made French toast for us. With TONS and I mean TONS of sliced fruit. Piled on top of the crispy fried bread. And a good drizzle of real Canadian maple syrup. My goodness, that was GOOD!
We didn't drizzle with maple syrup, but topped the big fruit pile with a dollop of cream.Needless to say, it was delicious! :)

Purple Cauliflower...

2011-10-03T17:30:00.004+10:30

I know, I know. Purple Cauliflower. Again. Sorry. But I think this should be the last one for a long time. Until next winter, hopefully.

Everyone was curious to know, what colour it would have when cooked. Here it is, sautéed in a little butter.
Served with some home-made, spicy beef sausages and hand-cut chips (from home-grown potatoes).Gosh, it was good! :)

Spring onion pancakes

2011-09-26T10:51:00.005+09:30

I had bookmarked these pancakes years ago, but somehow never got round to making them. A good thing probably! Because now I'm hooked.

They really are quick, easy and totally delicious. You need a dipping sauce or something yummy to dunk them in, as there is no salt in the pancakes. The dipping sauce in the recipe is just perfect.

The recipe can be found here.

The dough is incredibly easy and quick to make. Also very easy to work with.

Roll out, sprinkle with spring onions (I'm sure you could sprinkle it with tons of other things. Something to play with.).
Then roll into a snake, and coil up into a spiral.
Roll out again.Fry in hot pan. Plonk on to plate and try not to gobble it up too quickly. Hmm...actually, why not?! Go ahead and gobble it up. :)

Purple Cauliflower

2011-09-14T16:22:00.003+09:30

I just have to brag about this beauty! I will harvest this one tomorrow or Friday. Isn't it a ripper?! :)

Curry puffs

2011-09-08T09:39:00.006+09:30

The leftover curry from the previous post was perfect as filling for curry puffs.I used the pastry recipe from Stephanie Alexander's "Cook's Companion". You can also find it here. It's easy to make, easy to work with and very tasty.Some of the curry puffs.
I filled the smallest of my cast iron frying pans with oil to do the deep frying.
The pastry got all blistery and flaky, as described in the recipe.
Served with a celeriac salad and some lacto-fermented carrots & cabbage. And chilli sauce. Delicious!

Garden Curry

2011-09-05T10:22:00.005+09:30

The proper name for it is Chard & New Potato Curry. The recipe is here.

We had nearly all the ingredients in the garden. Here the greens (mustard leaves, kale, silverbeet, komatsuna, rapa, chinese broadleaf celery). Plus all the other ingredients. Instead of the onion I used some walking onions. The picture is out of focus, sorry, I must have been quite hungry.
The greens nearly didn't fit in the pot.
But wilted down in no time.
Finally, time to eat! It doesn't take long to prepare and cook. It was absolutely delicious. Well worth making! With the leftovers I made curry puffs. But that's another post. :)

Bees

2011-09-01T08:57:00.005+09:30

Well, well, well. Finally we went and did a beekeeping course. Here are pictures taken during our practical.

Get your smokers going before you start on your hive(s).
Open the lid carefully and give them a little dose.
Take out frames as required. (Nice gloves!)
Inspect ....... and look knowledgeable.
Have a bee. It's only a drone.
There's more where that came from. (No, they weren't all drones.)A marvellous time was had by all. :)

Another treat

2011-08-26T16:32:00.003+09:30

Baked cheesecake with raspberries. We still have frozen raspberries in the freezer from last season. Still absolutely delicious!

Fresh from the oven.Cooled for a few hours.Ready to enjoy. :)The filling is very silky and smooth. :)

Spring omelette

2011-08-23T12:52:00.004+09:30

Well, okay, it's not spring yet. But have a look out of the window! Doesn't it just feel like spring? It's sunny, warm and the bees are buzzing about.

The asparagus is starting to shoot up in earnest.
There are some absolute rippers in the patch!
Let's just cut them a little, get some eggs from the chooks - and ready for an omelette!Lunch is sooooo good! :)

Mt. Pleasant Fruit & Veg Swap

2011-08-22T11:14:00.005+09:30

Another lovely Sunday morning spent at the fruit & veg swap, organised by the Mt. Pleasant Natural Resource Centre!

Even though we are still in the 'lean' months, the tables are always laden with produce, cuttings, seedlings, etc. from members' gardens.

You can get delicious goat's cheese.
Lettuce, greens, spring onions, mandarins.Cuttings, cut flowers.
Parsley, mandarins, lemons, recipes, pretty flowers (no idea what they are).
Lemons, oranges, books (at the very end of the table).
This is really only a small selection of what you find during one morning (from 9 to 12 o'clock). I came quite late, so that is what I found after 10.30! Not bad, ey?
(There are also often chook eggs, duck eggs, jams, preserves, olives, walnuts, grapefruit, tadpoles of the bango frog, herbs, etc. Too much to list in one go. This all changes with the seasons, of course. Exciting times!)

There are no people in the pictures (I pushed them aside - gently, don't worry!), but that place is at times pumping and rocking, you wouldn't believe it!

Oh, and usually there is a great selection of cakes, biscuits and savoury stuff at the tea & coffee table. Sorry, no picture. Maybe next time. :)

Last Sunday, after the swap, we even got a half hour talk about grafting apple trees, by Bernie Farrow from the Rare Fruits Society, thrown in. How good is that?!
And that's the basket of citrus (plus a nettle beer recipe), that I brought back from the swap.

Colour in the garden

2011-08-19T13:01:00.004+09:30

It's always lovely to have some colours in the garden throughout the year. At the moment we have all kinds of bulbs, proteas and camellias flowering.
Aren't they gorgeous?!

Winter in the garden

2011-08-17T10:26:00.005+09:30

The cabbages are getting bigger.
The cauliflower is thriving.Purple cauliflower.
Another purple cauliflower. Groovy colour, eh?
The garlic is looking promising.
And a sookie sheep. Froggie wants pats.
How is your garden doing? Is it feeding you well? :)

Brussel sprouts

2011-08-15T11:12:00.003+09:30

I have not had any success growing brussel sprouts. Yet. This year I am hoping to harvest a few.

So, this is what they look like at the moment. Loose sprouts on the stems. Will they 'hearten' up? I sure hope so. And how long does that take? When, oh when, can we harvest a delicious, home-grown brussel sprout?
Have you been successful with brussel sprouts? What's your trick? Advice?

Loooove...

2011-08-11T11:08:00.001+09:30

...in Carrot Land!

Today's harvest

2011-08-10T19:07:00.003+09:30

A good sized cauliflower and finally! our first cabbage. It weighed in at 1.44 kg!

Signs of spring?

2011-08-05T12:31:00.002+09:30

We have had a few incredibly warm days (10 degrees higher than usual), but now the temperatures are back to normal.

First signs of spring?

Healthy apple treat...

2011-07-29T11:39:00.004+09:30

...with little, decadent chocolate pots. But, by all means, skip the pots, if you want to stick to the healthy bit.

Put equal amounts of dark (as dark as you can get it) chocolate and thick cream into a heat-proof bowl. Add the zest of one organic orange.
Put bowl over a little saucepan filled 1/3 with water and put on low heat. Melt chocolate and mix everything together. Take off heat. Add a splash of orange juice or orange liqueur of your choice.Pour the contents into little cups. We use Chinese tea cups. They are just the right size for us. You don't need big cups, as this is quite a filling, satisfying treat. If you have raspberries (we still have some frozen ones from our bumper harvest), place some at the bottom of your cup. The raspberries are not necessary, the pots are totally delicious without them.
Chill for a few hours. Then cut up an apple or two, arrange around the cups. Dip apple slices into chocolate pots. No spoons required.
Share with your loved one(s) or special friends.
If you can be bothered, you could add a lightly beaten egg yolk to the slightly cooled chocolate mixture. Beat the egg white until stiff, then add to the whole mixture. It makes it more like a chocolate mousse. Very nice, too. :)

Frosty morning

2011-07-22T15:39:00.004+09:30

We do have frosty mornings, but usually not as bad as today's.
It was beautiful, though. With the sun making all the tiny icicles glitter and glisten.

No major damage, so I'm happy!

KaleCorianderCabbagesSome other green stuff
Carrots

Cabbage Earliball #2

2011-07-21T14:02:00.003+09:30

A while back (beginning of June) I wrote about this cabbage. Well, here it is, the same head, all nicely grown and soon to be harvested. The rest of the cabbages in the same bed are of various sizes, just perfect. So we should have a continuous supply of cabbage, instead of one big glut.What's your favourite use of cabbage or recipe? Coleslaw? Sauerkraut?

Cauliflower

2011-07-18T09:43:00.003+09:30

Green Macerata (which does not look green to me, but who am I to bicker?) and more of the purple cauliflower. The latter has opened up heaps, so I just pretend I am harvesting purple sprouting broccoli. Looks exactly like that to me. We'll be having veggie feasts. I am not complaining. :)

The best burger and chips ever!

2011-07-14T11:06:00.004+09:30

It's cold around here. Really cold. And miserable. Too miserable to do much out in the garden. Hence the lack of garden pictures.

Last night we satisfied our craving for burger and chips. The best ever! Everything home-made and grown ourselves. (Sorry about the bragging.) Except the beastie for the meat. Looking at the picture, I am getting hungry again. :)

Steamed Persimmon Pudding

2011-07-08T14:02:00.004+09:30

...studded with a generous amount of dark chocolate chunks.

The persimmon season was fantastic this year. I never thought I'd see the day where you can buy a kilo (!!!) for 2.99 (!!). And lots of gardeners desperate to give away their bounty.

So, who am I do squander the opportunity to pig out on persimmons?! And to use them in baking. My goodness, the luxury!

Persimmon purée is an absolutely amazing colour. Here it is just about to be incorporated into the pudding batter.The batter in the pudding form. You can see some of the chocolate pieces. The recipes did not call for chocolate, but hey! why not?
3 hours later.Looking fantastic! Luxurious, decadent.... and the fragrance!

A good dollop of cream. Yeah!I used Maggie Beer's recipe from her book 'Maggie's Harvest'. (The recipe in the link bakes the pud in the oven, instead of steaming it in a pot.) Instead of sugar, I used half the quantity honey. Plus the generous helping of dark chocolate. And Grand Marnier.

Steamed Radish Cake

2011-06-28T13:21:00.002+09:30

Wow! I did it! I made Steamed Radish Cake. :) I used Kebun Malay-Kadazan girl's recipe. Thank you!

I peeled and chopped some of the daikon radishes that I received from M-K Girl and Andrew.Bung them in the food processor and process until you have some slushy mush or mushy slush.
Mix with the other ingredients.
Cook, then put into a heatproof dish to steam until done. I don't have a steamer, hence this weird contraption. I had to steam it a lot longer, due to that, too.This is the end result.We had it stir-fried (also known as 'carrot cake' in Singapore. It's not a cake and does not have any carrots in it.) But this is another story. :)

Cinnamon/Sultana Pull-Apart Bread

2011-06-27T09:50:00.004+09:30

I used this recipe, but changed it slightly. (Surprise, surprise!)
I added sultanas to the dough. Instead of sugar, I used honey. I also added the zest of a whole orange to the dough.

It didn't pull apart as neatly as it could have, but I did squish it into the tin quite a bit. So maybe next time, I'll just put the rest into another tin. Also, I used honey, so the layers stuck together a bit more, due to the honey. If you use sugar, I'm sure it'll pull apart neatly.

The dough squares stacked into the tin.Just out of the oven.A few slices pulled off.
It was absolutely delicious. The grapefruit curd tastes lovely on that bread, too.

Grapefruit curd

2011-06-23T14:45:00.004+09:30

You may have noticed the pile of grapefruit in one of the pictures in the previous post. I took a few home to try and make grapefruit curd. A fellow seedsaver mentioned she'd made it years ago (thanks, Chook!), and I decided to give it a go. Couldn't imagine it not being nice.

I used this recipe for lemon curd (but I halved the quantities in the recipe), which works extremely well. It also appeals heaps, because it uses whole eggs. I modified the recipe slightly, instead of sugar I used honey.

Zest and juice your grapefruit. I used two biggish ones. You could use more, if you want a big hit of grapefruit.4 eggs - lightly beaten
100g unsalted butter
100g honey

Put all ingredients in a heatproof bowl.
Stir until it thickens, then pour into clean, sterilised jars.It's really nice, and even if you are not a big fan of grapefruit, you might like it. It doesn't taste too grapefruity. Just has a nice tang.

Curd does freeze beautifully. I just bung the jars into the freezer, and Bob's your uncle. Lemon or grapefruit curd, whenever you feel like it.

Visiting fellow gardeners...

2011-06-21T10:52:00.005+09:30

...is always great fun!

Here is our host, Andrew, happily chatting away.Left, right, left, right. Past the tanks and grapefruit.
There were still some pumpkins left on the ground. Looking good.
The winter vegetables are pumping away. Yum!
Gathering at the horseradish patch. Surrounded by heavily laden citrus trees and still fruit bearing chilli bushes.
Then gathered around the table with all the seeds, seedlings, produce, etc. to share. Lots of pointing going on. And HOW big does that grow?! :)
Thanks to the gardener and cook for having the crazy lot over. Lots of fun was had by everyone. Oh, and sorry, no pictures of the usual spread of cakes, dips, biscuits, etc. The photographer was too busy chatting. And sampling. :)

Something's hiding...

2011-06-10T10:47:00.001+09:30

...under all that kikuyu grass.But what? Any guesses?

Cabbage Earliball

2011-06-08T12:32:00.004+09:30

The cabbages are powering along! This is the most advanced at the moment. It's the variety 'Earliball', and it won't grow as big as other varieties. That's why it suits us just fine.
I planted the seedlings in March, when the soil was still warm and they could get a good start. Planted a few weeks later, the soil would have been far too cold and they would just sit there, doing nothing.

Been there, done that. It's very frustrating, watching seedlings for months on end, doing nothing. But you can't blame them, who'd be keen to sit in cold soil? And grow?? It took me a while to figure all that out. :)

Purple Cauliflower

2011-06-06T10:57:00.004+09:30

Look, what I found!
This was quite a surprise, as the plant was left over from last winter to go to seed. It may have gone to seed, I don't know, as I completely forgot about it. This is not a spot where I usually grow vegetables.

So, yesterday I happened to walk past and was startled by this purple beauty!

There is a smaller one.Then two more small ones coming along nicely.
Yum! What a pleasant surprise! :)

Tomatoes!

2011-06-03T14:22:00.003+09:30

Now this is really weird. But then, the seasons have been really weird.

I still have tomatoes on my kitchen bench!
What's more, there are still tomatoes on the plants! We've already had a few frosty mornings, but the plants are still alive. Normally the tomato season ends at the end of April, sometimes even earlier. But I'm not complaining. :)

Oh, and we had the coldest autumn in 56 years!

Smoking at home

2011-05-31T11:21:00.004+09:30

We started smoking!

Here it is - our smoker. The other Gnome picked it up (dirt-cheap) at a garage sale. The previous owners had only used it once, so it was in pristine condition.
Some sawdust, sage leaves, rosemary. Put a nice piece of seasoned salmon tail on the grill. Put the lid on.Smoke till done. We didn't, because we are new to all that. So we finished it off in the frying pan. It was lovely smoky and super-delicious.
Served with a bit of freshly grated horseradish in cream. Divine!

It'll be fun to experiment - and get the smoking times right, too. :)

Ho Ho Horseradish!

2011-05-30T13:25:00.005+09:30

Everything you read about growing, harvesting, grating & preserving horseradish is true!

It's easy to grow. I shall plant out this piece again and we'll have another good harvest next season. And any little pieces of roots that you leave in the ground will grow, too.It's a bugger to dig up, if the soil is rocky, hard and/or clay.Wash and peel the roots, then chop into chunks, and grate or grind in the food processor. Open the lid very, very, very carefully, and ideally in front of an open window. And away from your face. Don't breathe! The fumes are incredible. They'll clear your sinuses in no time!
Add some vinegar and salt, if you'd like to have some ready to eat. (Quantities are stated in a post written last season.)
Taste a tiny bit - it's potent stuff! You don't want it to blow off your head. It'll keep for quite a few months in the fridge. It will get milder in time.
Or add some cream to your grated horseradish for immediate use. Very, very nice! Especially with smoked salmon.
I've also filled several small containers with the grated horseradish and put them in the freezer. Nice! :)

A walk in the veggie garden

2011-05-16T11:18:00.005+09:30

Word of warning - if you like a neat garden, do not go any further! You will see plenty of grass and weeds, amongst the veggies.

One bed with cabbages, cauliflowers, turnips, parsnips, lettuces and *miner's lettuce as living mulch. *I let that go to seed every year and it comes up with a vengeance with the first rain. It's a pretty ground cover, and easy to rip up, if you need to plant something. It's lovely in salads, too.
A carrot patch. With plenty of miner's lettuce as weed suppressant.
The Egyptian Walking Onions, surrounded by lush grass.
Time to harvest the Golden Nuggets. They were really prolific this year.
The leek bed. I usually just cut the leeks, instead of ripping them out of the soil with their roots. They re-grow nicely. Also, I always let a few go to seed, ensuring self-sown leeks.The other half of the bed is taken up by Red Russian kale (self-sown), rapa, some other kale (too lazy to look up the variety name), and Komatsuna. All lovely greenery to ensure a healthy diet in Winter.Here is a view of the whole area. In front you can see the leek and greenery bed. Behind that the Golden Nuggets. To the right you can see the tomato beds. They are still laden with green and nearly ripe tomatoes. The first frost a few days ago hasn't managed to kill them.
The garlic is looking good!
So are the broad beans.And the grass in this veggie bed.

Last few pictures of NZ

2011-05-11T09:11:00.005+09:30

We have been back for a while from our absolutely amazing trip. Here just a few more pictures. Then normal broadcasting shall resume again.

Okains BayWalk to Le Bons Bay

Le Bons Bay
Hinewai Reserve

...and Gandalf said...

2011-04-21T17:56:00.004+09:30

"We have to go over there, little Hobbit!
Follow me, through all this high green stuff. We will be well hidden.
Past a place with weird creatures.'Till we reach the magic moss place."

Mt. Cook

2011-04-19T13:16:00.004+09:30

Today we put on our hiking boots.
To tackle Mt. Cook.It seemed a bit high, so we decided to go for a walk in the Tasman Valley instead, to look at the lower Tasman Glacier.
You can swim in the lake in summer. Really? With icebergs floating in there? Yup.We decided to give that a miss, as it is autumn now.
We opted for another walk, but that's another story. :)

Sunrise over Lake Tekapo

2011-04-19T04:54:00.003+09:30

Slightly overcast and chilly morning, with a lovely sunrise.

From Queenstown...

2011-04-18T16:01:00.005+09:30

...via Lindi's Pass...(With plenty of mountains and snow.)

... and Lake Pukaki...
...to Lake Tekapo...View from our apartement a short while ago.
Guess what?! We are having a ball! :)

There is snow on the mountains!

2011-04-17T13:45:00.004+09:30

The temperature dropped and it rained in the early morning. When I stepped out of the chalet, I smelled snow! And yes, there is snow on the mountain tops.
So I got out the skis! I'm ready! :)

Lake Wakatipu

2011-04-16T14:24:00.003+09:30

Still in Queenstown. Had a great drive to Wanaka via the scenic route. Great food, great scenery, great autumn colours. Hmm... better stop here - I'm being very repetitive. Having a fantastic time. :)

From Dunedin to Queenstown

2011-04-15T18:25:00.003+09:30

...via the Scottish Highlands, or so it seemed.
Absolutely brilliant autumn weather. Gorgeous colours. Having a marvellous time!

Suberb food everywhere. Tonight's dinner in Queenstown - just fantastic.

Flying

2011-04-13T13:50:00.003+09:30

Last year we had a great time flying in a tiny plane with Berry Gnome's nephew. I never posted any pictures. Here is one.
Tonight we shall be flying again. But this time in a 'proper' plane. I may or may not post pictures from our adventures in the next 10 days. Until then, be good! :)

Miner's Lettuce ...

2011-04-09T13:58:00.003+09:30

...is coming up everywhere in the garden! I usually let it go to seed at the end of its growing season. Then it pops up with a vengeance as soon as the first good autumn rains hit the soil. It's a pretty plant and delicious in salads (raw) and sautéed leafy veggies.

I love nettles!

2011-04-08T14:40:00.004+09:30

Aren't they just beautiful!?
And they are really tasty, too!

Today's lunch - Nettle Omelette:

Heat butter/oil, add some chopped garlic (and onion), bung in washed nettle leaves. Cover with lid until nettles are wilted.
Pour in some beaten eggs, seasoned with salt & pepper. Add chopped parsley, and some grated parmesan. Bung lid back on until the omelette is set.
Slide on to a plate, add a dash of home-made chilli sauce, if so desired. YUM!
Don't be put off by the 'hairy' nettles - they have lost their sting and it's fine to eat them.

Autumn beauties

2011-04-07T10:39:00.003+09:30

Every year the same kind of pictures, I know. But aren't they just gorgeous?!

Eat your nettles!

2011-04-04T11:42:00.005+09:30

They are good for you.

Grab a handful of stinging nettles (make sure you wear gloves!).
Wash them. I took them off the main stem.

Sauté in butter, garlic and onion. Throw in a potato cut into cubes, together with your nettles. Sweat a bit. Not you. The ingredients in the pan. Then pour in some good stock.

Cover, let simmer away.

Blend with whatever gadget you have handy.

The colour is not as vibrant green as I wanted it. But I blame the potato and cream that I poured in. And I could have put more nettles in, but I was hungry and wanted to get on with it.
If desired, serve with a bit of parmesan. Or a drizzle of good olive oil. Or whatever you desire.
It's delicious! Oh, and the nettles do lose their sting when cooked. :)

Bonsai Egg

2011-04-01T10:45:00.005+10:30

The nights are getting pretty cold (6C). During the day it is sunny, but the wind can be unpleasant. Day time temperature is around 16-17C.

The chooks can feel the cold, too. And they are moulting. No pictures of the scraggly beasts. Yet.
No wonder the eggs are getting smaller! (They have also slowed down their egg production.)

Eggplant Schnitzel

2011-03-29T16:15:00.004+10:30

A great way to use an eggplant. Cut into 1cm thick slices lengthwise. Crumb. Fry in pan until golden brown and done. It will be crispy outside, with a soft-ish middle.
It's lovely drizzled with some Salsa Verde (made from our tomatillos). Or any condiment of your choice. :)

Mt. Pleasant Fruit & Veg Swap

2011-03-28T11:47:00.004+10:30

The first Mount Pleasant Fruit & Veg Swap (organised by the Mt. Pleasant Natural Resource Centre) took place on Sunday, from 9pm - 12 noon. And what an exciting swap it was! We rocked up with 2 baskets. One with fruit and veg. The other full with a variety of cut leucadendrons. No photo of that basket. Sorry.
The concept is great. Bring whatever excess produce you have. Or anything you'd like to share. Produce, seeds, seedlings, your skills, worm castings, anything you can think of.

Put it all on the communal table. It's surprising how laden the table gets in no time. Then chat with fellow swappers over a good cup of coffee. Then do some browsing and 'shopping'. There was a lovely array of fruit and vegetables, seeds and seedlings.
We came home with a basket full of apples, green & purple beans, snow peas, some chillies, a new variety of garlic to plant, a Delicata pumpkin and a good bunch of silverbeet. What a great way to swap excess produce!

Autumn vegetables

2011-03-26T15:57:00.003+10:30

Slowly I seem to be getting on top of things in the veggie garden.

The last of the winter veggie beds is weeded and nearly fully planted. There are cabbages, cauliflowers, brusselsprouts, lettuces, silverbeet, komatsuna, spring onions, salad burnet, wild rocket, potato onions, garlic chives and parsley. Still to be sown - more carrots, turnips, kohlrabi, mizuna, mustard, fenugreek, etc.
The garlic that I planted 12 days ago has started to shoot. I only have a few more cloves to plant, then I'm done.
The first snow peas have germinated. Let's hope the snails, slaters and millipedes don't destroy them.
It's an exciting time in the garden. Lots of planting and sowing. And hopefully soon there will be a glut of vegetables. Life is good! :)

Things to do in Autumn

2011-03-24T12:58:00.004+10:30

Harvesting bits and pieces. Some capsicums, a pickling cucumber that was hiding under some leaves, a little bunch of very sweet grapes.
The table grapes were flowering nicely in spring, but this did not translate into lots of fruit. Only 2 vines have bunches of grapes on them.
It's also a good day to chop some wood. We've been using the wood heater the last few days, as it has cooled down incredibly. There is still plenty of wood around the place, so we'll be busy chopping and stacking in the next few weeks.

Today's view

2011-03-23T11:13:00.004+10:30

It is a very wet and windy day. Dark, too.On a brighter note, I finally preserved some tomatoes yesterday. And two jars of tomatillos.This season has been very weird. Spring was late to start (one month late, to be precise), and the summer was very mild (no complaints here!). We had good rains and all our water tanks are overflowing!

The tomato plants are laden with green fruit, but just not ripening up. Now with this wintery (very cold and windy) weather, I don't expect to pick much more. Yesterday, I went to pick some tomatoes and most of them had split and the millipedes, slaters, snails & slugs had moved in. What a revolting sight! I threw them over the fence and the chooks and sheep loved the food falling from the sky.

Chocolate Chip Banana Cake

2011-03-21T15:44:00.005+10:30

Now this is a real treat!
Bought some organic almond flour at the Farmer's market on Sunday. And we happened to have some ripe bananas that needed to be used up. It was a rainy afternoon, so we couldn't do any gardening. The wood heater was doing its thing and it was cosy. The smell of the cake in the oven was fabulous!

This is another great recipe from Elana Amsterdam's "The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook". She also has a blog with great recipes - Elana's Pantry - see my blog list to the right.

Here the recipe, but I changed a few things:

3 cups blanched almond flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup grapeseed oil (I used olive oil)
1/4 cup agave nectar (I used organic honey)
3 large eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla extract (I used rum)
1 cup coarsely chopped dark chocolate (I used 85% dark, but probably only about 1/2 cup, as that was all that was left in the pantry)
1 cup (2 to 3) mashed very ripe bananas

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease cake pan with butter or oil, then dust with almond flour.

Combine almond flour, salt, baking soda and choc chips in a large bowl.

In another bowl, whisk together the oil, honey (agave nectar), eggs and vanilla extract. Then add mashed banans.

Stir wet ingredients into dry. Combine.

Scoop batter into greased cake pan.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cake cool in pan for 1 hour.
Then eat. Try and only have 1 piece. We didn't. Try, that is. It's very more-ish!

Zucchini & Eggplant Lasagna

2011-03-11T15:36:00.006+10:30

This is one of our favourite summer dishes, when the zucchinis and eggplants are plentiful.
I like to throw the 1cm thick slices of zucchini and eggplants on the barbie until they are nicely browned and just cooked. This gives them a beautiful flavour.
Then assemble your lasagna as you would any meat-based one. We use home-made lasagne sheets, and they make quite a difference. The eggplants give the dish quite a 'meaty' texture. Yum! :)

Tomatillo

2011-03-08T16:15:00.004+10:30

This is only the second time I am growing tomatillos. The first time - years ago - we just did not know what to do with them - and threw them over the fence to the chooks and sheep. They loved them!
They are really easy to grow and quite stunning in the garden. From flowering, to fruit. And I am determined to make use of the fruit this year. I'll keep you updated. :)

Eating a Sweet Siberian

2011-03-07T13:43:00.003+10:30

Watermelon!This variety does not take too long to produce fruit. 80-85 days. It does not produce gigantic fruit. So, it is ideal if you don't want a monster of a melon clogging up your fridge. Or if you don't have an army to feed.

Bright green skin and yellow-fleshed. Very juicy, very sweet!

When gardeners and cooks get together

2011-03-03T09:01:00.004+10:30

There will be plenty of produce from the garden that ends up on the table.
All kinds of salads and side dishes, accompaniments, main dishes, herbal concoctions, laughter.The table ended up too small for all the bowls and platters, so we had to have a sideboard laden with dishes, too. Sorry, no picture of the sideboard.

Zucchini carpaccio

2011-02-22T13:59:00.003+10:30

A wonderful recipe for this time of the year. Zucchinis are in abundance and it is nice to have a few recipes up your sleeve.

The recipe can be found here. The picture on that blog is a lot nicer than mine. But I didn't use balsamic vinegar, hence the difference in colour. I also bunged in a few torn basil leaves.
Give it a go, it's a wonderful light accompaniment to any dish, or just by itself.

Picking beans...

2011-02-21T10:41:00.004+10:30

...is great fun, when you are prepared.
Let them climb up a structure that can also support a ladder. What is the point in having them climb up 2 - 3 metres and then you can't reach them?
This was the first year we actually harvested a few handful of beans. And the most delicious beans they were!
Unfortunately, the bean harvesting time was too short, and we are beanless again. But I'm happy we actually got to harvest a few.
Spring is always a crazy time. The chooks dig up half the beans, the snails have a go at the tiny seedlings, etc.... So every bean is a bonus, really. I'll try again next year. :)

Today's view

2011-02-19T09:17:00.002+10:30

We have had 56mm of rain since yesterday morning!
The big house water tank is overflowing, the ground is nicely saturated, the snails are out in force, the frogs are happily ribbiting.... the Mad Gnomes are smiling madly...
It's still drizzly out there, but not as cold as it looks. Lovely.

Sowing winter vegetables

2011-02-18T11:46:00.005+10:30

It still amazes me, how organised a gardener has to be. Here we are, in the middle of summer, and I have had to sow all my winter vegetables.
We have to get all our vegetables planted out in March*. Any later than that and the seedlings sit in the cold soil, shiver, complain and do nothing. They just don't grow.It's a risky business, though. We might still get a heat wave. And if that happens after I've planted out the tender little seedlings, well, they'll be cactus. So, I sow more than I need. Just in case.
*I am talking about our particular place. Autumn hits earlier here, than in the city. Every place is different. :)

In March, the soil is still warm and the seedlings are off to a good start. They can grow to a reasonable size, before the cold weather hits.

Now I'll better get the winter beds organised. Always a bit awkward when we haven't even started our proper summer harvest yet. Oh, the joys of gardening! :)

Edit: What have I sown?
Kale (2 varieties), brusselsprouts (2 varieties), cabbage (3 varieties, cauliflower (2 varieties), onions (4 varieties), spring onions, lettuce (5 varieties), celery, celeriac, chia, amaranth, mustard, leeks, silverbeet, spinach, broccoli, purple sprouting broccoli ...That should be about it. Direct sowing of root vegetables next month.

Blackberry smoothie

2011-02-17T15:13:00.003+10:30

It looks funky!
But the texture is not that great, as the blackberries have tons of tiny, hard seeds, that get in the way of really enjoying this smoothie. And I really can't be bothered to strain the blackberry pulp through a sieve. Solution? I just eat the berries as they are. :)

Summer Pasta

2011-02-16T13:08:00.004+10:30

Home-made pasta (with specks of dried chilli and ground, black pepper).

Pesto (with basil from the garden), tomatoes (cut in quarters), grated parmesan.

All tossed together, topped with more grated parmesan and some roasted cashews.Heaven in a bowl!

Purple Dragon Carrots

2011-02-15T11:10:00.004+10:30

These are our all-time favourite carrots. After years of failure, I have finally 'mastered' the growing of carrots. All it takes is a ton of perseverance. If at first you don't succeed, sow, sow again. And again. And again.
These are tender, sweet and tasty. They are bright orange inside.
I grow carrots now (nearly) all year round. When the first batch has germinated (this can take up to 3 weeks!), I try to sow another small batch. The best and biggest carrot is often left in the ground for seed saving. The flowers are incredibly pretty and great for attracting heaps of different insects.

Celeriac

2011-01-27T13:35:00.004+10:30

This is the first year that I might have some success growing celeriac. I love this knobbly root vegetable, but haven't eaten it for at least 20 years. I think.
There are two patches of this vegetable and both of them are looking really good. Dare I get mildly excited at the thought of having a celeriac glut? Stay tuned, I shall report back in autumn. :)

Tomato and Mozzarella Bruschetta

2011-01-23T13:32:00.003+10:30

Yesterday's mozzarella, after it was cut.
Look at the lovely layers. That's how I like my mozzarella!
It's fantastic with fresh tomatoes. We are still not harvesting our own, but a kind gardening friend shared hers with us.

Grill some slices of bread. Brush with the cut side of a clove of garlic, sprinkle some olive oil over it. Top with thick slices of tomatoes and mozzarella. Garnish with basil.

A perfect lunch!