Many New Zealanders say that a burger is just not a burger without a slice of beetroot in it, and that a summer salad is not complete without beetroot. Generally they are talking about canned beetroot and I could never see what the fuss was about. But now having grown my own beetroot and tried it in many different ways, I am much more of a convert. Beetroot (or beets as they are called in the US) grow easily from seed if you take care to control the slugs. Sometimes I grow them from seed, … [Read more...]
Growing and Enjoying Courgettes or Zucchini
Zucchini and courgettes are essentially different names for the same thing. They are summer squash plants that come in various sizes and colours. Other summer squash come in a variety of different shapes as well - you basically grow and cook them the same way. In the past I had had variable luck growing courgettes, probably because I wasn't watering them enough. So now I always get two plants just in case one doesn't grow, sometimes one green and one yellow. But of course now that I am … [Read more...]
Peas fresh from the Garden
There is nothing like eating peas fresh from the garden. Previously though, that was about all I could do with them - there would only be a few at a time, so the best thing to do was to eat them then and there. Sometimes I would get a slightly bigger handful and be able to add them to a salad along with other things. This year I decided that I wanted to have enough peas to really use. I planted 'Sugar Snap' peas so that I could have the option of using the pods whole or waiting a bit … [Read more...]
Growing and Cooking Bulb Fennel
Fennel is often grown as a herb, for its feathery leaves and seeds, and is used in salads, soups, fish dishes and teas. The seeds are often chewed after a meal to help the digestion - particularly in India. There are several different sorts of fennel and some species of fennel produce a crunchy white 'bulb' from the swollen stem bases of the leaves. They have an aniseed-like flavour and are also good for the digestion. The most important thing is to make sure you buy the right kind of fennel … [Read more...]
Planting the Summer Veggie Garden
Labour Weekend (a holiday in NZ on the last Monday in October) is the perfect time for planting your summer veggie garden. Some plants can be sown or seedlings planted earlier on but summer stalwarts like tomatoes, capsicums, and cucumbers don't like cold soil and cold night temperatures. Previously when I've been tempted to plant them earlier, they haven't grown well and in fact ended up behind those that I planted just a few weeks later when the soil was warmer. This year the weather was … [Read more...]
Growing and Cooking Broad Beans
Broad Beans grow easily from seed and are great to grow over the winter for a spring harvest. The seeds are big and you just poke them directly into the soil about 3cm down in autumn. I generally have 100% success rate with germination and this year I put them in a different place that I hadn't tried before and they grew like triffids! I was starting to get a bit worried because the plants just kept growing. There were lots of flowers and bees and bumblebees were visiting regularly but … [Read more...]
Growing and Cooking Brussels Sprouts
I tried growing Brussels Sprouts this year for the first time and put them in a nice sunny spot with the rest of my brassicas. They started off growing well and then gradually started to look like scruffy cabbages that wouldn't heart up. After a while I could see some tiny buds forming up the stem. They are supposed fatten up and then you can start to pick the biggest ones from the bottom and get several harvests. Mine seemed to do everything wrong: the buds at the bottom didn't grow at all … [Read more...]
‘Whatever I could find in the Garden’ Soup
The title should really be 'whatever I could find in the garden, freezer, fridge or pantry' soup. It equally applies to most of my other cooking these days. Have a bountiful supply of fruit and vegetables has meant that I no longer find a recipe, decide that I want to make it and go off and get the requisite supplies. Now I see what supplies I have and decide what I want to make from there. Often I don't follow any recipe because you can't really go wrong combining good fresh healthy … [Read more...]