People are like dirt. They can either nourish you and help you grow as a person or they can stunt your growth and make you wilt and die.
- Plato -
It's been a little while since I've done a gardening post so I thought I'd do a little update, report in to you folks who may be interested, just in case you thought I'd given up on it. I can assure you I have not.
I've had two harvests from my vegetable garden since beginning it around August last year and have been very pleased with the results. It's not been enough food to live on, and I've supplemented the produce with market-bought items, although it's been a rewarding process and it's certainly been enjoyable eating foods I've grown myself - They taste better.
The third plant-out
Winter is approaching so over the last couple of weeks I've been emptying my beds of the last of the second crop and preparing the soil for my winter planting which has now been done. Due to the season I've had to think out my choices well and I'm also space-limited so had to work around that constraint as well. Here's what I decided to plant:
Spinach, mini cauliflower, mini cabbage, brussel sprouts, brown onions, French Dwarf Bonaparte beans and baby broccoli.
I've had to select mini versions due to that space issue and it's great that these varieties are available, designed for garden beds like mine specifically. I also figured these items would be good winter vegetables for soups and stews which make good winter-warmers...with crusty bread slathered with butter.
Everything is looking good, small but healthy, and as they grow I'll do some pictures and post updates; of course I'll post about those stews and soups as well...if I remember before actually eating them!
Strawberries
When I planted out my first crop I put strawberries in with grand visions of having bucket loads of them...which didn't happen.
I managed to get several bowls of the delicious little red buggers, but I'd hardly say I was up to my ears in strawberries. All they did was take up precious space in my garden beds so I ended up removing them into some tubs right before I put in my second crop; they've survived there since then.
I still get strawberries off them which strikes me as quite strange - although I'm not an authority on strawberries so it could be normal. They went through the summer and actually still look pretty healthy which I'd not expected. I ate about twelve of them today, (without ice cream unfortunately), and they were pretty tasty. The two images above show what they look like; the top one has since met it's grizzly end in my mouth and those just above will do the same in time.
Red jalapenos
About a year ago I bought a red jalapeno plant from an ancient Italian man who grows and sells them from his back yard. It cost me about $30 AUD but he assured me, in broken English, I'd get a couple years of produce from it and considering red jalapenos are about $30 AUD per kilogram here I thought I'd invest.
The first crop yielded about 1.5 kilograms and the second, (which is still going) has produced just over 1.2 kilograms so far - I think that's pretty cool.
I gave some away, traded them actually, however kept most. They went into pasta, on my home made pizzas and I even put them into scrambled eggs - Trust me on that last one, it's legit. Don't use too much mind you, and chop them into tiny pieces. They freeze well so that's where many of them went, and I dried some and pickled them too, but the coolest thing was the chilli jam I made. It is, quite simply, legit!
Here's the recipe if you're interested.
Ingredients:
- 120g red chilli's (I used my red jalapenos of course)
- 1 red onion (finely chopped)
- 3 cloves crushed garlic
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- Third of a cup of water
- Half cup of brown sugar
- 1 tablespoons of fish sauce
- 1 tablespoons of hoisin sauce
Method:
Split the chilli's in half lengthwise, remove seeds, chop finely. Combine with the other ingredients in a small saucepan and cook for 10 minutes on high heat or until reduced by 50%. Reduce to low heat and cook for a further 5-10 minutes or until thick and sticky. Spoon into (sterilised) jars and tighten lid. I refrigerate mine at this stage, although they can be stored in a cool, dry place like a cellar or pantry until they are opened. Once they have been opened store them in the fridge.
I use this jam on toasted cheese sandwiches mainly, it's bloody fantastic. I also slather it on baked potatoes that have been halved and buttered and even used it as a glaze on baked vegetables once - That was tasty! It can be served with just about anything you require a little chilli-kick on though, but remember it's sweet, like jam, so it has its limits.
Anyway folks, that's about it. I'll provide some images of my garden beds as they grow; right now they look like great expanses of brown dirt dotted with little green things.
I'm off now to make home made pizzas for dinner, with garlic bread of course. I hope y'all have a great weekend.
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised so be humble and kind
All images in this post are my own