Labour Weekend

So this post is a bit late but of course Labour weekend is traditionally the time that the garden gets planted for summer. We didn't break tradition here.

The Kale are still in. I'm not really sure if/when they should come out. They haven't bolted so I have wee Kale topiaries around the boarder of my vege patch. Zucchini are in as are capsicum. I decided to try tomatoes this year - I've never had any success before but I thought we'd try a few cherry tomato plants and see how we go. I've planted a row of carrots but they have yet to germinate so I may have to redo that. Six snow pea plants are in too.

From my mum's seed stash (from last year's garden) I have planted broad beans and also rocket. That certainly lived up to its name germinating in a couple of days.

I have room set aside for more tender stem broccoli. I haven't managed to locate any yet but I am very keen to replant after last year's results.

The strawberry plants from last year have been fed and since then they've just thrived. There is already a decent sized, albiet green, fruit on one of them. The kids will be stoked!

In the herb garden I've planted parsley, basil, coriander (hoping it doesn't bolt as it isn't from seed) and a jalapeno pepper to keep the ever present mint company.

The onion and garlic are still happily growing. I'm really looking forward to the harvest. Already I can see that the onion stems are thickening. I have both white and red planted and the red stems are such a gorgeous colour near the base.

Really looking forward to this summer. It looks like it's going to be a good one.

When she got there the cupboard was bare....

Ah spring - the season I invariably get sick in. Two weeks of illness and I am out of pre-made stuff. I'm sad to admit that we had a few takeaways in the last fortnight.
So back into it today. Time to restock.

Chilli Con Carne, a staple in our house as it pads out cheap mince with kidney beans, has been made and frozen. Pizza bases are next on the to do list. With the breadmaker of course. Then if time permits some wraps and pita pockets will also be made and frozen.

I did manage some cinnamon scrolls last weekend. A couple for a lazy Sunday with the paper and a coffee (home made of course) and the rest are frozen. I freeze them before their second rise. Then it's just a matter of taking them out Sat night and leaving them on the bench to defrost and rise. Sunday morning they just go straight in the oven.

Hummus will also be quickly whipped up. It doesn't have a long shelf life but with two active kids it's a great snack with some carrot sticks. I also make a lamb pita pocket with it.

We've had a crack at home made curries over the winter using spice packs from the supermarket. You provide all ingredients and follow the recipe on the pack adding spices as instructed. It's not the cheapest of dinners but compared to bought curry it is much cheaper, plus you get more, plus it tastes as good as the best takeaway curry I've ever had (thank you Sigdi in Devonport) and you can control the fat content by adding slimmers yoghurt or lite cream. Of course it also makes a small bit of meat stretch much further.

The last few weekends in Auckland have been typical for early spring. 2 days of rain after 5 working days of sun. Not too much of an issue so far as I like to plant seedlings rather than seeds. So I have a few more weeks before the capsicum and zucchini need to go in. I should be planting out broad beans and peas now (they're already late) but that requires breaking more soil and I have not been up to that lately. I'll also plant carrots and parsnip from seeds next weekend and some kale (seedlings) and maybe some broccoli. The garlic and onions are still growing happily in their little garden. The red onions have started to get red at the base of their stalks which is very exciting :)

Christmas is fast approaching. Not sure how we're going to approach that this year. I would do home made if I was at all talented but I think a better approach is to make a list and work out a budget. Sadly my old present list was in my old phone which met its end earlier this year thanks to husband and an errant cup of tea.

Calling all gardeners

Ok so finally I ventured out to the vege garden for more than a quick harvest as the sun was setting (for dinner). It was a mess. Weeds everywhere. Snails and slugs hiding among it. Broccoli has well and truly bolted now - I managed to delay it for a while but it's really done its dash.
Beetroot looked lovely from the top side but when I pulled up the biggest one and it had a root no thicker than my thumb I pulled them all out and biffed them.

So anyone who is good at gardening - how do I get beetroot to grow? Also brussels sprouts. I managed to get about 8 bulbs off 6 plants - all the rest grew loose bushy heads that were no good.
I used a vege mix soil before I planted but I'm guessing the soil is probably the problem. I'd love some insights.

Leek and Potato soup was the winner in our house this week. Easy to make and the kids inhaled it. I added a bit of zing to the adult portions with some sliced chorizo.

There's another cold snap forecast this week and that will probably see most of our wood used. But barring a long winter it seems that the two cubic metres is sufficient. We'll definitely get more kindling with next year's order as buying it on an 'as needed' basis from the local supermarket is very pricey (plus the last lot was damp!)

Of concern this week is the possible hint at changes to ECE funding from the government. Tinkering with the 20 free hours has not been ruled out which could signal an increase in fees for a lot of parents. It will certainly impact on us as #2 child is chomping at the bit to start and will be attending from the beginning of next year.

I am a bear Grahhhhh!

The 'real' winter has finally hit and our family has been in hibernation mode. It's been so cold and wet lately that even my vege patch in the back garden has been too far to trek to. We live in suburban Auckland so trust me it's really not far at all.

I hadn't realised how neglected it has been until I looked out of our bedroom window this morning and spied beautiful yellow flowers in amongst the green. Yes, unthinkably I had let my loose head broccoli go to seed. A quick trip out between showers saw me harvesting a huge bundle of the heads which will go toward dinner tonight. This type of broccoli has been brilliant - only yielding a dinner size amount at a time and because they aren't huge tight heads we haven't had the previous issue of caterpillars that you only realise haven't been rinsed away when the vege arrives on your plate :p We will definitely be replanting again.

I also noticed my carrots are almost ready to harvest, Kale is still going strong, Bok Choy is ready to go too. The beetroot is still just sitting there - last time I checked there were no big veges on the end of the leaves and they've been in the ground for months now so I think we'll chalk that one up as a failure. Pity because I loooove beetroot.

The garlic and onions are already thriving so I'm hoping all this rain doesn't drown them. If this weather keeps up I may consider planting rice! ;)

Eating seasonally has been fantastic. I've discovered so many new veges and in turn so many new recipes. Our current favourite is Jerusalem Artichoke which I made into a gorgeous soup the other day. My husband was very confused when it came out of the Foodbox, wondering why we had been sent such a large quantity of ginger. Swedes and Leeks, things we used to walk past at the supermarket have now been integrated into many dinners. I'd love to say that we use Kale in many different recipes too because I know there are so many out there (being a staple of American cooking) but we can't go past the Kale chips. Hey, it gets the kids eating it and if it works I say go with it.

I must admit I did feel rather smug the other night when the news ran a report on the skyrocketing price of veges. They used Capsicum and Tomatoes as their examples - well of COURSE those are expensive! They're completely out of season! Yay me for actually knowing that. A year ago I would have been in the majority of the younger population who, thanks to a global market, has no idea what veges are grown in what season locally.

Almost Half Way

Time to put the garlic into the fridge for a week in preparation for planting. Yes I know I'm going to end up a week early from the shortest day but the following weekend looks busy already and I want to make sure I don't forget.

I can't believe we're in winter. It's unseasonably warm in Auckland. The mornings are chilly but most of the day is spent in teeshirts or light shirts. The sun still has heat. If it weren't for the shortness of days there'd be no indication.

So not a great litmus test for the woodburner vs. electric heater experiment really but I can tell you that the woodburner heats our upper floor completely and also warms the rooms faster than the heater that struggles to take the chill off just the lounge some evenings. The other night husband was lounging in front of the woodburner in just his undies because it was so warm in the room. Usually it only needs 3 or 4 pieces of wood too so it should take us a fair while to work through the woodpile. What a pity both of us suck at building and keeping the fire going. We wouldn't survive in the rough I'm sure.

I'm working on the husband to let me keep chickens. We go through about a dozen eggs a week and I figure laying hens would serve not only to keep us in eggs but also make good pets for the kids and help with pest control in the garden (so long as I fence off the actual veges). So far hubby has said no but I'm going to keep pushing the benefits.

For those of you interested and in Auckland there's a great site called Chickens at Home which sells many different breeds. There's also a few other sites which serve the rest of the country.

Winning!

I'm happy to report that we 'seem' to be on target for shops under $150. It's not an exact science because it fluctuates depending on what's on special. Bulk buying is definitely the way to go. Especially with Cheese and Butter.

Also I'm getting very good and cooking great meals from scratch with cheap cuts of meat. Tonight for example we're having meat pies. These are made with casserole cuts of beef because you stew them for over an hour before you make up the pie. Obviously it's much easier to manage the food budget if you have time - i.e. are at home - because you need lots of time to cook from scratch. I wouldn't recommend trying this if you have very young children unless you are supermum or have an amazingly chilled baby.

We have a log burner in our home so this year we decided to use it. So far we have paid $65 getting the chimney swept and $215 for 2 M³ of firewood and some kindling. Will it work out cheaper than power this winter? It will be interesting to find out. Last night we used 3 logs and heated the whole house to almost uncomfortably hot levels. It was still warm this morning. Mind you it was also cloudy this morning which probably helped.

The garden is well planted for winter. I finally pulled out the Capsicums (but they were amazing and I will definitely be doing them again next summer) and planted the bed in with red and brown onions. In a few weeks garlic will go in too. Can you believe it? Only a few weeks until the shortest day of the year. The brussel sprouts still haven't appeared but the broccolli is starting too show and the beets are looking good. The carrots are looking good too although there aren't very many as I had issues getting them to germinate for some reason. My kale is doing well too which is lucky because I have a new love - Kale Chips. Mmmm. If you get some kale and have a fan forced oven definitely give them a try. You will be pleasantly surprised.

Kale Chips courtesy of foodbox

Preheat oven to 160 ° fan bake
Remove stems from kale and wash thoroughly and pat dry
Lay on baking tray and drizzle over approx 1 Tbsp olive oil
Sprinkle with any favourite seasonings e.g. garlic salt
Bake at 160 ° for 8-10 minutes until crisp and lightly browned
Sprinkle on Parmesan Cheese (optional) and serve.

New recipes

Ah the Internet. Where were we without it? I remember the days of having to wait until the library opened to go and find something out. Or using telephones - to talk not write. Really showing my age here - I remember the old analogue dial phones. Anyway I digress...

I've been hunting out new recipes to use the food I have. That pumpkin that grew 'for us' made several containers of pumpkin soup and I had half left! So I did a little searching and my new favourite thing is - Pumpkin Scones!

For anyone not raised in North America or South East Asia the idea of pumpkin being used as a sweet is a bit foreign. Heck, in England it's considered only fit for pigs! But I encourage you to give it a try. Not only does it come out a beautiful golden colour, its consistency means that you use less butter and sugar.

I started with this basic recipe from Graham Weir (Published in the Australian Women's Weekly and sourced on the taste.co.nz website) and have since made variations with coconut, and ginger and dates.

Ingredients

60g butter

¼ cup (55g) caster sugar

1 egg yolk

1 cup cooked (440g) mashed pumpkin

2½ cups (375g) self-raising flour

pinch of salt

pinch bi-carb soda

milk, for glazing

Method

Preheat oven to 220°C fan-forced and line a baking tray with baking paper.

Beat butter, sugar and egg yolk together until combined; stir in mashed pumpkin.

Add self-raising flour, salt and bi-carb soda; mix until just combined.

Place dough onto a floured surface and knead lightly.

Roll or pat dough out to about 2cm thick.

Cut scones out using a 5cm cookie cutter and place onto tray.

Brush tops of scones lightly with a little milk.

Bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

There are heaps of pumpkin scone recipes out there though - I chose this one simply because it had a cup measurement for the pumpkin rather than a pre-cooked weight and I had already cooked an pureed mine.

The other new project currently occupying (most of) my preserves shelf is Feijoa Chutney. I have several friends with feijoa trees and at this time of year they plead with anyone (even complete strangers I imagine) to take the damned things off their hands.

I already made a less than successful foray into Feijoa Jam - far too sweet and ended up more like Feijoa Honey, so this time I was determined to try something new and a little bit different.

The recipe below I found on a message board so hopefully they don't mind me reposting it here.

Ingredients

2kg feijoas, peeled and cut into chunks

600g sultanas

1kg pitted dates

1kg onions, peeled and cut into chunks

1kg brown sugar

50g ground ginger

50g curry powder

50g fresh red chillies, deseeded and finally chopped

20g salt

500ml water

Method

Dump all of the ingredients into a huge pot, mix, then bring slowly to the boil. Simmer for 2 hours, then spoon into hot sterilised jars and seal according to your preferred method.

This makes a LOT of chutney but it is good!

And finally an update from the garden. More beetroot has gone in as well as brocollini and curly kale. The eggplant has fruit but I'm not sure if it will get bigger so I'm adopting a wait and see approach. My brussel sprouts were being attacked by cabbage white butterflies but my mother found a great solution via a gardening mag. Butterfly decoys. Apparently Cabbage Whites are quite territorial so a couple of decoys made out of plastic scraps and staked in the garden keeps them away. So far so good!

The capsicum are at the end of their days. Some very sad mutant fruit is still on the vine but gone are the huge capsicums we had when they were in their prime. The dwarf beans have started to flower but still no beans.

The carrots - the rows and rows of carrot seed tape I planted - have produced a few straggly seedlings half of which the cats have dug up while toileting (gggrrrr!). I will keep planting them but I don't hold much hope of a good crop.