Summer garden 2014

It's been really hot but with a little water some of the flowers are starting to come out and the with a huge amount of water luckily it's tank water the veggie garden is flourishing.  Took these at 6 am as my lovely eldest child prepared to go for his first day back at high school.

More Zucchini's to come.

The Pumpkins won't be far off...

Too hot for snails so the Lettuce is growing well too.

Roses are starting their second flush.

Some colour in the herb garden.

And some yet to arrive, this is 6 foot tall!

This small sunflower is actually is never facing the sun, it's facing my house, which just delights me!

Zucchini Relish

First jam now relish, lookout world! I'm cooking!

My Zucchini's are coming along nicely and I thought as we do eat rather a lot of relish I should have a go at making my own recipe.

I only needed one large Zucchini for the recipe so it didn't really make a ton but I shall have another go at it next week.

This is pretty much all that was needed.

It smelt really tasty.

The end result :) I'm not sure you see so much Zucchini relish at the shops as it's very green and maybe doesn't appeal to many, but it's tastes good.

The recipe is as follows;

Zucchini Relish

700 grams Zucchini

1 red Capsicum

1 onion

1 cup white sugar

4 teaspoons turmeric

4 teaspoons mustard - I used whole grain

1 teaspoon all spice

1/4 teaspoon curry

2 garlic cloves

1 tablespn oil

2 tablespn corn flour

3 tablespoons water

Chop veggies small and combine in pot and simmer for ages until reduced.

Add the water and cornfloir mix well and simmer 5 minutes.  All done ready for jars. Makes about 3 jars.

Home made Plum jam from Freshwater Creek Cottages Plums.

On the way home from our trip to Torquay I popped in to see Marissa at Freshwater Creek Cottages and she kindly offered for us to take some Plums of her massive orchard.  We all picked some and here is the result!

Plum Jam

1kg Plums

1kg caster sugar

Juice of 1 Lemon

Chop and de-pip the Plums. Boil until reduced.  Add sugar and Lemon juice for around 20 mins keep stiring.  Pour into sterilized (heated) jars.

We carried a few each back to the car.

Chopped up to discover we had 1 kilo, plenty enough for jam.

Cooking, cooking, boiling and stiring!

Taaa Daaa! Plum jam :)

Yum!!

Here are some snaps of Freshwater Creek Cottages, set in the bush, very relaxing.

A nice spot to sit.

Beautiful walks on the property.

Lots for kids to do.

One of the cottages.

Some of the residents.

Garden make overs

I'm not normally a huge fan of school holidays, I love the break of early starts, making lunches and having my day end at 3.30 to pick school kids up but it messes with my business I can rarely massage with 3 noisy boys at home, there are big expectations I will entertain them and all my yoga and exercise gets forgotten as I try to entertain 3 kids. It's usually hot and we all get a bit crabby.

But this holidays my eldest child has taken an interest in gardening he did not really ask to make these changes to certain areas of the garden and so we did have some plants pulled when he cleared the area of "weeds" however the overall result is spectacular.  

This was the area in June last year.

I tidied it up somewhat, then the tall child found the original paint and decided a makeover was in order!

Plants were added, many donated by my lovely friend Annie :)

I love it! A lovely garden I can sit near and enjoy!

This is the next make over an ugly tank and bare area in the backyard.

Some Hydrangeas, Fucshias and some Gaura's make all the difference, new screening and a little brick edge.  Well done eldest!!  

Cooking with class - Shepherds Pie and Chocolate Zucchini cake.

Last week was way to hot to do much cooking at all so this week now it's cooled down I decided to play catch up and make 2 of the Cooking with Class recipes.

They were both absolutely delicious and as per usual I made slight adjustments just because I don't like mashing potato's and I also had no sour cream for Zucchini cake and so used yogurt.

I also sprinkled a little smoked Praprika on the potato's.

The final result with a little grilled cheese and a nice salad to accompany.  The end verdict from the kids was licked plates, always a good sign.

Today's harvest!! I have been getting quite a few Zucchini's each day and kids a little sick of Zucchini slice!

Pretty happy with the result!

Very moist and tasty, again just the slight variation with using the yogurt rather than sour cream, very nice!

I couldn't resist a little nibble from the middle, waiting for kettle to boil for accompanying cup of tea!!

Summer Harvest

We have been busy harvesting our garden produce, the only thing lest to gather are the Beans and Garlic although how to find the Garlic now it's all died back shall be a challenge....

We have 2 Plum trees and this harvest is from the blood plum that usually produces a grand total of 2 Plums, so I was overjoyed to see a ton on there and we get up the ladder each day and collect a small bucket full which are pretty much eaten throughout the day.

Well my eldest waters my veggie patch so well each day my Zucchinis have done really well and I simply had to make some soup, not the best task on a hot day but it's only going to get hotter this week!

Not the best presentation picture, but this is the final result, Zucchini, Potato, Carrot and Garlic soup. - yum!

Then early this morning I got out there and pulled out all the Onions.

I bundle with string and hang like this to dry after a good wash.

They stay in bundles and are pulled off as needed, other years I have had them hanging until around April but didn't plant too many this year so these will only last us a month.  Shall plant many more next year!

Finally this jam is NOT made by myself but my clever soup bus friend and shift boss Rhonda who has a wonderful property at Durham Lead.  We had a superb lunch and visit there this weekend and I wish I had brought my camera and taken some garden shots, she kindly let each of my boys take home a bottle of different jam.  After sampling the Boysenberry, I wish I had 10 kids!! That was a fleeting thought!! 

Had to sneak a final shot of Monty in! According to my middle child he's "chillaxing".