Our Garden of Delights

As you may have guessed I've been making a bit of basil pesto in my spare time and freezing it for those cooler autumn and cold winter days when comfort food is at its height. It will be refreshing and bright to have on hand and savour the flavour of our summer.  

 

More than a handful however here are just some of the many juicy tomatoes that have come from our wee garden and made it to our kitchen. Nestled in sandwiches, tossed in salads, simmered in sauces or ate as is, nothing compares to their fragrancy, bright bold colour and taste.  

Here is the infamous basil plant that has given so much and created some flavourful dishes. It was much taller before I took this photo but then again we have used so much already. The regrowth of this plant is amazing and I am sure by the end of the season we will have a bunch of lovely dried basil. The oregano plant we chose to leave inside, is much smaller, is thriving so well too.   

Our glorious tomatoes in action and blazing in the hot sun. Regrowth has been steady which has made for such a great tomato year in our garden. We also have peppers, both sweet and hot and their offering although fruitful has been a bit slower especially with the sweet peppers.  Last year we had such a wonderful yield with them that I had to freeze the remaining ones at the end of the season. Which was great as it provided us with peppers throughout winter. This year I think the hot peppers will exceed the sweet peppers, which is absolutely fine.  

Chelsea Physic Garden ~ The Herb Almanac: A seasonal guide to medicinal plants

 

Since the last cookery book was Healing With Plants ~  The Chelsea Physic Garden Herbal, I thought I would share what I believe to be its companion, The Herbal Almanac: A seasonal guide to medicinal plants. This is a much smaller book compared to the other book which was a bit more text book in size and volume. However do not let its size fool you. It gives a detailed guide to 50 herbs, including seasonal wild and garden herbs. You do not necessarily need the other book to comprehend or appreciate this book. Together they undoubtedly carry a wealth of information, creating such a compelling reading combination, but separately they are just as enlightening.

Briefly you can discover tips for growing healing herbs and how to forage for wild herb harvests. There are lovely hand drawn illustrations, some recipes, along with folklore, herbal symbolism, the meaning behind their names and a history of how some of these herbs or rather natural medicines were discovered and used. 

The book is divided into the four seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter and each herb is categorized into a season; which makes it more concise and handy to flip through and randomly engage any time you wish. It is all about reconnecting with the natural world. 

I will share the recipe for dandelion honey and a couple of home remedies from the book, as printed in the book.

Dandelion Honey

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"A syrup that looks and tastes similar to runny honey, and is suitable for vegans. If you want to make it set like a jelly, add pectin with the sugar (following the packet directions). "

Pick off the petals, weigh them and transfer to a saucepan. Add an equal weight of cold water - 100ml (3 1/2 fl oz) water for 100g (3 1/2 oz) of petals - and a slice or 3 of lemon. Cover and bring to a simmer. 

Simmer gently for 15 minutes, then take off the heat and set aside overnight. Strain and squeeze the liquid through a muslin - lined sieve or jelly bag, and measure the liquid. Return it to a clean pan with the same weight of golden caster (superfine) sugar - 100g (3 1/2 oz) of sugar for 100ml (3 1/2 fl oz) of liquid. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Simmer uncovered and stir frequently until it reaches a syrupy consistency (it will thicken further as it cools). Pour hot mixture into sterilized jars and leave to cool. 

In the kitchen and medicine cabinet

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Lavender: 

"The essential oil is widely available and can be added to moisturizing and/or calming skin balms and oils, dabbed undiluted onto insect stings or mixed into an evening bath. Dried flowers can be used in baking and cooking (try roasting lamb in lavender and hay)."

Nettles:

"Infused in water with a little vinegar and other herbs, nettles can be used as a final rinse for the hair, to add lustre and strength. The chlorophyll in nettle leaves produces a green dye also commercially used as a food colouring, and the roots make a yellow dye," 

What Is In The Garden...

A pleasant surprise in the garden as the chocolate mint, I planted last year, came back very strong. I can not wait to pick and dry the leaves for some cooking and baking over the winter months. I honestly didn't think it would survive the winter. 

The radishes are a little slow this year. I think in most part due to the rhubarb. It seems to be taking over most of the garden space. You can tell by the big green leaf in the right hand corner. The rhubarb is massive and is ready to photobomb any chance it can get. 

We started the yellow beans in planters. They have sprung up quite quickly. My daughter was excited to see her effort come to fruition. They certainly enjoy the early morning sunshine. 

I know peonies are not edible however I just had to share this photo. As always they are blooming beautifully. The ants are furiously attacking the buds for their sweet nectar.   

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend! And to all my Canadian followers Happy Canada Day! - JW  

Rhubarb and Mixed Berry Crumble

Over the weekend this became a joint effort. Not that it takes two people to make a rainy day dessert. More like my fiancé went out to the garden to collect some rhubarb, came up with the idea for a dessert and I felt compelled to get my hands in there while things were coming together in the kitchen. Honestly I don't need an excuse to take over the helm in the kitchen... I just get in there! This was the best comfort food on a rainy day. The sharp tart taste was balance by the sweetness of the mixed berries and crumble. Super easy and so delicious. Enjoy! - JW   

Rhubarb and Mixed Berry Crumble

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4-5 cups of rhubarb stalks 

2-3 cups mixed berries

1 cup caster sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

4 oz (125g) of butter

3/4 cup of white flour 

Pre heat the over to 200ºC / 400ºF.

Wash and cut up the rhubarb stalks into 2cm / 1 inch pieces. Making sure all the leafy parts are cut of - they are poisonous.

Melt the butter and add both of the sugars and flour. Mix well to create a crumbly mixture.

Put the rhubarb and mixed berries into a lovely oven proof dish. Cover with the crumble mixture. Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until crumble is browned and crisp. 

Let cool for a bit before serving. May be served with ice cream or whip cream. 

Note: You could cut down the caster sugar a bit if you find it too sweet however that would elevate the tartness. 

Two Tomatoes

The other day I did a post about the vegetables that were pulled from our garden. Having two green tomatoes I decided to put them in the window sill. Letting them soak up as much of the sun as they wanted. I took a picture about every two days. Here is a brief photo diary of the ripen tomatoes... 

Day 1: Green and green 

Day 3: One slightly orange tomato and one green tomato

Day 5: One red tomato and one, still very green tomato

Day 7: One bright red ripe tomato and one yellowish green tomato

After seven days the red tomato was added to a lovely mixed green salad. The flavour was amazing! As for the not so ripe, green tomato it is still sitting in the window. Becoming more yellow. We have pulled more tomatoes from our garden which will get their chance to ripen. Hope they like the sun! -JW    

My Garden

We have a garden. Not a lot is planted there, three different types of tomato plants, one rhubarb and two rows of radishes. It was planted late about midsummer and trying to be diligent did seem cumbersome. Except for the rhubarb, which stalks pointed every which way, the tomatoes and radishes seemed a bit shy. Yesterday we checked on our little garden and this is what we found... 

Three very lovely cherry tomatoes and more are on the way. I am sure these are bursting with flavour! 

One radish that went straight into the salad I was making for dinner last night.   

Two very green tomatoes which can be ripen by placing them on a window sill which gets loads of sun. 

Next year I would like to plant earlier and extend the garden so other vegetables may be planted. Regardless of it being planted late we still managed to reap some positive benefits from the garden. The tomato plants are still going strong. The radishes could still produce a few more. As for the rhubarb... it's still wild as ever. How does your garden grow? -JW