Now is the time to plant beetroot. They are easy to grow and deliciously sweet when home grown. Growth habits and planting needs Chose a sunny position. While beetroot can grow in part shade they do best in full sun. As beetroot need potassium but not much nitrogen so they should ideally follow the fruit group in the crop rotation system, because by this time … Continue reading Growing Beetroot
This recipe is very quick and easy and uses a 3 ingredient pizza dough and the Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce that was posted previously here. The topping for this recipe is an Artichoke and Antipasto style. You can try this or invent your own using your favourite ingredients. With the toppings prepared ahead of time this could be be the quickest pizza you will make. … Continue reading Easy Pizza Dough, Artichoke and Antipasto Pizza
These are a variation on the classic Cornish Pasties and are a wonderful dish to take on picnics or for lunch. They are nice hot or cold and you can add any vegetables or spices to this basic mix to suit your own palate. Mixture remaining from the pasties is then used to make a soup. Vegetable Pasties Basic Ingredients Shortcrust Pastry: 2 … Continue reading Vegetable Pasties and Soup
The tomatoes are growing bigger in the garden and some are ripening and I look forward to the bounty of summer for making tomato sauce for pasta, lasagna, pizza and parmigiana dishes. The tomatoes in this sauce are oven roasted so their flavour will be enhanced. Once prepared and in the oven you will find that this is a really easy way to make tomato … Continue reading Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce
Beans are healthy food and easy to grow in the summer garden. There are so many varieties to choose from. So, for a bumper harvest get busy planting your favourite varieties of beans in Spring and Summer and enjoy the harvest of tender beans well into Autumn. Growth habits and planting needs When selecting the type of bean to plant consider the space available, … Continue reading Growing beans
Kale is in season and abundant in the garden at the moment. Here is a way to cook a really tasty meal using kale, tender butter beans and the best Italian sausages you can get. The rice can be prepared ahead and makes for a substantial but satisfying meal. This is my favourite way to cook kale and I hope that you will enjoy it … Continue reading Kale, Italian Sausage and Butter Beans with Rice
There is nothing more exciting than carefully wandering though the pumpkin patch that has grown to occupy half the backyard looking for evermore pumpkins at various stages of growth. If you have the space or the time to train the plant into a more manageable growth trajectory then the harvest will yield a bounty of pumpkins that you can cook in so many ways. If … Continue reading Growing Pumpkins
This year two pumpkin plants grew out of the compost bins and soon they sprawled across half the backyard. Fed by the compost they yielded 30 medium to large pumpkins that were a blessing to family and friends at harvest time. We’re down to our last four so I thought it was a perfect day to make pumpkin soup. Roasting the pumpkin brings out the … Continue reading Roast Pumpkin and Chickpea Soup
Silverbeet, or Chard, as it is sometimes called, is one of those cut and come again vegetables that keep on giving over a long period of time. It is related to Beetroot and is a native of the Mediterranean, hence why it grows so well in the temperate climate of Sydney. It also doesn’t easily go to seed over summer making it a dependable source … Continue reading Growing Silverbeet
This is a great salad to make for lunch at work. The addition of the frozen peas will keep everything fresh and by the time you eat your salad the peas will be defrosted and ready to eat. They add a crunch to the salad and keep it cool and fresh. The capers add a sharpness and the glaze gives a sweetness to the smoked … Continue reading Smoked Salmon and Pomegranate Garden Salad
The Grantham Gardener 