Food Gardening

[wide eyed and legless]

Finally got back in my own garden, had to lift all my leeks they were starting to go to seed, bought a few kilo of chicken and made a load of chicken and leek pies, lifted all my garlic and dried it out, lost my Sicilian Cauliflower on those hot days we had, went to seed.
The broad beans, which I have never been keen on turned out better than I expected, will definitely grow them again though I can't save these seeds as they are F1 called Stereo. 50 tomato plants, different types all in hydro, one of the best things about hydro they can look after themselves as long as the nutrient is kept up to them.
Spuds and rhubarb have really come on well with all the rain, and just starting to harvest cucumber and zucchini.




Hydro tomatoes

Drying the garlic

Spuds and rhubarb doing really well, Musque de Provence stating to climb in the foreground.

 

[Camo6]

My little veggie patch is loving all this Melbourne rain. Tomatoes are starting to crowd the hops and the Brussel sprouts are growing quicker than the corn. Also started to enclose the area behind the shed to get a few chooks for some fresh eggs.

 

[Dave70]

You in the farmers market game WEAL? What do you do with all that veg?

Anybody know if you can use tarps instead of builders plastic for wicking beds? I'm uncertain how they would stand up to being constantly submerged.
I thinking the silver ultra HD might be the go.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Method in my madness Dave, we could never eat all the tomatoes we will be getting, since I started the vegie gardening project (for the overpaid and lazy *******s) I have been putting in raised vegie beds, sorry as yet no one has asked for a wicker bed. But I have been pushing the clients I have been doing work for to try hydroponics, so I can sell and install a 10 pot gravity fed system which even the laziest gardener can look after. So all the interested parties will be getting a free bag of tomatoes, if that doesn't sell them on the idea of hydroponics nothing will.

The wicker beds I have read about uses builders plastic or pool liner, I would have thought the builders plastic should work fine.

 

[shaunous]

Get you person down here and set one up for me WEAL!

High 30's here today, be pushing to 40*C after lunch id be guessing. How goods working in the sun :unsure: :unsure: :unsure:

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Poor old garden is battling with this heat, was 38* yesterday and going to be the same today


And its only the start of summer h34r:

 

[manticle]

Such a shame. Around 20 here at the moment.

 

[shaunous]

The hail last Sunday smashed my plants to bits. I've had a good cucumber and corn harvest already. **** grows quick in this heat. But a lot of the other plants copped a hammering in the storms we've been having every Arvo. Another reason in need a green house.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Get you person down here and set one up for me WEAL!

Shaunous, your a tradie you would be able to knock one up in no time.

I have always given a bad rap for Broad beans but they have come from nowhere into my top 5 vegies.

Read about, and cooked beans as instructed, shelled from pods and boiled for 3 minutes and plunged into ice cold water didn't work (to remove skin) so I blended them adding salt, pepper, olive oil and Worcester sauce. Ended up with a large bowl full, had some for supper on toast, and again for breakfast this morning, on homemade rye with packed with Chia and Caraway seeds poached egg on top with Wasabi rocket side dressing. Protein packed with plenty of fibre.

Definitely be on the planting list every year from now on.

 

[manticle]

I planted them for the first time this year as well. Beautiful flowers, heaps of beans. Tasty just picked raw straight off the plant or as part as a pile of steamed greens with seasoning.

Might need to do up a puree to get rid of the last of them with a duck breast, roo fillet or some good italian sausages.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

The hail last Sunday smashed my plants to bits. I've had a good cucumber and corn harvest already. **** grows quick in this heat. But a lot of the other plants copped a hammering in the storms we've been having every Arvo. Another reason in need a green house.

You got Hail as well.... Was told today there was also hail at Ramornie

Got nuthin in town...bit of rain but that was it...but it looked very green down your way.

 

[shaunous]

You got Hail as well.... Was told today there was also hail at Ramornie

Got nuthin in town...bit of rain but that was it...but it looked very green down your way.

Yeh we got golf ball hail. Old land cruiser and Vt Commodore copped it like champions out in the open, not even a sign of a dent. The Ranger was all tucked in and looked after in the shed [emoji12].

 

[shaunous]

Shaunous, your a tradie you would be able to knock one up in no time.

I have always given a bad rap for Broad beans but they have come from nowhere into my top 5 vegies.

Read about, and cooked beans as instructed, shelled from pods and boiled for 3 minutes and plunged into ice cold water didn't work (to remove skin) so I blended them adding salt, pepper, olive oil and Worcester sauce. Ended up with a large bowl full, had some for supper on toast, and again for breakfast this morning, on homemade rye with packed with Chia and Caraway seeds poached egg on top with Wasabi rocket side dressing. Protein packed with plenty of fibre.

IMG_0555.jpg
Definitely be on the planting list every year from now on.

Yeh I know mate, and I have most of the materials here to do it. It's just not on my priority list. Just come inside from welding cattle rail fencing, welding in this heat in a shed is just awesome [emoji36].

The wife don't eat anything green so I don't bother growing beans and the like but they're easy to grow so I probably should.

Corn is tasting great, once I cut the grubs out of each cob. cucumbers still producing like champs, peanuts, raspberries coming along nicely, pumpkins, potkins and watermelons coming back slowly after hail damage, capsicums were attacked by grubs to, and the vineyard was hammered by caterpillars within 48hrs, every leaf and grape bunch GONE!!! [emoji24][emoji24][emoji24][emoji24]

 

[Dave70]

Shaunous, your a tradie you would be able to knock one up in no time.

I have always given a bad rap for Broad beans but they have come from nowhere into my top 5 vegies.

Read about, and cooked beans as instructed, shelled from pods and boiled for 3 minutes and plunged into ice cold water didn't work (to remove skin) so I blended them adding salt, pepper, olive oil and Worcester sauce. Ended up with a large bowl full, had some for supper on toast, and again for breakfast this morning, on homemade rye with packed with Chia and Caraway seeds poached egg on top with Wasabi rocket side dressing. Protein packed with plenty of fibre.

IMG_0555.jpg
Definitely be on the planting list every year from now on.

Thats so up my alley.

'Mushy peas' for example are are a far less painful nutritional delivery system where kids are concerned, gets em involved in the cooking process to. What kid doesn't enjoy wielding a potato masher or pulsing a food processor?

 

[wide eyed and legless]

I actually forgot to mention I put mint in with that broad bean recipe, I did what manticle did initially steamed them but they just kept on coming, really preferred them blended.
The love hate relationship started again today, I have been breakfasting on small zucchini's fried with garlic an scrambled eggs but there are always those which fly under the radar, today I picked three oversize one so it was the first Zucchini slice frittata of the season, something to be so looked forward to at the beginning of the season,and then glad to see the back of them at the end of the season.

Dessert


A tip for growing tomatoes in the ground, vaccum cleaner dust, don't laugh,tomatoes are carnivorous and the dead skin and dust mites are a good source of nutrient.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

don't laugh,tomatoes are carnivorous and the dead skin and dust mites are a good source of nutrient.

 

[manticle]

Grabbed a bunch of the bigger broad beans, shelled, blanched and popped off skins.
Cold pan, olive oil, chopped garlic, lemon zest, fresh thyme and oregano, salt and pepper. Slow heat for 15 mins, add beans and a small amount of water, another 10-15.
Blitz while hot with lemon juice and flat parsley.
Medium rare duck breast, poultry jus, roast tomato.

 

[Bribie G]

Summer crop seedlings going in this weekend, okra, amaranth, eggplant and a mystery cucurbit that's volunteered to pop up out of the compost (could be anything, let's see).

QUESTION: Now, in NSW Northern Rivers / SEQ is it possible to grow beetroot during the summer or is it more a winter thing?

Young broad beans can be just sliced in pod, before they get too stringy, and steamed, we used to do that in the UK where every kid is inflicted with broad beans and spring cabbage. I've got a kilo of Heinz BB in the freezer, too hot to grow them up here.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

I have grown them during the summer here in Melbourne,get the Boltardy variety and keep the water up to them (they tend to go woody if they don't get enough water)
http://www.gardenate.com/plant/Beetroot?zone=3

 

[Bribie G]

Thanks, will give them a go.

I just lifted the Elephant Garlic to dry out on racks.

This stuff seems complicated, being the first year I just got "rounds", not "cloves" but also a heap of little corms that attach to the bottoms of the rounds. Apparently you can plant these and get cloves next year.

Or I can replant some of the rounds in the Autumn and get cloves next year.

But the year after I'll get rounds, or so it seems to go.

In any case I can feel some curries coming on