Merryn's Menu: Last day of Winter Garden Share Collective

Merryn's Menu: Last day of Winter Garden Share Collective: This past week with the longer days, and plenty of rain, all crops are blooming. So too is the chickweed - shame we can't train the chi...

Last day of Winter Garden Share Collective

This past week with the longer days, and plenty of rain, all crops are blooming.
So too is the chickweed - shame we can't train the chickens to eat chickweed (what a funny name).

Here we have growing lettuce, broccoli and silverbeet in neat rows, growing taller than the weeds.

So many seedlings growing, from seed to become strong, ready to plant out into vegetable beds.

Snow peas and soy beans (edamame) growing with an upright support.

One big issue we faced is the amount of weeds
growing through the strawberry patch.
I forklifted up each strawberry plant,
removing the weeds and placed the strawberry
plants in foam boxes until their bed was totally
weeded, topped up with soil and ready to be replanted.

Charming silverbeet (spinach)

The aloe vera is very happy as it is flowering, a pretty orange sight. 

Produce we picked this week. two custard apples which will ripen now picked

a big bunch of bananas and the ever present luscious red tomato.

The nectarines are ripening early this year, probably because winter was so mild.

Broccoli side shoots

More lettuce

 I planted some pretty Heartsease in my herb garden to add colourful delight. 

These are so pretty, and also, edible.

I hope you have enjoyed my garden, as much as I enjoy gardening.

Please stroll around the other

members of the Garden Share Collective hosted by Liz

and be delighted by the spring gardens you can view.

Bon appetito, Enjoy Merryn

Merryn's Menu: Super Simple Strawberry Jam

Merryn's Menu: Super Simple Strawberry Jam: Last weekend I made a last minute emergency dash to pick up our apprentice from Newcastle. I knew it Publish Postwas possible that I would have to coll...

Super Simple Strawberry Jam

Last weekend I made a last minute emergency dash to pick up our apprentice from Newcastle.
I knew it was possible that I would have to collect him, despite having arrangements in place.
So in lieu of being invited to (a) a friend's tupperware party and (b) champagne later with my neighbour, I collected my Mother for company and headed off to Newcastle.
It would have been nice to have had more notice so we could have spent the day shopping in Newcastle;  but nevertheless at 3pm on arrival in Newcastle it was not worth the rush to spend one hour speed shopping at Charlestown or Greenhills.

Leaving Newcastle, with Sam in tow we noticed a wonderful road side stall near Morpeth sporting big, fresh, lovely strawberries.  We did some other fresh vegetable and fruit shopping too so we felt like the trip was worthwhile after all (no offence to Sam).

Strawberries have just come into season and they have been beautiful.

It was definitely time to make Strawberry Jam.

Firstly I weighed 1.3 kilos of strawberries, rinsed, hulled and roughly sliced them into a big bowl.

I weighed them again to find it had reduced to 1 kilo of lovely fresh strawberries.

Squeeze over the juice of two organic lemons, removing the seeds.

Let rest for 30 minutes.

Then weigh 1 kilo of white sugar and add to the strawberry/lemon mixture.

Pour into a big non reactive saucepan (I used a non stick pan)

and bring to a boil, stirring constantly until the sugar is dissolved.

Place on lid and let cook away, on a high simmer for about 30 minutes.

Pour into sterilised jars, seal while hot and label with name and date.

This Strawberry Jam will keep for 12 months.

You can store it in your pantry, but once open it must be stored in the fridge.

Make sure you give some jam to friends, to share the strawberry joy!

To test if your jam is cooked enough, place a ceramic saucer in the freezer.

After 30 minutes put a small spoonful onto the saucer, place back in freezer

then take out and push with your finger.  If little wrinkles occur then the jam is ready.

If not, cook for another 5 minutes and test again.

N.B.  Sterilise jars by placing clean glass ones into your oven and turn to 150C.

Then turn off and leave jars inside while the jam is cooking.

I place the lids in a bowl and pour over boiling water, leaving for 10 minutes.

Bon Appetitio, Enjoy, Merryn.

Merryn's Menu: August Garden Share Collective Garden Overview

Merryn's Menu: August Garden Share Collective Garden Overview: Here we are in the last month of winter and the garden is flourishing. I am so happy that there are several self seeded rocket patches ...

August Garden Share Collective Garden Overview

Here we are in the last month of winter and the garden is flourishing.

I am so happy that there are several self seeded rocket patches throughout the garden,

often growing in bare patches of dirt = a double bonus = win win.

New capsicum plants are now producing this winter's crop of sweet green capsicum.

I prefer to pick them green and crisp and rarely let them turn red.

This banana bunch seems to be taking forever to ripen

but it is slowly and surely beginning to turn yellow.

We hope to start eating this bunch during this month.

Radicchio, also self seeded and a welcome addition to our vegetables.

The chickens love radicchio too so we need to grow extra for them.

Endive (scarole) grows quickly, is hardy and delicious fresh in salads 

or lightly steamed or stir fried with cannelloni beans.

Celery, indispensable in minestrone and most soups.

Hardy and long lasting.

Home grown produce, the lowest hand of bananas cut to ripen indoors,

oranges from my parents (as our trees are only 3 years old) 

and chillies from various homes in our street as I am between flowers and green chillies.

It still shows what can easily be grown in a 1km radius from here.

These seedlings are broccoletti, radishes, various lettuces and bok choi. 

They have been in the ground for 1 month, the letttuce + bok choi will be ready to pick next week.

Shallots, rainbow chard, lettuce and more endive.

We are picking the shallots daily, as needed.

Broccoli, with small heads showing, cabbages and spinach, the cabbages

will be ready to pick in 2 - 3 weeks.

We have a huge diversity of vegetables growing at the moment, 

plus tomatoes, our winter tomatoes are very strong this year.

I specially hand selected seeds reknown for growing in cold climates and it was a good decision.

I love picking tomatoes all through Winter.

This is a round up of my garden this month.

Please have a look at the other Garden Share Collective members gardens here.

Buon appetito, enjoy, Merryn.