Greens

vegetable gardening log

Processing tomatoes

19 February, 2009

Filed under: Processed — Tags: , , , — Carol @ 10:03 pm

I’ve made two batches of tomato sauce in the past week – needing 2kg of tomatoes for each batch. So we must have picked at least 6kg of beefsteak tomatoes and 1kg of cherry tomatoes.

We’ve frozen the tomato sauce in batches for the winter.

Tomato sauce Tomato fridge

Recipe (from Jan/Feb’s Mindfood):

  • 2kg ripe tomatoes
  • 2tbsp olive oil
  • 2 brown onions, finely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 4 strips lemon rind
  • 4 bay leaves
  • 6 thyme stalks

Peel the tomatoes (cross the bases, steep in boiling water for 2 mins, then dunk in cold water and peel). Cook onions for 5 mins in oil. Add garlic and cook for 1 min. Add roughly chopped tomatoes, lemon rind, bay leaves and thyme. Bring mixture to boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 mins or until reduced sufficiently.

Seed list

13 February, 2009

Filed under: Planted — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , — Carol @ 2:27 pm

My next Kings Seeds order arrived today. They’d run out of Scarlet Runner beans so they sent me the value I’d paid in 50¢ stamps which struck me as quite quaint and old school.

Turns out last weekend was the perfect weekend to plant seeds. Since then it’s been HOT (32° today) and going up to 95% humidity, and it’s rained warm tropical light rain for the past few days. So even though I only planted on Sauturday, the radishes, beetroot, leeks, catgrass (good for the guinea pigs!), pyrethrum, broccoli, cabbage, mustard and rocket are all showing. The only thing that is still under the soil is the cleome.

So here’s a rundown of the seeds I’ve got so far…

Broccoli Tender StemsCoriander SlowboltArtichoke Imperial StarOnion Red BrunswickPea CaroubyTomato RomaBean Borlotto Fire TongueMustard StreaksCelery ElneFlorence Fennel MilanoOnion Red BunchingCatgrassCleome mixedTomato Brandywine PinkPyrethrumTomato Bloody ButcherEggplant TsasonikiCabbage Palm Tree di ToscanaBeetroot Crosbys Egyptian FlatPumpkin Kumi Kumi

Seed orders

9 February, 2009

Filed under: Planted — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , — Carol @ 5:37 pm

Very excited by my first seed order from Kings Seeds that came last week. With a catalogue! I ordered a whole lot more today, enough for most of the year, but a few things missing because they were out of stock or that I just couldn’t get my head round ordering. So need to revisit in the second half of the year and get some more lettuce, courgettes, corn seeds…

The beefsteak tomatoes are reddening up nicely, have been finishing them off on the windowsill so that the birds don’t peck them to death. Have also picked one ‘wild’ tomato, I have no idea what it is but it look pretty, stripey. Am picking beans every day now, I froze a batch at the weekend.

We had to go vegetable shopping the other day, but only needed to buy onions, carrots, garlic, mushrooms and some fruit. I feel almost self-sufficient (in the vegetable department anyway).

Tomatoes

Planted more seeds, my resolution this year is to make sure I plant seeds early enough.

Today’s haul

3 February, 2009

Filed under: Picked — Tags: , , , , , , , , — Carol @ 5:32 pm

It’s really going now – just picked (more) scallopini, cherry and beefsteak tomatoes, beans, chillies, gherkins and tomatillos (need to ask my Mexican mate what to do with those). And that doesn’t include the radishes, lettuce and basil I picked (and ate) at lunchtime.

Today's haul

We’ve got the double weeper hose set up now, so the main vegetable beds are sorted, I just need to remember all the rest, scattered around the garden.

The scallopini plants are looking a bit sad – fairly covered in powdery mildew and host to some vegetable bugs. Seem to be still producing though…