Broad Bean and Feta Salad

Serves 2

200g shelled Broad Beans
1 crushed garlic clove, several garlic scapes, or Chives
10 or so leaves of Mint, chopped up
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons of lemon juice
Black pepper
100g Feta
Salad leaves

1. Put garlic (or chopped alternatives) into a bowl with the olive oil, lemon juice, black pepper and mint.

2. Chop up the feta so it’s small crumbly pieces, then put to one side.

3. Boil or steam the broad beans for 1min 30 seconds.

4. Add cooked beans to olive oil etc dressing, and stir. Then add in the feta and stir again.

5. Serve on salad leaves.

Simple, but delicious.

A simple way to water sprawling cucurbits

Once your cucurbits (pumpkins/squash/courgettes) get growing, they can sprawl all over the place. When it comes to watering them though, you only need to water near the root of the plant. Watering along the sprawled stems and fruit won't actually do anything.

I use plastic bottles to make it easier for the water to go directly to the roots. Below are some bottles where I've taken the label off.

Remove the caps, then cut them roughly two thirds of the way along the bottle.

You end up with two pieces. On the left is the section that you'll be using for the cucurbits. On the right you could cut a couple of holes in the bottom and use these as pots to sow seedlings into.

You then want to dig a small hole next to the root ball of your plant. Not too deep, c. 10 cms. Basically, one-third of the plastic bottle (the thin end) should be embedded into the ground.

This shows that the plastic is in place, with the soil pushed hard up around it to keep it in place.

You can now easily water the roots of the plant via the plastic bottle access.

Here you can hopefully see that I've put in a plastic bottle next to each of the three plants, two pumpkins and a courgette.

Ideally, do this when you plant out your cucurbits, but as I did, you can do it a bit later. Just don't leave it too long, as you don't want to disturb the roots too much.

It's kind of less of an issue in a small garden when you are only growing a few plants, though even then, I've found it means I water more carefully. In a large garden or on an allotment site, this makes it easier to see the where to water.


P.S. I cannot claim that this was my idea originally, but I wanted to share how I do this, with pictures, to show people the steps.

Happy ramblings: Rosa 'Seagull'

When we were leaving our previous house and garden, I took 10 cuttings of my rambling rose, Rosa Seagull. Roses aren't exactly known for being easy growing plants, and I'd never taken rose cuttings before and wasn't that hopeful that the cuttings would take. So it was quite a surprise when 9 of the 10 cuttings did!

So two years ago I planted two 20cm 'sticks' into the border of our south-facing fence. Here's the result. 

This was after a large attack of greenfly, just when the flower buds were developing, which my soapy water squirter took care of. It recovered well!

It's a very fragrant rose, and in the hot weather last week, sitting outside for dinner at our garden table, the aroma was beautiful.

 
And it was alive with buzzing from the many bees seeking it's pollen.

The flowers are now spent, so I'm going to prune back the stems and with luck, I might get a second smaller flowering.

As for all those other 7 plants, I didn't have room for them, so I gave them away so others could enjoy them.

It turns out that taking rose cuttings successfully is really quite easy, so do give it a try.

Red Lentil and Sweet Potato Curry with Sorrel

Serves 4-6

Ingredients
Olive oil (or canola/rapeseed oil)
2 tablespoons (30ml) grated ginger
6-8 garlic gloves, crushed
2 teaspoons (10ml) curry paste or powder
1 teaspoon (5ml) ground cumin
1 teaspoon (5ml) ground chilli powder
1 teaspoon (5ml) turmeric
2 medium-large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-3cm chunks
1/2 cup (120g) dry red lentils
1 can coconut milk
1 cup (240g) of water
1 cup/a good thick handful of Sorrel (or Spinach/Chard leaves), larger stems stripped out and leaves torn up a little.

Steamed rice

1. Prepare vegetables and spices.

2. In a large pot, add some oil, and all the ginger, garlic and spices. Stir, and cook this for a few minutes on a medium heat.

3. Stir in the sweet potato, lentils, coconut milk and water and bring to a simmer. Then cover, turn the heat down for c. 20 minutes or until the sweet potato is tender.

4. Add in the Sorrel. Stir, replace the lid, and cook for a couple more minutes.

5. Serve immediately over steamed rice.


Notes
a) The Sorrel adds a lemony tang that we think goes really well with this recipe. And with Sorrel being a perennial vegetable that is so easy to grow, we tend to choose it over Spinach and Chard now.

b) We are generous with the garlic and ginger and use double the amount from the original recipe. So do start with less if you aren't sure you like quite that much.

c) This is a great recipe for batch cooking. We often make 3 times the recipe, then freeze most of it in containers. A standard (not small) takeaway container will hold enough for two. Then just unfreeze when you want, heat up and make rice, and there you have a healthy and yummy meal for when you are low on spoons.


Source
Spilling the Beans, Julie Van Rosendaal & Sue Duncan, 2011, page 146.
ISBN: 978 1 77050 041 9


About Gwenfar's Garden's recipes

Front garden: Spring 2020 overview, in pictures

The front garden, May 2020

The front garden has really come a long way since we first moved in. So this is an overview in pictures (I am too exhausted to write much at the moment), particularly as so many plants are now looking so good.

For comparison, this is what the front garden looked like when we moved in.

November 2017

So, going back to earlier this Spring...

March 2020

Overview near the front door

Under the Quince treen: Primula vulgaris and Anemone blanda, with grassy leaves

from Stipa tenuissima.

Looking towards the lounge room window

Quince tree

View from the front gate

One of my favourite daffodils, the fragrant Narcissus 'Cragford'

April 2020

Overview

Quince flower, Cydonia oblonga 'Vranja'

Under the quince tree, Muscari aucheri 'Blue Magic'

Planter under the lounge room window. Tulipa 'Ballerina' (orange), plus a rouge that was pulled out!

Tulipa Ballerina and Tulipa Havran (beetroot colour), plus Myosotis sylvatica and other plants

Viola 'Butterpat', which also has a lovely fragrance. Planted next to the front door.

Tulipa 'Abu Hassan'

Front: Primula veris, back: Primula elatior

May 2020

Overview

 Quince tree and Camassia leichtlinii 'Caerulea'

Camassia, in detail

Planted together: red Geum 'Mrs J. Bradshaw', and orange Geum 'Totally Tangerine'

Geum 'Mrs J. Bradshaw' up close

In another part of the garden, Geum coccineum 'Koi'

View from lounge room

Primula bulleyana and bumblebee

View from the front gate, with a young Acer Griseum

The front garden has come a long way since November 2017! Whilst I do all the designing and planting plans, the garden wouldn't be where it is without the help of my gardener Andrea. Thanks Andrea, we've created, I believe, a beautiful space.