Friday 10th February, 2017
Parties in the garden
Hi
There is more to the garden than Veggies
You can always rely on February and March for the most settled weather and this weekend is going to be pretty nice if Matty who does the breakfast weather is anything to go by. This is going to be just perfect as tomorrow night there will be a clan of Woods (Mum's family gathering) at our place enjoying the afternoon sun and sipping on a few nicely chilled wines and I guess there will be a few beer drinkers in that lot as well.
Every time we host a social occasion in our garden it always reminds me about how cool it is to have a fabulous place to entertain and why our garden is so important. There is nothing nicer than being actually out in the garden with family and friends enjoying the space and laughing over past times and tucking into some good food and beverages.
Thankfully all the hedges had been trimmed around Christmas time and now have all just flushed out and are looking really good (so will all of your hedges be too) so yesterday it was really just a matter of pulling a few weeds and trimming the edges of all the paths and the place looks a million dollars. The marquee is out and the outside tables are at the ready, so tomorrow should just be a matter of dressing it all up for the garden party.
The last couple of evenings, we have been sorting the food so that all I have to do on the night is heat it all through, throw a few salads together and we are done. To that end you can't go past a good
lasagna and I reckon that mine are the tastiest, though probably not what anyone would say is traditional. I follow the basic recipe that we have on our cooking page but certainly amp up the fresh herbs that go in. Thyme, oregano, some rosemary and parsley in lavish quantities. Home made tomato sauce and finished off with a mass of mushrooms....... really i just make it up as I go with whatever I think will taste good.
I buy those fresh lasagna sheets and then layer the cooked mince, silverbeet from the garden, heaps of grated cheese, pasta and do it all again. Top the whole lot of with a cheesy creamy sauce and bake in the oven.
We grow all the herbs and veges and have as usual, a flush of Zucchini, so fritters have also been made. This time around with grated zucchini, with all the water squeezed out, corn kernals, and feta cheese. On the night I will saute zucchini with tossed herbs and complete the menu with Harry's fresh salad and a red cabbage coleslaw.
I can't imagine not having a
garden to entertain in and provide the food that we put on the table and having masses of herbs for flavour.
It was really cool to get this response from Rosemary as I did really wonder why one soaked the grapefruit overnight. Having said that I found five more fruit hiding on our Wheeny grapefruit tree that I have picked ready to make into the last batch of
marmalade. I figured that it will be quite some time before there are more and so I had better make the most of them as the next crop will probably be some 8 months or so away.
I was interested to read about your marmalade making. I have been making it for charity a while now and thought you might like to know that I read somewhere that soaking the fruit draws the pectin out which of course is the setting agent. Grapefruit have lots of pectin but limes do not. Lemons of course are high in pectin hence adding this juice to help other jams etc set. Oranges, as long as they are not too ripe, also seem to have good pectin though it is best to add some lemons to sweet orange marmalade. Then there is the optimum pectin setting season [as summer approaches and the fruit ripens further, there is less pectin in the fruit]. So the optimum months for marmalade making are July, August [earlier if fruit ie limes are ripe [May/June], September and by the end of October it pays to have it done by. But of course some citrus ripen at other times.
Hopefully this is helpful. Yes I agree cutting the fruit up by hand gets the best result.
In this age of statins, people on this medication are advised to keep off things with grapefruit in them [makes the medication twice as effective!], which includes grapefruit marmalade. And so I have some really good lime, lime with ginger, sweet orange and other citrus marmalade recipes. Lime along with sweet orange marmalades are the most popular.
Whats Hot and New
Hotter than hot, newly arrived Chillis
This one should come with a warning that the chilli,
Carolina Reaper is currently the worlds record holder for the hottest pepper. Not for the faint hearted I shouldn't imagine and I guess that
Fatali and
Black Pearl shouldn't be taken too lightly either. Grow these in a warm sunny position and watch those hot little fruits grow. Perhaps you could even grow enough to make your very own hot chilli sauce.
Meet Yesterday Today Tomorrow
Brunfelsia or probably better known as Yesterday Today and Tomorrow and is a member of the Solanum family. I had never made that connection before but on looking at the flower and of course its colour... made me wonder why I hadn't as its looks so Solanum like (potatoes and tomatoes are in this family too.
Brunfelsia eximia is the hardiest growing into a nice shrubs with masses of those delightful varying shades of purple through to light mauves.
Brunfelsia pauciflora Fragrant summer is a more open bush with similar flowers to eximea but beautifully fragrant
Brunfelsia latifolia Tiny Dancer forms a nice compact more rounded shrub with smaller flowers of the same fashion of purple, mauve and light mauve
Viburnum Opulus Sterile and usually known as the snowball bush, this graceful deciduous bush creates a lovely display of hydrangea like white ball shaped flowers from spring through into summer.
Silene maritma The 'Sea Campion' is an ideal flower for a rockery, bank or wall, where it will display its disproportionately large, white frilly flowers, nestling on cushions of grey leaves for a long period in spring and early summer. This one makes for a great ground cover and will prefer quite a sunny disposition.
Whats happening locally
A spectacular and creative floral event portraying scenes with colour and flair
Westpac Events Centre. Ron Ladd Place Morrinsville
15 -18th March 2017... Wed Thurs Fri 9.30am to 6pm Saturday 9.30am to 5pm
admission Adults $10.00 School children $2.00
Enquiries to:-
Pauline Luxton 07 8871800 pauline.luxy@xtra.co.nz
Pam Portegys 07 889 6843 pietandpamportegys@xtra.co.nz
Its summer and all of a sudden it is quite dry so if you have the water then give some to the garden. Make sure if you do water then leave the sprinkler going in one place for some hours so that it really does provide some relief to the plants. Soak hoses are great as they are not so wasteful, directly targeting areas and can be left going for ages. this dry weather will be hard on you lawn and some water will help it tough it through until the autumn rains start when they get a new lease of life.
A busy weekend on in our garden for us, LOL not on the working side of things but rather the drinking and eating scenario.
However you are spending your weekend enjoy this summer weather and have a good one
Have a great weekend
Lloyd, Harry and the Wairere Team
Make it a Wairere weekend where even GNOMES know that gardening's not a drag.
