Garden Greens

The leafy green garden beds have been overflowing with rainbow chard and English spinach, and I have been trying to find different ways to use (a lot of) this in the kitchen.

I came across a great recipe that, thankfully, called for 750g of greens. With the addition of some cheese and a bit of fillo pastry I was pretty sure the kiddoes would get into it without the fear of it being 'poison'.

After an hour in the oven, this dish, along with the addition of a couple of salads covered just about every colour of the rainbow.

I think a thick, legumey, tomatoey soup might make its way to the table by the weekend as I know I will be able to add quite a lot of spinach and chard at the end. I might even have another go at soda bread.

How do you use your leafy greens?

Take care

Homestyle

You know things are going along nicely when you start the day with homelaid scrambled eggs with homemade English Muffins.

I thought I would share an inspirational Ted Talk with you today from Pam Warhurst on how we can eat our landscapes.

You may even want to read a little more about Incredible Edible or watch another lovely video.

Take care 

It's Getting Hot in Here ...

I thought I would show you how we have managed to get the tomatoes ripening through the cooler months in our own little hot house.

Our vege gardens are all out the front as this seems to be the sunniest part of the block. There are a few sunny patches out the back, but we want to be able to let the chickens have the run of that area.

We are using Hills Adda Gardens which are really easy to assemble. Another thing I love about these is that they are quite shallow so I don't need to use a lot of compost and manure to fill them. I have put a corner-to-corner frame using some pipe and tied the two pieces at the top.

I found a piece of plastic wide enough to fit over and hold this down with bricks. Now that the weather is warming up, we peel the plastic back during the day and just comer everything over at night.

The tomatoes are loving the warmth and rewarding us for our efforts with some gorgeous fruit. With the price of tomatoes at the moment, it is great to be able to pick one or two a day straight from the garden.

I am sure that we will adapt this in the summer months when the temperatures head over 40 degrees C to cover the crops with shade cloth.

Take care

A Day of Firsts

With the start of a new week came a few exciting first.

The tomato bushes have managed to keep fruiting through the cooler months, with the help of a homemade hothouse (more on that later), and I have been slowly watching these round bottomed babies turn from green to luscious red. With the need for a midmorning snack, and these looking too good to leave any longer, the idea of a simple morning tea of tomato on toast, with a pinch of salt and pepper, was enough to get these tastes buds excited.

Yes, it was amazing.

I always love trying a new recipe that will hopefully become a family favourite and extend my repertoire just a little further. After eating the most amazing Spanish Tortilla in Barcelona last year, in a tiny, no-frills cafe, I wanted to be able to recreate this delicacy at home. The kiddoes renamed it "Chip Pie". For a first attempt, the results were pretty pleasing, but I think I will still keep searching for another recipe. Any suggestions?

I honestly think it was even better the next day for lunch, but don't tell the others.

Another one to add to the list.

But the most exciting and wonderful first was that our girls are growing up.

We followed the delighted, and almost hysterical squeals of "Come quick!", out to the coop and found this tiny, precious egg sitting in the box. 

After photos and excited phone calls to grandparents, it was decided to add the egg to the tortilla. It was a very good decision.

I hope you all had a fabulous start to the week.

Take care