Garden Love

Every morn I dutifully take out the recycling and inspect my garden.  The Perth morning air can range from warm or incredibly frosty but, either way, there is nothing like a quiet moment spent in the garden upon waking.  

I find the early hours are the best time to catch those pesky garden critters that wreak havoc on my garden greens.  Those little fuzzy caterpillars are so very cute but they sure make a mess of my kale, cauliflower leaves, and silverbeet!

Enjoy the pictorial of a few of such morning moments in my little winter garden ~ remember to eat green, feed your beneficial gut microbes, and LOVE your veggies!  Here's to garden love!

Cauliflower Garden Love

The weather is weird here in Perth as we have recently come off a cold spell and are now experiencing temperatures upwards of 18C degrees despite it being winter.  It rained long and hard last night so I had a peek at my garden this morning and was greeted by the baby beginnings of cauliflower.  The plants themselves have been huge for a long time but it is exciting to see a cauliflower or two finally making an appearance.

I have never grown this vegetable before but I look forward to seeing how big they will grow.  We don't eat a ton of cauliflower as it isn't a favourite vegetable of any member of the family.  I prefer to eat it raw but everyone else in my family likes it cooked so I compromise and use it raw for my Cauliflower Tabbouleh and cooked for cauliflower rice.

To make the rice simply cut the cauliflower in small pieces and pulse in a food processor until you achieve rice sized pieces.  I stir-fry the cauliflower rice with a bit of coconut oil, a tablespoon or so of soy sauce or tamari, and some finely chopped parsley or coriander.  Cook for about a minute just before serving.  It is a great rice substitute or even mix it with cooked rice if you want to up your veggie serves and hide it in the meal for the kids.

Garden Love

I'm thinking fermented sriracha sauce for this lot.

Since moving, I have inherited a very small garden plot in my sunny back yard.  After a good clean out, I have salvaged a couple of chilli pepper plants and planted tomatoes, zucchini, bush beans, sweet corn, sage, thyme, oregano, rosemary, chives and basil.  So far things are looking good, especially after spreading a bag of sheep manure over the lot to give them a good boost. 

I have big plans for fermented hot sauces; zucchini and basil pesto noodles; steamed sweet corn on the cob; and beautiful salads with fresh picked cherry tomatoes.  We will see how far the weather and bugs let me go with my master plan.  

So far I am enjoying an abundance of basil and am using all my herbs for seasoning my bone broths and my roasted veggies.  Something has been nibbling on my tomatoes but I can't find any beasts in my garden so can't take any action as of yet.

Baby zucchini earmarked for 'noodles' highlighted with basil pesto.