Category Archives: Sustainable Back Yard

An Artichoke, a Pumpkin Flower, some Sage Leaves = Lunch

2014-02-04 12.10.06

I cleaned up the garden and brought in one small artichoke, one pumpkin flower and some sage leaves. I did not know what to do with my meager harvest so I decided to deep fry

every thing.  I added some fast home made bread, (pane veloce) put out the last of the carrot top pesto and ricotta cheese. Poured a bit of red and had a great meal.

Flour and Water Batter

1 cup plain white flour

Pinch of salt

water

Mix flour and salt add water a little at a time while whisking until you have a thick creamy consistency. Set aside 

Frying the Veg 

If you have a very young fresh artichoke, boil it in water for about 20 min or until tender but not falling apart. Set aside on kitchen paper, allow the retained water to drain and cut in half or, if it is a large artichoke, quarter and remove the choke.

Heat about 6 cm of vegetable oil in a pan, when the oil is hot,  dip the vegetables in the batter and slip them in to the pan. Do not overcrowd.. When crisp remove the veg, drain on kitchen paper and put in a new batch. Serve immediately, if you wait the batter loses its crispness.   

Cardoon and Artichoke

I have a cardoon and an artichoke growing in my veg patch plus two more artichokes in other parts of the garden, all from seeds.  I have never grown cardoon before and the mature one that I saw in the Dunedin Botanic Garden was almost as tall as me . It is a huge plant so one needs space to plant it.Next season I shall plant it in the ‘ornamental’ section of the garden since it becomes such a spectacular plant.  One eats the ‘flower buds’ on the artichoke and the stems of the cardoon. Artichokes are a firm fixture on our menu when they are in season, but I have never cooked cardoon before. I have been collecting ideas and recipes and shall post my favourites once I have either of them harvested and cooked.

Presently the plant look similar, both have small flowers buds, so I have to wait and see what the mature plants look like.  On the left is the cardoon and on the right the artichoke as they are at present.

2014-02-03 11.33.562014-02-03 11.33.16

Cardoon                                                                                           Artichoke

 

Hazelnut Tree

My grandchild, having the advantage of both  keen eyesight and being low on the ground, discovered hazelnuts between the loose pebbles on the garden stairs.  It is a smallish tree and we do not expect much of a harvest, so I will not inquire about recipes.

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Backyard Killer

The neighbour’s dog killed one of my roosters a few weeks ago. The fence was duely patched up on their side but the dog continued to find new ways of entering my yard. It is a huge animal and can force its way through any hedge.  It also jumps over fencing that would deter a smaller dog. Last night it broke in to one of my quail cages and now 6 quails are missing, presumably killed. The neighbour was as upset as we were about the dead rooster but I have not seen her about the quails yet.

We live in a street with good neighbours, everyone a gardener and a few with chickens roaming about. There are plenty of dogs but up until now none of them have been a nuisance.  I would hate to disturb this happy state of affairs but I have to address the cruel deaths of my birds.

What a rotten start to the day.

CHICKEN MEAT IS CHEAPER THAN CAPSICUMS

2014-01-29 - Intensive Chickens - Slow Food Italia

Use the “translate” button on top of the SLOWFOOD page if you want to read this article in English

http://www.slowfood.it/sloweb/33a8e41c25cec4128f652acb61e3158d/quando-il-pollo-costa-meno-dei-peperoni