Category Archives: Vegetables – All About

Gaint Puffball

2014-01-08 - Gaint Puffball

Roses are not my favorite plants (rose petals are not that nice), but my nabour’s rose bush has scored some major browny points today. As he went out to pick a rose for his dear wife, he found TWO Gaint Pufballs (Calvatia gigantea) growing under the rose bush. One of which he was kind enough to bring to me for dinner. Cutting it into strips then dipped in egg and fried with a few strips of pancetta mixed  with tagliatelle makes wonderful “Tagliatelle ai Funghi” His wife unfortunately is still waiting on her roses.

Beetroot leaves

2013-12-19 12.27.49

I love dual purpose things like a milk cow that effectively produces meat, chickens and quails that lay eggs and make delicious eating, and radishes and beetroot because one can eat the leaves, too. For lunch I prepared beetroot leaves as a side but we ate it as a main course because it tasted terrific. I washed and and cut the stems off as close to the root as I could get without damaging the skin of the beetroot. I wrapped the beet and a bit of rosemary in foil and popped it in to the oven while my bread was baking. I fried some garlic and rosemary in a teaspoon full of olive oil,  chopped the leaves and stems, coarsely and added them to the pan. after frying for a minute I added about 2 tablespoons of water and covered the pan. Cook until tender adding a bit of water when necessary. Delicious. I intend eating the beetroot tomorrow dressed with some balsamic vinigar salad dressing and shaved Parmigiana cheese.

I would like to know of other plants where roots/ fruits and leaves can be eaten.

The EU General Court revoking permissions to superpotato Basf – Subject matter: GMO

http://www.slowfood.it/sloweb/2cfe8eba4b0f45352ef6f2ea0dba3d52/il-tribunale-ue-revoca-le-autorizzazioni-alla-superpatata-basf

What are you harvesting from your veggie patch this week?

We moved to Dunedin in winter this year. I was surprised to find the soil in the existing veg patch to consist almost completely of clay. Improving the soil was a major effort but with diligent composting and working in, things have improved greatly. The veg I planted in the clay just did not grow and one can see the progress I have made regarding the soil improvement by comparing the growth rates of the veg rows planted in clay, then the rows planted in the improved soil.

This week I am harvesting more broad beans (see my recipes for sauces both raw and cooked), radishes (cook the leaves with onion and garlic), rhubarb, lettuce and kale. I do not harvest peas or green beans because my grandchildren eat them off the plants. They do not have a chance to grow very big, either!

Because we know so little about what grows well in Dunedin we are watching and waiting with the rest of the garden. We would like advice on which flowering shrubs will grow on our side of the hill because, although we have  a mature garden we would like more spring flowers. We loved the rhododendrons and are planning to put in several colours. The flowering spring trees all over Dunedin were spectacular but we do not have room for more trees unfortunately.