Veggie swap and love my garden

In our local area a woman has organised a veggie swap every Saturday in a park. It is the best feeling to be able to go into ones very own garden and pick fresh fruit and veg and then share it with others who also enjoy their garden.



This is what our basket looked like when we arrived. basil, tomatoes, apples, yellow zucchini, cos lettuce, chillies and mini pumpkins.


On leaving the swap that week the contents of our basket changed. someone brought loads of seeds including two types of sunflowers, also swapped some of our produce for beans, peaches, figs and a round zucchini.



We enjoyed the figs sliced and cooked in some honey and served with buttered flap-jacks. mmmmm was so yum.
Also had a garden-picked breakfast this week. Had greek yoghurt with vanilla and sugar with sides of apple, passion fruit, a fig ( first our young, small fig tree has produced), our first picked rockmelon and guavas. was so delicious dipping the fruit into the yoghurt.

As i watered the garden i am starting to notice how it not only makes me happy but also many butterflies and bees have been enjoying the garden too. As the water goes onto the tomatoes and zucchini the butterflies hover in the foliage. I think they like how cool and fresh it makes to atmosphere feel.

Have planted a Mr and Mrs kiwi last week and it is growing so fast up the side of the driveway. have realised i really like this type of plant as it is very gentle in how soft it's fury stems are and how it winds it's way up the trellis. I highly recommend every one at some stage in their lives own a Kiwi fruit plant.

MnM

Puppies

These are the latest Pups to enter the RSB guide dog world. Millie is mum and had the pups in early January. There are four girls and one very big boy in the family and all are just so gorgeous. All english goes out the window when playing with these little tackers. These little ones will be the Y litter York, Yeva, Yuki and two more which i can't remember.

Then (three weeks old)


Now (six weeks)





The woman looking after Millie and the pups has done a wonderful job. The first few weeks were fairly simple and easy as all they did for most the day was sleep but as they have grown so has the work. All now do lots more playing and apparently love the garden. All will go to their new educators next week Thursday. I wish good luck to them all and the people who get them because although small now have big expectations for the next two years.

MnM

Garden

Well this weather is doing wonders for my garden.
We have all been eating from it everyday and it really does have a lot of different vegetables, fruit and herbs.
Grapes

Almonds

Beans

Figs

Apples


Corn

Cos lettues

Carrots

Baby pumpkin

Basil


Tomatoes

Finger eggplant

Yellow zucchini

Rockmellon

I must say I find nothing more relaxing than to sit in the mornings eating my brekkie while looking at the garden. It must be all that green. some people are so afraid of green things these days. We have had peaches coming out of our ears as well from our very old tree in the drive way. so peaches and icecream, peach muffins, peach smoothies and my neighbour has shown me how to preserve them in syrup. so not only will we have peaches in summer but all through winter as well. lol

Little Ma has been making some awesome juices in our Thermomix rocket machine using apples, sugar-beet leaves, carrot top leaves, nasturtium leaves, water-spinach. she just uses a leaf of each which was inspired by a woman on Gardening Australia called Kemi Nekvapil who is British born and passionate about growing and eating fresh raw food.
"The idea of raw food is that you keep food at its freshest and most nutrient dense. The fresher something is the more life it has and you're basically eating life. Once you cook it, you take the life out of it.
This link takes you to the episode she appeared in and what she put in her smoothie including stinging nettle.

ABC Segment

We made Brushetta several times this week with the tomatoes and basil on good italian crusty bread and extra virgin olive oil.

I recommend everyone to grab a couple of packets of seeds and just chuck them in the soil randomly. thats how our garden started and it really does work and is fun to transplant the seedlings when they pop up. And don't pull all the weeds because you can eat some of them as Kemi shows.

Happy gardening
MnM