Go Food Gardening

Three Dreadful Food Gardening Maladies

Most activities work better when there is a grand scheme guiding them than when they just sort of happen in a haphazard way. There's no doubt that an overarching design is absolutely necessary when it comes to complex projects like building a house or manufacturing a cell phone. When it comes to seemingly simpler projects like food gardening, however, it can be tempting to just "wing it" and hope there will be a positive outcome.

Food gardening takes up valuable time, so that time should be put to its most efficient use. I have yet to find a successful food gardener that does not have a grand scheme or system. And by successful I mean someone who, first and foremost, produces better quality than supermarket veggies. And secondly, who consistently, week after week, feeds her family from the food garden with a healthy variety of crops.

What's more, I have yet to find a successful food gardener who uses exactly the same system as everybody else. And by "everybody else" I mean the one-shoe-fits-all food gardening approaches you'll find in the media. The successful food gardener continuously adapts her system to suit her time constraints, her garden and her personality.

When you "wing it" you are prone to three dreadful food gardening maladies. The first is the dreadful "worse-than-supermarket" quality and prices. Next is the debilitating "feast-or-famine syndrome". And lastly there are the destructive pest and disease invasions. These three maladies almost always occur together. They almost always destroy the food garden, and the food gardener's spirit.

Where and when do you wing it? What is the price you are paying for winging it? What can you do to stop winging it?

Lemon Balm and Custard Marshmallows

Lemon Balm and custard is a match made in heaven. Here we pair that proven combination with marshmallows for a delightful desert.

butter
6 marshmallows
1 egg
1 ½ Tbs sugar
200ml milk
½ tsp vanilla essence or a piece of vanilla pod
1 heaped Tbs finely chopped fresh lemon balm
cream

Butter a fireproof dish and put in the marshmallows. In a mixing bowl beat the egg and sugar. Add the milk and vanilla and beat well. Pour over the marshmallows. Sprinkle the lemon balm on top. Place the dish in a shallow pan of cold water and bake slowly in a medium oven till set. Serve with thin cream.

Discover How To Put Home-Grown Veggies on Your Table

The most productive growing season is summer. We can grow a bigger variety and get a bigger harvest in summer than we can in any other season; with a lot less effort. The secret however is to get off to a good start in spring. If you wait until summer you'll miss the boat.

As you know, food gardening is a craft, and the best way to learn any craft is to learn it from a master. And in spring each year a few lucky people get the opportunity to join my food gardening bootcamp and become master themselves.

The bootcamp kicks off with a 1-Day workshop on the 29th of September. Presented against the backdrop of my own working food garden, the workshop gets you off to a flying start and equips you with the much needed practical food gardening skills such as planning, soil analysis, bed preparation, sowing, thinning, watering, etc.

At the end of the workshop you enrol in the self-study program which gives you the step-by-step instructions and the theoretical underpinning for mastering the proven Go Food Gardening system. This enables you to start your own composting system and to experience the thrill and satisfaction of putting home-grown crops on the table on a continuous basis.

Last but not least, and perhaps the most valuable of all, you also get five weeks of coaching support to help you sort out any problems you may encounter in your food garden.

Booking is essential. Visit www.herbclass.com/foodgardeningbookings.html

4 Mood-Enhancing Herbs to Grow

With the pace slowly picking up as we race towards the end of 2012 here's four herbs that will help improve your mood and help you relax. For best results grow your own. The easiest and quickest is to buy plants from your local garden centre. Two of each will do the trick.

Put your own home-grown, garden fresh, organic herbs and veggies on the table this spring. Join me in the Food Gardening Bootcamp. Download the brochure at www.herbclass.com/foodgardeningbookings.html

Chamomile
Chamomile has traditionally been used as a calmative for persons under stress. Herbalists especially recommend it for sleeplessness in children. For best results make a tea by steeping fresh flowers in boiling water for 10 minutes. It tastes better than dried herb and its action is mild enough to use on grumpy toddlers and grumpy old men.

Lavender
For centuries lavender has been used as a general tonic and to treat insomnia, nervousness, fatigue and headaches. It also alleviates mild cases of depression. Make a tea with fresh leaves. It's also very handy in the kitchen, especially the flowers.

Lemon Balm
Very popular with students during exam times it is also a very effective remedy to relieve anxiety and sleeplessness. And it is an indispensable ingredient for any cook who likes making desserts and herb beverages. For medicinal purposes steep fresh leaves in boiling water for 10 minutes.

St. John's Wort
The most famous herbal antidepressant. The modern day Prozac contains compounds similar to those found in St. John's Wort. The flowers and leaves are the most valuable part of the plant and can be brewed into a tea that will calm you down and boost your mood. Just note that St. John's Wort has many adverse drug interactions, so check with your health care provider if you're on any medication.

1-Day Food Gardening Bootcamp
Put Home-Grown Organic Veggies On the Table
From Garden to Kitchen Within 5 Weeks

Presented against the backdrop of my own working food garden, and based on the proven Go Food Gardening system, this bootcamp will equip you to experience the thrill and satisfaction of successfully harvesting organic herbs and veggies within 5 weeks. Booking is essential. Visit www.herbclass.com/foodgardeningbookings.html

 

Spicy Dill Dip

Dill is one of those herbs that you simply have to use fresh. And with an abundance of plants available from garden centres there's no excuse for not adding this herb to your repertoire. One of its main uses is to flavour bland store bought veggies. Serve this spicy dip with crudités, potato chips or as a sauce for cold salmon or prawns.

1/2 cup sour cream
3 Tbs mayonnaise
2 Tbs dill, finely chopped
1 Tbs parsley, finely chopped
1 Tbs minced green onion
1 Tbs chili sauce
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt, to taste
Freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours to allow the flavours to develop.

Move a Few Herbs Indoors

The onset of the first serious cold fronts also signals moving a few potted herbs indoors to add that just-picked freshness to our winter meals.

All you need is a sunny windowsill - east, north or west facing - and some diligence when watering. Most herbs like to be well watered but they just hate wet feet, turning up their toes and dying when over watered. Water only when the top of the potting soil feels dry. Or learn to judge the moisture in the potting soil by the weight of the pot.

Square 10cm pots works wonderfully as they fit perfectly on the windowsill, supplies ample growth under indoor conditions, and you can transplant or re-pot them in spring. Turn the pots once a week to allow even sun distribution.

Here are the best herbs for growing indoors during winter:

Chervil
Adds freshness to egg dishes, salads and soups. One 10cm pot per person will be ample. They'll do best in an east facing window, but won't mind a west or north facing window.

Oregano
For all the winter comfy food and pasta dishes. One plant for every two persons will be ample. They'll do best in a north facing window, then west facing and then east facing.

Parsley
To bring of hint of summer into all our winter dishes and to boost our immune systems. One pot per person is the minimum in most families. In winter they'll do best in an east facing window, then west and then north facing. I like to rotate them between the different windows.

Rosemary, Sage and Thyme
Indispensable in all the winter stews and soups. One to two plants of each per family of four will be ample unless you are heavy into stews and slow cooker dishes during winter. They all prefer a north facing window, then west and then east.

Gourmet Soup Seasoning

You can use this blend liberally with any soup: beef, vegetable or poultry. It is also great for improving bland commercial soups. If you don't have a specific herb simply omit it. You can make the dried blend ahead of time.

Use about 1 level tablespoon of the dried blend for every 2 cups of soup. This can go in right from the start. Add the fresh blend about 10 minutes before serving. The lemon zest may seem like an odd ingredient but it enhances the other flavours without actually being detectable.

Dried blend:
1 Tbs dried thyme
1 Tbs dried marjoram
½ Tbs celery seed
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried winter savory

Fresh blend for every 2 cups of soup:
1-2 tsp parsley, finely chopped
1-2 tsp chervil, finely chopped
1-2 tsp basil, finely chopped
1 tsp lemon zest

Recipe Source: Bouquet Garni Cuisine Organique

Yellow Rice with Raisins

We like to serve yellow rice with our Cape Malay dishes and most of the curries we make. In this recipe we add a little bit of spices to make it a bit more special.

Serves 4

250 ml raw long-grained rice
1 litre boiling water
10 ml turmeric
1 stick cinnamon
4 cardamom seeds
5 ml salt
125 ml seedless raisins
25 ml sugar
1 tbsp butter or margarine

Bring water to boil. Add rice, turmeric, cinnamon, cardamom seeds and salt and boil for 20 minutes. Drain in colander, and add raisins. Return to saucepan and add sugar and butter. Steam over medium heat for about 10 minutes.

Source: The Seasoned Chef

When Is My Compost Ready?

Compost made with normal kitchen and garden waste generally takes six months to a year to fully cure, depending on the time of the year you start – it’s much quicker in warm weather.

Compost made with matured bokashi generally takes six to eight weeks to fully cure, again depending on the time of the year you start. Add the few weeks it takes to fill and mature the bokashi bin, and you’ll understand why I prefer using this system – it produces good quality compost in a very short time.

Turning, or tumbling, will speed up the process somewhat if the compost is made with normal garden and kitchen waste. It does not have a noticeable beneficial effect on compost made with matured bokashi.

If you can still identify the majority of the original materials the compost was made from, it is not ready yet.
When the cured material looks like compost (nice and dark, and you can’t really see what it was made from), smells like compost (like a woodlands litter layer) and feels like compost (a nice crumbly structure like a sponge cake), then it is compost.

“My whole life has been spent waiting for an epiphany, a manifestation of God’s presence, the kind of transcendent, magical experience that lets you see your place in the big picture. That is what I had with my first compost heap”. – Bette Midler

Country Pea Soup with Rosemary

If you are wondering if split pea soup can be improved ask Rosemary, she has the answer. This delightful recipe by Carolyn Dille and Susan Belsinger is even better with the addition of smoked ham. Any pea soup improves in flavour when made in advance; thin it with a little water when reheating.

Serves 8

700g split peas, washed and sorted
1 large rosemary sprig
1 bay leaf, preferably fresh
2 medium carrots, diced
1 large potato, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
1 small onion, diced
¼ cup olive oil
1 tsp salt
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbs fresh rosemary, chopped

Place split peas in a large soup pot and cover them with 5cm of water. Add the rosemary sprig and bay leaf. Cover and bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Sauté the vegetables in the olive oil for 10 minutes, and then add them to the peas with the salt garlic and rosemary. Cook the soup over low heat for about 25 minutes, or until the peas are done, stirring occasionally. Adjust the seasoning and serve hot.