for the pruning JANUARY

i cannot quite seem to get my head around the fact that the previous 3 months have simply flown by.
i am sitting in the lounge in the soft golden glow of the lamp light. it is nearing eleven o'clock at night and i am listening to iron and wine and updating my calendar for januarys gardening.

i have the desire to get more from my garden this winter, not to mention getting more done in my kitchen which has been a busy place lately (and all without any photo documentation or note taking of course).
i have begun gardening with the little now. she has always joined me outside when i wander to the garden, in fact we are lucky to get out of the house un-escorted at all, such a love of the out doors has she developed. if i pop out for a quick grab of something fresh to garnish dinner with, she will be keen to dash out the second the door is open and is completely broken-hearted when, at times, she is not permitted to escape. last month when the sowing cycle began i waited until after her nap time and we wandered out together. she diligently popped seeds in to the holes i left with my finger in the soil and (at times rather too fiercely,) helped me ease the dirt over them, encasing them in the earth. most days of course she has been sparrow eating strawberries and peas as we wander around the back yard checking how everything is progressing together


so, into the gardening jobs for january, following the moon cycles here in new zealand to maximize our harvest.....

2nd of january is the new moon so we will be digging our soil to prepare it for sowing from new years day until the fourth (if anyone is up for a wee bit of work to help burn off that hangover this is where it is all at!) 2 spade depths is the best way to go if you can. this will allow you to get more bang for your buck when growing. the well turned soil will allow for your plants to reach their roots further down instead of outward and you will be able to fit more plants into a smaller space. turning your soil lets air into it and also helps to mix in any fertilizers you have put on and spread them more evenly throughout, giving your plants a better go of it. in the next few days i will be digging in some lime and a small amount of blood and bone, coffee grounds, plus a bit of chopped up seaweed will go into the area i have laid aside for the brassicas to go into (if possible pop them in after you pull out your silver beet as they will be loving the nutrients that silver beet brings out of the earth.)

from january 5th until the 11th  it is sowing time. (first quarter is jan 8th)
pop in any peas that you have left ( mine didnt go as winningly as i would have liked them to and i will be putting another packet and a half in if i can find the room for them as i adore picking and chomping on fresh peas whenever i wander past them.
along with the peas, pop in beans, zucchini, basil, coriander, parsley, celery, leeks, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale and silver beet. if you have any seedling of tomatoes give them a hurl, though you may be lucky to get them to a harvest able stage in the more southern parts of the country, but i always hope for the best and would chuck them in just in case.

from the 9th of january until the 18th take a break and run a hoe over any weeds that may be trying to get their grubby little roots in. (full moon is on the 16th)

19th and 20th is for planting any root crops and giving everything a good dose of liquid feeding (we use worm wease tea - that stuff is magic for your plants!) i will be putting in radish, turnips and having my first attempt at celeric. it takes an age to grow i am told, but they say the delicious, delicate flavour makes it all worth the effort. fingers crossed it goes well....

jan 21st through to the 25th are good for harvesting( 3rd quarter hits on the 24th )
i will be digging up be garlic around here ( i bent the leaves down on mine a few days ago and am hoping to get bigger bulbs because of it). potatoes are good to be dug out if the leaves are starting to brown. we have been smuggling new potatoes out around the edges for the past week or so to add to the table at dinner time too, so if they are not quite there leave them be for a little longer before removing - they store for the winter much better if the plant is left to die down a little anyway. other than that harvest your summer crops daily if you can as it encourages more flowers and fruit. if a plant thinks it has gotten its seed out there it will give up and finish itself very soon after, so, once they are ripe and juicy, pick, pick, pick and encourage more to grow.

pop in more root crops on the 27th and 28th

full moon arrives again on the 31st so get those spades out and get your dig on again from the 29th.

thats all for now - get your hands dirty.... and happy new year

xx
jes

for the pruning december

balls.

another month and i am about 3 posts down....well, two posts if i stick to my absolute minimum rule of one a fortnight.
still, this is a fast (late) but easy one...
december in the garden can be super busy, or, if you are like me, rather a last minute run around.

if you have been keeping up with your vege planting in the southern hemisphere you should be fine to let things slip a little at this time, as long as you remember to water every evening. (if you are heading away get the lovely next door neighbours kid to water for you. i pay ours $5 a week and as many ripe strawberries as she can pick and we always return to an amazing oasis. our front lawn is a crispy, brownish-gold, but the back yard is a lush green jungle. it takes me a day or two to tie things up and down, and pull the odd weed but its always great to come home to fresh, healthy produce after a week or two away.

so this month (or whats left of it) has in store for you a few things;

thanks to my two week holiday at my good friend tom and janeys wedding in the beautiful rangitieki, fulfilling head bridesmaid duties, (though somewhat sparsely - a sick baby takes the brunt of the blame for that) i have missed the sowing and fertilizing session for this months second quarter of the waxing moon. tomorrow, is the last chance to do this, so make like me and dig in your seed box to get them ready for planting.
i will be planting yet more peas ( i love them all, but i have some pearl-er sugar snaps at the moment which the little is loving for her first course at dinner time) along with some more basil (my last 2 seeding packets have been very un-successful and i have about 5 seedlings surviving which totally blows as i adore this herb in just about everything, from a savory dish, to a sweet treat for dessert.) rocket and coriander (both of which bolted while i was gone. i must find a more shaded spot for them....perhaps next to the rhubarb...?) another round of zucchini, and any other seeds i can find in my stash that may seem appropriate.
pop in your root vegetables on the 20th and 21st and hoe up any stray weeds on these days too.
from the 22nd until the 30th just dig and add manure or compost to any empty patches for the next lot of planting.

feel free to do all this with a glass of bubbles in your hand (, or if pregnant like me, some delicious homemade elderflower cordial or ginger ale). twilight is my favorite time for just about everything, be it swimming, horse riding or gardening, and having a treat of something bubbly before, during or after makes this magical time even more indulgent and glorious!

happy holiday gardening guys.

xx
jes

for the pruning november

sweet louise, another month has dashed past. where does time go?
already 2 days into november and the garden is in a state of relaxation, well, to be honest it is me who is relaxing. we found out a little while ago that i am brewing baby number two so i am taking full advantage of freyas nap times and getting a little shut eye myself, which has been much needed, but means i spend a little less time in the dirt as nap time is my usual garden break.

this is what we have on the the month folks, according to the moon phase;

pull weeds until the 6th and do a general tidy up around the place.

planting frenzy begins from the 7th to the 14th, starting with all your leafy crops, such as bok-choi, spinach, lettuce varieties galore and any herbs you may fancy. i will be popping in plenty of basil and coriander and also re-energizing my mint with some new seedlings from a friends patch (yet to find said friend out these ways with mint that looks tasty, or for that fact, any mint at all, but my eyes are wide open all the time!) this busy planting period ends with any fruit producing crops going in around the 11th, such as peas, beans, cucumber and zucchini. i have yet to attempt capsicum again though i am getting rather pissed at the prices i have to pay for a nice sweet crunchy red, so maybe this is the time to try. oh, and dont forget any tomato seedling that are sturdy enough (at least 10-15 cm can also go in)

liquid fertilize your plants on the 15th and 16th, then get the hoe out from the 17th til the 20th and chop any of those nasty weeds off before they get a chance to grow and steal needed sunlight and nutrients from your beloved veg.

smash your root crops in on the 21st and 22nd - again i am loving radishes of any variety and carrots- though i do seem to be having trouble remembering to water diligently once seeds are in and the carrots are rather holding the lack of fluids against me.

for the rest of the month, take a break - water well and in the evenings ( this is better than in the morning as it means that there will not be beads of water on the plants leaves to catch the sun during the day and burn the leaves) and dont sprinkle your tomatoes, water them at the root - this will help to stop the leaves developing a mold like disease on the leaves, insuring optimum health to your plant and optimum tomato for the table.

thats all for now
happy gardening ya'll

xx

lemon cookies

the hair on my forearms bristles as the skin puckers itself into little goose bumps.
i huddle my woolen cardigan closer and step out into the damp to get another armful of firewood, checking for puddles to jump along the way.
i look nervously at the quickly dwindling wood pile and make promises to gather more pine cones once the weather clears again.
i hope this is the last cold snap.
knocking each piece of wood to loosen and bugs or chips - an attempt to vacuum less - i pile one arm dangerously high, then add one more log to the top, using my other hand to balance the load somewhat before careening back towards the house and the warmth.
we have had a rather mild winter, i am told, and though i hoped and prayed and dreamed for a snow storm to settle on the ground, all that happened was a twice scattering of beautiful flakes, with neither occasion staying long enough to fulfill my dreams.
you let me down canterbury winter (though all the farmers and lambs are thrilled i am sure) lets get it on next year and roll on with the end of spring with a little more warmth.

now for the cookies

these are bo's favourite and though i will always be a ginger or chocolate chip and a glass of milk kind of girl, all my friends down here prefer these ones.
i came across the recipe on pintrest and you can find the link here and lauren brennan from hood river, oregon is the creator.
they are a delicious drop and go rather well with some earl grey, and, if you are anything like me, one is never enough.

LEMON COOKIES

1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

1 egg
1 tsp lemon zest
1 Tblsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup icing sugar

first, pre heat your oven to 180 'C and get your baking trays buttered

now, add butter, sugar and vanilla to the mixed and cream well.

next add in your egg, lemon zest, lemon juice and salt. mix well again

now sift in the baking powder, baking soda and flour,
at this stage i usually mix bu hand until the flour is somewhat incorporated them use the mixer to finish the job off. this stops the flour becoming air-born and flying out of the mixing bowl and all over the bench, also ensuring you have the correct amount of flour in your cookies.

using a dessert spoon, form into even sized balls and roll in the icing sugar. place on your pre-greased trays and bake for 9-12 minutes until just coloured.... well really, just before they colour is best, but on your first go, a little tan on the edges will be just fine and dandy.

leave to cool for a few minutes on the tray then move to a cooling rack and try not to gobble them all up at once.



thanks for reading

xx

for the pruning OCTOBER

hi all,
september has run away and we are now into october already. e-gads! time flies!
so, the wee gardeneing speel is a few days late, but better late than never (christine if you read this tonight run out to the garden and chuck some root vege in. quick hurry!) the past two days where the perfect time to plant root crops according to the moon cycle calendar. the next lot can go in later this month on the 22nd and 23rd, so dont fret too much if you missed out this time around.
today i planted more carrots, beetroot and my seed potato that i had been sprouting not all that successfully for the past two months. much to my dismay freya and bo found them sitting on the window sill and thought it was a rather nice activity to snap the young shoots off the main potatoes. so, i am not too optimistic as to how my crop will fare. fingers crossed though. nothing like new potatoes fresh from the garden, boiled in minted water and served with butter, chopped mint and a sprinkle of salt! to get a good go for your potatoes, dig a 30cm deep hole and pop said sprouted potato in, cover with about 10 cm dirt. once the shoots come up out of the dirt, add another 10 cm, and keep piling it up. i will go until it is about 20 cm above the start level and hope for bountiful crops of tender treats to feast on. handy hint from nz gardener - they like a little seaweed, so make yourself the nice seaweed concoction from below and add it to the mix come liquid feeding time.
i also put in some purple potato a few months back. i hear this variety tries to turn the others, so if you are planting them be sure to keep them WELL away from your other crops. i have mine in a big pot about fifteen meters distance away in the flower garden, so hopefully this is far enough. i do love the colour of purple potatoes but find the flavour is not as grand so a few in a roast salad brings a bit of party colour while the other veges pack the taste punch quota.

from the 3rd onward leave off the sowing and start preparing your soil. dig in manure, compost and any other goodies that you may have waiting to get into your dirt to give your plants a good heaping of nutrients.i have added nitra-phoska blue to give a little extra pep but if you are going strictly organic leave it off.

from october 8th it gets busy, plant leafy vege such as silver beet and spinach, lettuce (i have about 4 different varieties that i will be planting out once a month from now on to insure a constant supply of fresh green over summer) then from the tenth pop in any fruiting vege that you desire. i will be going mad on peas this year as i love nothing better than snacking in the garden, especially on peas. and strawberries. and raspberries. well.... pretty much anything, but last year my ma had a rather impressive amount of peas in her garden and i was outside every 30 minutes scoffing another hand full while we were there over christmas leave. peas. the. best. ever.
so, i am planting peas of a few varieties, sweetcorn, beans of  different varieties, pottin up my 4 different varieties of heritage tomato seed in a nice snug place so that any lingering frost wont nail them and leave me in tears and having a general hunt around for any other vege that my heart fancies to plonk in the dirt.
stop your mad sowing on the 14th.

15th - 17th is time to liquid feed everything. worm farms are amazing, so is seaweed tea. just collect a bunch form a beach near you, rinse the salty water off and shove it in a covered container to permeate. this year is my first time trying this but i am expecting big things from that stinky bin!

as stated before, get more root crops in on the 22nd and 23rd.

grab a hoe and stop those pesky weeds from the 24th til the 27th, then kick back and relax for a while.

sorry - no pictures.
i am camera-less for a wee while. sob.

happy gardening all.

xx

thai pumpkin soup

it isnt winter and it isnt spring.
oh, they say its spring.
the calendar shows clearly that it is late september, but it is not spring.
at least not here, not today.
today falls into one of those in-between season days.
its cold enough for a fire, but only just, so you kind of feel bad using the wood. there may be a cold snap around the corner and there isnt really all that much wood left. you know you probably shouldnt, but you do anyway.
its clear enough to put the washing on the line, but even if it doesnt rain, that by no means guarantees dry clothes at the end of the day. the morning mist has cleared but the air still feels damp and cold. well, cold-ish.
i think it may be too 'meh' to even do laundry.
it is definitely a soup for lunch kind of day.
 

this warm thai pumpkin soup can be as mild or spicy as you want it.
when i make ours i leave out the chilli so that the little (who just turned one over the weekend! sheesh time flies!) can eat her share too. the bo and i just sprinkle chilli flakes on top, and though it lacks the punch i used to put into everything before breeding began, it is still perfect for a day like today.
i wish i could remember where i first got this recipe so i could give full credit to its owner. since i found it i have made it countless time. i used to be one of those gals who only liked the traditional pumpkin soup. this recipe has changed that and now thai pumpkin soup is my all time hands down favorite!
this is my first post that contains a recipe that i didnt create and i have been trying a few others from various recipe places lately that are also very good, i will likely be sharing them too (with full credit to the chef in the future)


THAI PUMPKIN SOUP

1 Tbls oil
1 med onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large thumb sized section ginger, grated
root and stem of coriander, finely chopped
1-2 red chilli de-seeded and finely chopped (heat to taste)
1 large stalk of lemon grass, smashed
600-900g pumpkin, peeled, de-seeded and cubed
2 ltrs vege or chicken stock

1 400 ml can coconut milk or cream
2-3 Tbls fish oil (more or less to taste)
1 Tblsp palm sugar
large bunch fresh coriander leaves roughly chopped to garnish
yoghurt to garnish
chili flakes to garnish

in a large saucepan on medium to low heat, saulte onion, garlic and ginger until translucent and fragrant. add corriander root and stem, chilli and lemon grass and continue to stir for about 2 minutes.
add your pumpkin and stock, turn the heat up and bring to the boil.
once boiling lower heat and let simmer until the pumpkin is well cooked and completely soft.
remove lemon grass stalk and bend or whiz stick until the desired consistency is reached. i usually like to leave a couple of pumpkin lumps for the little to munch on.
return to low heat, add coconut milk or cream, fish sauce to taste and palm sugar. stir well and add more stock if you want a thinner version of the soup, if you want it thicker, let it reduce for a wee bit.

this soup is awsome served fresh with fococcia bread - see here for the recipe ( its the tastiest, easiest bread to make and there are never left overs!)

thanks for stopping by - keep warm and enjoy.
xx
jes

for the pruning

i am going to do a wee garden write up at the start of each month. so, for anyone who wants to get in the garden and grow some of your own produce, come along and play....

spring is upon us in the southern hemisphere with a vengeance after such a mild short winter. so it is,once again time to tend and then plant your gardens, ensuring you and your loved ones have a summer full of fresh food and seasonal cooking.

i was always of the belief that if you just put a seed in the dirt and watered it stuff grew. the only issue is it didnt always work for me. because of this, i assumed i was rather toxic to plants, often not getting a peep out of seeds that i planted. i would see other peoples patches thrive and squirm in envy, longing for the ability to live more naturally, but knowing, if i had to survive on my own gardening skill, i would likely succumb to scurvy.
now i know better, and fear of scurvy is a thing of the past.
it takes a bit of attention and work to get the garden off to a good start, but once it is in, a bit of faffing, watering and weeding here and there will keep you on a roll.
i read around and got a bit of an idea about how to approach it all and after a natter with my ma i got stuck in. for a while there at the start i was not so keen on all that work, but, once my garden started showering me with gifts, my mind changed and i found it very therapeutic to get outside and play in the dirt, not to mention how great it feels to pop outside and pick most of what you need to cook with for a meal.

its not too late for you to climb aboard and get your own garden off to a cracking start. we are 3 days into spring and now is the perfect time to be preparing the soil that your vegetables will be grown in. the better your soil, the more you will be rewarded with in the end, so manure, mulch and dig, dig, dig. i have been outside on and off for the past two days with the little, getting to work, turning the used pea straw from the stables into the dirt, mixing in extra horse manure and some great top soil and the castings from our worm farm. i have grand ambitions for this summers garden. i hope i do not end up disappointed.

when we arrived last december, there was no garden, just a square patch of dirt left by the previous tenant. bo and i got stuck in, adding rotted down manure from another horse owner who was giving it away (so we took 3 ute loads of the stuff.) another family here were moving away and gave us their only just touched top soil, which we gladly removed and added to the manure. another great help was my mother, who at the time was looking into the benefits of seaweed on the garden - i got some of that from the beach to throw in to the mix as well.
a few sprinkler hoses and bunch of seed packets later, plus of course, growing time, and we were eating fresh produce from the garden and giving away the excess, which we could not get through fast enough!

when i tried gardening using the moons tidal cycles and realized the benefits it has on growth, i added that to my schedule and am now an avid, if slightly un-educated, follower of gardening by the moon.
(see here for your very own calendar thanks to the team at nz gardener)
this week the new moon hits on the 5th (tomorrow night) so now is the perfect time to be sowing seed for leafy greens, with your root crop going in on thursday and friday and peas and beans being planted the following week.
up until thursday this week i am planting my leafy vege - spinach, kale, lettuce, bok choi, and corriander. thursday and friday, as the moon is waxing moon, so in go the root crops. i am sowing radish, potato, carrots, beetroot and parsnip, and also re-planting my old rhubarb root stock which i divided into 2, plus another variety i dung up and cut off a friends plant.
early next week it is fruiting veg, so the beans, peas and brussel sprouts (which i have yet to have any success with) go in.
with the possibility of a few frosts still to come i am leaving anything that will not survive them until it is more reliably warm.
a few days before the next full moon (16th and 17th) get some liquid fertilizer in on anything you have planted or already have growing. i use worm wease tea from our worm farm and a seaweed and banana peel soup that is 'steeping' in a covered bucket in the back yard.
once that is all done continue digging in your dirt to get it well mixed and worked for the rest of the week in preparation for next months sowing. oh, and any weeds you see, yank them out before the bloody things get too comfortable and take over!
if you miss out on the root crop sowing day, after the full moon on the 22nd and 23rd you get another chance.


if you have found something new to grow and eat, please let me know. i am always keen to extend my patch with new things.
now i am off to play in the garden - happy growing

xx