Eating Our vegetables.

 I have just been into the garden and come back with all these.

 I will be making more of this. Courgette soup. Before you screw up your nose; it was delicious - not insipid as you might imagine.

 It has curry and spices in it .

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 In the kiwifruit orchard we are busy tying up bunches of fruit and taking off the rejects. In the  top left is one to come off . It is too narrow - not round enough.

 Plenty of work to fill my afternoons.

 This morning 4 people from the pack house have been here collecting leaves to put under the microscope to check for minute scale. As they were leaving a sprayer arrived to spray foliar fish fert onto the vines.

 Last week when I didn't blog at all our second avocado was happening....with good results.

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My vase of weeds. All these plants are considered weeds on this property. ( either they spread and seed down too much or like the agapanthus  harbour pests and have invasive roots.)

 I know in some countries they are hard to grow but not in NZ.

There are plenty of bees and bumble bees  around finding all the summer flowers.

 At the weekend I quilted some of my hexagons. I have a pile that need ends trimming off but will save that job for Friday. We have our P and Q group picnic that day

A Good Read.

Yesterday I finished reading "Scarlet and Magenta," by Lindsey Dawson. A thoroughly good read.
 Part of it's fascination for me was the setting for the first part of the story. Tauranga in 1886.
 I won't be able to walk along Willow Street or up the rise in Wharf Street or along the Strand without thinking about what it might have been like in the late 1800s.
 I don't think I would have made a very seemly Victorian Lady........too many strong opinions of my own! If you google Lindsey's name you can see the other books she has written. Her name will be familiar to NZ  TV viewers  and magazine readers .
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 I have spent some time cutting and pinning pebble fabric hexagons for the bottom of my quilt in progress.

 I want to form a garden path along the bottom edge.

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 This morning I have been making strawberry conserve . I like strawberries raw but R won't eat them like that, so as I have picked lots in the last couple of days, I cooked some with minimal addition of sugar and he will eat them that way.

 I never did get the bird protective frame I asked for over the blueberries. Instead I draped and pegged flexible netting over most plants. The size is poor compared with bought blueberries but I know they needed more water ( which I have to cart in ) . Still there are lots more colouring up and I will not waste them. A possum has been avoiding the trap and has eaten every single apple;  6 ripening plums and lots of nashi. The crops were light to start with so it is very disappointing. It's a long way from the house so I wouldn't hear a possum. I'll ask for the trap to be reset  The only alternative is to pick fruit before it is properly ripe.

8 Days of January Gone.

If I haven't already greeted You, " I hope 2017 is a Good Year for You All."

 These lovely fresh green peas missed Christmas but are ready this last week. R is doing all the picking as I have strained my back ( lifting Grandson).

 We both worked together on the podding

 and blanching and freezing.

 This lot are now in small meal sized bags in the freezer.

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 Over the last few weeks 2 Blackbirds built a very untidy nest in the grape vine, right outside the lounge window. 

We have been able to observe the comings and goings of the parents feeding just one greedy fledgling.

( It wasn't really that way up )

 Yesterday the young bird was sitting on a wire just above the nest so must be almost ready to take it's first flight.

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Back in the vege garden we are now getting the first ripe tomatoes, cucumbers and lots of courgettes .

 For lunch yesterday I made Courgette fritters. ( I love all sorts of  fritters )

 The oil needs to be quite hot and the mixture is best with lots of rough poking out bits that crisp up.

 I adapted another recipe. The quantities don't have to be exact.

 In a large bowl grate 4 medium sized courgettes. 

3/4 cup of tasty cheese grated

 1/2 cup of instant polenta.

 1 teaspoon of cumin seed.

 1 tsp of ground cumin.

 1 tsp of smokey paprika.

 2     large eggs.

 Salt and pepper to taste.

 Fry till golden and crisp on the outside.

 ( spices may be altered to taste - more is best )