A free monthly resource from the wonderful world of gardening; giving you tips, recipes and reminders to make your garden grow!

Hello

What fun that you and I both love the topic of gardening. Thanks for joining me on this adventure! Feedback is welcome, just click on reply.

In this issue:

1) Genetically engineered words
2) Eco gardening tips
3) Ali's vegetable curry

Genetically Engineered Words

I found some funny words from The Washington Post's Mensa competition on making a new word by adding, deleting or changing ONE letter. Some of them could be about you... being good organic gardeners and all. Here's one:

Arachnoleptic fit (n): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.

There's a few more on our website here

Would you like to help save up to 4,000 acres of beautiful virgin rainforest?

If you've got a spare UK15 quid; if your garden can do without you on Sunday 16 September 2007; if you can get to Regents Park UK, and if you've got the will, oomph and shoes... then go and have a read at The Rainforest Foundation

And there are some new snippets added at the Gardeners' Gallery. Have a look—there's a natural beauty tip, a bird scare and a bit on bulbs.

Got something to shout about from YOUR gardening experiences? Fill in the form on that page, tap, tappity tap, then click.

Eco Gardening Tips

• Don't be too brutal when you plan your vegetable garden. Leave a tree or two if you can, or plant some nearby.
  
  

  Trees are often taken for granted, and in fact can even be a dang nuisance, but imagine a vista without trees? Even pictures of trees in waiting rooms and prison walls, have overwhelmingly shown to reduce stress and give feelings of wellbeing.

  Trees are vital for their ability to absorb carbon dioxide. Did you know that six average sized trees planted will absorb one tonne of carbon dioxide over 70 years. They limit soil erosion, help control salinity, clean underground water and of course provide shelter and homes for wildlife.

• Don't fresh grass clippings have a sweet, mmmm bury-your-nose-in-it, grassy smell? Only put a shallow layer on the garden for mulch, or in the compost, to stop it either going slimy or setting into a hard sod. If you have vast piles of the stuff, then first spread it out and dry it during some sunny weather and then you can toss onto the garden a good layer of 15cm (6") or more.
• In the seasonal tips on the website's home page, I've mentioned that it's time to harvest vine crops for those gardeners in the fall.

  Storing vines, like pumpkins, squash, etc, is easy if you follow a few guidelines. Wash off mud, dry in sun, turn them to harden off the yellow patch from sitting on the ground, and keep the short stem intact if possible. You won't go hungry over winter!

Ali's Vegetable Curry

My crazy friend Ali runs a restaurant, so here's a crash hot crazy curry.

Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon more or less of oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 large onion or 2 smaller ones
- 3 large tomatoes
- 1 cup cooked chickpeas or lentils
- 1 large carrot
- 1 medium potato
- any other vegetables you might feel like
- ¼ tsp each salt, ground cloves, ground turmeric
- ½ tsp each cinnamon, ground chilli peppers
- 2 tsp cumin

Method
1. Chop up your vegetables into bite sized pieces, and crush your garlic, or chop finely.
2. Heat oil in heavy based pan (with fitting lid!) and cook onions and garlic until onion is clear.
3. Add all the spices, stir, gasp, choke, put exhaust fan on.
4. Add tomatoes & stir. They should liquefy a lot, and stop you gasping.
5. Add other vegetables and chickpeas, and stir.
6. Cover with a tight lid and leave to cook for 15 minutes or until vegetables are cooked. Stir occasionally, and you may need to add a little water, depending on how juicy your tomatoes are.

Extra A little dairy or soy yogurt makes a nice addition to this, giving it smoothness, but still with a bite.

This recipe is a traditional Pakistani curry. You can substitute any vegetables above (except the tomatoes and the onions) as long as you keep roughly to the same quantities.

Preparation time: 30 minutes. Serves 4.

Happy gardening!

Megan