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

1) Peas on Earth
2) Eco gardening tips
3) Herb Bread

Peas on Earth

What's all this about wanting
Peas on Earth all the time?
What's wrong with corn, or carrots?
Why don't we ever wish for "World Broccoli!"?
Or ask our children for a little "Cucumbers and Quiet!"?
Why is it, when we're troubled,
we never pray for "Inner Apricots"?
How did this incredible obsession
with vegetables, ever begin?
It might just be, however:
that if everybody gardened;
they'd all get along better
with most of their neighbors.

© Elas Giordano 1995 funnypoetry.com

And click here to find everything about growing the best Peas on earth.

Going into winter? A favourite cool season vegetable is broad beans. Now's the time to plant them. Also winter salad veggies such as mizuna and lamb's lettuce, coriander and brassicas.

Spring and summer areas will be bursting with growth, so as you plant your garden, set the foundation early for good water and temperature control by having deep layers of compost and mulch. Depending on your area, make sure your long season veggies such as melons and kumara or sweet potatoes, tomatoes and potatoes, are planted out as seedlings by now.

Eco Gardening Tips

• Citrus peel: Citrus peel can take a long time to decompose, so if you're lawn-mowing, toss a pile of peel down and run over it with the lawn mower with the catcher on, then tip the small scraps into the compost, or on the edge of your garden — it's said cats don't like the smell of citrus peel.
• Miniature tier herb garden: Start with a large pot filled with good organic composty soil, then sit a smaller filled pot on top, and so on until you have your smallest pot on top. You may get 3 or even 5 layers. Plants herbs around the edges, water well and keep moist also adding an occasional organic fertilizer during the growing season. Remember some herbs like more shade than others, some, like sage, like dry conditions, whereas parsley has a deep tap root and loves water.
  
  

  This whole miniature garden looks great, and you can have it on a porch, doorstep or in the garden. Stacking plants this way needs a bit more concentrated attention, but you get more plants for less space. This is a smaller version of a Herbal spiral.

• Nature's kitchen air conditioner: Did you know that herbs are great air conditioners? Growing a pot or two of herbs on your windowsill is a natural way to absorb unpleasant odors as well as giving off their own air-freshening perfume.

I don't eat much bread, but I can easily be tempted by this marvelous savoury loaf. Easy to make and easy to eat with a casserole, soup or salad.

Herb Bread

Ingredients
- 2 cups self-raising flour (or ordinary flour with 4 tspns baking powder). Approximately 1/3 wholemeal and 2/3rd white flour works well, but use more wholemeal if you prefer.
- 1 heaped tspn mustard powder
- ½ tspn salt
- 3-4 tspns finely chopped mixed fresh herbs (eg: thyme and sage) or 1 heaped tspn mixed dry herbs
- 2 tablespns parsley, chopped fine
- 1 cup grated cheese loosely packed
- 1 beaten egg
- ½ cup water
- 25g or 2 tablespns melted butter

Method
Sift flour, mustard powder and salt into mixing bowl.
Mix in herbs, parsley and grated cheese.
Add beaten egg, water and melted butter and carefully fold in until just mixed through.
Tip into 450g loaf tin and bake at 150°C (310°F) for 45 minutes.
Remove from tin and cool on wire rack.

Preparation time: 20 minutes.

Happy gardening.

Megan