Sept 2011 Issue #72

Hello,

What fun that we both love gardening. Thanks for joining me.

1) Losing the plot
2) Eco gardening tips
3) Splendiferous Kale

Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie.
~ Jim Davis

There's a goat in my allotment plot!

British chef, Jamie Oliver has helped many people become healthier eaters. He is keen to encourage others to help heal the world and its children.

He appreciates the efforts of all those who can offer ways to live, work and play in a sustainable and healthy way, including our No-Dig Vegetable Garden website... yes, our blog is one of Jamie Oliver's featured sites in 2011.

Eco gardening tips

• Share your breakfast:
  I love watching the birds feed from the bird tray out the front of the house. The veggie garden is out the back... the idea is to entice them to the front. Apart from bits of bread and birdseed, some of the birds LOVE fruit. So when I make brekky, the birds get any apple or pear cores and bruised or soft bits. They go bananas over bits of banana.
  
  

• Definitely no dig here:
  I read of another use for a vegetable garden this week. As well as feeding you — you can also bury your valuables there! Specifically I watched a video showing a guy putting silver pieces into a PVC pipe, sealing with a cap and burying it.
  
  

  Put it under your compost pile or long term vegetables; better than the flower garden, he says. Who's going to dig up your veggie patch? No fire, thief or decay can harm this portable storage container. Just make sure you tell at least one trusty person!

• Winter cheer:
  For fall/autumn readers you no doubt have some annual or perennial herbs that will soon be past their peak and yawn off into winter snooze underground. Howsabout planting some pansies roundsabout where your herbs were?
  
  

  Pansies love the cold, and will grow and flower even through snow, until your herb garden comes to life next spring. This cheerful effect worked for me last year when I over-sowed a patch of purslane with pansies.

Splendiferous Kale

Ingredients

• Bunch of kale leaves (big handful, enough for two people)
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 1 Tbln Oil (I used avocado, but could use olive)
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled, chopped and crushed
• salt and pepper to taste
• Squeeze of lemon juice.

Method

1. Wash kale, remove any tough or long bits of stem, then medium shred the leaves.

2. In a dry frying pan, toast sesame seeds until golden over medium heat, shaking or stirring often to prevent burning. Remove seeds to bowl.

3. Add splash of water to frypan, add kale and steam on low heat with lid on until softened — about 5-8 minutes. Check and stir occasionally and add more water if too dry.

4. When ready, turn off heat and with pan still warm, add the oil, garlic, sesame seeds, squeeze of lemon and salt and pepper. Mix together and serve.

Preparation & cooking: 15 minutes
Serves: 2 people

Happy gardening,
Megan