Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Grandad's advice on petunias
Petunias need quite a lot of water, plus some liquid fertiliser.
Water them right to the bottom of the pot and put them in a little shade, although in Whitwell they need full sun this may not apply in Brisbane.
A quotation from a lady gardener of about a hundred years ago called Gertrude Jekyll [she is famous in the world of gardening [look her up, study her works and her architect friend Edwin Lutyens], they are both worthy of study, she said “do not give me a plant and then ask where to put it in your garden; give me a place in your garden then ask me what to put there”. That is, in a single sentence, the fundamental of gardening! I suggest that you remember it for ever.
Modern gardening has enlarged and superseded Gertrude but she laid the foundations. [A nice joke but a statement she meant seriously, gardening for the wealthy English, “Every garden, no matter how small, should have at least three acres of woodland.”!!!!
I never tire of making this quote. It makes me laugh still, every time I say it, I laugh at it and agree with it at the same time.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Grandad's advice on herb gardens
Things to consider always are: how and where do the plants grow in their natural habitat; nature of the soil, especially natural Ph, [eg limey or peaty soil], well drained or boggy, sandy or clay, amount of nutrients.
Most vegetables are bred to make use of a nutrient rich soil but quite a few naturally come from low nutrient conditions and do not like excess fertilizer.
Herbs like thyme, sage, oregano and rosemary grow on sunny, nutrient poor hillsides, whilst chives and sweet basil need more moisture and feed
It is always worthwhile to research exactly where the wild versions of the herb live naturally[including the base rock of the soil[limestone,granite,sandstone etc]
As a generalisation it is best to water pots so that all of the soil in the pot is thoroughly moist then let that watering be used up before watering again, it is ok to let the pot stand in water for up to an hour to make sure that the compost is well wetted but no herbs will grow in stagnant wet conditions, modifications of care have to be taken into consideration according to the microclimates of a particular garden and different sites within that garden and the latitude of that garden.
I would always have oregano, sage and sweet bay as well as perhaps tarragon in my herb garden. You could also grow chillies outside I would guess (for Australian climate); there is a wide variety of chillies and once you have gotten used to using them you will never go back.
All parts of the coriander plant are edible, seeds, leaves, stems and roots! It is best to grow these in short rows and sow again every few weeks, cut with scissors whilst immature.
Grannie's orange cake
Grannie says that the recipe is easy to do and I can confirm that it gives good results - Grandad
- 2 cups self-raising flour
- 3/4 teacup caster sugar
- 5oz (141g) butter
- 1 teacup mixed dried fruit
- 2 eggs
- grated rind of one orange
- juice of half an orange
- 2 dessertspoonfuls of orange marmalde
1. cream the butter and sugar together
2. add beaten eggs
3. add fruit zest and juice
4. add marmalade
5. slowly fold flour in [seive the flour first to make sure that it is an even powder]
6. stir in the fruit
7. Cook in the middle of a moderate oven; 300 degrees F (148C) for 1 hour
GOOD COOKING!
Derived from ‘Auntie’ Sylvia's recipe
- 2 cups self-raising flour
- 3/4 teacup caster sugar
- 5oz (141g) butter
- 1 teacup mixed dried fruit
- 2 eggs
- grated rind of one orange
- juice of half an orange
- 2 dessertspoonfuls of orange marmalde
1. cream the butter and sugar together
2. add beaten eggs
3. add fruit zest and juice
4. add marmalade
5. slowly fold flour in [seive the flour first to make sure that it is an even powder]
6. stir in the fruit
7. Cook in the middle of a moderate oven; 300 degrees F (148C) for 1 hour
GOOD COOKING!
Derived from ‘Auntie’ Sylvia's recipe
Grannie's favourite cake (can be GF)
Ingredients
- 4 ounces (113g) of self raising flour [or gluten free flour of your choice][if you use GF flour then add a level teasp of baking powder]
- 6 ounces (170g) of ground almonds
- 5 ounces (141g) of butter
- 5 ounces (141g) caster sugar
- 3 eggs
- 3 ounces (85g) of mixed dried fruit
- half a teasp of vanilla essence
1. Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla together.
2. Beat up the eggs, add whipped egg mixture and flour alternately, so mixture does not curdle, fold in the rest of the flour.
3. Add fruit and lightly stir together.
4. Bake for one and a quarter hours @ 150 degrees C
Thats all folks! Love Grannie and Grandpa
- 4 ounces (113g) of self raising flour [or gluten free flour of your choice][if you use GF flour then add a level teasp of baking powder]
- 6 ounces (170g) of ground almonds
- 5 ounces (141g) of butter
- 5 ounces (141g) caster sugar
- 3 eggs
- 3 ounces (85g) of mixed dried fruit
- half a teasp of vanilla essence
1. Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla together.
2. Beat up the eggs, add whipped egg mixture and flour alternately, so mixture does not curdle, fold in the rest of the flour.
3. Add fruit and lightly stir together.
4. Bake for one and a quarter hours @ 150 degrees C
Thats all folks! Love Grannie and Grandpa
Grandad's spiced potatoes
Ingredients
- Potatoes
- Extra Virgin olive oil
- Fenugreek seed (ground)
- Cumin (ground)
- Seed coriander (ground)
- a few cardamoms
- a black cardamom
- a couple of star anise
- some crushed fresh garlic
- finely chopped fresh ginger
- finely chopped fresh chilli (to taste)
- a little ground black pepper
- a pinch or two of salt
- a heaped tsp of turmeric
- a combination of oils (can change depending on what is available) - groundnut, walnut, roasted sesame
1. Choose a top variety of pots. Preferably not kept in store for too long. Boil with a pinch or so of sea salt until just cooked, they need to still be firm, drain while hot and return to saucepan.
2. Sprinkle the pots with extra virgin olive oil generously and leave to stand. [use the same management for roast pots too]. Now get the spices etc ready. Mix equal parts of fenugreek seed, cumin, and seed coriander put in a grinder [like a coffee grinder that hasn't been used for coffee!] and spin roughly, a few green cardamoms, a black cardamom, a couple of star anise, some crushed fresh garlic, finely chopped fresh ginger, finely chopped fresh chilli pepper [to taste], a little ground black pepper and a pinch or two of salt, a heaped teasp of turmeric.
3. Warm the frying pan add a mixture of oils [according to what you have] eg groundnut oil, walnut oil,roasted sesame oil [only a teasp of this] etc. warm the oil then add the spices gently moving them about, when the spices are part cooked put a saucepan lid on the frying pan and turn the gas right down to cook the ginger, then add the potatoes and gently stir them into the spices, fry for a while then put under the grill until the pots are a pleasant brown but not burnt!!!!!
I like to do pots exactly like this but there is short cut: boil some pots,drain, tip into a hot frying pan with some butter, add couple of teasp of a good quality Madras curry paste and fry! Bob's your uncle! easy peasy. [but I can tell the difference]
- Potatoes
- Extra Virgin olive oil
- Fenugreek seed (ground)
- Cumin (ground)
- Seed coriander (ground)
- a few cardamoms
- a black cardamom
- a couple of star anise
- some crushed fresh garlic
- finely chopped fresh ginger
- finely chopped fresh chilli (to taste)
- a little ground black pepper
- a pinch or two of salt
- a heaped tsp of turmeric
- a combination of oils (can change depending on what is available) - groundnut, walnut, roasted sesame
1. Choose a top variety of pots. Preferably not kept in store for too long. Boil with a pinch or so of sea salt until just cooked, they need to still be firm, drain while hot and return to saucepan.
2. Sprinkle the pots with extra virgin olive oil generously and leave to stand. [use the same management for roast pots too]. Now get the spices etc ready. Mix equal parts of fenugreek seed, cumin, and seed coriander put in a grinder [like a coffee grinder that hasn't been used for coffee!] and spin roughly, a few green cardamoms, a black cardamom, a couple of star anise, some crushed fresh garlic, finely chopped fresh ginger, finely chopped fresh chilli pepper [to taste], a little ground black pepper and a pinch or two of salt, a heaped teasp of turmeric.
3. Warm the frying pan add a mixture of oils [according to what you have] eg groundnut oil, walnut oil,roasted sesame oil [only a teasp of this] etc. warm the oil then add the spices gently moving them about, when the spices are part cooked put a saucepan lid on the frying pan and turn the gas right down to cook the ginger, then add the potatoes and gently stir them into the spices, fry for a while then put under the grill until the pots are a pleasant brown but not burnt!!!!!
I like to do pots exactly like this but there is short cut: boil some pots,drain, tip into a hot frying pan with some butter, add couple of teasp of a good quality Madras curry paste and fry! Bob's your uncle! easy peasy. [but I can tell the difference]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)