kohlrabi and yum yum mash

Today was bliss. I gardened, we all stayed home together all day, bar a couple of small trips to the shops for a new tarpaulin and for milk, coffee and more fruit supplies.

I freed one of my roses in the rose nursery from the creeping buttercup (or is it spreading buttercup? either way, it lives up to its name). The three surviving roses in the rose nursery (one section of the garden against the back brick wall) are all from cuttings I took from our clever rose growing neighbours last winter. This winter I will shift them into a more permanant spot, but to do so, I have to get rid of the weeds to get access.

I planted out the six kohlrabi seedlings beside the rose nursery.

I cleared away weeds, punga ferns and the outer leaves going yucky from the silverbeet in the punga raised bed. I have some more to do there before there is room for more vegetables. I think some rocket seeds are worth a go. I cannot imagine having too much rocket.

Tonight I saw this post on drying comfrey and although I'm not using their idea, inspired by them I now know how I will dry mine. The strings are still up in the tool shed from the tobacco growing experiment a couple of seasons ago. I shall peg the long comfrey leaves to the tobacco line. I used to make liquid fertiliser with comfrey until I eventually came to the conclusion that in a high rainfall area such as ours, liquid fertiliser is not amazingly helpful. Hence this year wanting to change what I do. The mild autumn is the only reason it hasn't died back already but tomorrow I shall do a big harvest.

Tomorrow is also the open day for the Blackball Museum of Working Class History 08 Memorial. I will be there 11am-2pm, smiling at people, chatting if they want to, and in between setting up a library system and writing up our charities commission number on receipts. The receipts are just for donations - the actual open day is completely free. At lunchtime there will be soup (a fundraiser for the local Playcentre) and the West Coast Wobblies choir will perform.

Dinner tonight was cooked by Favourite Handyman and Fionn and tasted superb. Hungarian sausages from the Blackball Salami Company, mashed potato, sliced raw carrots, and a lettuce and rocket salad from our own garden. The mashed potato was much better than last time I made it and I think the secret most likely is more butter than you would ever want to work out the financial cost of. Brighid asked for more 'yum yum', meaning the mashed potato. Oh glorious, happy Saturday.

I've got bread rising as I type and although the house is very messy, everyone is healthy and the children are fast asleep. The four of us here, we create our sense of love, home and belonging not in the state of our bedrooms and lounge, but in the garden and playing space outside and in the food from the kitchen. I used up the last of the basil making a pistou-like sauce (except we were out of parmesan so just lemon zest, garlic, basil and olive oil) and I think the pots can come down and I'll have a go at growing coriander on the windowsill in winter.

Comments

miriam said…
It's rather nice reading about such a wet climate when ours is so very very dry. I've read a bit about purple sprouting broccolli lately and keen to give it a try. I have coriander outside still growing quite nicely, it is in a very sheltered spot so will be interested to see just how long before the frosts take it out. It always seems to do better in Spring and Autumn here but the best thing is, once it is in the garden it seems to quietly self seed and reappear so there is often a surprise supply.
Johanna Knox said…
All the best for the opening tomorrow!

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