yesteryear roses

the heritage roses that we bought online a couple of years ago are now making a spectacular show with the most fragrantly scented blooms. The two roses pictured above are both climbers with deep, glossy green leaves. (Sorry, I've completely forgotten their proper names). These roses would love to climb and ramble in every direction. For now they have to be content with climbing on the fence.

In the foreground of the third photo is our cat Rocky who just insisted on being in the picture...

cherry blossoms

In 1998 we planted this cherry blossom tree in our front garden to celebrate the arrival of our second child. His placenta is buried beneath it. This year is the first time that it has had abundant blossoms. Welcome Spring!

vege greens

while autumn well and truly settles in, the vege garden is in the last stages of summer production. Bok choi and cardinal beets have been picked while young and tender (I'd given up battling the white cabbage butterfly this time round) along with peas and brilliantly red banana shaped chillies, all ideal ingredients for a stir fry.

tomato chutney

the two tomato plants (beefsteak variety) in the vege garden have been yielding loads of tomatoes. So many that the only way to deal with the tomato overload was to make some deliciously grunty tomato chutney. Here's the recipe:

TOMATO CHUTNEY

Ingredients:
1.5kg tomatoes (chopped with skins on)
500g apples (chopped with skins on)
700g red onions (peeled and chopped)
500ml cider vinegar
6 cloves garlic (peeled and finely chopped)
1 tbsp fresh ginger (generous tbsp grated ginger)
400g raisins
450g brown sugar
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 cinnamon quills
1 tbsp salt

Method:

Put the tomatoes, apples and onions into a large, heavy based pot.
Pour the vinegar into the pot and then add the remaining ingredients.
Then stir, bring to a simmer and cook on a low heat for several hours.
Stir occassionally and then more frequently as the chutney thickens.
When it starts sticking to the bottom of the pot (similar to jam) remove the pot from the heat.
While hot pour into clean, hot jars. Leave the jars to cool down completely before sealing.

This recipe makes up around 3 x 500ml jars of deliciously yummy chutney.

Enjoy!

organic garden

dear hubby gave me Xanthe White's book for my birthday last year and it has been a real source of inspiration. I've been learning a lot and am pleased to be able to show you the broccoflower and tomatoes that my small organic garden has yielded today. I've also established a compost bin, affectionately nicknamed 'Betty' who is proving her worth.

This is the last full week of school holidays so apart from gardening, there's plenty of school related shopping to be done. Next week I'll be back to sewing again.