THE GARDEN PATH

Yesterday, I trimmed all my lavender bushes, grey foliage plant can be pruned back heavily now and this will encourage thick and well shaped bushes. I awoke this morning around 5.30 am and light was just breaking through the black of night, everything outside was postcard still, not a breathe of wind. The sky was overcast and full of promise of refreshing showers which our heat weary gardens are in real need of. The lack of rain to our area is evident in the colour of yellowing lawns, parched and barren garden beds. My garden continues to produce nerines and belladonna lillies and my garden is in very good condition , though I too have to regard water restrictions, the high productivity of the plants in my garden are due to the extensive use of pine bark mulch. Even in the driest parts of my front and back gardens, I can feel the retention of moisture and a coolness in the soil in which other years would have been cracked and dried up soil. Right now mid March 2025, the roses are ready to open their second bloom before the mid year prune. The herbs are are plentiful and healthy.

CITRUS CHICKEN BREASTS

Ingredients......90gm of butter/ marg, 4 skinless chicken breasts, each cut in half, 1/2 cup of white wine, grated zest of 1 orange, grated zest of 1 lemon, cracked black pepper, 3/4 cup of cream, 90gm of grated cheese. Heat the butter/marg in a large frypan, add the chicken breasts and brown on both sides. Reduce the heat, cover the pan and continue to cook turning occasionally until cooked to your liking. Now transfer the breasts to a lightly greased ovenproof serving dish and keep warm. Add the wine to the frying pan and stir for a few minutes. Add the orange and lemon zests and season with the cracked pepper to taste. Increase the heat to medium and slowly stir in the cream. When thoroughly combined pour the sauce over the chicken and sprinkle over the grated cheese. Finally turn your oven griller to medium and place the chicken dish under the grill to brown the cheese. Garnish with parsley.

AN AUTUMN SALAD WITH GRAPES AND PUMPKIN

Ingredients.....4 tbs of oil,1 tsp of ground cumin, 1 tsp of ground coriander, cracked black pepper, 800gm of pumpkin , deseeded, sliced into wedges with the skin on, 1bunch of grapes, stems removed, 3 tbs of balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp of castor sugar, 2 large handfuls of beetroot top leaves/ baby spinach leaves, 125gm of cream cheese, 2 tbs of walnuts, roughly chopped. Preheat your oven to 220 deg C. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Put 2 tbs of oil in a large bowl with the cumin, coriander, cracked pepper and stir to combine. Add the pumpkin wedges and toss to to coat, then transfer to the prepared baking tray. Bake in the preheated oven until the pumpkin is tender and golden brown. Place the remaining 2 tbs of oil in a frypan and heat over a low heat. When the oil is heated add the grapes , stirring occasionally until the grapes are slightly blistered. Add the vinegar and sugar and gently stir until the sugar has melted. remove from the heat. Finally, place the salad leaves and pumpkin on a serving platter alternating with the grapes and dobs of cream cheese. Spoon over any remaining dressing from the pan and sprinkle over the cracked walnuts. This is delicious..

GRAPES.

Grapes are one of the oldest domestic fruits and have been enyoyed world wide for centuries. The old world species known as 'vitis vinifera', comes from europeand is responsible for the enormous range of edible varieties.The species 'vitis labrusca'comes from North America. We enjoy grapes primarily for winemaking, second for drying and third as a table grape. A grapevine is a great plantto have in your garden, it can be trained around a verandah, pergola or patio. It will provide shade in the summer and as it is deciduous, allows winter sun through. You can also grow grapes and support them with a trellis or along wire support on a sunny fence line. Grapes can be grown in the shade or in a hothouse. Pruning is optional, depending on what you want from your vine. If you want a vine to provide shade, then pruning will not be necessary, the canes can be trained to trail wherever you want them to grow. Wine grapes only need a light pruning, whereas table grapes should be pruned back to the crown each year.

AUTUMN —MARCH thru TO MAY

Autumn Fruits.... Apples, Avocadoes, Bananas, Custard Apples, Figs, Grapes, Kiwi Fruit, Ruby Grapefruit, Lemons, Limes, Nashi Pears, Nectarines, Papayas, Pears, Persimmons, Prunes, Pomegranates, Quinces, Rhubarb, Tamarillos. Autumn Vegetables... Asian Greens, Beetroot, Brussel Sprouts, Beans, Broccoli, Cabbages, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Fennel, Jerusalem Artichokes, Lettuces, Mushrooms, Pumpkin, Shallots, Silverbeet, Squash, Sweet Corn, Witlof, Zucchini. And just to prove Mother Nature has a mind of her own, look at what is growng happily in my back yard garden in the middle of March 2025.

PAPPARDELLE WITH SUMMER HARVEST SAUCE

After 4 hours on high in the slow cooker, the summer harvest sauce is now ready. If you want a smooth sauce , use your hand processor to carefully to smooth out the sauce, I like the natural texture of the ingredients in the sauce. Bring 10 cups of salted water to the boil in a large pot. Add 8 rounds of pappardelle pasta to the boiling water and boil until the pasta softens and unfurls. Drain in a colander with cold water running through it. Shake off excess water and spray with cooking oil. Place pasta in the base of a large serving bowl and spoon over the summer harvest sauce. Serve with slices of sourdough bread. Delicious and very filling.

THE LAST OF THE SUMMER HARVEST

Ingredients.....(nothing was weighed ), the last of the tomatoes, spinach leaves, baby capsicums, zucchinis, 2 small onions, 1/2 cup of tahini (optional), 1/4 cup of Italian dressing, Italian herb mix, fennel seeds, 1/4 cup of golden syrup, 4 tbs of minced garlic a handful of fresh chopped parsley, mint and basil. If not using tahini, replace it with 1/2 cup of barbeque sauce. Tomatoes and zucchinis from the Schenkel garden. I used my slow cooker to prepare this dish. Spray the bowl of the slow cooker lightly with cooking oil and set on high. Slice / chop the zucchinis finely, peel and slice the onions, peel the tomatoes and chop the pulp, trim and chop the capsicums, trim any large stems from the spinach leaves. Place all the chopped vegetables into the bowl of the slow cooker along with the tahini paste, minced garlic , herbs and golden syrup. Lastly pour over the Italian dressing. Cover the slow cooker and leave to cook for 4 hours on high, stirring occasionally. Enjoy the flavours of the last of the summer harvest as they waft through your house.