All posts tagged: garden

Tofu Tuesday: Rank Ass Leaf

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I think every pet owner has caught their pet eating something gross. As adorable and as well fed as they are, pets just can’t help but eat weird shit they find. If you know anything about rabbits, then you might know that rabbits eat poop. Yes, literally. As sweet as bunny kisses are, you must remember. They eat poop. I once caught Tofu the bunny under our lemon tree eating a rotten lemon. The lemon old, squishy and covered in ants. Tofu had this look of pure bliss on his face and pure disappointment when I took the lemon from him. Other things we catch Tofu eating are the rank ass leaves in the back yard. The ranker, the better. I walk to the markets twice a week to select the brightest, greenest greens for Tofu the bunny. Then he goes into our backyard and selects the oldest, yuckiest brown leaves for himself. Makes sense. Here he is munching on one such leaf. I let him finish the leaf rather than taking it from him. It’s …

Bright lights

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We have lots of rainbow silverbeet in our little vege garden. For those in other countries, you might know of silverbeet as swiss chard. This variety is called Brighlights. I’ve seen other gardens with pink, red, orange and yellow but ours only sprouts red, pink and the very normal white. Silverbeet grows easily in New Zealand gardens though it is often hated by kids and grown ups alike. It can be used in place of spinach in just about any recipe. I think it’s quite beautiful. It’s just begging to be shown off on a colourful plate of food. p.s. This blog just went over 200,000 hits this week! Thank you for the hits!

Tofu Tuesday: Terraced Pallet Garden

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Growing your own food is uniquely satisfying. I don’t know if it’s my age or the times but more and more of our friends are growing their own food. I’ve hinted at our vegetable garden before, but I didn’t want to share it until we started eating from it. That time has come. If you follow me on Pinterest, you’ll know I have a slight obsession with up-cycled pallets and vegetable gardens. We live in a rented villa so we didn’t want to spend much money on our garden in case we have to move. Both The Koala and I have day jobs that revolve around paper so we have free access to wood pallets. In hindsight, we should have started this garden when we moved in 5 years ago. I could “what if” at my 5 year old vegetable garden all day, but you gotta start somewhere and late is better than never. The bottom of our garden has a gentle slope so we terraced the space using the pallets. Sloped ground drains water in random ways so terracing flattens …

Easy Chalkboard Garden Markers

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My sister and I were ages 6 and 8. Eager to witness the magic of food production, we would visit our carrot plot in the garden every day, select a carrot and pull it up to examine it’s size. More times than not, it was still too small and went straight back into the ground. I don’t remember if our daily checking harmed the carrots but you can’t fault us for our enthusiasm. Like many foodies and home cooks, starting a vegie garden seems like a logical, noble and wholesome thing to do. After 5 years renting the same property, we’ve finally started digging around the garden. Of course I wish we had started this garden 5 years ago, but it’s better late than never. I have a bunch of seeds sown directly and some in peat. In the meantime, I’ve been on the look out for pretty garden markers to sort our tidy our new garden. I’ve seen beautiful ones online for up to $20NZ per garden marker. When you consider it costs a …

OOOOBY 11

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This week our CSA box included: Vegetable 1/2 a Squash 21 Dwarf Carrots 4 Celery Sticks 1 Fancy Lettuce 4 Spring Onion 1 Avocado Fruit 7 Gold Kiwifruit 7 Fuji Apples 6 Navel Oranges Add Ons Wild Wheat Ciabatta Apple Juice 2L The most interesting thing in the box: Nothing was particularly exotic this week, but the nubbly carrots are pretty delightful. Menu 11 There might be some erratic eating this week so I’ve kept my menu plan pretty open in case I spontaneously need to binge on something. Trucker’s meal: Steak, fried eggs, chips and salad with beetroot, lettuce*, spring onion* and carrot* Avocado and cream cheese on ciabatta toast Pan Fried Halloumi with Squash* Spring Salad with carrot*, orange* and spring onion* Minestrone with celery*, carrots*, onion, beans and orzo, served with ciabatta* toast French toast with brown sugar stewed apples* * CSA from this week or previous week CSA Link Party I regularly join a CSA box link party. A link party is a weekly or monthly round up of relevant blog links in …

OOOOBY Box 10 and our “Old Girl”

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We bought our Frigidaire when we first moved from an inner city apartment to the ‘burbs. I got her off Trademe for a song, second, maybe even third or fourth hand and we immediately had her resealed by a pro. This fridge-freezer has moved house with us four times and we reckon she could be from the 1970s, making her older than me. Our old girl had a freak out over the weekend. I wish I had before and after photos to show you, as the stalactites were amazing. We shifted her a few inches to the right and I don’t know if that had anything to do with it, but the top third of the freezer turned into an ice cube with icicles as thick as my wrist. Ice expands and within hours it got so bad that we couldn’t close the freezer door. The Koala came to the rescue, carefully using a hammer as an ice pick and excavated the ice from the top shelf and around the seals. I’m now trying to use up everything in …

OOOOBY Box 9

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OOOOBY now offer an organic only box, so this week we’re giving it a test drive. The original box that we usually get is 100% local but not 100% organic. This week our CSA box included: Vegetable Half a Crown Pumpkin 1 Broccoli 1 bunch of Silverbeet 4 Carrots 1 Avocado 1 Fancy Lettuce Fruit 8 Gold Kiwifruit 7 Fuji Apples 4 Navel Oranges 1 Lime Add Ons Apple Juice 2L Wild Wheat Ciabatta The most interesting thing in the box: Colourful carrots. Menu 9 Pumpkin* soup with bacon bits and garlic parmesan croutons (made with ciabatta*) Cheeseburgers with lime* guacamole*, egg, fancy lettuce* and onion served with oven baked fries Salad with yellow and purple carrot*, fancy lettuce, boiled egg, olives, ham, chick peas Parmesan bagels with avocado* and cream cheese Buttery Golden Pan-Fried Flounder with sauteed silverbeet* and mashed potatoes Steak stir fry with broccoli*, onion, garlic and carrots*. Served on noodles Mini quiche with egg, broccoli*, silverbeet* and ham Roast chicken with pumpkin*, potatoes, onion and garlic. Served with rainbow carrot* salad. …

OOOOBY Box 8

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Yesterday I came home to not one but two boxes from OOOOBY. I guess our three add ons this week meant that 1 box wasn’t quite enough for everything. Good thing I returned 3 boxes today. To send your delivery boxes back, all you have to do is leave your empty boxes out. When your box is delivered, they will take back any empty boxes to be reused. I have a bunch of fruit and one kumara left over from last week. Our lemon tree is in full fruit and I made a yummy lemonade over the weekend. Might have to make another batch this week. This week our CSA box included: Vegetable 1 Broccoli 20 Mushrooms A huge bunch of Spinach 4 Spring Onion A bunch of Coriander Fruit 5 Pink Lady Apples 9 Green Kiwifruit 2 Grapefruit Add Ons All Good Bananas Apple Juice 2L Wild Wheat Ciabatta The most interesting thing in the box: Grapefruit. The Koala isn’t keen. What am I going to do with it? Welcome to ideas! Coriander. I …

OOOOBY Box 7 and an Asian influenced menu

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Last week’s cafe menu with burgers, pasta, french toast, burritos, fish and chips and pizza exploded in The Koala’s comfort zone, but I prefer to eat more asian influenced meals. This week we received bok choy and lime which will be great for an asian inspired menu. As a good Chinese girl, even living in New Zealand, I grew up eating rice once, even twice a day. This week our CSA box included: Vegetables 3 Red Kumara (Certified Organic) 1 Baby Cos (Self Certified Organic) 2 Bok Choy (Self Certified Organic) 1 Cauliflower (Conventional Sprays) 4 Carrots (Conventional Sprays) Fruit 9 Gold Kiwifruit (Certified Organic) 2 Limes (Self Certified Organic) 3 Navel Oranges (Self Certified Organic) 2 Apples Newstead Gold (Conventional Sprays) Add Ons 1 loaf Wild Wheat Ciabatta 2 litres pure Apple juice The most interesting thing in the box: Bok choy and limes. Menu 7 Asian style chicken broth with carrots*, onion, ginger and rice Korean BBQ Beef (Bulgogi) with baby cos*, korean noodle salad (japchae), kimchi and rice Wonton soup (pork mince, chives and scallops) with bok choy* Honey lime* chicken and cauliflower with toasted …

OOOOBY Box Week 6. Cafe Menu

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Cafes can be found all over New Zealand and they all serve similar menus with their own twist. New Zealand cafe culture is HUGE. We take our coffee espresso very seriously and while restaurants are reserved for special occasions, people go to cafes for no real reason but to eat. The casual, informal style of dining appeals to our kiwi mentality. This week, cooking at home with our CSA box, we’re having grilled haloumi, french toast, salad, burgers, quesadillas a pasta dish, a soup and even a smoothie. Very much inspired by a stock standard cafe board. This week our CSA box included: Vegetable Garlic  (Self Certified Organic) Pumpkin (Certified Organic) Avocado (Certified Organic) Fancy Lettuce  (Self Certified Organic) Fennel (Certified Organic) Broccoli (Conventional Sprays) Fruit Pink Lady Apples (Conventional Sprays) Green Kiwifruit (Certified Organic) Mandarins (Conventional Sprays) Add Ons 1 loaf Wild Wheat Ciabatta 2 litres pure Apple juice All Good Fair Trade Bananas The most interesting thing in the box: Fennel. I’ve cooked it a couple times and while I don’t usually like aniseed, I do like fennel. I like the idea of …

OOOOBY Box Week 5

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We are now in week 5 of our weekly CSA deliveries from local company OOOOBY. All three of us look forward to OOOOBY Tuesdays and the cute name probably doesn’t hurt. This week included lemons and potatoes which are on our “do not want” list so we didn’t receive them. We don’t want potatoes and lemons not because we don’t like them, but because we do. Rather than praying for potatoes each week, we buy them in bulk so that there is always a sack to be used. Our lemon tree is giving us delicious, juicy lemons this winter so no need to have those delivered either. This week our CSA box included: Vegetable 8 Mushrooms (Conventional Sprays) 1 giant bunch of Spinach (Self Certified Organic) 6 Carrots (Conventional Sprays) 1/2 a head of Cauliflower (Conventional Sprays) 1 Broccoli Fruit 7 Newstead Gold Apples (Conventional Sprays) 11 Gold Kiwifruit (Certified Organic) 6 Winter Nelis Pears (Certified Organic) 6 Mandarins The most interesting thing in the box: Mushrooms. Not that they are strange, but because this is the first time we’ve seen mushrooms …

Meal Plan Week 4

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I never was a weekly meal planner, but I guess it was only a matter of time. I am a obsessive list maker. I bet there is loads of psychology on list makers. I’m sure they have merit. I feel a kindred spirit in other obsessive list makers. Over the last month of CSA boxes, meal plans have helped us get through our produce. Without a plan, every meal would feel like a quickfire challenge from Top Chef. This is my fourth meal plan and serves mostly as a guide. Meal plan week 4 Honey-soy-lemon roast chicken drums, kumara and potatoes* with garlicky* pan-fried silverbeet* and buttered peas Stir fry beef with cabbage*, garlic*, broccoli*, onion and udon noodles Lamb sausages with cabbage* and mandarin* slaw, baked potatoes with sour cream Deviled pork sausages with and pink lady apple* on kumara* mash, served with a side of steamed broccoli “Whatever is left” vegetable soup with toasted cheese ciabatta Bacon and avocado* pasta topped with shaved vintage cheddar Avocado* on toasted ciabatta* Fruit and yoghurt Banana*, …

OOOOBY Box Week 4

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After a break, this week we are going back to OOOOBY’s original box. After reviewing OOOOBY’s service last week with all prices and produce calculated up, the Original Box is great value for money. This week our CSA box included: Vegetable 5 Kumara (Certified Organic) 2 Garlic (Certified Organic) 1 bunch Silverbeet (Certified Organic) 1 Avocado (Certified Organic) 1/2 Cabbage (Conventional Sprays) 1 Broccoli (Conventional Sprays) Fruit 7 Pink Lady Apples (Conventional Sprays) 10 Green Kiwifruit (Certified Organic) 10 Mandarins (Conventional Sprays) The weirdest thing in the box is: Nothing in the CSA was weird this week, but we did receive three small snails. A fair reminder that the produce is fresh and organic. Add Ons This week we added on a few extras such as pure apple juice, ciabatta and a bunch of fair trade bananas. Recipes This week there are 3 recipes included by OOOOBY and they were two salads and a frittata. CSA Link Party I am part of a CSA box link party. A link party is a weekly or monthly …

An OOOOBY Review

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OOOOBY stands for Out Of Our Own Backyards and is an Auckland-based company that offers Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). CSA has been popular in other countries for years and with the trend towards organic and locally grown foods as well as growing in our own backyards, it is a recipe for success. Last week, we switched from the vege/fruit original OOOOBY Box to the Vegetable Box. The Vegetable Box costs $8 more than the Original Box but has a hefty amount of vegetables. With double the vegetables, it was too much for two people. We’re both back to working 40 hour weeks at the moment so I’m not eating at home as much. Therefore, we are taking a break from our subscription this week so I’ll take a moment to review OOOOBY’s services so far. Boxes We’ve had three deliveries and tried two different boxes out of their range of four. We tried the Original Box and also the Vegetable Box. We haven’t tried  the Fruit Box and Family Box which don’t suit our two-person …

Meal Plan Week 3

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Eat your vegetables I’m an omnivore and while I adore meat, I know we eat too much of it. The Koala doesn’t like vegetarian food. He doesn’t say so, but you can tell by the way someone eats if they love it or not. There is a loop hole. He adores soup. A meat-free soup isn’t considered a vegetarian meal around here. So, this winter, I’m adding meat-free soups to our menu. It’s cheap, filling and a great way to enjoy the stunning bread that we’ve been getting. We are at Week 3 of our CSA subscription and I’m writing a meal plan each week  to help get through all this produce. This week our CSA box included: Vegetables only 2 bulbs of garlic (self certified organic) 4 kaffir lime leaves (self certified organic) Half a crown pumpkin (certified organic) 1 cabbage (conventional sprays) 7 carrots (conventional sprays) 2 broccoli (certified organic) 2 silverbeet (certified organic) 1 stick of rosemary Meal plan week 3: Mince and cheese pie with mash and creamy garlic* silverbeet* Pumpkin soup: Spiced pumpkin* kaffir lime leaf* and …

OOOOBY BOX WEEK 3

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To get more efficient in our grocery shopping this winter, we are replacing the 2 to 3 trips per week to the market, with a weekly CSA delivery. I plan on topping this up with a fortnightly trip to (or maybe even delivery from) traditional supermarket and a fortnightly trip to Nosh (a local gourmet food store). Local CSA project OOOOBY has a great concept and ethic and we are in week 3 of our subscription. This week our CSA box included: Vegetables only 2 bulbs of garlic (self certified organic) 4 kaffir lime leaves (self certified organic) Half a crown pumpkin (certified organic) 1 cabbage (conventional sprays) 7 carrots (conventional sprays) 2 broccoli (certified organic) 2 silverbeet (certified organic) 1 stick of rosemary Fruit and sweet vegetables There is no fruit this week as we’re trying out OOOOBY’s vegetable only box. We still have kiwifruit left over from last week so we aren’t entirely fruitless. I got an Add On of kumara sourdough instead of ciabatta this week for a change. For those not in kiwi-land, kumara is the Maori word …

Kale chips and a CSA box review for Week 2

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The Koala: “What are you making?” Me: “I’ve already eaten them. They were kale chips.” The Koala: “Kale?…Chips?!? What were they like?” Me: “Like dry, crunchy leaves. I ate the whole bowl.” The Koala was unconvinced and secretly glad there were no kale chips left. Even I’m not convinced, but I did eat all of them before I realised what was happening. A good way to get rid of an abundance of kale I guess. This recipe is easy and you might as well give it a try if you have kale. Maybe you’ll like it. Or maybe you’ll find that you ate the lot before you could decide if you liked kale chips or not. Just make sure you keep a close eye on these suckers in the oven because they can burn in a heartbeat. Kale Chips Makes a bowl enough for 1 or 2 as a snack Ingredients 1 bunch of kale 1 tablespoon olive oil A sprinkle of salt, paprika, and/or garlic salt Preparation Pre-heat oven to 170°C/340°F. Pick the leaves from …

OOOOBY BOX WEEK 2

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To get more efficient in our grocery shops this winter, we are replacing the 2 to 3 trips per week to the market, with a weekly CSA delivery of fruit and vegetables. I plan on topping this up with a fortnightly trip to (or maybe even delivery from) traditional supermarket and a fortnightly trip to Nosh (a local gourmet food store). Local CSA project OOOOBY has a great concept and ethic and we are in week 2 of our subscription. This week our CSA box included: Vegetables Half a cauliflower (conventional sprays) 1 big red kumara (certified organic) 8 carrots (conventional sprays) A huge bunch of red russian kale (certified organic) 7 baby beets (certified organic) Fruit 6 pink lady apples (conventional sprays) 10 gold kiwifruit (certified organic) Only 2 varieties of fruit this time, and while my list and email both suggested that I was to be gettting mandarins or tangelos, they didn’t arrive in the box. The weirdest thing in the box is: Kale. I’m looking forward to using it because for some reason it isn’t …