Yesterday I spent most of the afternoon fighting my way through the tomato and pumpkin area of our veggie garden. You have no idea how crazy plants can get if they are left to their own devices for a week. It was wonderful though, to be working amongst the veggies and discovering hidden treasures amongst the foliage. There was slight drizzling of rain, the perfect weather for garden work. I managed to collect quite a few tomatoes from the heart of the mass of plants and they taste so sweet, so good indeed!
I also got a head start on those weeds that like to grow all over the place. With all the rain we have been having, they are huge! The ground is lovely and soft after the constant thunderstorms, so pulling them out has been quite an easy job.
We have decided to grow more food for our family and develop the unused areas of our ground. Jenna and Erin have chosen their own veggie beds to look after. They are going to care for these beds, weed them and try succession planting as well. It makes me happy that they are serious about this and that they made the decision by themselves. We spoke about eating what is actually growing in season and not buying produce that has been flown in from overseas or kept in cold storage. They felt very strongly about us developing our acre of land here to sustain our family and then we can also barter produce with neighbours and friends. Feels right, feels good…
Last night I made a tomato and onion soup with veggies picked from our garden, I am so please with how it turned out, it got the ‘delicious vote’ from the family so I will definitely be making it again soon!
Tomato and Onion Soup:
Ingredients:
Olive oil 2 tablespoons
Garlic 2 teaspoons
Herbal salt
Black pepper
About 600 grams of tomatoes, you can add more
3 onions, diced
Chicken and vegetable stock, 500 mls
500 mls water
Half a can of butter beans, rinsed
4 chopped baby potatoes
Parmesan cheese
Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to your pot. Once heated add 2 teaspoons of chopped garlic and then the diced onions.
Cook for about 5 mins until the onions have softened.
Chop up the tomatoes and add to the pot and stir.
Add 500 mls of chicken and vegetable stock to the tomatoes and simmer on a medium heat so the tomatoes can release their flavour, then add 500 mls of water.
Add the butter beans and potatoes and cook until the potatoes are soft or just add cooked potatoes.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
I used a potato masher to squash all the veggies a little before serving.
You could also add a little Parmesan cheese as a garnish and it tastes amazing too!
Enjoy!
