chilipepper's Journal

Soup Recipe

Recipes

Hi Everyone

Its one of those day when you look out your window and feel you need something warm and comforting inside, and with more of these days ahead, soup comes to mind.

Here is one recipe I found which is really tasty and for those who have spinach and tomatoes on hand.

Chickpea and Spinach

2tbsp of oil

1" piece of fresh ginger

3 cloves garlic

1 red chilli

all the above chopped finely

1 tsp of ground coriander

400g tin of chickpea drained and dried

zest and juice of half lemon

400g tin chopped tomatoes or your own ripe tomatoes chopped

8oz spinach roughly chopped

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Put oil, ginger, garlic, chilli and spices in to large pot and saute for 1-2 mins taking care not to burn.  Then add chickpea and lemonzest and stir well, add tomatoes, bring to the boil and then turn down heat to simmer for about 15 mins then add spinach and lemon and continue to cook for 2-3 mins until spinach is tender.  Season and serve.  This serves 4 and it also freezes well.

Hope you enjoy!!

 Regards

Madeleine

Last call for Christmas spuds!

Last call for Christmas!!!!

Have mentioned it in a previous journal but this is the last call if you want to have new spuds for Christmas! if you have any spuds left from your "first earlies" harvest (golf ball size) put them in a  paper bag and into the fridge (not freezer!) for a week, after that on a window sill and let them chit as normal after about 10 days/2 weeks plant them in a bag/sack/pot as you would if you were growing container spuds, i have often used empty compost bags, you must use these as the spuds will need to be in a greenhouse/shed to protect them from frost, you will not get a huge harvest but you should be sorted for Christmas week! and new spuds steamed with a knob of butter on Christmas day is a rare treat..............   

Recipes

Recipes

Have to work tonight, but off for the next few days thank God!! we have a few recipes that we think might be able to help anyone with some surplus from their harvest! all can be frozen and used at a later date! will post all tomorrow!

More Tomatoes

Busy Bee (Again)

Picked more tomatoes on Wednesday night, picked the last of the Auroras 5lb bringing in a total of almost 24lb from them for the season, have now composted the jaded plants, picked 6lb from the Urbikany, making it a total of 15lb so far with 2 plants still active, picked another 4 1/2lb from the Amish paste making it a total of nearly 13lb with the 2 older plants still active and now joined by the 3 plants i have grown from the side-shoots taken off the original plants back in early June, have taken about 3 1/2 lb from the cherry toms so total for the year so far is a whopping 54lb of tomatoes so far!! we are well pleased with that, also took more runner beans and the first of the yellow dwarf beans both of which ended up in the freezer! started to hank the onions that have dried out and hang them in the shed, picture shows Maggie in the kitchen dealing with the nights harvest!!!

Colour !

Colour !

This is for all you ladies that were wondering about the colour of the Hibiscus, well here you are.............................

Not a Lot Lately!

Not a Lot Lately!

Hello folks, August has been a bad month in the garden for me (as i knew it would) have had very few days off this month and when i did manage to take a day off i was to tired to do anything!! have let a few things go to seed in order to save seed for next year, have started using the Lemon Chillies and they have turned out to be quiet hot! will also save seed from the toms for next year, never done this with toms before but it is all part of the fun! just to remind anyone that is interested that if you intend to try growing new spuds for Christmas you need to get them in the fridge now! well off to work for a few hours, not to bad off at 5, hope to do a bit in the garden later if the tiredness and the rain stay away!!!  

Photos

Hibiscus

Thanks for all the nice comments on the photos folks, dont do much at all now, use to freelance a long time ago! think there might be a book in there somewhere, someday......................  

This Evening

Avondale

Well i had a couple of hours in the garden tonight to try catch up on last Tuesday! in the end i was happy with what i got done, managed to weed the winter veg, carrots, onions and swedes, the latter of which needs to be thinned out but that can wait till Monday, dug over the bed i took the main crop of onions out of 2 weeks ago and added some growmore and planted it up with cabbage and sprouts! didn't manage to get the kale in but that can also wait till Monday! picked another 5lb of the Aurora toms and about 2lb of runner beans, the beans were washed and dried and straight into the freezer, the toms i mixed with 1lb of the Urbikany toms that Maggie had left over from the other day, 2 of our own large onions and 8 cloves of garlic brought to the boil for about 3 mins and then left to simmer for about 45 mins, left to cool and then put through a sieve, that has gone into the freezer and will be a handy base for soups or sauces, noticed in the greenhouse that the side shoots from the Amish paste that i potted up earlier in the summer are now about 4 and 1/2 ft tall and have set a good amount of trusses on each plant, and providing that September is not a total disaster they should provide us with a quiet substantial late crop! P.S. photo is for Jacinta and Mairin thank you for the comments ladies..........   

Catch Up

Catch Up

Hello all, that's where i am at now!! after lazing around all day on Tuesday have got a lot of work to catch up on tonight, had to work during the day and only got in about 6, so best be off and make a start, hopefully will get about 2 hours of work done before the light fades, will have to pick more toms tonight and try and get the winter beds weeded and the last of the Kale and Cabbage in!! 

Absolutely nothing!

Absolutely nothing!

Well folks that is as much as i have done today! in fact i am still in my dressing gown! have just finished a beer and now i might just have another one!! there was plenty for me to do today but i just needed one of these lazy days, so much time taken up with work lately when i do get a day off i am to tired to do anything, Maggie was out in the garden with all guns blazing yesterday, she dead-headed all that needed to be, weeded the boarders, bought a new electric trimmer in Woodies (reduced to €30 in the sale) cut the hedge, filled a skip with all she took out of the garden, and made 7 jars of tomato and chilli sauce from the produce she picked in the greenhouse! and before you say it YES i am a very lucky man, think i will go now and soak in the bath for a while, am enjoying this day..........

Winter Crops

Swede seedlings sown July 09

The seeds we planted a couple of weeks ago are doing really well, the onions, carrots, cabbage, kale and swede have all got a good head start before Autumn sets in, the picture shows the swede seedlings, the carrots and onions are of a similar size but their beds need a bit of weeding, cabbage plants need to get into the ground if i could only find the time! sooner this month is over the better!!!!    

In Anticipation

In Anticipation

Hello all, not long in, still a bit worried about the Acer, gave it a good spraying on Monday but still the same! not sure what happens next!!! wont make Farmleigh on Sunday unfortunately, would like to be there but wont get home till about   3.30am Sat night/Sun morning will need to sleep back in work 2pm Sunday, hope to finalise a list for Heritage bulbs in the next week, still unsure of what and where as with the reconstruction of the lower half of the garden, with the new greenhouse a new bed will open up, still very much at the chopping and changing stage as regards the beds, but enjoying every minute of it..................

Acer problem

Bad state of affairs!

Was hoping somebody would be able to help me with this problem, noticed last Saturday that the leaves on my Acer were covered with a powdery coating was not able to spray it until Monday evening, i sprayed it with a liquid copper fungicide, will this do the trick? all advice wecome............. 

Greenhouse

Site for new Greenhouse

Had a visit yesterday from the guy about the greenhouse, the price he came back with is spot on so we have agreed on early October to start work! i have been looking around the last 2 years and had not found anything that would suit both price or style wise! found some amazing greenhouses that were perfect style and size wise if you had €20,000 plus to splash out!!! yes there was much cheaper options but they just lacked the type/style we were looking for, so last week we were out for a walk and i had a brainwave!! why not a conservatory!! we have a large shed at the end of the garden (more like a bungalow) that measures 22ftx12ft and we are going to place a Victorian lean-to conservatory onto it, it will measure 18ftx11ft it will sit on an 18" brick wall, will have double doors, apex roof and 4 windows, will be double glazed, and will be finished to a Victorian style, a really good option to using a greenhouse company...........................

Another Book

One more for the collection

Was up in Woodies this afternoon and was just browsing around when i noticed they were selling off a range of books at discounted prices, and not being one to pass up on a bargain i picked up a book on Clematis, it is a Collins Garden Guide to Clematis to give it its full title! 48 pages full of photos and information on everything you need to know about Clematis from selecting, supporting and training, maintaining, propagating and also deals with pests and diseases, features what it thinks to be the top 60 best Clematis for your garden all for €2.99 great value information and reference book for these plants, picked mine up in the Coolock branch of Woodies and there were about 5/6 copies left if anybody is interested! Aldi were selling 40 different hybrid varieties of Clematis last Thursday for €7.99 each so they could make a good value combination!   

Second Tomato Harvest

Aurora bush tomato

Spent this afternoon picking a second harvest from the tomatoes, we took over 1lb from the Garden Pearl, 3lb from the Urbikany, 6 1/2lb from the Aurora and 3lb from the Amish Paste, that brings our total tomato harvest to just under 40lb so far! this afternoons batch will all go in the pot together to make ketchup, also hope to use up the last of last years chillies to make way for this years crop! we will grind some down to make chili powder and the rest will be used to make chili oil, photo shows the 6 1/2lb of the Auroras........... 

August 2009

Busy Bee

Have taken a few pics of the delia and hibiscus that are in flower at the moment, you will find them in the August 2009 album, the toms are now ripening with frightening pace and there is a good few pound to be picked today! they seem to be in a race with the runner beans as to who can produce the quickest crop after picking! the red chillies are also producing a heavy crop with the average chili about 6" long and quiet plump in diameter, will also pick more of the lemon chillies today..................

At long last!!

Swede seed sown July 09

Hello folks, this work thing is really getting in the way of my gardening at the moment! off tomorrow so lots of plans weather permitting! hope to get some more winter veg in the bed we took the onions out of last week, the carrot, onion and swede seed we planted in the ground a couple of weeks ago has come on well so at least we have a start! have a guy coming tomorrow evening to have a look at the plans for our new greenhouse which will be a blessing when its built! so much more space, our 8x6 has served us really well but its time to move on! with the new 16x10 it opens up a lot more space production wise, although we will have a space where we can sit and have a coffee and read a book, hope to start work around the middle of October and then make a start on the veg beds and the fruit cage...........

Fruit

Fruit Collection

Onion Harvest 2009

Onion crop

Took up all of the onion sets tonight, we planted 165 sets earlier in the year and tonight we harvested 158, all of which are more than decent in size! so we are well pleased with that, will dig over the bed hopefully Thursday and add some growmore fertilizer and next week will plant the bed up with sprouts, cabbage and kale for winter cropping...............

Tomato Harvest

Busy Bee

Up to today we had picked about 9lb of tomatoes from the garden and greenhouses, so today was the first serious harvest from this years crop, we took just over 1lb from the cherry tomato, 6lb from the Urbikany, just under 7lb from the Aurora and a whopping 5lb from the Amish paste, that 5lb was made up by 9 tomatoes! Madeleine has made a start on the cooking and bottling of these toms, making up a few batches of paste to be used as a base for soups and sauces with a few pounds earmarked for some delicious ketchup! while the evening is fine i will lift our onion harvest and let it start to dry out in the greenhouse, well done with the seeds Jacinta, look forward to hearing how you get on, thanks Rachel got that info in the post this morning, John, have you tried the Chinese cabbage before? how did it grow for you, now off to get some more work done!