Winter Vege Garden.....

Previously I have never had much success in the vege garden in winter, but to be fair I've never had much of a vege garden before and who wants to spend time out in the cold wet windy weather turning over the soil?

Well now I have more vege garden than I know what to do with and I'm determined to produce all these fabulous goodies that are going to make me strong and heallthy and maybe even save a few bucks at the shopping centre each week. I must confess, it's technically not my vege garden, its 'theirs' or 'ours'. That is, it's at my sisters place where our studio is situated and as I do half the work in it, then surely that makes it 'ours', or 'mine' even when I feel like it...yeah?

Since big sis moved in about 5 months ago, we've been slowly working to get it back to health with lots of digging, turning and horse poo, and Daz has worked hard to put up a fence and gate to keep all the critters out (rats, rabbits, kangaroos etc) and has moved the potting shed for us to a nice convenient position.

In autumn we planted silverbeet, spinach, beetroot, parsnip, broccoli, celery, cabbage, strawberries, and what we thought was leeks, but has turned out to be onions. About a month ago now we went out to harvest our first planting of beetroot, only to find that the wildlife had 'just' beaten us to it, as they were okay only a few days previously. Lucky we had a 2nd and 3rd planting of beetroot, and anyway we've fixed the suckers now, with that fence and gate! You don't suppose they can open gates do you?

Today I dropped in on my way home from Melbourne to pick a few things to go in my dinner, and can I just say that I think I cooked my best fried rice ever, which included fresh broccoli, celery, and spinach leaves from 'our' vege garden. It's a pity I'm not a rhubarb fan, look at it, it's going crazy!
I've got to say, its pretty darn good being able to 'take 5' from all that creativity and production and just go and work in the vege patch for 1/2 hour, and its even better picking fresh ingredients to cook with. All the family is benefiting from this little patch of dirt.

Oh and in case you hadn't noticed, my nephew Cooper also loves being in the vege garden, and he doesn't mind his photo being taken either!

A favourite recipe

After a few vege garden discussions over the last few weeks, I have had a few requests for my Pickled Beetroot recipe, which is one of my favourites, and well worth growing your own beetroot for. Like most pickle, chutney, relish recipes it can get a little messy, but oh....it is so worth it! I thought I would share my recipe with you all.

PICKLED BEETROOT RECIPE

750g beetroot freshly ground black pepper
Sea salt flakes 1 tablespoon sugar
400ml red wine vinegar 4 cloves
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced 6 coriander seeds
¼ cup freshly grated horseradish

Cut tops of beetroot, leaving 2cm. Clean beetroot thoroughly as some juice will be reserved for later use. Boil beetroot over low-medium heat with 1 tspn salt and a little of the vinegar added. Remove beetroot from liquid and allow to cool before peeling. Strain the liquid and set aside.
Coarsely grate beetroot. Mix the garlic and grated horseradish into the beetroot and season with salt and pepper. Tip the beetroot mixture into hot, sterilized glass jar. Boil remaining vinegar with an equal amount of reserved cooking liquid, and the sugar and spices for 5 min. Pour this hot solution over the beetroot, making sure it is just covered.
Seal the jar and allow it to mature in the pantry for 2 weeks. Refrigerate after opening.

From 'Maggie's Harvest' by Maggie Beer.

We have one lot of beetroot that was planted about 3 weeks ago and another lot was planted yesterday. In a few months time we will be ready to make batches of this beautiful relish.