Pea Straw Magic

When we put the garden beds to sleep for the winter, we covered them in a thick layer of pea straw each.  With the spring tiny little shoots came up, then pea vines, and now peas!  I thought they would be straw from something industrial, like peabeans, or chickpeas...I'm not sure what I was thinking actually.  What came up appears to be Mangetout.  Wow, today I went out and picked a colander full, and there must be at least twice this amount again, ready to be harvested.

Artichokes are for Eating

The Artichoke is a fine plant.  It is such a great grey, with large spikey leaves and a fabulous presence in the garden.  But the best bit is the artichoke itself, just eat it cooked, dipped in mayonnaise...mmmm

Don't the Raspberries look great!

But I am dying to know if they will be ready before we move, first week in December.

If anyone knows how long from flower to fruit, please post in the comments.

FOR SALE : 3YR OLD FAMILY HOME, 4+1 BEDROOMS/2 BATHS ETC

Our lovely home is up for sale.  You can now secure yourself a small piece of paradise in Central Otago.

FEATURES:
4 Bedrooms
1 Study
1 Bathroom
1 Toilet
1 Ensuite
1 Walkin Wardrobe
1 Playroom
Large Kitchen with 6  burner Gas Hob, and large oven, dishwasher
Separate Dining and Living areas
Large covered Veranda with access from 2 of the bedrooms and the living areas
1002 Sq Metres section
3 rows of grapes (1/2 Pinot Noir, 1/2 Pinot Gris)
Large Vegetable garden as viewed on this blog
Large grassed area with sandpit for children
Fully Fenced and private

Can be viewed at http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=319709106 (note the kitchen photos on there are old, and now has kickboards fitted, and red paint etc)

Comes with 100m access to Lake Dunstan boat ramp for boating and swimming.  7km from Cromwell township.

Cauliflower Soup

We have just eaten the last of the Caulis in soup, very very nice:

CAULIFLOWER SOUP

Cut up one cauli into flowerets and put in pot with one leek, one carrot and one piece celery.  Cover with 500ml chicken stock.  Simmer till veges are soft, then puree.  Add 1 can evaporated milk, or 200ml cream.  Reheat but do not boil.  Season with salt and pepper.

It was absolutely delicious.

Rose Wine...

I made some very suspect wine from our eating grapes in January, and on the container I had written "bottle up in August 2010".  I just did that on the weekend, but man, that stuff tastes bad so far! I hope that 3 years down the line, when it should be drinkable, that it actually will be!

The fruits of our labours are coming!

Even though we havent planted the vege garden this year, the good old faithfuls are still doing their wonderful thing.

Artichokes are forming on the huge plants we have, sending up small tennis ball sized ones that I know will soon be good for eating.

The raspberries are going crazying with a gazillion flowers, the whole bed is full of the promise of sweet raspberries.

Our new plants, both blackcurrant and gooseberry, are making their first fruit ever.  In fact the gooseberry flowered, and within a week has pea sized fruit on it which I imagine will grow so quickly I will be able to eat them before we go.