Little Butternut

 

With all my attention on producing Face Masks, I seem to have neglected our garden a bit with our vegitable garden been the hardest hit. Oh my, the little butternut is so small. We'll have to do something about it, won't we.

First Fruits

 

With all the good rains, our vegetable garden has become overgrown, so Lynda decided to get stuck in and do some weeding. It was while she was getting her hands dirty, that she discovered a lovely green pepper, ready for picking. Ahh the first fruits of the year are going to be sweet and tasty.

Show me your Gems

Last winter and puppy River Song ravished our vegetable garden into a dust bowl. Fencing the dust bowl off and replanting, along with all the rain has turned the dust bowl into a jungle and this gem squash is the first fruit of Lynda's hard labour. I suppose this gem squash should help in balancing the savage act of our gardener pulling out Lynda's snap dragons which she planted as seeds because at this stage in their growth they looked like weeds. After sleeping in the dogbox for the last few days, this gem has brought the smile back to Lynda's face.

Waste of a Day

Well today didn't go as planned as I have a lot of work to do. I got home last night just before witching hour after riding on my Vespa from Pretoria. I really enjoyed last night especially after the bad start. Matthew and I ended up drinking Belgium beers at the function held after the 2018 Academic Opening Ceremony of the Belgium Campus iTversity.

So this morning, I was very tired as I crawled out of bed to do my work but only to find that the fibre was done. Studing the chats I found out that it was down since 00h20 and no news was coming in from Vumatel of when it will be back up again only an SMS at 06h53 that their technicians are en route to investigate and resolve the issue.

It turns out that the whole day was wasted as the fibre only came back on at 16h14. So I finnly got to start my work day, on a Friday when everyone was coming home for the weekend, I was only starting, grrrr.

During the afternoon, while I was walking around in the garden waiting for the fibre, I took a photo of my cabbages in the vegetable garden that where growing not cabbages but becoming something strange. No cabbages yet, if I will get anything from these deformed looking plants. Not sure what I did wrong.

Carrot Life

When life gives you carrots, no was that lemons, oh never mind, look what carrot we pulled out of our garden today. Interesting shape of carrot. That is my life, oddly shaped but rather interesting, living life to the fullest.

Spinach and Cauliflower

Our vegetable and herb garden is booming with basil, beans, carrots, chillies, gooseberries, granadilla, lemons, lettuce, lime, mint, parsley, peppers, pumpkin, spinach, spring onions, strawberries, theme, tomatoes, and others that slipped my mind. Our cauliflower were battling much like the spinach were until I moved them to the side so now we planted some more cauliflower next to the thriving spinach.

Who would have guessed that we could get this right but winter is coming and that will be the test.

Water Restrictions

The water restrictions imposed upon us by the City of Joburg, due to the drought has been partially lifted in our area last week even though the Department of Water and Sanitations have officially lifted theirs. I suppose it is good to be cautious but it was about time as it was not easy watering our vegetable garden by watering can when there was a perfectly good irrigation system built into our garden and what a pleasure in turning the sprinklers on and watch our herbs and vegetables breathe a sigh of relief.

Lynda, Lynda, Quite Contrary

With Lynda’s vegetable and herb garden doing very well, that question everyone is asking is, Lynda, Lynda, quite contrary, how does your garden grow? Well I would like to answer with silver bells, cockle shells, lettuces and peppers all in a row.

Chilli Veg

Wow the vegetable garden outside our kitchen is alive with beautiful vegetables, herbs, and chillies. This evening when Lynda came home, she went out into the garden to get some fresh produce to add to her supper of bangers and mash which I had prepared.

A few weeks back I picked some chillies to add into the dish I was preparing. Now not one for chillies, my knowledge is rather slim so I phoned a friend. I described the chillies to Craig over the phone and he said from what I described that they don’t sound that hot but that I should bite one and taste, mind you just the tip he said, so that is what I did. Yummy the big one that I bit into, similar to the big one in the above photo tasted nice and sweet, must be a pepper so I went with that one for the dish. I cut up the pepper nice and finely. Just as I was going to add it to the dish, I thought that I better do one more taste test, so I took a small slither and popped it into my mouth expecting a sweet tasting pepper and not hot chilli. WOW HOT! my tongue instantly swelled up from the heat of the capsaicin. HOT! I phoned Craig back and said a barely audible thanks over the phone, just what friends are for.

Lynda came back from the vegetable garden with these freshly picked lettuces, herbs, beans, and of course some chillies. Having already burnt myself with these chillies I took a wide berth around them when adding the fresh greens to my supper. I know I must somehow add these red devils to my cooking but for now I’ll take a chill pill.

Eat Your Vegetables

So I arrived home this evening after a long day at work and have to start changing my mind set from work mode to domestication. Okay what to do first, uhmm, oh yes first the oven is put on to pre-heat and the vegetables are prepared for roasting. Then it is off to get changed into something a little more comforting. I mustn’t forget the heaters have to be switched on to warm the home for the onslaught of the winter evening.

In full swing, I put the vegetables and chicken on the go while heading out to the garage to clean the air filters on my Vespa. Once the clean sponge filters are hanging up to dry, I check up on the dogs and cats’ food, water, and making sure that their heaters are on before heading back into the warmth of the my cottage. The breath-taking smells from the kitchen start making me hungry, by this time I can’t wait to eat dinner.

Feed the fish and put the TV on. After running a hot bath, I soak away the grime and troubles of the day. Then I plonk myself in front of the TV after pouring myself a drink, put my feet up, and wait for dinner to be ready. Good old fashioned roast chicken covered in mushroom sauce, served with roast vegetables and creamed spinach, just what the doctor has ordered.

Aubergines, Brinjals, Eggplants

Lynda's vegetable garden is slowly coming along with a small harvest trickling along. We have added to our plates green beans, peppers and tomatoes. Now a solitary brinjal is slowly getting ready for harvest.

Through the Window Pane

New beginnings and the unknown tends to make me apprehensive and anxious. It reminds me when Matthew used to climb with MCSA aka the Mountain Club of South Africa; I used to stand at the bottom of the cliff face as most anxious parents do. When you on the rock face you sometimes can’t see the better routes up, but with me at the bottom, I could see the whole picture and could relay to Matthew the better routes.

Now I find myself on the cliff face, straining to see upwards to find the better route up. It is not easy looking through the window pane and trying to make sense of the way forward. Does my future look green and lust?

Lynda's Green Peppers

Lynda's so excited that her green peppers are starting to bear little peppers. Who would have thought that Lynda has such green fingers?