Tomato Envy

At the IABA conference quite a number of people were interested in blogs and blogging and there were some great papers on the subject. I introduced these scholars to the term 'harvest porn' - the droolworthy pictures of harvests. Most giggled, some were academically confronted by the exact terminology, while others couldn't understand the joy of looking at someone else's garden produce. But I love these pictures, and at the moment there are so many amazing Northern Hemisphere harvests (and some pretty awesome local ones too.) What I drooled over the most were tomatoes. Delicious, homegrown, still warm from the sun tomatoes.

So I got harvest envy, or moreover tomato envy. It is a love apple seven deadly sin fest on my computer screen! Luckily I curbed this envy a little while ago when the market sold the last of the heirloom tomatoes. Similar scenarios have happened in years gone past.

This time around I got these two beauties and the pictures do not do justice to their size. The portion of slices pictured below was for one meal, and I managed to get three and a half plates of similar size out of these miraculous 'matoes!!!

 Just add some other chopped veggies and here is one wonderful meal.

The red one was a bit like a mortgage lifter, though a little mealy. The yellow was deliciously sweet but again a little mealy. Given the lateness in the season (it was winter for goodness sake) I am not surprised at their mealy interiors but both were heaven anyway.

The Vic markets and some of the Woolworths and Coles in the area (and hopefully smaller places can get in on this action, grrr to Coles and Woolies for monopolising the good stuff.) often have these medley tomatoes. They're grown in such conditions that they are available nearly all year round. They're pretty good, tasty little mouthfuls though sometimes a little insipid. Still they're much better than the cardboard tomatoes of the past!

But nothing, nothing beats the taste of a good, homegrown tomato, so until Spring hits it is tomato envy for me all the way. Keep up the good harvests.

Harvest Monday

Conference season means I've been away spreading my academic wares and absorbing the fantastic works of others. First up was the Australian Historical Association conference in Adelaide where I also caught a nasty flu, which meant the citrus drinks aided by my recent harvests were a little ineffective. Then on to Canberra for the IABA conference (international auto/biographical association) where my voice had returned but the cough had remained. Papers went well and I thoroughly enjoyed all the sessions I attended. I was particularly pleased seeing a few Melbourne colleagues giving papers (not the least of which was my lovely other half.) Being at a conference in Adelaide meant staying with the parentals, which was as lovely as always. AND I got to see the puppy dogs, who were, as always, as cute as ever.

One would also think that being away would limit the harvest - but here are a few things I harvested before I left (and since I've returned.)

Some thumbelina and purple carrots, enjoyed by me, my lovely bf and also by the bugs of the garden (tiny but super delicious, the carrots that is, not the bugs.)

 (see the big chunk taken out of the orange one!!! I can assure you that was all descendents of Sid the Snail and not me.)

Greens are a good staple on the balcony. Things such as broccoli, kale and swiss chard made a delicious stirfry along with pork mince and rice cakes.

Brocolli leaves (only) also went into a nutritious and delicious soup, that while a distinct hue of baby vomit green, have proven to be almost addictive. I've had two bowls today already. Probably the yellow curry, lentils, parsnips, carrots and potatoes I put in with it. They say that the leaves have a tonne of Vitamin A in them which is awesome, and usually I'd just chuck them out. Hooray for food scraps!

 

The garden is a little light on produce now (except for a few snow peas, some piddly little lettuce and a few bits of broccoli.) But ... in exciting news ... I spent an hour or so today cleaning up the left over pots in preparation for the spring crop which is just around the corner! Future harvests here we come. For more amazing harvests visit Daphne's Dandelions.

Floral thoughts

I popped home to Adelaide last week to visit the folks. It was to make up for Easter when I went to Adelaide and spent the entire time marking assignments. This time round there was no marking to be done, although it didn't mean I was completely work free. I spent most of the time hanging out with these fellows:

And spending quality time with my Mum and Dad. To say thanks to Mum (and Dad) for taking such great care of me I have a tradition of buying some flowers, and this is what I stumbled upon this time.

I know some people think buying cut flowers is a waste, they just open and die, but I'm not just some people. I happen to love cut flowers, and feel it brings the garden indoors. Yes you can have indoor plants, but indoor plants are not without their problems. I've posted before about the flowers I cut from my balcony garden and bring inside for colour. But the rest of this post is meant as a thankyou to my delightful other half, who looked ater the balcony garden in my absence, but who recieved no such pressie! And how do I thank him? By showing the world his lovely and thoughtful nature. Here is a collection of only some of the flowers he has bought me over the last few months. They were for different reasons (e.g. I was severely overworked, I had just finished a PhD so congratulations were in order ... and just coz!)

I don't know why I don't have pics of more of them, as they were lovely. Such a thoughtful and kind man. He also brought home three seedlings on the weekend, a red kale and two varieties of peas.They went straight in the garden and should prove tasty when it comes time to harvest (look at my latest harvest here) This was after he bought this lovely fern below, which I promptly accidentally killed!

 I have never given him flowers, but I did once make him a bag. Well I make everyone bags, as they help me practice my sewing. And I guess I cook him delicious food, but I do that for myself as well as him. All these flowers and he just gets one bag, think I better lift my game :)

Harvest Monday (on a Tuesday)

I'm a day late on my harvest Monday post, but given the harvest in here covers a few weeks I didn't think it was a problem. Before I left for my trip I was harvesting a fair amount of produce, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchinis, corn and even an apple. For a while I was eating everything with lettuce, trying to use up the cos that all ripened at once.

I'd picked up the trick in vietnamese restaurants of eating spring rolls wrapped in mint and lettuce. I did that at home and it was delicious. Then started wrapping just about anything in lettuce and mint!

Even sausages.

Greek salads were a hit for using up the tomatoes and the cucumber. I also just ate them as is!

There were yellow zukes as well as cukes.

The apple - this was the first one - was lovely. Not quite ripe, not quite properly flavoured but darn it, it was the first apple I;ve ever grown so I thought it was great. I've eaten a few more since I got back and tastes/textures have varied wildly.

Then there was the amazing harvest from my birth dad's garden - delicious carrots, onions, beans and more. I barely had time to cook it all before I left but it was greatly appreciated.

Next Harvest Monday I promise more pics of the tomatoes, in particular the huge black russian which adorned my salad plate. Because I know that is all the northern hemisphere people want, just some lovely, juicy, ripe tomatoes ... well here's a peek ...

If you are after more harvest posts head on over to Daphne's Dandelions for the harvest Monday round up.

Silence is Golden

Silence is golden. As golden as a nectarine's insides? Actually probably not, because silence at the moment is kind of painful given I have an ear infection in both ears and the only thing I can really hear is ringing. Things went a bit silent here in blogland again too - that's because I was off on my long-awaited driving holiday with my cousin. I'm going to post a few floral highlights here of our journey from Brisbane to Melbourne with the help of Betty Reg (our gender-confused Ford Fiesta) but most of the recap will be on my other blog, A Teetoal 2012, which highlights my year without alcohol. You will be able to enjoy reading about the good bits:

Katoomba's 1970s charm
The Jenolan Caves
Some great, little town accomodations (and hallucinations/reality of the nicest hotel owner ever)
Fish and Chips on a Beach
The Portrait Gallery of Canberra
Seeing friends while on the Road
Minigolf as a panacea

and the less good bits:

The fog that ate Katoomba and the Three Sisters
Male backpackers and the urge to be less than gentlemanly
Sinus/Ear/Chest infections that start on the first day of your trip and only get worse!

Indeed it is this last 'not good bit' that pretty much marred the whole trip and might keep me from promptly posting everything about the adventure. It is also why things are still a bit silent for me, the whole world is muffled! I'm very used to ear infections, having suffered them all my life, but this one is a doozy. Suffice to say I have learned the hard way that it is probably better to go to a dr while away, no matter what the hassle, than to wait a week until you get home and realise the ear infection has gone from annoying and singularly located, to severe and in both ears!

On this Balcony Garden blog I've also got plenty of posts planned as the garden has been just lovely in summer. Apples have been eaten, tomatoes have ripened and although the corn has not gone as planned it looks super pretty. It responded well to Mr M's balcony sitting. So stay tuned.

Blooming Adelaide in Bloom

It'll be garden bloggers blooms day soon, and there is plenty flowering away on my balcony. However when I was in Adelaide there was plenty in bloom in my Mum's garden and out in the parks where we took the dogs for a stroll. In the home plot there are all sort of goodies. First there were the purple irises. Yes I know the photo is white, Mum bought purple irises, just turned out they were white instead (she was unimpressed but I think they are majestic.)

Gerberas and Geraniums

Strawberry flowers from the new pot I made for her (Ok techincally she ended up potting them up, but I floated the idea ...)

Lime flowers

Orangey goodness (can you tell I don't know the name)

We went walking nearly every day with the dogs. Often round Norwood but one day we went back Burnside way, to Michael Perry park, a spot of greenery from my youth.

Gone was the clandestine rope swing we used back in the day, but still there were trees we would climb, clearings we would rest in and shrubs within which we would hide ourselves away. Magical place then, still at least a magical place for the dogs now.

There were lillies and nastursiums all over the place. Gotta love free range nature!

Adelaide in Spring can certainly be a magical place.

Holiday Gardentimes - Part 2 The Inside Goodness of Kew Gardens

In my last holiday post I wrote about the beauty of the outside parts of Kew Gardens, along with my encounters with its feathery animal kind. I visited each of the conservatories hoping to find an example of a vanilla pod vine. Alas I didn't manage to find this illusive greenery but I found so many other wonders.

There were floral wonders (and of course the obligatory shot of a fuschia)

Pond inhabiting and surrounding beauties

Cacti and Succulents which would never otherwise survive the UK climate

And edibles - ok this was inside the Orangery, but it was just as great as any of the conservatory items above (it was a smoked salmon sandwich with a 'side' of artichoke, tomato and greens salad, totally yum)

What a lovely day!