The Urban Beehive...honey from the city

We bought some of this delicious honey last weekend at a local farmers market, it's delicious, an even better story, and an important one too.
The world's bee population is in trouble, in many regions of Europe and America totally wiped out, and we have a serious pollination crisis looming.  Farmers can't produce crops if there are no bees to pollinate the plants.  And bees, sadly are struggling to survive globally.  Australia's bees haven't been affected, yet.  

Vicky Brown and Doug Purdie started their business, to protect and encourage bee populations in the urban environment.   Hives are populated by feral swarms, where possible, to protect the wild bee genetic lines, lines that may be resistant to the diseases that have ravaged populations in other countries.  Important work. 

The Urban Beehive has hives all over the city, on roofs, in parks and private backyards.  I am very tempted to sponsor some hives in our own garden.  Hives are installed and maintained by The Urban Beehive, and you share in in the honey harvest...sweet.

The honey is made by region, like CBD honey, eastern suburbs honey.  I like that different city areas have a different tastes.  My personal favourite is the creamed honey, very delicious, you can see our jar is already nearly empty.  
Honey can also be bought in 60g plastic tubes, I love the idea of giving a flight of Sydney honey as a gift.

We are all trying to live and eat more responsibly, and this is a product that makes you feel good and tastes delicious.  Stop by The Urban Beehive website to read more about their story, find out about the bee keeping courses, or hosting hives in your own garden.

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little letters...to the veggie garden

Growing and eating our own produce has been incredibly satisfying.  It's pleasure to think 'I'll just go and get the herbs/spinach/tomato' take a few steps outside and pick what you need. 

Dear tomatoes you were fab.  We loved you all, every shape and colour.  Next year I will learn to trellis better and plant more of you.  I had no idea your fruit were so heavy.
Dear watermelon, you love I love watermelon (lalala)...you were a delight.
Dear passion fruit, you have put out lots of shoots but you were supposed to be bigger by now, grow faster!
Dear spinach you are a star.  You grow and grow and we can never eat you all.
Dear zucchini you were a flop.  You got mouldy and your fruit fell off, you are not invited back next season.
Dear strawberries thanks for trying.  Next year we will try let your fruit ripen before Miss J eats it.
Dear rainbow chard you win the prize for prettiness and hardiness, tasty too.  Welcome to the all star list.

We are still getting a few last tomatoes and watermelon but its time to plan the winter veggies.
Miss J visits the watermelon plant several times a day to point out "tiny" and "fatty", her names not mine.  I think she is going to enjoy seeing pumpkins growing.

Let me know if you have any recommendations, and please feel free to add little letters of your own.

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Tomato passata...summer garden harvest

We arrived home to a glut of tomatoes.  Amazingly they had survive extreme heat and a cyclone of rain and were hanging plumply off the vines, splitting with ripeness.  The Voice of Reason and I stepped into Martha Stewart mode, picked a bucket (and I mean bucket) of the ripest ones and started cooking.  My contribution was a passata to use with mince for lasagna or bolagnese, Miss J's was eating tomatoes like apples straight out the bucket, the VoR experimented with a secret recipe tomato sauce (delicious).  
Both turned out really well but I can only share the passata with you, the sauce is as I said before, secret.  Hopefully you are enjoying the tomato harvest bounty too.

Ingredients:
As many ripe tomatoes as you want to make into passata.
1kg of tomatoes made 1 litre of passata.
A combined handful of rosemary, oreganum, thyme.
10 - 12 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 cup of olive oil

To make:
Cut tomatoes in half and place in roasting pan with unpeeled garlic cloves and fresh herbs.
Add the remaining ingredients and place pan in a slow oven (160) for an hour, or until tomatoes have softened.
Remove from oven and cool.
Once cool remove garlic skins, they should pop off easily. 
Place tomato mixture in a blender and blend until smooth.  You can pass the passata through a sieve if you want a really fine sauce but I can't be bothered.
Store your delicious passata in sterilised jars or bottles, or freeze, and end enjoy long after summer harvest is over.

We ate the left overs as a thick fragrant tomato soup.
Totally delicious & totally simple, especially when the tomatoes are out of your own garden.

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Instagram almanac at my place

I have had a busy week in the garden, taking out the old rocket and spinach, and making way for zucchini, squashes and tomatoes.  The sugar snap peas are almost finished.  Little Miss J has loved them, gobbling pea after pea straight from the plant.  

We are trying strawberries, just hope Miss J leaves them on the plant until they are ripe.  

It is so satisfying eating from the garden.  Last night we roasted beetroot straight from the soil, sweet and nutty, and almost every day we have a mixed salad of rainbow chard, spinach and lettuce leaves. 

I love walking straight through the greens section of the supermarket because we simply don't need any.

We are finally enjoying some flowers.  The California Poppies are flowering, the salvia is in spike, and the sedum is growing in.  I love deep pink and burned orange of this California Poppy variety - called Jelly Beans.  I hope it self seeds and comes back on its own next year.

The crazy pear trees have finally decided to blossom.  I have been worried because all the neighbours trees flowered weeks ago.  Hopefully some regular nitrogen will stimulate some good leaf growth for summer.

I picked these succulent clippings from a neighbouring garden on a walk with Little Miss J.  They are hardening off for a few days and then I am going to plant them in the tough hot spots on the sides of the house.  The weeds seem to have been thriving in these spots so hopefully there is enough soil for these lovely succulents to get a hold onto.

The hooks are up on the wall as planned.  Just as well as summer seems to be here at a last and the towels and swimming costumes always seem to be wet.  Much tidier with this system. No more towels draped on the pool fence or puddling soggily on the deck.

What's is happening in the garden at your place?

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