March 2014 Issue #103

Hello,

What fun that we both love gardening. Thanks for joining me.

1) Keep it neat
2) Eco gardening tips
3) Flourless Cottage Kale Tart

Here I am visiting my son Giles in Auckland, NZ. He has a great organic garden, and we've been eating watermelon, strawberries, tomatoes, zucchinis, lettuce, kale, beetroot, spinach,and so on...

Got veggies to grow
And bugs to beat
Got flowers to sniff
And food to eat
Got lots of sun
And lots of shade…
Guess you could say
I've got it made!

Eco gardening tips

• Keep it neat:
  See how neat my son's garden is in the photo above… his secret is to have the level of the garden below the paths and boundaries.
  
  

  Most gardeners tend to mound up stuff, and it often overflows everywhere, especially if the birds have a fossick. Try to keep it down if possible and see how spick 'n span it looks.

• More blighted toms:
  I've mentioned tomato blight before, and here's a tip when handling plants. It's a good idea to wash your hands or use washable gloves so you don't transfer the spores to other plants or around your garden. Make up a solution of equal amounts of water and household bleach (careful of your skin please) and wipe down or dip in any tools like secateurs or knives to sterilize them.
  
  

  And here's the link to the book I recommend if you want tips for year after year success: How to Grow Superb Tomatoes

• Excuse me!
  For those gardeners coming out of winter, here's a little tip to protect some of our friendly, pest eating hibernators. Be very careful when moving rocks and other objects. Sleepy ground-dwelling lizards for example can easily get squashed if you enthusiastically start re-arranging your landscape.

Some things you just have to have!

If you'd like to simplify your gardening by knowing when, what and how to plant, I'm willing to bet this garden planner will be a hit with you, like it is with me.

"The free trial for a month won me over and now I definitely can see the usefulness of this planner.
Thank you Megan for recommending this, getting excited looking at all the possibilities I have for my veg patch now."
Eileen R.

Flourless Cottage Kale Tart

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 200g cottage cheese
• ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese (or ¼ Parmesan & ¼ cheddar)
• 1 cup cooked, chopped artichokes, (or use canned)
• 1 bunch kale or silverbeet, roughly chopped (about 4 large leaves)
• Salt & pepper to taste.

Method

• Lightly mix eggs and cheese in large bowl. Just break the eggs up, don't beat them.
• Mix in artichokes, kale or silverbeet and salt & pepper.
• Pour into greased 9" (23cm) shallow pan and bake at 190C (375F) for 40-45 minutes or until just set in middle.
• Turn out and let cool on a rack for about 5 mins or more before eating.

Preparation: 15 minutes

Serves: 2 people

Happy gardening
Megan