Courgette's Galore

As the courgettes in my garden seem to be thriving and producing a bumper crop we are having to think of many different ways to use them.  We have been eating them in the usual stir fries and steamed, but I’ve had to be a bit more inventive with some of the bigger ones.

Firstly I made some courgette, pea and spinach soup from a recipe I got out of my New Convent Garden Soup book.  This was delicious and had a lovely texture.  I think I will be making up a nice big batch of this and freezing some.  I wouldn’t normally eat much soup this time of year, but as the weather has been so cold and wet I’ve needed something hot at lunchtime a little more often.

Next came a bit of an experiment.....courgette cake!  I had a look on the internet and found a recipe that sounded nice for a courgette and lemon cake.  I was a bit sceptical, but I love carrot cake and I do have an awful lot of courgettes to use so I had nothing to lose.  The result was lovely, a little lighter than a carrot cake, with a lovely hint of cinnamon.  It is lovely and moist, but lemon didn’t come through as much as I’d like so I think I would add more next time.  Another success I look forward to repeating in the near future.

Lastly I made some chutney as we had just finished off last years supplies so it was the perfect time to get out the Maslin pan and my collection of old jam jars.  I used a recipes from my river cottage handbook that I used last year for a Apricot chutney, and although the results look good and initial tasting was good we will have to wait a couple of months while it matures for the final verdict.

While reading some magazines I found some lovely recipes for dishes using courgettes, including pizza and risotto, so as long as my plants are giving me the courgettes I will continue to experiment.  

How does your garden grow.......

Well mine is not doing well at all!  Having recently moved back into our house after living abroad for 3 years the garden is in need of some love and care.  Not much has survived and I am fighting a battle with the weeds and some rather invasive bamboo.

I am rather a novice gardener and I think I am going to have to take things back to basics and start by clearing all the weeds and tidy up the space before planting can begin.

While on holiday in Scotland we stumbled upon a beautiful walled garden in Dunbar.  There was a great park for the little’s, a lovely cafe so the big ones were happy and the planting was very inspirational. 

Now as my knowledge is very limited I have purchased a few books and I am going to be dragging my mother into the garden to get her advice as her garden is beautiful, I have already got some seeds from her garden to sow once the boards have been dug. 

There is so much to do and its going to take some time.  There are plans going to be made, rubbish and weeds to clear and lots of reading and advice seeking to be done, but I am very much looking forward to taking the garden in hand and making it a lovely place to be.

I must say where everything else is failing in my garden after returning from two weeks holiday I have found that the courgettes are my one success and I have a rather bumper crop, including 3 monster ones that are going to be made into some chutney and some soup.

Sub-Tropical Micro Climate....Cornwall Grey More like!

Today we have woken up to rain and grey skies and it feels like a bit of a pyjama day today, but luckily we managed to get out and about over the weekend and enjoy lots of lovely fresh air.   Saturday was a child focused day with soft play and animal petting, but Sunday we did something more for the grown-ups and visited Trebah Gardens. 

A few months ago I brought a copy of Gardens World and there was a special voucher that allows 2 for 1 entry to a number of gardens around the UK.  I have been getting more into my gardening lately and thought it would a good opportunity to get out and get some inspiration.

I must say that we are really rather spoiled with the gardens down here in Cornwall and some are really quite exotic looking with the counties sub-tropical micro climate and Trebah was no exception.

Although this was more of a day out for the adults, the children enjoyed themselves throughtly too.  Watching the Koi Carp in the pond, running in and out if the giant bamboo and playing on the estates private beach.

A fantastic day was had all round and the weather was very kind to us.  I did think we might have trouble getting the little ones to bed as they slept quite late on the way home but I think all the fresh air did them good as they went to bed no problem.

So if you are ever in the Falmouth area I can really recommend a trip to the Trebah gardens..... the cake in the cafe was yummy too!

p.s. My photos where not a good as I would have liked because on Saturday I dropped my DSLR on the floor and managed to break the lens....luckily the main body of the camera is fine so just need to get a new lens sorted!