Catterpillar Issues

Catterpillars are currently the main souce of my annoyance. The other day I took a cheeky peek at my cauliflowers, cabbages & broccoli, only to find that they had been DEVOURED by caterpillars. Upset is an understatement. 

I try to be a very organic gardener, so have scoured the interwebs to find an organic solution to my problem. Thinking that I would have to mix up some kind of witches couldron of formula, I was quite thrilled with this recipe I have stumbled across:

"Sprinkle Baking Soda on Cabbages (and other Brassicas) to Thwart Caterpillars If those small green cabbage worms have been making Swiss cheese of your cabbage, broccoli, and kale plants, try this trick: Make a 50/50 combination of flour and baking soda, and dust it all over whichever plants the cabbage worms are eating. They'll eat the combo while munching the leaves, and die within a day or so. Repeat as necessary." - Planetgreen.com

FANTASTIC!

I have tried this out, & so far so good......

I never knew that baking powder was so handy! I guess I do now!

Superb Herb

My rosemary bush, for some unknown reason, has gone a bit mad in the last week or so. So yesterday I tamed it a bit, cutting it back. I brought it inside & just dumped it by the kitchen sink. I then went out to meet a friend & when I came home the kitchen smelt SO GOOD!

You can almost smell it through the screen, it's so delicious!

How could I resist making a cheeky loaf of bread with this bunch of rosemary? Answer: I couldn't.

Now, I have never made bread before, but there's a first time for everything!

SUCCESS!!

Black Olive & Rosemary Bread.

Ingredients:

500g Strong White Flour

7g Fast Action Dried Yeast

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

2 Tablespoons Salt

350ml Lukewarm Water

70g Pitted Black Olives, Roughly Chopped

 1 Tablespoon Fresh Rosemary, Chopped

1. Sift flour into large bowl, stir in yeast & salt. 

2. Drizzle the oil over the flour, make a well in the centre & gradually add water. (Add a tad more if you think the dough is too dry, or a tad more flour if the dough is too sticky)

3. Tip dough onto a board, lightly dusted with flour, & knead for at least 10mins until the dough is smooth & elastic.

4. Press the dough out to a flat round & scatter the chopped olives & rosemary over the surface. Fold the dough over & work the olives & rosemary into the dough.

5. Shape into a round & lift onto an oiled baking sheet. Mark into 8 wedges.

6. Cover with oiled cling film & leave in a warm place for 30mins to rise.

7. Preheat oven 200C/400F/Gas 6/Fan 180C. Remove cling film & bake for 30-35mins until golden.

8. Cool on a wire rack, then EAT!

Waste Not, Want Not

Who says that carrot tops are useless? Not me.

Minty & Bugsy are bunnies who live with my friends Sally & Andrew, & they are VERY welcome. I wouldn't want those delicious carrot tops to go to waste!