I'm not sure exactly how many makes a glut, but so far we have picked 22 cucumbers from just 2 plants. And they continue to flower with lots more in various stages of growth. It's just as well that not all the seeds have done as well - 4 plants have grown and grown but not produced a single flower. It may be that they are from collected seed which is sterile, not sure.
Some of the 22 I've pickled sliced in vinegar, some sliced in sweet vinegar; we are eating lots as tapas - cut into sticks and used to eat dips. Garlic mayo is a favourite but last night we had a selection of dips made from roasted aubergines as they are also growing rapidly. 1 dip had garlic, 1 with smoked paprika, 1 with ground cumin and 1 with cayenne pepper. And they all had lots of olive oil in and all tasted very good. 9 aubergines so far this past fortnight and I counted 21 more of differing sizes this morning. Another glut coming?!
Friday, 6 August 2010
Thursday, 5 August 2010
A nosy tomato.
Remember the Esther Rantzen show? With - amongst other things - pictures of weird vegetables?
Amongst today's 5.5 kilos of tomatoes was this one. I leave it up to your imagination as to what is looks like but I think it's another nosy one. Not as big as yesterdays, much more regular in size - if not in shape.
Wednesday, 4 August 2010
Not a euro standard tomato!
Apart from being such a peculiar shape, it weighed in at 350 grams. Not sure if it was trying to be 2 tomatoes and divide itself somehow - it's also trying to grow a nose!
The rest of yesterday's tomatoes were perfectly normal, various sizes from what I call salad up to beef tomatoes. But this one? Definitely different!
Tuesday, 3 August 2010
Fresh lemonade
If you're lucky enough to have a lemon tree outside your back door, making lemonade would seem a sensible thing to do. But most recipes I've come across use loads and loads of sugar which doesn't sound very healthy. Yesterday I found a recipe that uses much less sugar and I made a double batch this morning. It made over 2 litres, we have just had a glass each with our lunch, diluted with gaseosa which is a Spanish drink, sort of a slightly sweetened lemony soda water.
3 large lemons
90g sugar
750ml boiling water
Cut the lemons up into small pieces - peel, pips and all.
Add to a blender with 30g sugar and 250ml boiling water.
Whizz, strain and return pulp to blender.
30g more sugar, 250ml more water, whizz, strain and return pulp to blender.
30g more sugar, 250ml more water, whizz, strain and squeeze pulp.
Put in a bottle in the fridge to cool.
Apparently very nice with a drop of gin - or vodka if it's for me. Might try a glass tonight.
I found the recipe here - thank you to Fergus and his human companions.
3 large lemons
90g sugar
750ml boiling water
Cut the lemons up into small pieces - peel, pips and all.
Add to a blender with 30g sugar and 250ml boiling water.
Whizz, strain and return pulp to blender.
30g more sugar, 250ml more water, whizz, strain and return pulp to blender.
30g more sugar, 250ml more water, whizz, strain and squeeze pulp.
Put in a bottle in the fridge to cool.
Apparently very nice with a drop of gin - or vodka if it's for me. Might try a glass tonight.
I found the recipe here - thank you to Fergus and his human companions.
Monday, 2 August 2010
Summer neighbours
Someone's asked me if I could write more frequently to which I said, but I only write or post photos when there is something of interest to write about. But, she said, I like to come home from work, log on and catch up with everything that's happened as it helps keep me going until the next time we're over. (She and her husband have a house nearby and come for every holiday they can)
Our next door neighbours are down from Granada for the summer, they have a house in Yator that they sleep in and come up here all day every day. They have a plunge pool - 3metres by 2 - big enough for the children to spend endless hours in. Carmen - the grandmother - is chief cook and TV watcher in true Spanish style, Mari spends a lot of time stretched out on a sunbed by the pool usually getting splashed by her children while Miguel, her husband, has a new toy this summer. He's bought a strimmer and can be heard clearing anything that he thinks are weeds or grass and therefore unwanted. It's partly in an effort to keep wildlife and insects away from around the house but he doesn't seem to know the difference between grasses, geraniums, iris and some low growing fleshy plant with red flowers that we have everywhere but don't know it's name. So all the flowers that I'd planted around where we all park our cars are now no more. They were only cuttings that were spare, but did brighten up the edges and more to the point, the roots help hold the soil together when it rains. When I was chatting to Mari and Carmen, I said to them, have you seen what he's been up to? Mari said the equivalent of "boys and their toys!" It's not the first time, last summer he chopped out nearly all the flowers she'd put in outside their front door as part of his grand tidy up. At least the roots are still there so they should regrow. Next time the strimmer comes out, I'm going to stand guard!
Saturday he set off down their terraces clearing the undergrowth. On the way down he managed to "prune" the 20 foot high, enormously bushy bay tree down to something that resembles a lollipop. Lots of bay leaves now drying on the terrace under the grape vine. Luckily he is working this week so everything is ok until the weekend!
Our next door neighbours are down from Granada for the summer, they have a house in Yator that they sleep in and come up here all day every day. They have a plunge pool - 3metres by 2 - big enough for the children to spend endless hours in. Carmen - the grandmother - is chief cook and TV watcher in true Spanish style, Mari spends a lot of time stretched out on a sunbed by the pool usually getting splashed by her children while Miguel, her husband, has a new toy this summer. He's bought a strimmer and can be heard clearing anything that he thinks are weeds or grass and therefore unwanted. It's partly in an effort to keep wildlife and insects away from around the house but he doesn't seem to know the difference between grasses, geraniums, iris and some low growing fleshy plant with red flowers that we have everywhere but don't know it's name. So all the flowers that I'd planted around where we all park our cars are now no more. They were only cuttings that were spare, but did brighten up the edges and more to the point, the roots help hold the soil together when it rains. When I was chatting to Mari and Carmen, I said to them, have you seen what he's been up to? Mari said the equivalent of "boys and their toys!" It's not the first time, last summer he chopped out nearly all the flowers she'd put in outside their front door as part of his grand tidy up. At least the roots are still there so they should regrow. Next time the strimmer comes out, I'm going to stand guard!
Saturday he set off down their terraces clearing the undergrowth. On the way down he managed to "prune" the 20 foot high, enormously bushy bay tree down to something that resembles a lollipop. Lots of bay leaves now drying on the terrace under the grape vine. Luckily he is working this week so everything is ok until the weekend!
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