Cooking with spinach from the garden

Today was the perfect day to do spend some time in my (balcony) garden. The weather was kinda bad the past two weeks so I stayed indoors al that time. But the weather wasn’t too bad cause my veggies were growing like crazy. So far I have the usual herbs; basil, parsley, thyme, rosemary and I thought I’d try purple basil this year. I discovered it doesn’t grow as abundant as Genovese basil but the purple color sure makes any pasta dish look more vibrant.

All herbs aside, the veggie that has been growing so well this year is my spinach. I planted it in February and by the April it was ready to eat. Since I do love my pasta, I thought I’d just toss some spinach pasta and mushrooms together. I sautéed the spinach with some garlic first then I added some sliced mushrooms. I poured in a bit of cream and some black pepper and salt. Finally the pasta was added and YUM, YUM.

Spinach picking

Nothing beats sowing your own veggies, picking them and enjoying them at dinner. I’m excited to see what other veggies will be ready for eating and figuring out what to make with them.  I spotted some radishes that are ready for picking so my next post will probably be about radishes.

Enjoy!

What I am sowing this year

Every gardener/amateur gardener(me of course) is already busy making his/her list of what to sow this year. I acknowledge that I made a few mistakes last year so this year I want to give it another try. One of the mistakes I made was that with some vegetables I started too late. With that in mind this year I ordered  some seeds from http://www.123zaden.nl, last year I ordered them from http://www.vreeken.nl. I ordered the seeds when it was very busy so it was partly my fault that it took a while to get here. Anyway last year the tomatoes were tasty and I had no problems with the plants so I wanted to try some different varieties this year. Here is the complete list of what I ordered:

– Green zebra(the name says it all, green tomatoes)

– Rotonda bianca(round whitish eggplant)

– Violetta di firenze(another eggplant)

– Cayenne large(pepper)

– Scotch bonnet(orange pepper)

– Jamaican red(pepper)

– Orange sun(paprika)

Oh and because I orderedI got some extra seeds as a gift, I got some rocket seeds I think. The website was clear, uncluttered and the order arrived within 2 days so I would definitely try them again. I still have some seeds left over from last year so if I can find the room, I would also like to plant them. I want to plant some herbs like marjoram(love it), chives(easy herb), basil of course, oregano and coriander(for currys). I always try to plant a bit of rocket as it is so easy and my pet rabbit loves it. Last year I had a whole lotta trouble with aphids, they were everywhere it seemed especially on my eggplants. So this year I will be ready for them; I will try garlic and green soap. Since I have a balcony garden it’s next to impossible to get a ladybug to visit my plants which is a pity cause that would solve my aphid problem. Oh and I want to get my first raspberry or blueberry tree. Ooh, exciting!!!!                                       Last year I purchased a heating mat to start early because some veggies need to get a head start. So the earliest I will start is mid-February and I will keep you posted.