Sharks Fin Melon Soup

It's been a while ... But we've just returned from holidaying on the South Island of NZ .... so Pictures maybe to follow .... Now no yawning people !!!

 

 McD - My  girl has just received the results of her first IT exam .... The ITIL Certification .... And got a good solid Pass :O) I am so proud of her :O) Not only is she now a qualified Nerdy like me she now officially knows as much as I do on IT Service Management ! :O)

  

 

Ich bein ein Nerdy person :O)  The IT Crowd are sooo Funny ..... 



 Meanwhile We hit Autumn bang on calendar schedule..March 1 came and immediately we got cold nights , warm days and rain ...... Oh - and that of course means fungal attacks on the tomatoes, cucurbits and Dahlias... We have given up really and will plant out out the autumn  winter stuff like broccoli .... 



A small win all considering, was the harvest of one of the Spaghetti Melons or Sharks Fin Melons as it is also known. 















As you can see when opened up the flesh is soft and stringy...Apparently, as I've never had it nor want to, Sharks fin when cooked goes the same way ....









When raw it tastes pretty much like unripe melon ...... 









We found a recipe for Sharks fin melon soup in an old book of mine ...So we made it based on that... But we then decided to add chicken, extra chinese mushrooms and sweetcorn straight from the garden .......











All up it was very very nice ... But highly dependent on a good stock base for the flavour ....... Next time I'm going to try a variation of Tom Yum soups 









  

Bits and Bobs and the Garden

----Pepsi Dog Fast asleep with tounge hanging out









Pepsi and George Cat sharing the Bean bag....Not I had to sacrifice my winter Poo bear Blankie !!





I'm sat out side watching the last of the sunset...A wind change is bringing in a much welcome cool breeze.... Up to now we've had a cloudless hot sunny day. Much work has been done weeding and tending to tomatoes.. The large green fruit holding much promise for a couple of weeks time.... The lights are switching on across the valleys below us ....Jill has poured a cold wine ...Life is relaxed today ....



Dinner straight from the garden





















Did you get to watch the film Grow Your Own?? It's an English film set on an Garden allotment..Anyway one dude was growing a Sharks Fin Melon or Spagetti Melon ...We'e now got one fruiting !! :O) It's all very exciting as it's visibly growing day by day...it's now the size of a small football...I'd better find a good recipe for it now :O)









That said we’ve also had some ‘composted’ seeds grow in various places …. Can’t say for sure what they are but may well let them grow on …Be they pumpkin or marrow etc …. Tomato seeds have also sprouted and from great depths for a tomato seed. We have had clumps of tomato seedlings dotted about the borders….Whilst preferring some sense of order in my borders, I’ve still left one from each clump to grow on. It’s a sad indictment on our gardening skills that these rogue plants are like weeds, growing healthier and stronger than the seedlings we’ve cared for and mollycoddled these past few months protecting them from cold and wind and rain…. Next year I will throw half the seeds direct into the outside soil and let them get on with it.

 

We are also growing a bed of onions and leeks. Last year was a pretty poor effort with the onions not growing to any size. Well maybe pickling onion sort of size … We still ate them thrown into stews etc …. Same for the leeks that really didn’t grow much bigger than when I had dropped them into their holes ….. This year they are looking much better… and I’m hoping for a good crop from both …. If the weather improves.

 

Having the extra borders has meant we can grow more of a particular vegetable at the same time …. And so carrots have been planted  in succession in 3 different borders …The first panting was well used and mostly eaten raw as first McD, then McDs daughter S, then my Son B all enjoyed pulling them out of the ground and with a quick wash munching away at them raw…… I might have had a few as well I suppose :O) I particularly like the purple variety ..We grow a whole mix from whites to reds to oranges to purples ….. We grate them for a multi-cloured addition to salads. With our purple lettuce and spring onions and feta and a honey mustard dressing...yum....Yesterday we pan fried scallops with diced elephant garlic (home grown), a little butter and some ginger...Yum...Lunch was good yesterday