Lily of the Nile 

Hi

Its Zucchini time again in our house and I just can't believe how many we collect every day, there are enough to eat every day, give away  and with what's left Harry  cooks down with tomatoes, bacon and basil and bottles them. Now a neighbour gave us some tomato puree the other day which they had made, which was pretty dam fine. I thought that I would try making it too as I love having tomato puree or preserves for cooking with and toms won't be as cheap again as at this time of year. Thats if you haven't managed to grow all your own..... It is just so usefull for all cooking of all styles. The basic recipe was

Tomato Puree

Tomatoes ,  Sugar, Salt, Pepper, Balsamic Vinegar, Basil leaves.

I cut all my tomatoes into quarters (probably no real need to cut up and leave the small ones whole) and filled a couple of decent sized roasting dishes,  sprinkle over a couple of heaped tablespoons of sugar and balsamic  vinegar each, add salt and pepper to taste. We have grown the best basil ever this year so handfuls of leaves were mixed through and then into the oven to roast( approx. 200 degrees C) Roast until cooked and falling apart approx. an hour. I added the basil leaves whole so just made sure they were mixed through whilst cooking.
When cooked down, cool down and put through the whizz so that you have a resulting puree which I bottled but you could just as easily freeze. I have to say it was delicious and so easy to do. Imagine cooking some spag and then just folding some of this tomato puree through.....
Whilst on about tomatoe puree I need to say to say that someone wrote in to say that pesto that you intend to freeze should be made without the addition of the parmesan cheese.  I guess that if you defrost and use as pesto again then the parmesan could always be added.

Good ole Aggies

Agapanthus  commonly called the lily of the Nile is one of those plants that most people have quite a determined opinion about and they either like or most definitely dislike.  I have to say that there is always a place for a plant and good ole Aggies certainly suit some positions and especially where its hot and dry. I mean what else is going to grow well in traffic island !!!  Now the big old versions do tend to be a tad promiscuous but dead heading before the flowerheads dry will help prevents them from seeding and making babies. ( A plant is only a weed if its in a spot that its not wanted!! )  
Now there are some really cool new dwarf varieties that have been bred so not only that they are small but they don't set viable seed and so hence are considered eco friendly. I did see a border planting the other day of the Aggie snowball in full flower and I have to say that it looked awesome. Another newbie with the reputation of being the smallest foliage around is Agapetite and pretty in white. Baby pete, Pavlova and Sarah are three new ones to us here. Then there is Lapis which is a little like streamliner but a darker blue and is even meant to repeat somewhat.  So if you have a really hot dry spot that nothing else will grow consider good ole Aggies!!

The Project

We are on a roll with our project and there is now new weed cloth down and irrigation back in so that empty space down the hill is looking quite stunning.  Its chock full of plants again boasting an awesome range of hedging of all types from some new seasons Camellias to Corokias to various Buxus Euonymus and more.

ROSES ROSES ROSES 25% of all  current season stock, Awesome plants.Back order all new seasons roses by clicking the links below

Click here to view and order your old favourite roses now. 

 Click here for new roses to us for 2012.

NEW IN THIS WEEK

Phormium Blondie, now this is the cutest little flax that you ever did see. Baby growing in size and just as its name suggests Blondie

Beschorneria Reality A bold cream and green foliaged plants suitable for drama in the garden

Acacia Limelight, an attractive cascading plant that just draws you to touch

Festucca coxii, this old is an oldie but a goodie, a classic blue tuft grass.

Hasn' the weather been amazing if thats the word to describe it and haven't the weeds just kept on growing this season. With all the showers and the humidity they seem to grow at  the rate of knots.

Have a great weekend.

Cheers Lloyd and Harry!!!!

Make it a Wairere weekend where gardenings not a drag!!!!!