It was on last weekend and if you missed it you can view it on TV One On Demand . We hadn't seen it ourselves until the show aired last Sunday and thought that our gardens all came up just fabulous. I want to say a big thank you to all who commented and complimented us on the show, its always really nice to get such great feed back.
It was an experience, and fun to be filmed, and its amazing how long it took to create the segment that made the final cut. I have to say that its a great programme series, there are so many other clever, innovative and talented kiwis who have let all of NZ have a glimpse of their personal lives.
I have been asked for the recipes so thought that I would put them in here. Both are really easy and very tasty and I just love ordinary Silverbeet done this way.
Guinness stew/casserole but Harry changes it every time he makes it
Beef for stewing cut into largish cubes and enough to make the size dish for the number that you want to feed.
Flour .... enough to flour the meat
Salt and pepper to taste
Red onions chopped .... we like lots of onions
Fresh Herbs AKA... Rosemary. Oregano, Thyme and Bay leaves... you can almost not use too much herbage as long as its fresh and not dried
Bottles of Guinness..... enough to cover
Half jar home preserved golden queen peaches
Flour the steak and brown in a casserole dish using olive oil, Place in another container when all meat is browned.
In the casserole dish with all the meat brownings, add more olive oil ( we use our flavoured olive oil) and fry off several chopped red onions. Once the onions have softened, add all your chopped herbs and whole bay leaves and then follow with all the floured meat.
Open the Guinness and pour over the meat until nearly covered with liquid making sure that you have enough for an ale yourself.
Bake on a low heat with the lid on for several hours checking occasionally to make sure that all the liquid hasn't disappeared . Halfway through the cooking add the golden queen peaches, mix in and then leave to cook some more.
You should end up with lovely tender meat that is coated with a very rich dark gravy.. We served this with mashed potatoes with heaps of chopped parsley through and off course the Silverbeet recipe below.
This is my favourite way to have Silverbeet
Pine nuts toasted
In a clean cast iron fry pan, scatter approx 1/4 cup (or what you think) and cook over a medium heat rolling the Pinenuts by shuffling the pan across the element. don't add any oil or fat as the Pinenuts have oil of their own. Watch them as they can burn quite quickly and remove from the heat when they have turned a golden brown colour. Take them out of the pan, as they can keep cooking, and cool them down.
Pick a whole bunch of fresh silver beet and wash and slice into strips, we remove the stalks but you could chop these finely and use these as well.
Heat a tarragon or plain olive oil in a large pan and cook the Silverbeet until its all wilted, toss through the pine nuts and then sprinkle with the zest of a lime or Kaffir lime and rock salt for crunch (I would have to grind some fresh pepper here too) over the top and then serve whilst its hot.
Those Pinenuts just add the most lovely nutty flavour to the silver beet.
Bon apetite
Just arrived in this week
Hosta's are known as just that ... Hosta's
Most plants are grown for their flowers but Hostas would have to have the rights to a plant that has the most amazing leaves. Don't think for a moment that they don't have quite pretty flowers as in the summer they have spires that carry bell like flowers all the way up the stem and usually in white to lilac shades. There are so many leaf types and styles of Hosta that I am not going to describe them here. Rather you can check them all out on our Hosta page. I can say that the variation is just huge from the very large leaves to very small and every shade and variation of green and cream variegations to lime and yellows and even silver.
Now I learnt this morning that Hostas belong to the same family as Asparagus which I though was a tad interesting though its hard to see a similarity... perhaps I better have a close up look at an Asparagus flower when the season for eating these spears is over. All Hostas that I know of are winter dormant or deciduous so they disappear for the cold season but their new leaves as they unfurl in spring are worth the plant not being there over winter. Slugs and snails just adore Hosta leaves so its worth keeping these pests under control because if they do get the leaves before they unfurl then one bite or rasp will maker a dozen holes. Don't just sprinkle bait around the hostas, throw it around anywhere that the snails or slug are likely to be hiding, usually dark covered places.
Hostas like protection from the sun which make them technically a shade or dappled light plant though they do vary in the amount of shade or sun they can tolerate. For instance the gold or really lime forms prefer more shade but the more green or silver forms can take much more sun ... well relatively speaking. All Hostas like rich and moist soil so they dont like a position that is too dry. They are good planted in areas with Winter roses for instance as when the hosta disappears for the cool months you have other plants making a display.
Irises of the bearded kind ' Check what's coming out here
The only Iris I know that has a beard, LOL sound like my kinda of flower.... known affectionately also as Flag irises for obvious reasons. There will some in this week and more will be coming next week. These Beauties are the opposite of Hostas and are total sun worshippers. They grow from a Rhizome which likes to sit up and out of the soils so that its back is exposed to the sun. Don't be fooled though, these pretties love good rich soil to grow well and be able to reward with stunning flowers.
Now if you have a hankering to be an Iris Buff then it would be best to get some new names under your belt so that you can impress other Irisarians. I will own up to the fact that I'm not yet that clever and will have to learn these myself.
Standard are the three upper petals
Fall three lowers petals, I think that I can remember those two
Haft Area around either side of the petals
substance in Iris lingo is the thickness of the petals
Amoema White standards and colour falls
Bi colour are light in colour and falls are a different darker colour
Bi tone standards and falls are different shades of the same colour
now for the tricky ones
Neglecta light blue standards and darker falls
Pilcata dotted lined or stitched petal edges in a light colour
Verigata yellow standards and darker falls
Honestly you don't have to remember all of that if you just want pretty flowers for the garden but hey it might be handy if you suddenly go to an Iris meeting or convention and it will certainly help you picture what is being described in an Iris description.
Elegance bearded series in now
Smoke Rings, Loop the loop, Honey Mustard, White, Lilac & Wine
Dutch Iris's Tiger's Eye, White magic, Blue magic got a bit of a deal on these, check them out online, you can use the link in the name above. These are plants in full flower now.
Lavenders...These are arriving weekly check out the lavender page to look at the latest arrivals
If you have been waiting on these gorgeous climbing flowers then we have received a selection in just this week. They like a cool root run and something to climb. Often they can look pretty cool to climb amongst a rose bush or climber
Its summer coming up and if you have rellies or selves that are planning on coming to the Waikato, or even the Tron, then don't forget that we have a Villa homestead that is a self contained accommodation. Nestled on the edge of the garden centre and overlooking ponds, garden and Kahikateas and so close to town. Totally private, check it out
here.
On another note, if you are about to browse our website for plants, login before browsing because you can now LIKE any plants to add them to your wish list but only if you are logged in. It is easy to register for a login if you don't have one already. If you have a login but cant remember your password, just type your email address in the email line and hit enter. We will send you a temporary password for you to make the changes. Well worth doing really as its a bit like creating an electronic shopping list and its always online.
It such a nice time of year. Im just loving the longer time that we have after work. Nothing beats sitting in the garden with a glass of chardy.... I don't get to do it often enough.
Have fun with the kids being the last weekend of the school holidays, maybe you could sow some seeds for the vege garden together or come in and grab some herbs ready to put in at labour weekend. Radishes are always quick and easy to grow... or perhaps Rocket which I just love.
Have a great weekend.
Cheers
Lloyd, Harry and the Wairere Team
Make it a Wairere weekend w
here even
GNOMES know that gardening's not a drag
