Some gardening, and a recipe

On Friday morning we had a brief period of sunshine. With more rain forcast ocre the next few days I took the opportunity to stock up on my vitamin D and also plant some herbs and flowers.

First up, some marigolds and love-in-a-mist (nigella) on the citrus mini-swales.

Then some nasturtiums to mark the line of the water pipe so I don't dig through it again (!) and a few more nigella's in the orchard. The plum tree is leafing up nicely again after it's radical winter haircut!

Next do some more planting in the herb and medicinal herb garden. I now have valerian, lemon verbena, broad leaf parsley, sage, 2 types of thyme, oregano, common mint, spearmint, pyrethrum, nigella (you can use the seeds) and feverfew planted out. The german chamomile and goji berry vine are still waiting for homes, and the echinacia are still on the seed mat inside.

The first shoot from the yacon's has appeared, and I have flowers on the first planting of snow peas.

And most importantly Freddie is on guard to keep those sheep a safe distance from the fenceline. Important work :)

After all that gardening a tasty dinner was in order, and preferable one that used cabbage (as I had 2 to eat from the garden before they bolted). I decided on a recipe from Osakasuz over at Aussies Living Simply - Okonomiyaki (Japanese Savoury Pancakes).

• The proportion of cabbage to other veg about 75% to 25%
• Finely shred the cabbage, finely slice any other green veg or other veg you want to use. This time I went for mushroom and red pepper. Grate the carrot if you're using one (I wasn't)
  
• Make up a basic pancake batter but use stock instead of milk and no sugar (or water and some stock powder)
• Add the pancake mix to the veg so that the veg are well coated - but not floating
• If you like some meat or seafood then cook bite sized pieces of meat or seafood and then add the veg batter on top to make a thick pancake. I used some home made bacon. Cover with lid to help it cook
• Turn once during cooking - you can see I cheat by quartering the pancake before turning!!

Serve with the sauce of your choice - I like soy and sweet chilli, but you can use whatever takes your fancy!