Going Organic - Part 5

In continuation from my last post on organic vegetable gardening, I thought of giving you a glimpse of the summer garden and its produce. The picture below is the view from my kitchen window; adding colour to the garden is the trumpet vine in the background.

Capsicums and Okra
As our Capsicums/Peppers and Okra/Ladyfingers have picked up pace, this is how the big patch looks. The tall plants in front are the ladyfingers and the bushy ones behind are the capsicums. And the produce is pretty satisfying.

Pumpkin Vine
One of the easiest to grow summer staples, the pumpkin vine can be started by planting seeds in late spring (March-early April). The aim here is not the fruit or flowers; the leaves and vine are also edible. They make delicious fritters too besides adding some much needed greens in the dry summer heat. Is container garden friendly.

Mint
Another summer staple, mint can be started by a mere sprig. It is hardy, grows lush quickly (especially in rains), and smells great.

Can be easily grown in containers. My little patch gives me enough leaves for fresh chutney every week.

Quarantine Baking

The Covid-induced lockdown pushed a lot of us to finally try our hands at things we had always wanted to make but weren't getting around to. For me that one item which I really wanted to try was bread making.

In the early days of lockdown, there was no yeast available so I started by substituting with curd. The hot weather aided fermentation, of course. Yummy garlic bread was the outcome.

Once the first attempt was successful, there was no looking back. Hubby ordered yeast online and baked a neat loaf himself.

Now focaccia, using veggie toppings from the kitchen garden, are my favourite.

Along with bread making, another recipe that everyone loved and chipped in with, was bread pudding. Made out of stale slices, the final result is quite an appetizing dessert.

Though I had been baking vegetable gratin for years, a simple recipe using eggs that was shared by a friend made me take my skills up another notch. While I use white sauce for the inner layers, the egg-cream-cheese mix on the top takes this gratin to the next level.

All in all, the quarantine has been a great foodie party for us as a family, and no one is complaining!