Growing in Summer: Jude's Veggie Garden

So, as you all might have gathered, I have somewhat of an interest in fresh, seasonal produce; especially growing your own. My own growing projects are limited to pots due to the shadiness of my backyard. This is a perfectly acceptable way to grow and I think more people should do it. Any available space: be it a window sill, a balcony or a patch of ground can have something growing on it. At the very least if you have some soil and a plastic pot you can grow. If I can keep a pot of parsley alive, anyone can.  However this post is not an update on my little patch of potted paradise, this is a post about a vegetable garden, one that is so fantastical and wonderous that it deserves a post all of its own.  

Baby pumpkin, purple string beans, baby butter-nut squash/pumpkin

This is Jude's Garden, Jude is my aunt and I have mentioned her a few times on this blog. She is also my growing guru. She is the person that gave me the garlic cloves to grow my own (there will be a future post on this) as well as countless cuttings of herbs, she has also given me advice on anything from the care of my citrus trees to how to eradicate gross little critters that are destroying my (now second attempt) at growing radishes. I have since found out that it is slugs (the little bastards).

Zucchini flowers, mixed lettuce, snow pea flowers 

As also mentioned in previous posts, this garden is in Orange, I don't know what is in the soil there but these veggies are perfect, don't you think? The area receives a decent amount of rainfall and does not get the humidity that Sydney has which can bring about all manner of pesky little creatures. The winters are cold enough to make you run screaming for the nearest fire and mulled wine but all those wonderful winter brassicas seem thrive here. This garden doesn't rely on harsh pesticides and Jude keeps things as organic as possible. A lot of time and care goes into this garden. I am very lucky to be able to visit and taste the wonderful veg that results from it. 

Unripe plums, one ripe plum, Harry The Lab hoovering the fallen plums

I wasn't able to show you all the veg growing in this garden as I know how busy you all are and you're probably reading this at your desk when you should be concentrating on that fascinating Excel spreadsheet. Needless to say that there are beetroot as big as your fist, a carpet of wild rocket, fennel that has been left to go seed to be collected for growing again, rhubarb that shoots back up as soon as you have cut it and an old metal garbage bin that has rosemary spilling out of it. If you run your hands through it, the oil sticks to your hands and you can smell rosemary for hours afterwards. See what I mean? This is a fantastical and wonderous place.

Baby seedlings, nearly ready for planting. The toilet rolls are such an awesome idea, I might just use this!

As you can imagine, there is little need to go to the grocery shop having a garden like this. Jude gets very creative when it comes to making sure that nothing grown in the garden goes to waste. The below frittata was beautiful and was lighter than most frittata's that I have eaten. It is a dish that can be made at any time of the year with whatever is in season - grown in a pot, in the ground or bought from the shops, whatever you want. As I mentioned, I will give you an update on what I have been growing (here's a hint!) at home soon, just let me see if I can rid myself of a few feral slugs first.

Jude's Veggie Frittata with salad topped with a balsamic vinaigrette. The only thing that was bought from the shops was the avocado! 

Jude's Veggie Garden Frittata

This involves no strict recipe. In fact, here is the email that Jude sent to me when I asked her if she would mind giving me the recipe for this post...

Hi Anna

Sorry I did not get to this yesterday. I have been busy in the garden and I forgot.

What I did the other night was:

Roast carrots, potatoes and red shallots with thyme and olive oil. Use two to three cups in total depending on how full of veg you want the frittata. You can use any sort of veg you like. Baby spinach is good and you don't need to cook it. You would need quite a bit of this as it wilts down. You can also put other herbs such as chives or parsley. I have added handfuls of parsley on occasions and it is great.

About a cup of chopped ham or other cured meat of your choice (eg bacon)

About half to a cup of grated cheese if you wish.

Mix all this in the thing you are going to cook it in. A lasagne dish works well.

Mix six eggs, about a cup of ricotta, cream or cottage cheese depending on how virtuous you are and about a cup of milk. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Pour over veg mixture and cook at about 180C for about 45 mins to 1 hour.

As I told you this is about what is available, not a strict recipe. Great for cleaning out the crisper when it needs it or what ever you have in the garden.

I forgot to mention the half cup of self raising flour to be mixed with the eggs. A lot of recipes say a cup but I find you get a much lighter fluffier frittata if you don't

Talk to you soon..