The Simple Green Kitchen launch!

Here's The Simple Green Kitchen launch at Prestatyn Flower Show. 

This is the stall I set up for my talk. I also took some goodies along including lavender biscuits, parsley crackers and my energy bars. I even took small chunks of homemade herb Focaccia bread. All of which went down very well with the punters!

I've also been asked to give a talk to another group too!

A good day was had by all and I really enjoyed it. Thank you to everyone who came along!

Extra tips for growing sprouts (and micros)

Following on from the previous two 'lessons' on sprouts and microgreens, I thought I'd add some extra help with sprouting etc so here we go....

I know I've said it before but buy the best quality seed you can afford - it'll last you ages and it's helping to support people who think like you!

When growing the bigger sprouts onto micros use deeper compost to give them the extra nutrition. I grow my pea shoots in troughs (the type you get for bedding plants!) or you could use plant pots. A 5" plant pot should give you a good crop. Spinach is best grown this way as the seed hulls can be a devil to get rid of without damaging the plants. Let them grow to the stage where the hulls are naturally shed to make life easier! Use spinach as baby leaf salad material.

Pea shoots

For the cut and come again approach, where you cut is important! Cut too low and you'll kill them off. You need to leave at least 1-2 inches of plant (look for the crown and avoid cutting into that).

If growing baby salad leaves - feed them with a very dilute seaweed extract feed after cutting - they'll bounce back. You can, with care, get three to four cuts. *This isn't possible with beets and similar but will work for peas, rocket, mustard and sunflowers. You need to leave a crown for them to grow back from. The picture below shows beetroot micros which are only suitable for a single cut. Cut these very low to make the most of that gloriously coloured stem :-)

For baby salad leaves buy or make your own mix of fast growing leaves like rocket, lettuce, mizuna and mibuna. Throw in a few red mustard seeds and you'll have a lovely spicy mix :-) Grow in pots or troughs and keep well watered. You can still do this indoors.

When growing sunflower greens do eat them before the true leaves appear - they're not nice after that (and mine end up with the hens!)

Sow little and often - you don't want gluts! As previously mentioned adopt the twice a week routine (I do Wednesday and Sunday) and you'll be fine.

After a cut  - you'll notice others springing up after the main cut. This is your second wave, if you like. This is particularly evident with sunflower greens.

Rocket goes easily and quickly from seed

Remember NOT EVERY bean and seed is safe to grow and eat as sprouts or micros, even if we do eat them or their fruit at a later stage. If in doubt, Google it. Some to avoid include tomatoes, aubergine and red kidney beans to name but a few. I don't sprout soya beans - some folks do - I don't because they would still need lots of cooking before they could be used. Plus - it's very hard getting soya beans that are fresh enough to sprout.

Most of all - enjoy - you have a whole new world ahead of you!

Microgreens - from left to right sunflower, spinach, carrot, Rambo radish and lettuce.

Microgreens - the ultimate food!

Following on from yesterday's sprouting lesson, today we'll look at microgreens. If you watch programmes like MasterChef you'll have seen them already - they're the lovely little colourful bits that get 'draped' over top dishes to give them the 'wow factor'.

Here's an example of microgreens used on a home grown salad (more on that later!)

The salad before adding microgreens

The same salad after adding microgreens

You can see instantly the wow factor in action! However there is much, MUCH more to microgreens that prettying up a plate of food. They are oh so good for you!

So what exactly is a microgreen?

You start with a sprout and you grow it to the next level of its development - you let it grow leaves :-) The leaves contain chlorophyll - liquid sunshine! We all know how good wheatgrass is for us - well part of the reason for that is the chlorophyll.

Some of the best microgreens are; sunflower, beets, radish, broccoli, watercress, cress, rocket, spinach, lettuce, herbs i.e. basil, coriander (cilantro), kale, cabbage (red looks fantastic) carrot tops (you can buy seeds especially for this here; http://www.nickys-nursery.co.uk/garden-shop/seeds/micro-greens/  ) I always grow my alfalfa and clover to micro stage - much better for you and far tastier! Pea shoots are a great example of micros too. They taste like the peas - so why wait? Micros are easier to grow too! Quinoa and Amaranth are great micros too and amaranth comes in a stunning red.

Beans and lentils work as sprouts but they tend to get bitter as they green up so I don't bother.

The biggest tip I can give you is buy organic. Heavens only knows what treated seeds have on them - I never use anything other than organic. If you were growing your carrots to full size there'd be time for any lurking chemicals to leave them but not with microgreens.

So let's look at actually growing them. I use small trays. Now here is recycling at its finest! You know the shallow trays you get mushrooms in etc from the supermarket? Store them - I use the ones that blueberries and strawberries come in too - they've already got drainage - so what's not to like? I wash them and reuse them too.

Just put about 1 cm of good quality ORGANIC compost in the tray and gently firm it down. Sprinkle your seeds on top and gently water. For tiny seeds like alfalfa I water form the bottom (stand the tray in shallow water until the top is dark and moist). For larger seeds like sunflowers I gently water from the top so the seeds are wet. A quick and easy way to do this is sprout the seeds in your jar for a day first then scatter them thinly over the compost. Keep them somewhere not too hot and shaded from sun and watch them sprout!

Sunflowers greens just sprouting in organic compost

A few days later....

Sunflower greens ready to eat!

The Simple Green Kitchen has it's public launch!

Well, The Simple Green Kitchen has it's public launch on Friday July 25th at Prestatyn Flower Show. I will be there giving a talk on 'Cultivating Herbs in Small Spaces'. I will have herbs with me - especially some of the more unusual ones; after all everyone's seen parsley already!  I am also the herb judge for the show.If you want to pop along, I'm on at 2.30pm after the Mayor opens the show. I believe they are offering refreshments and the talk is free to join. I think the organiser, Ann Williams, needs to know so if you'd like to be there - she can be contacted via Bonne Amie on Prestatyn High Street.
It should be good folks! Come along and join in!

Tofu - love it or hate it....?

I used to loathe tofu. No matter what I did with it I just couldn't get on with it at all. Until I read what I was doing wrong! Seems I should have been pressing the water out of it and I wasn't - well, not properly anyway.

Now I love the stuff and can't get enough of it. Take last night for example. I marinated some tofu in Yakitori sauce (available from Tesco for those in the UK) with the intention of cooking it today...........Ha! It never even made the pan (or today, for that matter!) I thought. 'I'll just try a cube uncooked first'. And that was it! History - me and my other half sat and chomped it all washed down with white wine.........made a really nice nibble actually :-)

I have decided, having discovered this book, that I will have a go at making my own. I used to buy a firm tofu with basil in it from a health food shop and even when I was a tofu hater, I could tolerate that one. I've not seen it for years (though confess I haven't looked that hard either).

So now I am a woman on a mission :-) I'll keep you posted! 

This book looks awesome and I'm so looking forward to a new adventure.............

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1607740257/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Scrumptious Nibbles!

I am constantly trying to come up with some quick but healthy snacks that I can just grab and go. (I'm a bit fed up of chomping celery sticks and carrot batons!) I made these this morning.....(and I will be keeping a stash of them in the fridge!)

                       

250g mixed seeds (I used sunflower, pumpkin and a good handful of hemp)
50g of finely chopped cashew nuts (you can use your favourite or vary it each time)
6 sundried tomatoes very finely chopped (I used the ones in oil but do dab most the oil off them)
3-4 tbps finely chopped fresh herbs (I used parsley and chives because they're both still growing in the garden!)
A handful of fenugreek sprouts again, finely chopped (don't panic if you have no sprouts - just get your jars out for next time)
1-3 cloves of garlic finely chopped (to taste)
3 tbsp of oil (I used one of hemp and the rest, extra virgin olive oil)
Seasoning; you can use whatever you fancy. If you want a Mediterranean slant, add chopped olives and dried oregano and/or basil. If you fancy them spicy add a little cayenne pepper and garam masala (1tsp of GM - NOT cayenne - you'll only need a pinch of that!) See below for more suggestions....
A dash of lemon or lime juice
1 tsp of veggie bouillon powder
Salt and freshly ground black pepper (I actually use my homemade herb salt which I will share in a while when fresh herbs are abundant again)
A drop of cold water IF necessary


Finely grind the seeds in your mixer/blender. (Be careful you don't over do it - you'll end up with seed tahini instead!). Place in a bowl with the finely chopped herbs, cashews, and tomatoes. Mix well. Add the rest of the ingredients and shape into small balls. If the mixture crumbles you need that drop of cold water.

What I do then is chill them in the fridge as it helps them keep their shape. Serve with drinks, or flatbreads and fresh salad.

Variations on the theme; Don't you just love it when you come up with something that can be changed so much you don't ever need to eat it the same way twice? These can even be made into sweets (healthy ones!)
Instead of herbs, garlic, tomatoes and salt/pepper etc add chopped dried fruit (dates and apricots would be nice) grated coconut, cacao or even dip them in dark chocolate for a really indulgent treat :-) if they're not quite sweet enough (taste as you go along) you could add a little honey or agave nectar. I will use coconut oil instead of olive but you could use a nut oil (walnut) or a bland oil such as sunflower or grapeseed for the sweet version. If you still want to add herbs use one like sweet cicely (when available - mine's still snoozing!)

Above all, have fun - experiment and do please share what you come up with here...........I'd love to hear what you do!

I am sure there are many recipes online similar to this - if anyone has come up with the very same thing - apologies! I'm not stealing your thunder - I'm just sharing what I have made myself.

Hello again!

I know it's been some time since I've blogged on this site. However, I do have a very good reason - I've been busy elsewhere. (No kidding!)

Anyway I wanted to let you know normal service will be resumed shortly. I have been making plans, and this includes running workshops and talks etc. I already have my launch platform at our local flower show. (I'm one of the judges - the herb class being my specialty). I also judge the scarecrows but that's not really applicable here :-)

I have a lot to share as I have been experimenting....yes, you read that right! The results of which I will be sharing on here.

I'll leave you with a photo of something reminiscent of last summer.........

I grew the artichokes last year as part of my wildlife garden, assuming the butterflies and bees would appreciate their thistle like flowers (I left them to flower). They were barely touched, believe it or not! So this year, we're going to eat them!

See you anon.....

The Miracle of Avocados..........

A very dear friend of mine called round Friday morning and amazed me with the following information. Now this is someone I've known for a long time and for the purpose of this post I will call her Joan.

I know Joan has been plagued for over 18 months with trouble with the skin on her legs........She'd been backwards and forwards to the doctors all this time with her skin driving her mad. It was itchy, sore and very hot and uncomfortable. I've spoken to her many a time and she'd been in tears, being driven to distraction. She'd had all sorts of antibiotics, skin creams and goodness knows what but nothing improved it. No-one ever actually gave 'it' a name for a long time...........

She developed a lesion on her leg which became a large open wound that wouldn't heal. With similar happening on her other leg (the other leg had an enormous lump too). So yet again she trundled off to the doctors who offered her yet more anti-biotics. She declined and accepted she was going to have to learn to live with it. She'd been told the hole was her leg being eaten from the inside out by 'a bug'. Not nice!

A few weeks ago, her sister happened to ask her if she'd pick her up a couple of avocados whilst she was out shopping. They were something Joan wasn't keen on but her sister tempted her to try them again and to her surprise, she found this time round she liked them so knowing they are really good for you, Joan started buying them for herself and having one a day.

A week later, she noticed her leg had all but stopped itching..........

Three weeks later - her legs were almost back to normal!!

Joan had done nothing different at all, except eat an avocado every day! And here is the proof - after 18 miserable months Joan is finally free from her distress and you can even see the 'dint' on this leg where the flesh had been eaten.........

Joan's leg, including the hollow from the flesh-eating bug!

Now I recount this story not to encourage you to throw all your meds in the bin! I am NOT a doctor - I'm just someone that believes we can all lead healthier lives if we watch the fuel we take into our bodies. But this certainly highlights for me - food plays a huge part in who and what we are.......and who and what we can be......

Thank you for sharing this Joan (and for letting me photograph your leg!) I'm absolutely delighted you're free of your plight after all this time xx

Now there's food for thought!

(NB. The information given is purely for interest only - if you suffer from some malady - please do see your doctor).