November 2018 Talk

November snuck in on us under cover of Halloween and then sped on by before we could get a grip on it. However the Indian summer continued making for a great season for home vegetable growers. Despite a lack of green thumbs we continued to supplement our cooking with ample vegies deep into the month – piman (green pepper) and tsuru murusaki at least. Believe it or not, thanks to Kakuko san, we are still picking fresh basil. Kakuku san gave us an egg container packed fill with basil seedlings back in May. We didn’t want to waste any so any nook and granny around the section was filled with this fantastic herb. Consequently we have had basil coming out of our ears since June. It started first in the warmer spots and it is still continuing to flourish in the cooler ones – see photo taken Nov.25th.

 Having such a big supply forced us to use it and we discovered that it goes well with nearly everything, either added as a garnish when serving or cooked along with other dishes. Rosemary is another herb that is great for flavouring and easy to grow.

Left Over Basil Pie Recipe

• Leftover precooked unpolished rice

• Grated natural cheese

•  Leftover cooked vegetables and /or meat (optional)

• Basil

• Seasoning eg magic salt (pepper and salt mix)

• Olive oil

Fry the rice in a covered pan with a generous amount of olive oil using quite high heat until a crispy brown layer forms. Turnover the rice and add seasoning, basil, any other left overs and put the grated cheese on top. Continue to fry until the cheese is well melted then serve – easy and yummy! Thankyou Kakuko san for our discovery of the flexibility of this delicious herb!!

Mayumi Ono - see her blog at http/Toyota-international.com - uses basil like this:
 

 A not so successful gardening experience this year was an attempt to grow a famous New Zealand kiwi fruit variety (Hayward). Kiwifruit requires separate female and male plants with only the female bearing fruit, of course. Three years ago I planted 3 vines which turned out to be 2 males and 1 female rather than the other way around. My communication in Japanese is truly terrible! I must have really confused the poor shop attendant with my gestures and distorted Japanese trying to differentiate between male and female – I am sure it would have made a hilarious Mr Bean episode. We harvested about 20 small fruits last year but this year was shaping to be a bonanza. There was a mass of blossom in the spring and the female vine set a huge number of fruit which needed to be thinned out. I was reluctant to do this and let them all develop. However the stress of the high August temperatures this year and the mass of fruit resulted in the vine dying. This was a big disappointment because of not only the lack of fruit but we have lost an attractive shade giving plant and we are left with 2 lonely, useless, spindly male vines!