Zucchini's and more zucchini's

The sun is out today and apparently the next week is going to be a hot one. That's great for our garlic as it hasn't fared so well with all the rain. Luckily we have them in pots so were able to move them under cover but still in the sun. Although one type didn't really survive. Pulling them up we notice most of them are rotting from the sog. Bummer! We really have had pretty perfect rain conditions otherwise and so far I haven't had to do a great deal of watering. It makes me feel really sad for the farmers out there that aren't receiving as much rain as us and their livelihood depends on it. I am loving that each day I am able to go out and forage in my garden for that nights meal and am starting to see a little saving in the amount I am spending at the fruit and veg shop. Even the register chicky commented I didn't have much compared to normal. I felt weirdly guilty when I said I was growing lots in my own garden. Fruit is our big spender there still, the kids happily chomp down on several servings a day! And no I'm not complaining if that's the worst thing they are eating through the day....

Sunflowers.

Potato flowers.

Kholrabi.

Rainbow silverbeet.

I find it interesting that around the home hubby and I seem to have certain 'jobs' that can only be done by one or the other. Pasta making has become hubby's. I tried to make it the first time and totally stuffed it up, so when he made it the next time and it came out perfect he became stuck with that job. Plus the kids like to help and he has so much more patience with it than I do. Whenever we eat it we always comment that we should make it more often as it really is the best kind of pasta. Its the kind you could go back for seconds even thirds its so good and then end up feeling crook for the rest of the night because you ate too much! Luckily this time round only 300g was made, so there wasn't enough for even seconds.

Homemade pasta.

Hubby making pasta.

My oven is not working! Its a real pain in the backside. On the upside I have had to work on new ways of baking things until I work out whats wrong with it and get it fixed, so this has been my learning experience for the week - making do with what I already have. The bread machine makes beautiful cakes and has produced a few lovely zucchini cakes so far. I have also used the slow cooker, but the tops seem a little soggy, so I'm sticking with the bread machine for now. My friend also has a dodgy oven and she is going to try and bake in her new webber bbq. Will be interesting to hear how that goes for her. I really want to bake some cookies, but haven't worked out yet how I will do that. What other alternatives for baking are there, any ideas anyone? 

From the garden.

Zucchini's. On the left are not pollinated and on the right pollinated, all are 4 days old.

I've had a few friends ask about zucchinis and in particular the ones that wont grow. If you have little zuc's that start to shrivel up and rot from the end it normally means it has not been pollinated. If a zucchini has been pollinated it will thrive and be ready to pick in a couple of days. We don't have many bee's and bugs around to do our pollinating so I do it mostly myself. Its pretty simple. All you have to do is pick a male flower (the ones without the baby zucchini), peel the petals away so you are left with the anther covered in pollen, take it and gently brush inside the flower with a baby zucchini on the stigma. Its best to do this first thing in the morning as the flowers start to lose their viability as the day goes on. Then sure enough you will have zuc's popping up everywhere.

The kids cant decide on names for the fish. I think there are about 10 different names floating around with them at the moment, so when it is finally decided I will share. Although the cat that we don't have yet already has a name! I cant wait to get a cat and I am patiently waiting for the right one to come along. We would love to rescue one and as far as DD is concerned it must be a ginger one, so the wait could continue for sometime yet. Anyway, enough to do already and on that note, I better get back to it!