An Utterly Delicious Fence

What a difference the new fence makes. Where once there was an extremely ugly and very, very large Leylandii hedge there is now a fence. An edible one. Pretty too.

Before

After

All in all, the bit of the fence that borders the potager is about 20 meters long and in a strip of soil that's no more than 40 cm wide there grows an amazing amount of stuff. Most of it edible, some of it just because it's pretty and sometimes both.

Since June I've been harvesting purple runner beans

and lately yellow ones too, all growing against my new fence.

Nasturtiums are running riot,

pumpkins, sunflowers and hollyhocks are reaching for the sky,

s

Zinnias trying their hardest to fry your optic nerve,

sugar snaps melting on your tongue .....
In short this new fence of mine is a wonder to behold, taste and smell.

Smell? Of course there is scent, this is Bliss, don't you know? The Sweet Peas have been having a scented ball for months now, not only in the potager but in the house as well.

It's simply amazing how much you can grow up against a fence in a bit of soil no more than say 8m2: pumpkins, hollyhocks, sunflowers, nasturtiums, fennel, red & white currants, raspberries, sweet peas, sugar snaps, Italian runner beans, purple runner beans, yellow runner beans  and inbetween all that zinnias, beetroot, lettuce, lady's mantle, ivy and even the odd weed or two.

Who in his or her right mind would want a Leylandii hedge or a plain wooden fence when you can have all this instead? So what are you waiting for Constant Reader? Get cracking and create your very own edible & delightful fence.

copyright 2011 Y.E.W. Heuzen

Summer Sandwiches

A few years ago I wrote a blogpost and was very surprised by the response I got about 1 particular picture I had posted of a slice of bread with radishes. Eating radishes on bread is something that is par for the course in Dutchland so I hadn't realised that perhaps not everybody on this big blue beautiful planet of ours was aware of this culinary delight. Now there are radishes and radishes and some of them are mayhap slightly less familiar to you than the ordinary red&white ones, be they round or elongated. In the pic above there is a slightly less common variety called Rat's Tail, for obvious reasons, which are easy to grow, a delightful green and utterly nomnommy. If you can get your mitts on them (Raphanus sativus) I heartily recommend growing them.

Earlier this week I had this brilliant idea (I have them quite often, can't tell you what a drag that is but oh well, we all have our crosses to bear) of showing you some more culinary Dutch delights of the sandwich variety. Pictured above are 2 of them: tomatoes on bread with either a pinch of salt or a light sprinkling of sugar and strawberries on bread; with of without sugar or, if you're so inclined, with a drop of balsamico vinegar. All are very toothsome, easy to make, healthy and, if you go easy on the sugar and your choice of butter, margerine or whathaveyou, a great choice if you need to lose some weight.

You may think it strange to have fresh strawberries on a slice of bread but is it really when so many people eat strawberry jam on a regular basis? And what does strawberry jam consists of but strawberries and sugar? Exactly! But fresh strawberries are more yummy and don't need that much sugar if any at all to tickle your tastebuds

Another delicious option is goat's cheese with cherry tomatoes on top on which you can dab a bit of homemade pesto if you like. It has to be homemade of course. And if you need to ask why, you've obviously never tasted the homemade one and are now wasting valuable time that is better spend whipping up your very own homemade pesto presto!

And speaking about time; it's high time to bid you adieu Constant Reader as I think I have delighted you long enough with these culinary Dutch delights and you are without doubt chomping at the bit to make some of your own to stuff down your neck. Happy chomping!

PS The header? That's a rather exclusive snuggle sandwich courtesy of Vita (l) and Willow. Also good for your health.

copyright 2011 Y.E.W. Heuzen