A small herb garden

Last February I constructed a small circular stone wall, covering the rough dips and holes and root system of a tree the previous owner had ripped out: you can see the early construction photo on this earlier post.

When the little circular wall was finished, John kindly organised a trailerload of good soil. Then we planted some herbs ... and lo, now we have a little herb garden.

It contains
• thyme (struggling a bit, maybe a bit too damp?)
• marjoram (looking a bit thin)
• basil (italian and thai, looking great)
• coriander (looking great)
• chives (coming along OK)
• curry plant (looking a bit sad, shadowed by tall Basil)
• chili pepper (verrrrry hot!!! The tiniest bit goes a loooong way!)
• rocket (oodles of it, lovely ... starting to bolt now)
• curry plant (looking ok, bit small)
• (new) oregano
• (new) sage

Elsewhere in the garden we have a young kaffir lime tree (looking fine), (new) french sorrel, (new) tatsoi, (new) mizuma and (new) lemongrass.

It's never seemed much effort: I made the little wall on a whim anyway, but it is quite rewarding.

Tess' recipe for Fettuccini Bolognaise

I believe every self-respecting 12 year old in general western family circumstances ought to be able to cook a healthy family meal. Tess and Yarrow both can; and here is Tess' lovely simple and successful recipe for Fettucini Bolognaise. She researched, developed, typed up, and cooked it all herself. And (big hurrah for Tess) she cleans up afterwards too!!

Fettuccini Bolognese

Utensils:
· Chopping board
· Sharp knife
· Large saucepan
· Large frypan
· Medium bowl
· Measuring cup
· Teaspoon
· Scrap bin

Ingredients:
· 1 lb. ground round beef (mince)
· 1 can whole tomatoes
· 1 can tomato sauce
· 2 med. onions
· 5 tsp. minced garlic
· 10 “cup” mushrooms
· 1 tin sweet corn
· Fresh oregano
· Fresh basil
· Fresh thyme
· Fresh ground pepper
· olive oil
· 500g spaghetti or fettuccini
· 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
· Extra virgin olive oil

Method:
1. Peel and chop onions, and mushrooms.
2. Put large frypan on burner and heat olive oil on medium high setting. Add onions, garlic and mushrooms.
3. Fry for 5 minutes or until onions turn clear and garlic starts to smell strong. Pour all ingredients into a bowl and reserve for later.
4. Return frypan to heat and add ground beef.
5. Fry until browned and break apart into small clumps.
6. Add tin of sweet corn (drained)
7. Return fried vegetables to the frypan.
8. Add whole tomatoes and chop them up.
9. Add tomato sauce, oregano, basil, thyme and ground pepper.
10. Mix ingredients well.
11. Cover frypan and turn heat down to simmer.
12. Simmer for 30 minutes.
13. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil.
14. Add spaghetti, a little at a time.
15. Stir and add extra virgin olive oil to avoid sticking.
16. Cook for 10 minutes or until just cooked through (no hard white centre).
17. Drain and run cool water through spaghetti.
18. Transfer to a bowl and add a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and a half cup of grated Parmesan cheese.
19. Mix well.
20. Remove sauce from stove and pour into a bowl.