Starting from this week, instead of cutting big stems from our rainbow chards for the kitchen, we harvested the whole plant. We are coming closer to spring and many of our vegetables are showing the sign of entering the next phase to reproduce which is flower and later on producing seeds. Italian sprouting broccoli plants are producing many side-shoots and enough for at least 2 meal portions weekly. A few precious tomatoes ripening in this end winter season to harvest. Cut some herbs such as dill and Chinese celery for cooking. We also harvested the last potato plants (sebago, pink-fir eye) that were planted last fall. Lettuces are also available to pick any time from the garden.
We pull out the last Afghanistan carrots that were growing on the veggie patch. Leaving a few big carrots to flower to collect seeds later. One of the carrots have already starting to bloom and I am excited because this will be the first time I am collecting carrot seeds. I have already direct-sowed beetroot seeds on that spot that were growing that carrots last weekend. Next carrot harvest, we have to rely with the ones growing in containers. Carrots and potatoes seems to be never enough for us. So this month we prioritise empty veggie patch corner or containers for sowing carrot seeds and potatoes. Our komatsuna and tatsoi greens are producing flower buds so we had a rush harvest. Other vegetables that were harvested last week was snow peas, yellow cherry tomatoes and spring onions.
Our major saving for this week for our kitchen cost is actually blue-swimmer crab.
I had a break from the garden last weekend.
We all went for a long weekend fishing trip.
Fishing trip but we caught no fish.
However, we were pretty happy with the numbers of crabs that were caught.
We caught more than 30 crabs.
In summer when crab is in season it cost AUD13.00perkilogram (cheapest).
It is winter and crabs are not in season.
Usually 2 big crabs are almost a kilogram.
We saved at least total AUD200 this week for the kitchen cost, thanks to gardening and crabbing.
My favourite to prepare crab is Chilli crab.
Any other suggestion will be most appreciated (you can even paste the recipe link).
My family also caught a few squids.
The gardener got to rest this week.
When the others went fishing out in the cold winter night at the jetty, I snuggled with my boys in the cabin.
32 comments:
Oh my goodness what a 'harvest'! I'd take all that crab any day. I like mine steamed and dipped in butter :)
That is a great picture of the squid and the garden harvests look great as well!
What a phenomenal harvest!!! Congratulations on all your savings!!! I love crab cooked with coconut milk! Enjoy your bounty!!!
Your fishing expedition sounds like it was a great time - good food, and some snuggle time in the cabin! :D
Lovely harvest this week. I will be interested to hear how your carrot seed saving goes. That is a crop that I have never tried to save seeds from. Biennually seed producers are a hard one for me to save seed because I just don't have enough room in the garden to let a plant stay there beyond it's production life. Someday though I may have a larger garden again and would like to be able to save carrot seeds etc.
Oooo, time for kari ketam! Yum, yum! I love crab but not sure I'd be braving the cold for them :)
Great harvest there! Congratulations, you are truly an inspiration for me and others! Emm, gotta love crab and calamari~
Wow, that is a whole lot of crabs:) Your harvest is lovely...as always!!
MMMmmmm BLue crabs.... my favorites!
I love eating them any way they come but my favorite for winter is this:
BLUE CRAB SOUP:
6 Whole Crabs
4 cups stock
1 onion
1 bell pepper
1 cup chopped celery
1 hot pepper chopped small
2 clove garlic
1-2 tsp seafood seasoning (old bay?)
2 bay leaves
1pt or 1qt tomatoes
3 carrots chopped
couple of cubed potatoes if handy
salt and pepper to taste
What I love the most about this recipe is that anything can be added (more or different veggies)or deleted. Saute veggies until onion sweats, add stock and seasonings, simmer 20 minutes. I don't like stewed tomatoes for this but some people do. I prefer fresh veggies for that flavor.
ENJOY them! I would!
OH Another thing I love doing is picking them and making crab cakes...and crabpuppies.... oh I LOVE seafood!
Where do you harvest crabs from(which ocean)? My favorite recipe is crab curry(with coconut). Your harvests look lovely and you're starting into spring??? You have a long garden season.
lovely garden harvest but the crab has to be the haul of the year yumbo..we used to live in morton bay and had the ocean right in our yard and we used to catch crab all the time..i eat like you would a prawn cocktail(shredded letuce crab meat and 1000 island dressing)
That squid looks really impressive! I've never seen carrots flower, was wondering about that the other day. Kelli
I have enjoyed seeing your harvests, everything is so healthy and you have a great variety - very inspiring. From your harvesting baskets one would think you had acres and acres of gardens.....
You even made a saving on crabs, incredible.
Lovely harvest! Wish my plants are doing half as good as yours! I only harvested okra this week! Wah, we love crabs! Have not cooked crab before, only have them in restaurants! And I was thinking of crabs the last two weeks! :)
That's good harvest of vegetables!
30 crabs? Wow! that's a lot! I love chili crab too!
Wow, nice haul from the garden and the water! Pretty neat picture of the squid, though I am not a fan it is still neat to read about other peoples interests!
What an experience to fish for crab and squid! Calamari!!!
What a beautiful harvest from your garden! 30 crabs--how awesome! What a wonderful meal that will make :) (However, I would probably pass on the squid...)
Awesome harvest and catch! Can have a hot pot party ;-)
MKG dear,
Have you tried black pepper crab or salted egg crabs? yummmm....besides chili crab, of course. We posted a chili crab recipe some time back. I love your vegie harvest. Very impressive, knowing how "big" Aussie backyards are. purrr *giggles*
How fabulous!!!! The harvest looked amazing - I love that your harvesting potatoes - I think I stick to the usual planting time much too rigidly. And crabs and squid - I'm really excited just reading about it....
Must admit to squeamishness about any type of seafood.
Wow, that's a lot of 'rewards' from the harvest. I love crabs and seafood.
oooo lamanya tak makan ketam..besok nak cari ketam kat pasar.nak masak ketam bercili:)
Lumayan hasilnya...sedap betul tengok veggies, ketam dan sotong. So fresh! I'm not expert in the recipe...may be you can try crab curry with pineapple, it's nice too ;)
not only a great gardener but also a great fisherman..for crabs! LOL!
How do you usually cook squids?
I love squid's sashimi! I believe your squids are fresh so you can enjoy it if your family can eat raw squid.
I also love Ikayaki or a grilled squid with say sauce.
Thirty crabs? Wow, that is quite a catch...
That squid definitely looks like it going to end up in my pot as sambal squid!
Life can't get any better! Bet the crab was sweet and delicious...
You did not get any fish but you caught 30 crabs. Wow. And indeed there is plenty of saving in your lifestyle, not just of money but of the world. I am thinking if I can start a small vegetable garden of my own. From my track record of hot hot chicken poop, it may not work but maybe I could start with something in a pot like hot chilly peppers. Your harvest, both from land and see is awesome as always.
Allison~Crab steamen and dipped in butter sounds very delicious.
Bee Girl~ Thanks. Its was good last week, unexpected surprised to save cost thanks to the garden and ocean.
KitsapFG~The snuggle time was one of the part I enjoyed most since I have some quality time with my boys. One of the carrot plants are blooming but I am a bit worried whether it will be well pollinated since we have some wet weather here these days.
Shaz~This time I only participate the fishing part during the day. Not braving the night cold weather too.
Mahfuds mn~Those crabs and squids were the highlight for last week.
Charmcitybalconygardens~Thank you. You have a lovely harvest too.
Barbie~So happy! Thank you so much for the recipe. I never tried eating crab this way. Sounds really delicious. We are a big fan of seafood too.
RandomGardener~Next month is the start of spring season for us. Crab curry with pineapple is delicious! We caught the crab at Wallaroo jetty facing Spencer Gulf (Great Australian Bight).
Joyfulhomemaker~Wow you are so lucky to live near the ocean and got to catch fresh crabs everyday. On top of that fresh harvest from your garden too. Sounds like heavan.
Kelli~I am waiting for the carrot flower to full bloom so I can take some photos.
Africanaussie~A very very small plot here. But to keep on the harvest flow, we have to keep on sowing seeds every month.
Rainfield61~The ocean savings are mainly my husband efforts. I keep on nagging about it every weekend...hehehe...;-).
Kitchen flavours~Your okra growing in pots look so healthy and superb. I only know how to cook the crab, but my hubby has to help with the cleaning.
Malar~The first batch of crabs, I cooked chili crab :).
Shawn Ann~ I don't like squid that much before. But after my first taste of our fresh caught squid, I got hooked.
Patricia~ We experienced our first time catching crab and squid here in Australia. So its still a new thing for us.
Rebecca~My family enjoyed those crabs very much :).
Stephanie~A good catch to invite friends over for berbuka puasa :).
Cat-from-Sydney~Black pepper crab is next on the list...hehehe...
Liz~To extend our potato harvest we try planting them end winter~end spring and end summer~mid-autumn. But there are never enough.
Sue~I am not really a meat-lover but I say yes any time to seafood ;-).
Autumn Belle~The garden has been good this winter 2011.
Cikmanggis~Dapat cari ketam tak?
Orchid de dangau~Crab curry with pineapple sedapnya...
Lena~Crab is not that hard to catch here if it is in season. It is one of the fun activity in summer here.
Takaeko~I like squid with chili paste which we call sambal squid or just fried coated squid.
Lrong~Nasib baik ada rezeki for crab since we don't catch any fish at all this time.
chopinandmysaucepan~ Sambal squid Good with nasi lemak isn't it!
The Seasonal One~It was sweet and delicious. Fresh is the best. The one we caught were even bigger than the ones in market.
Aishah~I found many satisfaction of growing edibles and catching seafood by ourselves.You can start with herbs too as it usually not that very fussy to look after.
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