Crazy time of year, I started writing a little update 5 days ago and still haven’t finished it, but I’m just going to press the ‘publish’ button before it gets even more out of date…
You wouldn’t believe, after writing the above sentence, and before I pressed publish, I was again interrupted and it’s a whole day later now! Wish me luck, trying again…
Today marks the longest day and shortest night of the year for those of us in the southern hemisphere, the Summer Solstice! (And of course in the northern hemisphere people will be experiencing the shortest day and longest night of the Winter Solstice.)
It looks like a lovely day here in Auckland, so I’m going to make use of the long daylight hours to fit in some extra gardening time once I’ve finished work for the day.
Christmas
Christmas can be a funny in the southern hemisphere, with so much focus on unseasonal wintery things. I remember even hearing that cut conifer trees as Christmas trees don’t last as well in our summery christmases, because in winter the tree would be somewhat dormant but in summer the sap is still flowing, it runs like crazy and the tree dries out quicker.
I think New Zealand Comedian Melanie Bracewell summed it up pretty well with this tweet:
“I love Christmas in New Zealand. It’s the middle of summer, boiling hot. But every shop is playing “let it snow” and “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas”. The mall Santas are dying of heat in their fluffy suits, people have inflatable snowmen in front yards. No one questions it.”
It really made me laugh reading this, because I question it every year! I just can’t get my head around the winter-worshiping that happens in the very middle of summer. Instead I’m thinking about the summer fruits and vegetables, excited for early ripening Christmas plums, considering a swim at the beach!
What do you do this time of year? Do you celebrate Christmas, celebrate something different, or skip the festivities all-together? Let me know in the comment section below!
Red Salad Recipe:
My favourite summer dish is to make a red salad. The bright colour is just so cheery to me, and the taste of strawberries and cherry tomatoes just makes it taste like Summer. Even my Great Aunt Isabel has had good things to say about this recipe in the past, so I think I’m on to a winner here.
- Finely chopped red cabbage (not too much or it becomes a coleslaw by default!)
- Grated fresh red beetroot
- Strawberries
- Cherry tomatoes
- Red onion
- Red capsicum
- For protein, add a generous amount of Feta cheese, or Tofu and/or Kidney beans for a vegan version
- If not using feta cheese add salt
- Top off with cracked pepper and a generous squeeze of lemon
If you end up making this, send me a picture! I’d love to see your version.
What’s growing in my garden
For vegetables I’m growing, tomato plants (quite a few different kinds), rbeans, corn, butternut pumpkins, red kuri pumpkins, cucumbers, courgettes, and there are still a few cabbages I hope hold out till Christmas and don’t go to seed…
I haven’t planted any strawberries this year, just didn’t get around to organising that. But I have rasberry and boysenberry bushes, and cherry guava plants (aka NZ Cranberry) growing in the garden.
The stonefruit trees are looking good this year, so also looking forward to eating some homegrown peaches and plums.
Store update
Good news, blue shelling pea seeds and broad bean seeds are now back in stock in the online store.
No rush of course, it won’t be time to plant them until autumn. I will have more seeds available heading into autumn so it probably makes sense to wait till then and order a bunch at once.
