Monday Harvest – Apr 8th 2013

The garden is starting to slow down meaning that some of this weeks baskets look a little on the meagre side.

The beans were nice in a risotto along with some other veg and the chillies have gone into the fridge to make sambal at a later date.  As have the ones below.  Except for the Padrons that is, they were fried and eaten with a little salt.  This lot were all mild.

This is my first year growing Padrons so I have done a bit of internet research on them and I have to say I am getting sick of reading them described as “Russian Roulette”.  Almost every single time they are discussed on the internet it is with the analogy that eating them is like playing “Russian Roulette” and that 1 in 10 is hot.  Now perhaps that is true however:

1. In my (admittedly extremely limited) experience it isn’t, for me they have either been all mild or all hot depending on how long they were left on the plant.
2. Why must everyone use exactly the same analogy?  and
3. One in 10.  Really? Everytime? Every plant?  In all growing conditions?  It does make me wonder about how much of what you read is just the same material regurgitated and how much is actually experienced.  I don’t mean gardening blogs but more often food sites, reference articles, gardening sites etc.

One thing the Padron’s research does demonstrate to me is how one idea can become ‘conventional gardening wisdom’ or in this case perhaps it is ‘conventional culinary wisdom’.   Or perhaps I am making a mountain out of a molehill and 1 in 10 really are hot.  What do you think?

Now that I have got down from my high horse I’ll let you see a picture of them:

Just enough for me (fortunately Miss 6 and Mr 3 are scared off them by the “Russian roulette, one in ten” theory so perhaps it does have its uses after all).

Also this week; –  I needed aromatics for my risotto stock:

Some bits and pieces for a salad:

I harvested some eggplants that I failed to photograph.  But most excitingly, I pulled the first of my pot grown Sweet Potatoes.

Not a huge haul.  About 700g from one plant which I think puts then in the fun rather than functional category.  Having said that they are disease and pest free and pretty much take care of themselves.   You definitely can’t say that about everything.   Plus they should taste great.

For more harvests including some from a slowly thawing Northern Hemisphere head over to Daphne’s Dandelions.