Marigolds and Marmalade for Breakfast

On Saturday morning I woke up with the Bokmakierie singing with a very mature voice. I opened the curtains and watched him sitting in the first rays of the sun fluffing himself between songs. He is beautiful with his mature markings. He was enjoying the sun after a cold wet evening, alternating between preening and singing.

The Bokmakierie all grown up.

We had a heavy downpour on Monday that flattened the tall annual flowers in the herbaceous border and I had to take them out. In doing so I picked a big bunch of Marigolds for the house before Shawn put the rest into the compost bins.

A Bucket full of Marigolds

To make space for the new plant material in the compost bins we had to empty the bins first.The quality of the compost was amazing with each bin brimming with earthworms. It was a pleasure to put the healthy earthworm rich compost into the newly turned vegetable beds.

The compost harvest

Earthworm rich compost

The activity in the garden is changing from harvesting to cleaning and preparing beds for the winter crops. We sowed purple broccoli, Romanesque and Sicilian Violet cauliflowers. And the next couple of weekends will involve a lot of sowing as the beds are prepared with homemade compost and kraal manure. The new season beets and carrots are almost ready for harvesting.

With the yellow and orange Marigolds echoing the marmalade on my toast, breakfasts felt like a luxury enjoying the gifts from our garden. With the taste of oranges, the smell of Marigolds and the sound of  Boccherini's guitar quintets flowing through the house I realise what it feels like to be blessed.

The Ginger lily in full bloom in the herb garden

The Cape Chair

We collect Africana and when I had the opportunity to buy “the cape chair/die kaapse stoel” I jumped at it. This is the illustrated edition of the catalogue of an exhibition held in the Stellenbosch Museum in April 1969, compiled by Dr Hans Fransen.

This book nearly completes our collection on Cape furniture. Dr Hans Fransen signed my copy at his recent lecture on Baroque at the Cape that he presented to the Vernacular Architecture Society of South Africa.

He told me how he put the exhibition together by collecting the chairs from all the contributors with his Volkswagen Beetle. Sometimes fitting up to six chairs at a time in the little car.

Apart from collecting books we also collect Cape country furniture to complement the character of the house. In order to be more informed we are constantly looking for more information about the subject of our interest.

Over the years we could learn a great deal about Cape furniture from other enthusiasts like Paul Roux from Ashton.

We have collected some pieces that for us are more like works of art.

Corner Chair with caned seat and plain box stretcher. 18th C 

Neo-Classical chair with three quarter box stretcher and "riempie" seat. Early 19th C

Regency chair with caned seat and twin rail back. Mid 19th C 

Late Regency Armchair, Robertson. 19th C

                                                    

Regency chair with "bowtie" back rail. Swellendam Mid 19th C

The Cape Chair by Dr Hans Fransen

At 84, Dr Hans Fransen has recently published his latest book, "Cape Baroque and the contribution of Anton Anreith". It is a real treat to listen to his informed lectures and I wish him all the best and look forward to his next publication.

Quintessential Quinces

Autumn is officially here with the March Equinox having arrived on Saturday 21  March. The quinces are ripening and I picked a bowl of the rich yellow fruit for the kitchen. They filled the house with their deep sweet aroma and I could smell the history of a hundred Eastern kitchens.

 

Quince Harvest

I cannot imagine a historical garden without a quince tree or hedge in it. There was no doubt in my mind that our garden should have a quince hedge. I love the nostalgic memory of quinces. When I stand under the tree with the first ripe quince pressed against my nose it brings with it the melancholic sent of autumn.

I remember how as a boy I would take a fork and prick the yellow fruit to cover it with tiny holes before I soak it in saltwater. The fruit will have this sour taste with a salty edge. The pips covered with their own jelly was just another surprise of this unique fruit.

 

Lamb stews are magical with quinces and the fruit baked whole in the oven and served with custard as a desert is delicious. The quince is so versatile and can be used as sambal with curries or just preserved in a sugar and cinnamon syrup for a quick desert on a balmy autumn day.

The recipe I decided on was a quince chutney and the mixture of spices and this rich fruit cooking away on the stove filled the kitchen with aromas of times gone by.
 

Quince Chutney in the Making

An interesting bit of history I found about the quince in South Africa is linked to Murraysburg that was founded in 1856 on the farm “Eenzaamheid’ in the Karoo and then became a municipality in July 1883. An original condition for the purchase of any residential plot in Murraysburg was that the plot needed to be surrounded by a quince hedge. This unexplained rule meant that Murraysburg once had the largest quantity of quince hedging in the world.*

Quince Chutney

This antique fruit completes the historical landscape of the garden.

 

 

*Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murraysburg

Contemplating “Korrelkonfyt”

After picking the last of the Hanepoot I was left with more grapes than I could eat and I decided to make korrelkonfyt. This grape jam is delicious when served on a warm slice of homemade bread spread thick with farm butter. The honey like syrup will draw into the bread and permeate it with the rich flavour of the sweet Hanepoot.

Fresh Hanepoot

Nothing comes close to snoek and korrelkonfyt, two of the best treats in the Cape. Fresh snoek from the West Coast caught in the month of May, June, July or August when the flesh is firm served with Hanepoot korrelkonfyt from the Winelands.

Fresh Korrelkonfyt

An old recipe for korrelkonfyt suggested that one adds three or four fig leaves to enhance the flavour of the jam.

The jam had the aroma of green fig preserve after I added the fig leaves. I removed the fig leaves just before I bottled the jam.
 

And like my sister assured me the pips floated to the top for easy removal. Only a few pips remained but I gathered that it can only enhance the character of the korrelkonfyt.

With seven jars of korrelkonfyt in my cupboard I will be able to enjoy the flavour of this summer fruit late into winter.

Fruitful Sunday

The purple fig tree has been producing one ripe fig every weekend for the last five weekends as if it wants to prolong my pleasure of  the taste of summer.

The garlic that I planted ten days ago is coming up nicely.

Garlic

On the hot Sunday morning I could harvest apples, quinces, pomegranates, a fig, grapes, baby corn, brinjals courgettes,Swiss chard and green peppers.

Quince

Star King

Golden Delicious

Second Last Picking of the Hanepoot

I am so impressed with the baby corn that I have decided to make it a must have for the garden in future. I like the height of the plants and enjoy the flavour of the corn.

Baby Corn

Swiss Chard

It was an exhausting but fruitful Sunday. I am truly amazed at the volumes and speed at which the garden produces.

Photographing Pomegranates

The pomegranates in the orchard are ripening and the beautiful mysterious red fruit is brightening up the tree. The heavy red fruit brings home the feeling of the Middle East and the Mediterranean.

According to some religious literature, pomegranates grow in the gardens of paradise. I tend to agree!

I recently saw a video on Youtube on how to peel a pomegranate and it changed my life. It shows how one can peel a pomegranate in a few easy steps.The method exposes all the delicious ruby red seeds for easy access.

I enjoyed photographing the fruit because the colours and textures are so rich.

The ruby red fruit bursts with a sweet tangy spray of juice in your mouth when you crush a handful between your teeth.

I am looking forward to a pomegranate flavoured autumn. With lamb stews in a pomegranate reduction and pomegranate cocktails.

A Middle Eastern Affair

With the prolific crop of Brinjals I am constantly looking at new ways to use them in meals. I decided to make Baba ghanoush but finding tahini in the countryside was  proving impossible.

                                                 Roasting Brinjals                     Photo: Heinrich Wolff

                                           Sweating Brinjals                              Photo: Heinrich Wolff

One of my blog readers gave me the obvious solution to making my own. Well I have learned a lot about tahini in my quest to making some. I am now the proud owner of a jar of fresh homemade tahini in my fridge.

                                                                                              Photo: Heinrich Wolff

With no excuse not to make Baba ghanoush I picked a healthy crop of Brinjals and took them with to the braai on Saturday. I could just as well make use of a healthy braai fire to roast my Brinjals. The brinjals loved the fire and with their blistered skins and cooked meat they had that nice smokey flavour that the recipe called for.

                                                                            Smokey Brinjals                              Photo: Heinrich Wolff

The cooled down brinjals were easy to peel and prepare. A friend brought me a lot of spices from the spice market in Istanbul after her visit to Turkey. My kitchen had such a Middle Eastern feel and aroma with the spices, their names written in Turkish, the smell of smoked brinjals and fresh tahini.

Baba Ghanoush

The finished product was rich and flavoursome and would have had any “pampered papa” asking for more.

On Sunday we had lunch al fresco on the lawn with our friends visiting from England. The day was one of those hot dry Karoo days and the taste of the Baba Ghanoush served with chilled MCC could make one believe that you are in the Middle East somewhere relaxing in an oasis.