Kimchi with my weird napa cabbage
It grew slowly in my greenhouse from June to December and ended up looking like this. O_o
It was pretty unhappy most of the summer. In the fall it perked up a bit, but then I couldn’t be around much and tend to it. I’m kind of surprised that it survived at all. Maybe if I’d have watered and fertilized it more during October-December, it would have grown nice big heads.
Now it grew cute little heads instead. :3
I don’t like napa cabbage in anything but kimchi, but then again, I like kimchi very much … People claim it’s one of the healthiest things you could possibly eat, you can eat it with almost anything, and it’s really easy to make at home.
Here is my recipe:
Cut the cabbage in smaller pieces and soak in water (just enough to cover it) and sea salt (or “kosher salt”).
Cover and soak overnight. That will start the fermentation process.
Pour out the water and wash the cabbage. It’s good if it’s still wet and there’s water in the bowl, as that will make brine, the watery stuff in the kimchi. I like to use kimchi brine in salty pancakes. :3
You can pretty much chop up any vegetables you like and put them in the kimchi.
Here is what I added now:
* Carrots
* Scallions
* Fresh ginger
* Garlic (lots)
* Chili pepper flakes
Then mix them all gently with your hand(s). Taste to see if you would like more of something (maybe salt?).
When it’s good, take clean glass jars and wash them again with boiling hot water.
Then put the kimchi in the jars. You will have to press it down in order to fit as much as possible in the jar. Then distribute the remaining liquid evenly among the jars, and close the lids tightly.
Store in the fridge and let them sit and ferment a bit for a couple of days before eating. (Of course you can also eat part of the kimchi fresh … I do. In fact, right now I’m having some in the vegetable soup I just made.)
Normally I make a much bigger batch of kimchi, but this was my extra special weird home grown napa cabbage. It all fit in one jar. :3
Final harvest?
Aww, poor tomatoes. I didn’t give you the chance to maybe fully ripen before I picked you. Because temperatures are going to get a bit too close to freezing in the next week, so I didn’t want to risk losing all these tomatoes.
The orange and yellow ones might still ripen by themselves, and with the green ones I’ll make lots of little fried green tomatoes! Whee!
Rain and lunch
Hmm, what colours should I wear this summer, to match the bruises on my legs …? Purple, green, yellow? (I fell into a tram track with my bike.) Well, so far it doesn’t seem to be a problem, really, because it just won’t stop raining.
Nasturtium, potatoes, nettles and borages, all blossoming in the rain.
A worker bee! They have to work, come rain, come shine. So do I, so when there isn’t enough sun for my solar panels, I have to go to town and work in a cafe.
A frog, some news and a recipe
Last year the frogs and toads never went to this smaller pond near the greenhouse, and the people I’m renting this place from said they never had gone there before.
But this year, for some reason, the frogs and toads have all decided to hang out there, too!
My herb garden got some additions: rosemary, mint and chives in the smaller pots. The two former were on a special offer at one of the supermarket chains, and I’m too impatient to wait until the chives I sowed will finally grow big enough to eat …
Spanish slugs sure aren’t vegans
Better than potato leaves: kitty food!
So, in the last post I was contemplating my slimy little neighbours. I’d been trying to give them salad and pears, but they mostly didn’t give a crap and kept chomping away at my potato plants.
Now mum gave me the expert tip to give them dry cat food.
