Katy's Garden

Transplanted the first seedling of variegated hybiscus (the foliage is variegated, the flower should be triple and purple... an exotic creature indeed). My exotic seedlings are doing well, the mango especially, and the Rhodochiton also. My one surviving papaya is slowly slowly recovering from what I thought was a fatal crisis. Whatever hit my little papayas is a mystery, but one by one they all petered out and died except this one. Still no news with Musa nagensium, but the seeds look clean and healthy, no fungal growth or anything. They say they can take up to six months to germinate, so I will wait patiently. I seem to have found a plant of tetrapanax, on the other hand, I will have it delivered in september or so, when it will not risk cooking in the back of the postman van. The brugmansias are doing very well, growing by the minute. The picture above is a few days old, but they have tripled in size since.

We are drowning in zucchini, zucchini, zucchini. I give away bags but there are still too many. I did not realize four plants would produce such an avalanche. May be one or two plants will suffice in the future.

A very good recipe we tried for them is a soup.

2 onions, chopped

2 potatoes, diced

3 medium-large zucchini roughly diced

1 medium zucchini, finely diced

2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped

2 teaspoons of fresh, chopped rosemary

3-4 spoons of finely chopped chives

1 lemon (juice)

salt, pepper, a pinch of chili

4 - 5 cups of chicken stock

oil, a piece of butter (or a bit of fresh cream)

Lightly fry the onions and garlic until transparent, add rosemary, potatoes and stock and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the three roughly chopped zucchini and simmer for 20 more minutes, add the lemon juice. Blend smooth. Season to taste, and melt in the butter or cream. Boil the remaining zucchini dice for just a moment (30 seconds, a minute no more) in salt water. Ladle the soup in bowls and scatter with zucchini dices and chives. Serve with croutons and white wine.

Serve 4 or 6 depending if polite or hungry.