Getting the most out of fresh produce
I am sure I am not alone in opening the fridge to find that half of my fresh produce is not really good enough to eat anymore. I groan every time I see all the lovely, (not so fresh) food going to waste.
Until Christmas we had a worm farm so at least I felt it wasn’t totally wasted, as I would prepare a feast for the little fellas out of anything that had gone past it’s used by date. Unfortunately the hot weather killed off all our worms on Christmas eve and until we start to get some cooler weather we are not going to start a new one.
I already had a few thoughts (and tips) of my own on what to do with not so fresh, fresh produce once it has gone past it’s used by date. Then on Friday night I was watching Better Homes and Gardens and got even more tips and my blog post for this week was born.
Often recipes ask for some fresh herbs like basil, coriander, mint etc. This year my garden has not done as well as normal, with all the hot weather we have enjoyed and I have had to buy a lot more fresh herbs than usual. The recipe often only requires a sprig or two, and of course you can’t buy just a sprig, you have to buy a big bunch and invariably half of it goes to waste. My tip here is to put the herbs in a glass of water as soon as you bring them home and use what you need from them. Leave them in the water for up to 2 weeks and you will notice roots growing, at which time you can plant them in a pot or the garden and watch them grow. Bingo, you still have fresh herbs and hopefully they will grow into magnificent plants!
Celery is another one you usually only need a few sticks of. I sometimes buy the ready cut sticks, but they are never as fresh as buying the entire celery head. Once you have cut all the sticks of celery off the head, put the base into a shallow bowl of water and in about 2 weeks you will have roots growing from the base, at which point you can plant it into the garden. The celery plant will take about 3 months to grow, but it has cost you nothing and you will have celery in the garden next time you need some.
Spring onions are another thing I often buy, needing just one or 2 but end up with a huge bunch to use up. There are two things you can do with these. You can cut the end off the spring onion with the roots still attached and plant it into the garden. Or, you can take the entire bunch of spring onions and plant them straight into the garden. By doing this they will last much longer than leaving them in the fridge as the roots will take hold giving you many more for future recipes.
If you have tomatoes that have gone all mushy, take out the seeds and dry then on a paper towel. keep them dry and ready for planting at the end of winter. You will get an untold supply of seeds and plants by following this seed harvesting method, instead of paying a fortune for lots of plants you will get them for ‘free’. You can also do the same with pumpkin seeds and as you can see the pumpkin seeds my husband planted have taken over the garden…… and a lot of my herbs!!! Just try and plan where you plant them, as they tend to take over quite quickly. You can do the same with your capsicums, cucumber and peas. Just make sure the seeds are dried out properly before storing them for planting at the end of winter.
Potatoes are another one that need not go to waste. I often open the draw holding our potatoes in it and find them all sprouting with little eyes looking out at me. Simply plant the sprouting potatoes in a deep bed in the garden and you will have potatoes galore. When the plant dies off, you know they are ready to harvest.
Lastly, I recommend a worm farm. There is nothing better than when you are cooking, to be able to put all the vegetable waste into the worm farm to produce fertilizer for your garden. I find when we have our worm farm up and running our kitchen waste is often halved as it all goes out to the worms. I have to confess “I hate worms” and refuse to feed them so they tend to go a little hungry when my husband is away, but I usually make sure that I have overfed them before he leaves! Just remember they don’t like onion, garlic and citrus. Avocado is usually not degestible either.
With all of these ideas don’t forget to give your growing plants a good feed of root booster, to ensure they get all the nutrients they need to grow well. Also, if you get a worm farm up and running you can feed your new plants with the juice from the worm farm which has always done wonders for all our plants.
Happy cooking and gardening
Rachel
