gardens . opportunists . apple tarts

Tarts that can’t even keep their hats on. The shame! 😂 Opportunist gardening. Garlic on the farm. Authenticity.

For me it is essential that I turn up for you authentically. Which is why I write to you in my own voice from my own experiences. (With my own very loose hold on punctuation). ALL the images I show you are mine. I captured them and fixed them. And you can steal them. Just make sure to give me the credit if you use them in one of your posts. And all the recipes are from either my kitchen or my mothers kitchen or my grandmothers kitchen. The family kitchens!

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Apple Tarts in Top-Hats

(makes 12 small tarts)

A perfect way to use up old apples and leftover pastry.

Apple Sponge Tarts with Top Hats

Ingredients:

• Pastry sheets ( homemade country pastry, or a couple of thawed frozen sheets).

• Apples - 4 - peeled, cored, chopped and cooked until al dente. (Granny Smiths are best for the sourness.)

• Sponge topping:

  • 60g butter, softened

  • 1/4 cup sugar

  • 1 egg

  • 1/2 cup flour

  • 1/2 tsp baking powder

  • 1 tsp vanilla

  • Zest of half a scrubbed lemon (optional)

    

To Make:

1. Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F).

2. Roll out the pastry and cut into squares to line a greased muffin tin.

3. In a bowl, cream the butter and sugar, then beat in the egg. Add vanilla and lemon zest. Fold in the mixed flour and baking powder to make a soft sponge batter.

4. Spoon cooked, strained and slightly cooled apple into pastry cases.

5. Spoon a dollop of sponge over the apples in each case.

6. With any leftover pastry, twist little "roses" and place them on top as charming little hats.

7. Bake for 20–25 minutes, or until golden and puffed.

   

Tip: I used left over phyllo pastry and it did not work so well. I think it had been ‘left over’ a little too long! 😂 It looks pretty, though. Right?

Tip: Strain your apples after cooking so your little apple cakes don’t get soggy bottoms.

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You are not alone

It is hard to put into a sentence why we write or why we are here on Substack. We are all naturally so eclectic. And seeking our people. Seeking safety. Seeking to be heard. Seeking to be seen. With good people and good food and good environments. And I will say it a million times for each other millions - you are not alone as you strive to do good and live gently on this good earth. Trust yourself.

I say this often and stand by it. Trust yourself. Trust your instincts. Triangulate your news. Educate yourself with facts. Make your decisions that align with your lifetime creed. Eat what is right for your body. Eat what you grow. Be careful of gossip - check for the facts before you share something. We are being bullied into rage decisions. Even rage sharing. So apply frequent thinking breaks for clarity. Protect your neighbours and protect their personal information, too.

I am worried for immigrant friends in the USA, and wives of immigrants and find myself texting in a weird strangled code to check health and welfare and where they are and how they are doing. This is not right.

Upon reading this (above) I realise that my intentions are still the same as they have always been. Since I began to write. Sharing with ordinary people the knowledge that we can all grow ordinary food. Broadcasting that you are not alone. The belief that our very bones retain old knowledge. That if it sounds like a made up fact or number - it probably is. Trusting your own judgement makes sense to me. Our bodies are designed for real food. And our minds are designed for dissemination. Keep questioning.

And pop a herb plant in your windowsill. Growing even a tiny bit of your own food is as old as the proverbial hills. It will move something in you. Unwind a little knot of anxiety.

And you know this. Or you would not be here. With us - this community of like minded individuals. You are safe here.

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Opportunist Gardening.

Remember that geranium cutting from down the road. Now it is preparing to flower. And YES - you can eat geraniums - the leaves and the flowers.

When harvesting a lettuce cut above the lower leaves. (Top right in this image).

Leave the roots in the ground and the plant will continue to grow, throwing out opportunist mini lettuces. This works for cabbages too. Actually it works better for cabbages. Those little mini cabbages are so sweet!

The roots of spring onions left over from food prep get popped into soil and will almost always grow. When are growing well in a pot (or garden), just cut what you need for dinner don’t pull the whole plant out. They will continue to throw up green shoots. OR leave them alone to grow into a big onion.

Garlic sprouting? Plant it. Divide and plant the whole head. (In the southern hemisphere the general rule is plant on the shortest day, dig on the longest day but the fun is in the opportunist planting jamming it in the soil and seeing what happens. Trust yourself.

A bag of old cilantro forgotten in the bottom of the fridge. Cut off the limp green and plant it.

A volunteer tomato plant that popped up in the rose garden. We are eating these tomato offers one by one wishing it had been a beefsteak opportunist but grateful all the same.

I have to admit that this little garden I am growing here in Melbourne has become almost too beautiful to eat! Every leaf enchants me.

Though of course I am eating the garden. As I thin each group of plantings the thinnings (roots and all) go into tonight’s opportunist salad.

Garlic on the Farm in Illinois

In the Midwest, USA, I have a field as my big garden. It is very different from my compact kitchens garden in Melbourne, USA. Though it might be a little neglected this year in my absence, it is springing into life.

I planted 300 garlic cloves in the fall and covered them with six bales of straw, they are all growing super well into the spring. I am hoping to be able to spend some time in July on the farm - and if the garlic is ready I will lift them and sell them through my local food network.

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All the proceeds from the eggs and garlic, and pumpkins, etc, and what I raise from writing here, goes toward running this little organic, sustainably managed community farm that feeds families and locals and the old rescue pigs.

So, thank you for upgrading. It means the world to hard working families in a rural midwest community. And the pigs. And ME!

And as always - however you subscribe - you are very welcome here.

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HERE is our latest book completed.

So, what should I read to you next. And it needs to in the public domain - so at least over 80 years from publishing to be safe

Take care and Talk soon.

Celi