Make My Banana Curry? - Jul 19, 2024
Dear gardening friends
Janiece Kalmar just dropped in for her weekly visit.
She was sporting her Tim's Red Scarf of course and I noticed she was wearing it in Relaxed mode. It's when you're wearing it, but you're not. When the weather turns arctic, you can quickly wrap it around your neck for Warmth mode. There's so many ways to wear a Tim's Red Scarf.
Janiece kindly supports our charity drive every year by updating to the latest model. She's wearing the 2024 model today. It's the EV model, its whisper quiet. It costs nothing to run, it's magical.
We love Janiece, she's a mad gardener, there's always room for one more, even two more. Everywhere she goes gardens grow. She's in Carrington now. She has transformed her garden into a botanical Oasis.
She bought a few more plants today. I was telling her about this old world Camellia Transnokiensis. It has tiny fragrant white flowers. It's covered in buds right now. It's a collectors plant, "I'll have one", she said.
Gardening keeps you alive you know, all that bending and digging and walking around in the fresh air, listening to the birds, talking to people as they walk past, watching buds burst into bloom.
Gardening is magical, but you can't stop. Switch to pots when you can't dig anymore. We need soil on our hands. Nurturing plants makes us happy.
This amazing house just got sold in Elderslie. I'm wondering if the new owner is a Citrus lover?
The current owner certainly is, because they have the most beautiful Citrus trees, covered in fruit, growing in the front yard.
Look how the fruit glow with the lights, there's just so much to love about Citrus trees in winter.
These are probably dwarf Citrus trees. Don't they look spectacular.
Could the owners of this beautifully landscaped house start a new trend in Macarthur?
The reason these trees are growing so well is, they have been planted in a raised garden bed. This gives the Citrus a chance to grow roots into this soil to get started. It's the difference between success and failure.
Most people dig a hole in the clay and put some soil around the roots. Sometimes they chuck in a handful of Citrus fertiliser too. It's the double whammy.
The hole fills up with water, the roots rot, they can't take up water, the leaves turn yellow and fall off.
Sometimes the tree starts flowering, it's tries desperately to grow fruit and seeds because it knows it's going to die.
The handful of Citrus food does the same thing, it burns the new roots and the tree drops all its leaves. It can be dead within a month. You come and tell me you did everything right.
I smile.
The owner of this beautiful house did everything right and they are also making me smile.
Do they pick the fruit before the house settles?
What a dilemma. What would you do?
Indoor plants are even beautiful at night. I just looked at the Fiddle Leaf Fig and I fell in love with its shape and form. I've cut this back several times and it just keeps growing. I repotted it in summer with Tim's Best Potting mix, and it's grown at least one metre.
Wow this has caused a bit of controversy, I told Khaled and Jeff that I'm cooking a Curry using Bananas. It's a Banana Curry.
I had spotty Bananas that were about to go off so what should I do with them? Make a Banana Curry of course.
It's got 4x Lamb grillers with the fat removed and chopped up. Then I've added Eggplant, Onion, Canned Tomatoes, Anchovies, 4x Bananas (peeled), Sultanas, Mung beans, Black beans, 2 x heaped tablespoons of Greenvalley Malaysian Curry power, dash of Worcestershire sauce.
Cook on high all day. Serve with White Rice.
I added a can of Coconut cream to add colour just before serving. I put a dollop of Greek yogurt on top.
It was delicious. There's enough to feed 6 people.
It's cheap to make and so healthy. Buy plants with the money I'm saving you.
They will make you feel good.
P.S It's time to spray Clover and Bindi.
Come and see us.
Happy gardening
Tim