wikileeks: Now we're getting somewhere

It was showery and cold this morning and starting to feel like autumn, not that we had such a great summer to begin with. There were some warm days during the week and a great looking weekend is coming up. Whether it was from the protestations of last week's blog post or the warmer weather the tomatoes have taken a hint and started ripening at last! Hope to picking some by the end of the week. And my prediction was right, the sweetcorn was ready before the tomatoes, never had that before.

This season I planted the Kelvedon Glory variety. Being an early cropping variety, it's ready a couple of weeks earlier than other varieties such as Supersweet. The cobs are about 15cm long with smallish kernels that are tender and juicy when cooked. Cobs are ready for picking when the 'silks' protruding from the cobs turn brown. I find the best way to eat it is to cook it shortly after harvesting before the sugars in the kernels convert to starch causing the flavour to deteriorate. This is the only way to eat corn on the cob in my view, a taste preference developed from childhood when my father would pick some corn and straight into the pot it went. Corn that's sat on a supermarket shelf pales in comparison.

To cook, I simply simmer the sweetcorn in water for about 15 minutes and serve with lots of butter and salt. Perhaps not so healthy but delicious, a real late summer/early autumn treat. I will also try out a corn chowder recipe this year, there's quite a few cobs on the plants and want none of it to go to waste.

Now that summer is drawing to close, a reminder to people in the hills to cut down and dispose of agapanthus flowers which are now past their glory and turning to seed. Agapanthus is a feature in many gardens in the Dandenongs, they look particularly good as a massed display or as a border. We have a row running across the front of the property by the road side. A plant originating from southern Africa, it thrives in the hills to the point of being a serious weed in bushland, as the result of illegal dumping of the rhizomes (the fleshy root system) and seed heads in garden waste but also from birds ingesting the seed from the pods and spreading it through their droppings. So people, do your bit and cut down those flowers! For more information the local council (Shire of Yarra Ranges) website has a section listing major problem weeds in the hills and tips on controlling them including agapanthus.

Check out some new photos of the veggie patch and the terraced garden project. I must say I'm rather pleased with the way it's going.