Spitzkohlpfanne (Spring Cabbage) with Indian Spiced Potato Wedges



If you are like me and have a mountain of vegetables you just don’t know what to do with then this recipe is for you. 

Ingredients:

1 Spitzkohl

1 Onion

4-5 Carrots

1-2 Zucchinis 

1 cup Peas

200 g Cherry Tomatoes

1 pkg Feta Cheese

Turmeric

Marsala

Cumin

Chicken or Vegetable Broth Seasoning

Salt & Pepper

Chicken Breast or Sausage (Optional)

Instructions:

Start by heating a large skillet with Olive Oil to Medium heat. Add Onions and cook till translucent. If adding meat then add it to the skillet with seasonings. Cook till the meat is just browned and remove from pan. Add carrots and spitzkohl with a bit of water in the pan to cook down the kohl. Cook until carrots are slightly tender and the spitzkohl has shrunk down. Add zucchini and cook till almost done and add the meat back into the skillet. Add the peas, tomatoes, and cheese. You can serve immediately or cook a bit longer till the cheese melts and creates a cream sauce. 

If you are not using meat you might want something with a bit more “bite” to it and I usually make the potato wedges to go with. They are also great to soak up the sauce. Here is the recipe for them:

Take some new potatoes and clean them but do not peel. Cut into wedges and add into a medium hot grill pan with Olive Oil. Add Turmeric, Cumin, Marsala, Garlic and salt & pepper. Cook until tender on the inside but crispy on the outside. Serve immediately. 

I love this recipe and it takes a lot of vegetables from the garden to make a great meal or two. Until next time…

Willkommen! Welcome!



I wanted to take this time to re-introduce myself to you all. I have received several messages, comments, and had several chats with not only my loyal followers but new ones as well. I hope my blog has been able to help you, inform you, and encourge you to go out and garden! 

Ich wollte diese Zeit nehmen, um wieder einzuführen mich an euch alle. Ich habe mehrere Nachrichten, Kommentare, und hatte mehrere Chats mit nicht nur meine treuen Anhänger, sondern neue als auch empfangen werden. Ich hoffe, mein Blog war in der Lage, Ihnen zu helfen, informieren Sie, und encourge Ihnen hinauszugehen und Garten!

 I have updated my website to include a whole section on gardening. I cover everything from pest, to plans, to the community as a whole. I also have an extensive collection of photos from the garden. Though I am not completely fluent in German yet I do understand so if you happen to be one of my fellow gardeners in Fischbek please feel free to contact me and I will do my best to respond. 

Ich habe meine Website aktualisiert, um einen ganzen Abschnitt über die Gartenarbeit gehören. Ich decken alles ab Schädling, um die Pläne, für die Gemeinschaft als Ganzes. Ich habe auch eine umfangreiche Sammlung von Fotos aus dem Garten. Obwohl ich bin mir nicht ganz fließend Deutsch noch ich tue es verstehen, wenn Sie zu einem meiner Kollegen Gärtner in Fischbek sein wenden Sie sich bitte an mich wenden passieren und ich werde mein Bestes tun, um zu reagieren.

You can visit the new pages on my site by going to www.aaronscheuerman.com and clicking on the Garden link at the top. Until next time…

Sie können die neuen Seiten meiner Website, indem Sie auf www.aaronscheuerman.comund Klick auf den Garten-Link oben zu besichtigen. Bis zum nächsten Mal …

Rainy Day Blues

The weather here in Hamburg lately has not been the best to say the least. It has been somewhat cool and very rainy. So what is one to do when the weather hasn’t been the most cooperative? Well one thing you can do is harvest. You’re probably thinking what kind of thing to do is that? If you have Zuckererbsen, Lettuce, Green Beans, Broad Beans or other vegetables that get rather large, you can ease the weight of the plants by harvesting its fruit. Besides taking off some of the weight it promotes new growth for the plant.
Another thing you can and should do is weed. Sure it’s going to get messy but the softened ground makes it easier for those stubborn weeds to come out. Keeping those weeds away will give all the grounds energy and resources to plants you want to get it the most.
Getting back to harvesting, I had my 2nd big harvest yesterday. A bag full of Zuckererbsen, a few Carrots, some Beets, Swiss Chard, Radishes and some Lettuce. Sometimes you will find yourself having more produce then you know what to do with. So here is a TIP: I like to take some the produce that I have so much of and run it through my juicer. Mixed with some apples and/or other fruits it makes a tasty drink. Start experimenting with different produce and drink combinations. The juice you produce has more nutrients in 1 glass then a whole box of vegetables. So if you find it overwhelming to cook loads of vegetables, juice them and enjoy the cool, refreshing drink. (I will post some of my favorite recipes soon).
Until next time, happy gardening…



The First Big Harvest

So I am now 2 1/2 months into the Fischbek Garden Project and I had my 1st big harvest this week. As you can see from the photo there was a lot to harvest not to mention it was extremely heavy carrying all this produce home. It had been a little longer than usual since my last visit about 4-5 days since actually, so I was pleasantly surprised to find I had 2 Cucumbers ready to harvest. I also had 3 Zucchinis. Speaking of Zucchini, if you remember I bought 2 “jungpflanze” Zucchini since the owners only planted about 1 per plot. Funny thing now is, the one they planted by seed is now 3x as big as the ones I bought and it has more fruit. Though the 2 I bought are doing ok I am still a bit disappointed how little they have grown. The Spitzkohl was ready to harvest the last time I visited, but I wasn’t ready to harvest just yet. This time however I wanted to harvest a couple. I noticed that it looked as if some bugs were eating the outer leaves so I decided to take those first. Also to my surprise I found some nasty worms at the core of a couple of them. I really hope the others will be ok but meanwhile I will look into some natural ways of making sure they destroy my next crop. The peas are coming along nicely and I was able to harvest some of those as well. We have had some pretty strong storms lately and unfortunately I think the storms did some damage to the Peas and Corn. Some of the Corn and Pea plants were toppled over. I added some poles to these for added strength and hopefully they will be ok now.
Everything else is growing just as fast. I am really hopping the Melon and Eggplant start producing some fruit soon as well as the Green Beans. I still have some free places in the garden and will be thinking of my next round. My last visit to Sannmann about a 2 weeks ago was ok, however they did not have much to choose from. The summer plants should already be planted and it’s about time to start planting the veggies you want for fall.
Well I’m off to the beaches of Denmark for a few days but the weather in Hamburg will have some rain and hopefully some warm temps so the plants should be ok till I get back. Until next time…

Vegetarian Burgers

So I am not a Vegetarian but since I started the Fischbek Garden Project I have been eating more and more of them. I have lost a little over 5 kilo so far and that I believe is due to the fact of me eating more veggies, less sugar, less meat and more psychical activity. Another side “effect” of the garden is sometimes having more vegetable then what you know to do with. I have been coming up with different ideas and I wanted to share this recipe with you. It is my take on a Vegetarian Burger


Ingredients:
5 Carrots
2 Sweet Potatoes
1 Potato
2 Leeks
1 Fennel Bulb
2 Zucchinis
3/4 cup Bread Crumbs
2 tbsp Paprika
2 tbsp Kurkuma
2 tbsp Ground Coriander
2 eggs
Salt
Pepper


Instructions:
Start by peeling the Carrots, Sweet Potatoes, and Potato. After you peel you vegetables put the shredding attachment onto your food processor. (If you don’t have one then you will have to grate everything by hand). Start shredding your Carrots, Sweet Potatoes, Potato and Zucchinis. The Fennel and Leeks you will probably have to shred by hand since they are not as firm as the other vegetables they can clog the food processor and not shred properly. Once you have your veggies shredded you will need to drain all the liquid out of the bowl. The best way to do this is take a fine mesh strainer and place the veggies inside and squeeze the juice out. TIP: you can save this liquid for vegetable stock if you’d like. Once drained place back in bowl and add the remaining ingredients. Depending on how big your vegetables were you may need a little less or a little more bread crumbs or egg. After mixed and everything holds together you can start to form your patties. In a grill pan place about 2 tbsp of Olive Oil and turn the heat to medium. Once warm place your patties and cook until golden brown on both sides.


Serving Suggestions:
You can eat them as is or you can do what I do and place a bit of sour cream on top and wrap in a lettuce leaf instead of bread. It is a light, warm, hearty meal for anytime. They store great in the fridge or freezer as well.

I hope this inspired you to go out and try your own!

How Fast They Grow

 

It’s amazing how fast the plants in the garden grow. The weather has been pretty good so that helps. The right amount warmth with the right amount of rainfall. The new Radishes that were planted a couple weeks ago are almost ready to harvest. The new Beets, Lettuce, and Fennel that I planted at the same time by seed have sprouted and growing well. The eggplants that I thought were pretty much dead have started to grow a bit and I even have some blooms on them which mean fruit is not far behind. The Broad Beans are waist high now but no fruit just yet. All the Kopfsalat has been harvested and the new ones are about halfway through their cycle before harvesting. However, the Peas have tons of pods all over. The Spitzkohl is ready for harvesting but I will leave them for as long as I can. The Green Beans are pretty small but they already have blooms, I am hoping they grow bigger. Everything else is coming along just great. The Zucchini and Cucumbers are producing fruit.
To continue on the Garden Plan I posted before, here is the next batch:
Broad Beans
These have grown really fast and as I said before are waist high. They have has some problems with aphids but luckily with a few squirts of organic bug spray they seem to have gone away. I am not a huge fan of Broad Beans but I am excited to try some new recipes with them and hopefully acquire a new taste for these fast growing vegetables.
Swiss Chard
Another vegetable that I am not a big fan of but if I don’t like the taste of them I can always juice them which I absolutely love. These too have had some problems with aphids but unlike the Broad Beans they don’t seem to be going away. They have grown quite large in recent weeks and look beautiful.
Spitzkohl
I am not quite sure what it is comparable to in English. Online it says pointed Cabbage but I have not heard of that before. Either way, it’s a white Cabbage and actually taste quite good. I use this vegetable in soups and stews. The Spitzkohl is ready for harvesting but as I stated before, I will wait a bit longer to do so.
Rotkohl
Red Cabbage is what Rotkohl is translated to. Pretty much everyone knows this vegetable. It has grown to a very large size, however there doesn’t seem to be a center developing yet. Which is ok considering this is a cold season vegetable.
Broccoli & Cauliflower
I planted both with seeds and those are growing nicely though rather small so far. I have purchased 7 jungpflanze of Broccoli and they are rather large. Like the Rotkohl these have not developed any centers yet and I don’t expect them to for quite some time. Very easy to maintain though.
Wirsing
This is another one I have not heard of in America but its Savoy Cabbage. In Germany it’s quite popular and they Roulade with it. They make a hamburger mix and roll it up in a leaf and steam it. The Wirsing has also grown rather large and the centers have developed a bit. Not too much care needed here either.
Kohlrabi
Yet another vegetable I have not seen or heard of in America. Kohlrabi is actually one of my favorites however. It reminds me a bit like an Apple because of the texture but the taste is indescribable. You peel them, cut them up and steam them or put in soup. You don’t want them to too big or they become woody and don’t taste good. They need plenty of room to grow and you can also use the smaller inner leaves for flavoring soups and stews. The larger outer leaves you will want to throw away as they are also woody and won’t taste good.
Kopfsalat
A tip I gave in one of my post awhile back is that you can harvest the outer leaves before harvesting the whole plant. This will prolong the vegetable. However, as soon as the salat has reached its peak you need to harvest the plant soon. It will start to sprout upwards and it will start to decay. 

Lettuce, Lettuce, and more Lettuce!

 

If you are like me you have more Lettuce in your Garden then you know what to do with. They seem to all be ready for harvest all at once. If you remember back to one of my previous post about how to prolong the plant, you will remember that if you harvest the outer leaves first it will encourage the plant to keep growing and you will still have enough Lettuce for a tasty salad. Well, you can only do that for so long before you HAVE to harvest the whole plant. Now I am not a vegetarian but I do love salads and since I have started gardening I have been eating salads almost everyday. However, that just doesn’t seem to be enough. I have loads of Lettuce left and if you are don’t use it quick enough it will go bad and all that hard work has gone out with the garbage. 

I would like to pass on a little tip that I hope will help you keep your Lettuce a little bit longer while keeping it as fresh as the day you picked it. So here goes:

1. Fill you sink up with cold water.

2. Place your Lettuce in the sink and swish it around a bit to get rid of all the loose dirt.

3. Let it sit for a few minutes. (this will also bring back to life some of those limp leaves).

4. Drain the water.

5. With the faucet on low rinse the Lettuce once more and place in salad spinner.

6. Once the spinner is full but not packed, close it with the lid. 

7. Spin the Lettuce until dry.

8. Place a couple paper towels on the counter and lay your Lettuce on top.

9. Roll up the Lettuce in the paper towels, not too tight though.

10. Place in ziplock plastic baggie and put in your fridge.

That’s it! You will be able to go to your fridge and take out the Lettuce and have it be as crisp and fresh as the day you picked it. Now of course the one tool you will need here is the salad spinner. If you are a gardener you will need to invest in one of these. They are pretty cheap and a must have. 

So with that being said, until next time. Happy gardening….