KITCHEN GARDEN-UPDATE 1
So I started my garden about a month ago and I was pretty excited about it. There is always a sense of satisfaction when one starts on a project that they have been thinking and talking about for ages. So that is exactly how I felt…satisfied..achieved …
Fast forward two weeks later…….my plants aren’t doing so well 🙁
My spinach seedlings have been eaten by birds,
my lettuce, as expected have not grown much,
The chilies have sprouted out a bit
.
but on the bright side my dhanias (coriander) seems to be doing pretty well and
my carrots
and spring onions
are looking good too.
I posted on my FB wall about my dilemma and I got some suggestions about using the neem plant as a pesticide but I have no idea where to get it. I ended up sending someone to AgroVet to get me some pesticide and they gave me some pesticide so I’m waiting too see how it goes in the mean time the pictures of my garden so far are above.
Spicy Beef, Mushroom &Bean Sprouts Stir Fry
I have never been a fun of minced meat. I really don’t have a reason as to my dislike but for as long as I can remember I just could not stand minced meat. So when I saw a photo of this recipe in the March 2012 BBC Good Food Magazine I thought it looked really good and it claimed to be healthy as well (it has two servings of the recommended 5 a day of fruits and vegetables) and I had no idea that the main ingredient was minced meat. I was quite skeptical but decided to try it anyway because of how good the photo looked and I was not disappointed. I actually quite enjoyed it. I should warn you though it doesn’t keep well in the fridge so I ended up throwing out whatever left overs were there as they did not taste as good or look half as great. HAPPY COOKING!!!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 500 gm minced beef
- 1 red chilli (I did not have this so I used ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper)
- 6 garlic cloves, crushed
- 150 gm mushrooms
- 100 gm bean sprouts
- 4 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 4 spring onions, halved and sliced lengthways (I did not have this so I did not use them)
- Basmati rice to serve
Instructions
Heat a little of the oil in a non-stick wok or large frying pan. Put in the minced meat and break it up with a wooden spoon for about 10 mins until cooked through, remove and keep aside.
Put the remaining oil in the pan add half the chilli, garlic and mushrooms and cook for a few minutes then add the bean sprouts and mix up.
Return the mince to the pan and add most of the spring onions (if using), the oyster sauce, sugar and 200ml of water.
Bubble for a few minutes then serve immediately with steamed rice. Top with the remaining chilli and spring onions. ENJOY!
https://www.themothershipvillage.com/spicy-beef-mushroom-bean-sprouts-stir-fry/My Kitchen Garden
For the longest time I have wanted to start a kitchen garden in Kakuma. You see going to the market here is like going to City Park Market or Ngara Market late on a Sunday evening!!! The produce is rarely FRESH. The greens are not a deep green, the carrots are never ORANGE, the apples are soft, and the Dhania (corriander) ooh the dhanias are like a browning green herb that go bad in 3 days tops and the spring onions look like grass that was slashed off two days ago…dead. With all these we are still forced to buy the produce at ridiculously high prices due to the fact that they are transported from Kitale. Due to all these I kept dreaming of how I will start my small garden and plant mainly dhanias. So last time I was home for R&R I decided to go the supermarket and get myself some seeds. So I bought baby spinach, carrots, spring onions, chillies and of course dhanias. I got someone to dig up the space at the end of my house for me
and got some manure from the local community and I planted my seeds. Over the next 3 or so month I expect a lot of challenges, the weather here gets extremely harsh, so that will be my biggest issue, secondly there also a lot of insects that might decide that I am planting for us all and lastly pesky neighbours who think that they can come and harvest on my behalf 🙂 . As you can see from the above photos when its rainy the grass grows really fast, I wish I had taken a pic before the rains so that you see how dry it usually is, but I guess the two before pics are evidence enough of how fast the grass can grow. All in all I am up for the challenge and I am quite frankly looking forward to it all. As my plants grow I will be updating all of you on the progress and the challenges and joys that come with the new “farming” experience. WISH ME LUCK
