It was 8 long years before I got the call that a plot in my preferred community garden site was available. I was in Kenya at the time and the phone I was using wasn't very reliable for checking email on a regular basis. Fortunately I borrowed a laptop from a young Kenyan friend of mine and it helped me check on and respond to my messages.
The summer of 2019 was my first year at the community plot. I wasn't quick enough to take advantage of the compost and additional soil purchased by the garden committee as I've discovered that most people at the community plots are real keen gardeners. Their gardens are already growing by the time I'm thinking about cleaning the debris and preparing the soil. Thankfully my garden grew nicely without all the additional amendments.
This year I stayed away from preparing the garden even longer than last year due to Covid 19 and I missed out completely on the soil and compost. It seems like I wasn't the only one to miss out so I'm not sure who used it all. I heard we have a number of new gardeners this year as many of last year's gardeners waited years like I did for a plot. In the years they were waiting several had moved out of the neighbourhood and they found it simply too hard to visit and work on their gardens on a regular basis so their gardens became quite overgrown. I bought some manure if I need it but I don't have additional top soil this year. Somehow I seem to have ended up with a lot of potting soil of which I still have lots.
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| The path leading to the garden shed where all the tools are stored for use by the community gardeners. |
We have a nicely kept and well organized gardening tool shed. In the summer of Covid 19-2020, the tools are off limits so as to avoid the potential spread of viruses. We can bring our own tools and we still have access to the two water hoses at either end of the gardens.
I spent a few days last week cleaning out the weeds and also some plants from the garden plot I rent. While the plot isn't really that big it still requires a lot of work to pluck out weeds and plants seeded by the wind, rake all the wood, debris and green debris then dump it all in the garbage containers, and finally, to break up the hardened dirt and plant the seeds.
I'm a very slow worker and take frequent breaks to rest my back. The plot is a raised bed. I don't know why they call it raised bed because it is only a few inches above the ground. Given it's so low and very close to the neighboring plot, a bit of gymnastics are required to hoe, rake and plant. It is also not a good idea to squat in the garden because then you tamp down the soil and it quickly gets compacted. If i was younger it would surely be a lot easier but I don't let that deter me.
I felt terrific after finally getting the garden in for another year. I went back later in the week to clean up some of the green debris I left on the outer edges. We are supposed to ensure the pathways are kept free of such things. Fortuitously I finished the planting on Saturday and it rained on Monday and Tuesday. I prefer when it rains a few times a month because it really does a garden good. Much better than watering by hand.
Back at home, my little balcony garden is sprouting various things and I'm looking forward to seeing what grows.
I captured this park view just beyond the garden.
The sun was setting and most people had left for the day.
The swirly clouds in the sky are rather peaceful and lovely.
Can you make out any shapes in the clouds?
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It's been raining quite heavily again so when that happens I usually crave banana bread or muffins. This week I was craving banana bread and a friend gave me a recipe to try. Instead I ended up trying a recipe developed by pastry chef Anna Olson who I've watched on Canadian television for years.
Here is her recipe.
Ingredients
1 ½ - 1 ¾ cups (375-400 g) mashed ripe bananas (3-4 bananas)
6 Tbsp (90 g) unsalted butter, melted
½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
½ cup (100 g) packed light brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract
1 ½ cups (225 g) all-purpose flour
1 tsp (5 g) baking soda
¼ tsp (0.75 g) salt
1 cup (250 mL) chocolate chips or toasted walnut pieces (optional)
Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 ºF (160 ºC) and grease a 9-x-5-inch (2L) loaf pan.
2. Whisk the banana, melted butter,
granulated and brown sugar together until well-blended. Whisk in the
egg and vanilla.
3. In a separate bowl, sift the flour,
baking soda and salt. Add this to the banana mixture and stir just until
blended. Stir in the chocolate chips or walnut pieces (if using).
Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf tin and sprinkle the top with a
little sugar. Bake for about 75 minutes, until a tester inserted in the
centre of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake for 20 minutes in
the tin, then turn it out to cool completely on a cooling rack.
Makes one 9 x 5 loaf.
It was a fairly dense, yet moist loaf, which I liked.
♥♥♥
If you were here with me I'd offer you a slice and a hot tea or coffee out on the patio as long as it wasn't raining :-)
When I did my first taste test I thought it was a bit sweet however it contains far less sugar and fewer eggs than many other banana bread recipes I've looked at. The bread was even better the next day.
I think I've found a keeper. I believe I have another keeper on my blog somewhere which I will have to search for and try again to compare.
Once I try my friend's recipe, I may actually have 3 great recipes and that will likely be enough.
I've been searching for a great recipe for a long time.
Thank you for stopping by.
