Turkish Pide Bread With Pesto Verde

Here were the turkish pide bread doughs with pesto verde before going in the oven. I have made a large batch of pesto verde using overgrown parsleys and chives from the garden. The pesto is do very versatile and goes well with bread, pasta or grill veges.

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Happenings?

My backyard has been relandscaped since my last post. I have added two raising garden beds, a green house and many edible and ornamentals plants.

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NEW LOOK

It was almost a year sice I last posted on the blog. A lot has happened at my backyard since then, some plants did not make it through the harsh Hamilton winter, and some have been reallocated to suitable site. I have also added four raised garden beds next to the clothes line. Here is the NEW LOOK.

Caterpillar Menace

I am still having great difficulties to overcome the mischief of the two dogs (Cocoa and Momo) chewing and destroying my edible garden. Now I have another problem in hand. I have found the pale green caterpillars lurking out at the herb garden and the tree tomato plant. These little menaces have managed to chew off all the young shoots of my basils, sages and mint.

They have to be stoped immediately ! I will drop by at Warehouse on the weekend to pick up Yates Dipel before the caterpillars munch the plants to bare roots.

"Bacillus thuringiensis or BT is a type of bacteria that's used to control the population of caterpillars. When a caterpillar bites a leaf that's covered with BT, the bacteria multiply inside its body, damaging its digestive tract with sharp protein crystals. These substances are extremely toxic to the caterpillar, so it will stop feeding on your plants and die within 20 minutes after its first mouthful. Once the caterpillar dies, its body splits open, releasing more bacteria to protect your garden or lawn. The conditions that are required for BT to multiply are only found in the stomach of caterpillars, so butterflies, bees, earthworms, spiders, beetles, and humans are completely safe from poisoning."

Olive Trees

I bought two olive trees to add into my edible backyard collection. Each plant is no more than 3 feets high, but has started to bear fruits (can't wait for them to ripe !!!). I repotted them in identical terracotta pots, and have found them a spot where they will receive at least 5 hours of sun everyday. I intend to grow them as edible ornamentals as I don't want to use up the growing spaces for edibles with the olive trees. Now I need to learn how to cure and preserve the olives, any suggestions are welcome.

Humble Hoe

I couldn't believe my luck today. I found a proper asian long handle garden hoe at a local flea market. The garden tool might look like a deadly weapon, but it is great for weeding and turning the soils.

Herbs Corner

I use a lot of herbs in my cooking, and nothing can beat the garden fresh. I picked a site next to the kitchen for my herb project. The site was perfect, sheltered and discrete. I went down to Mitre10 and Bunning Warehouse to pick up some herb seedlings: purple sage, sage, roman chamomile, curly parsley, lemon balm, spearmint, rosemary, shallots, spring onions, curry plant, greek oregano and sweet basil.


The spearmint plant thrive at the corner. Like any mint family, the plant is very invasive and spread aggressively. I have to restrict root growth in a container. Laxman and I picked up two wooden planters along river road for $30.00. They are great for growing annual herbs. Here we got sweet basils and spring onions. I absolutely adore basils, especially in my pasta or salad. Can't wait to make my first batch of pesto !