June 28th Garden Update

It's been 2 month since the poly tunnel plastic has come off and the sun is in the sky longer. We've already had a couple of heat waves and for the most part, it's been quite dry. My garden is slowly chugging along. I've learned...

Mango Salsa

This is my go to recipe for mango salsa. In Ontario, I only have access to 2 different types of mango. Ataulfo and Apple mango. For the mango salsa, I only use Ataulfo mangoes. I find apple mango doesn't have the intense mango...

First Sugar Snap Pea

So excited to see the first Sugar Snap Pea of the season. I was worried I wouldn't get any since it's sort of getting late and getting hot but the vines just started to bloom. A couple of flowers here and there. And it's finally...

Broccoli and moles

I know broccoli required at least 6 hours of sun and it's a cool temperature plant, but I thought, maybe if it has a bit more shade, then it can survive in hotter weather. Boy was I wrong. My side garden gets about 3-4 hours...

Steamed Minced Meat and Egg

In need of a quick small filler dish? This is an easy way to get an extra dish in with almost no effort at all. This is almost like the egg custard dish but with meat so it honestly doesn't look as smooth since the meat underneath...

Chipmunks and Cabbage worms

Gardening really is one thing after another. Especially since I'm avoiding use of any pesticide and herbicides. It turns out when the chipmunks dug up my bean seeds, they left behind some random seeds behind. No idea what they...

Tangy Green Papaya Soup

Once again, I would call this a base soup. Once you get to know the flavour of different soup ingredients, you'll be able to play around mixing them up. Lots of soups are various of each other. The reason why I call this...

My Spring Radish Harvest

Since I don't ever remember eating radishes and how they taste like, I decided to plant 2 rows of radishes just to test them out. I learned a lot from the 2 rows I planted. 2 major things I learnt. 1. You can eat radish leaves!! 2....

Eggshell Seedling Starters

I saw these on Pinterest and thought they were so cute I just had to try them. First I tried with the beans since I wanted something I can bury without disturbing the roots. But sadly my beans just didn't want to grow so I...

Rabbits in my garden :(

Here's the before and after picture of the part of the garden that wasn't under the net. Before the rabbit got to it After the rabbits got to it...1 night was all it took The rabbits had a buffet... It ate all the leaves...

Me vs Chipmunk

What do you know, the first night I leave the polytunnel cover off, the next morning I find holes all over my little garden. I swear it's that chipmunk I've seen around. I've found it guilty in my chayote pot when I was hardening...

Base White Fungus Soup

This is the base soup for white fungus. By adding in other veggies and fruits it'll modify the flavour and make it sweeter. Depending on the fruits/veggies you used, you can interchange figs with red dates and honey dates...

May 20th Garden Update

It's finally the May two-four weekend, the big gardening weekend in Ontario where everyone goes out to buy things for their garden and get started on it this. Why is this the big gardening weekend? Well, last weekend we got a...

Seeds vs Seedlings

This is probably the most common question beginner gardeners have. Should they buy seeds or should they buy seedlings. Both have their pros and cons. At a very high level, seeds have more variety and they cost less but are...

Braised Pork with Preserved Mustard (梅菜猪肉)

I remember the first time my dad made this dish, I was very very skeptical of the preserved veggie. But after tasting it, I was hooked. He use to make this with pork belly, but I've discovered that pork picnic shoulder can...

May 9th Garden Update

As you can probably tell by now, I'm so excited with my first year garden. I think gardening posts might take over my blog. Temperature right now is still around 3 degrees at overnight. During the day it reaches the mid teens. So...

Baking Bread - Dried Milk vs Fresh Milk

I love the smell of fresh bread. I especially like crusty bread but when I want the loaf to last an entire week, I prefer making a soft bread. When I make soft bread, I add in milk, butter and honey. Milk is a tricky ingredient...