Prep and invest!

Do a little harvesting of your own or take advantage of times of abundance.

Balcony harvest – eat the lot!

My little balcony garden - part of the side garden, we have another larger terrace
  at the front (the pots and garden beds are irrigated with a very home grown system).

You don't have to have a huge garden to produce at least some goodies for your table. I live in a high-rise in the heart of the city and have had great pleasure in harvesting from my wee garden. My mini orchard (citrus trees in big pots) has changed over the years from 3 varieties of citrus to currently one - a Meyer lemon. All have produced enough fruit to eat but also to make marmalade, put in brandy or preserve in salt. A few years ago we added a fig tree to a corner garden 'box'. Indeed! 5 floors up and that little gem - a Turkish Brown, produced enough fruit in a single season for a little feast as well as turning into jam. This year it was covered in fruit but we weren't there to harvest them. Not to worry the fruit will prime the ground for next season - I hope.
Also in large pots I have a range of herbs - Vietnamese and 'normal' mint, perennial basil (which is more of a mint than a basil), coriander, parsley, nasturtiums, rosemary, etc. All a muddled mixture and unbelievably fragrant.
It's easy enough to do. If I can do it, then anyone can. My garden is testament to Darwin's theory of 'survival of the fittest'. What works, works and what doesn't goes the way of all flesh.

Fig jam and preserved lemons from our trees. Tomato chutney from
our  neighbour's crop of tomatoes a few years ago.

So have a go and turn those potted easy-to-grow jewels into something delicious.

Nasturtiums from pot, basket or garden bed.
Lovely to pick posies for bedside or desk but try these.
* Add leaves & flowers to salads and sandwiches. Yes we all know about that but perhaps forget when the time is ripe!
* Collect and save some of the seeds for next year.
* Collect & preserve the seeds - Capres de capucine confit
Once they have flowered, gather the seeds while still green, place them in a bowl and cover with coarse salt. Leave overnight, then clean the 'fruit' thoroughly with a paper towel. Place them in jars, with peppercorns and some fine herbs (thyme and tarragon). Boil half white vinegar and half water plus a little sugar, to counteract the sharpness of the vinegar, and pour still boiling over the 'capers'. Close the jars immediately. Cure for at least a month - the taste improves with time. Voila - home preserved 'capers' without the capers! I learnt this from watching my father, a passionate gardener (sadly my sister got the green-thumb gene, not me).

Organic herbs all year
* Pesto of course from that basil, mint and or parsley. Add your own air-dried walnuts collected straight from the walnut grove NE Victoria are the best (or bought in season!), maybe add and pinenuts and evoo! It freezes well.
* Don’t let all your herbs go to seed, pick bunches and dry them anywhere there’s a bit of dry air flow. My kitchen (and at times our caravan) looks like a Chinese laundry sometimes! Then pack them in jars to use out of season or add a decorative cover and label and give them to friends. Home-grown organic herbs are a lovely gift to receive. Dry left over herbs from store-bought bunches too.
Many will freeze well whole. I have frozen sage, fresh bay leaves, lime leaves both Kaffir and Tahitian either whole or shredded. Other tasty condiments, do well in the freezer - see below.
* Let some of your herbs go to seed – collect the seeds and dry and crush, or add whole to oils or salt and pepper grinders.

Wild - opportunistic harvest
In so many countries, people have harvested wild greens from field and roadside. My Polish neighbour in Richmond went foraging along the lane ways and would boil up evil-looking concoctions. Not my cup of tea knowing who lurked in those lane ways but it is an age old tradition. That and picking wild fungi are great fun but if you plan to do it I recommend you take an expert with you or consult an expert to check them over (a wise old Greek or Italian, i.e., they have survive the practice!)

Roadside or field
Of course field mushrooms - do you remember going out after rain in autumn to gather mushies as kids? hated them then, love them now. But what about gathering hawthorn berries or rose hips. In Tassie, we gathered masses of rose hips and then dried them to make rose hip tea (I'm still working on 'perfecting' the process). Have a look at Robin Harford Eat Weeds ideas for wild harvest recipes (he has a recipe for Hawthorn Jelly). And other kinds of berries? Blackberries can be plentiful and provide a delicious snack or dessert, but be careful they haven't been sprayed.

Rose hips from country road sides. Bay leaves from Cockle Creek

While camping and Cockle Creek in Tassie earlier this year we found a big Bay tree along the beach which was one of the few things remaining from an early homestead in the area. With the ranger's blessing (because it's a 'weed') we gather bunches and hung them around the caravan to dry and then I pressed them between sheets of paper towel in a magazine under a seat. Reminds me of Gran pressing the hankies under the cushion on her chair.

A bountiful sea - or creek!

Take your shies off, wade in water and do the 'twist' like you
did ........ you'll feel the shells start to rise to the surface. 

Some of the remains of our banquet! Huge oysters from the rocks
at the mouth of Cockle Creek as well as mussels -  and
the cockle you know from whence ....! 

Cockles and mussels alive alive oh! Oh and oysters too! It's amazing how good these taste if you've collected them yourself. No tricks to it just pick them off the rocks or in the case of cockles just wriggle your feet in the sand on the edge of the water - like the sea birds do and they come to the surface.
Cook them on a hot plate over coals or BBQ or steam with chilli, garlic, lemon grass and ginger, add dash of wine (basically whatever picquant tid bits you have at hand and serve with crusty bread, rice or pasta. Delish!
The sea can yield up lots of goodies if you're game to try them out.

Simple way to cook prawns in the outdoors.
Cute fire place eh?!

A glut at the market
If we're talking about making the best use of food while it's fresh then look for the specials. Make sure you have a stock of tiny plastic bags or small plastic containers the kind you get sauce in with your take-away meals. or use iceblock trays to freeze juice or grated goodies.
*Bags of passion fruit - eat till you've had enough and then freeze the pulp or whole (whole is good because you can scoop out the spotted golden yummyness just like it was a fresh one.
*All citrus freeze well whole or in segments in their skins. Or juice and freeze in tiny plastic bags say half lemon. lime etc for ease of adding to recipes. Before you juice them though, make sure you collect the zest either with a zester or vegetable peeler. Invest in a little hand held zester and save your knuckles and fingernails from the grater, please it's worth it!
*Ginger - grate or slice or leave as whole chunks then freeze in plastic bags.
*Lemon grass - finely chop white part and freeze.
*Turmeric - often hard to get fresh but if you manage to find it, grate or slice any left over for future curries, rice, etc. it imparts a beautiful colour and flavour.

I am sure you can think of loads of other things you can do when there's an abundance. The list is endless and of course don't forget to turn excess into jam, chutneys, pickles. Try marinated mushrooms - absolutely delish!
Preserved lemon and marinated mushroom recipe next time.

Keep  your eyes open! One day I'll do a course on food photography as well as blog prettiness!