We're not growing drugs!

Hydroponics sounds dodgy. You mention hydroponics, you get a sideways glance (or a wink and a nod from certain folk), but sadly it was not that exciting and and we used our hydroponics system to grow chillies and tomatoes.

Hydroponics simply means to grow plants in water using nutrient solutions, as opposed to growing in soil .

We did it really just to see how it worked and it gave Elliot something to do (it really does sound like he's a child who constantly needs entertaining). Elliot watched hours of Youtube clips on what to do and how to do it and we ended up with a pretty impressive system.

The system consisted of two tubes with four net pots in each which housed the tomato and chilli plants. The plants sit in the net pots which are filled with hydroton (clay balls) and the roots grow down through the balls into the stream of water.

The water is pumped from a tank through the tubes and back into the tank. Nutrients are added (we used Growzilla and then Budzilla) as the plants need what nutrients they would normally get from soil (as a side note, if you want to feel like you are a crim without actually doing anything wrong, take a trip to Switched On Gardener - you feel dodgy just walking in but it was also a source of great amusement when you notice the lengths this place goes to say they do not support illegal growing activities - these are of course spelt out on signs mounted next to grinders, bongs and pipes; we also interrupted the guy who worked in the Pakuranga store from what I think was an impressive sleep on his feet with his eyes open and the guy in Henderson from his "smoko" break out the front).

Anyway... above the tubes sit the fluro lights. These are on pully hook things (that's the technical term) that are raised as the plants grow. The tank water and nutrients get changed about once a week.

Elliot is an automation technician by day which means if something can be programmed or timed using gizmos and gadgets, it will be. The pump cycle for the system and the lights were all automated and timed to turn on and off at certain times. Our set up was in our conservatory which gets really hot so we had a fan hooked up which turned on when the temperature reached a certain level and off when it fell again.

We germinated the seeds in a propagator. Once big enough they went to little cups in a light box. When they are big enough the roots get washed, they get put in the net pots and then placed in the tubes. The results were pretty impressive.

The seeds in jiffy pots in the propagator

The seedlings in the light box

The set up

The tomato plants grew out of control and gave us huge tomatoes. We also did the hydroponics as a comparison to growing the old fashioned way and the hydroponic plants certainly grew faster and produced impressive fruit.

We would not grow tomatoes in this particular set up again as there simply was not enough room for these huge plants.

The chilli plants also grew well and we got some great chillies from them.

Today marks the change from a hydroponics to an aquaponics system. We decided the plants needed to come out as they were too out of control. We also needed a full clean out of the system and conservatory as they had been overtaken by aphids and white flies.

We turned the hydroponics system off when we went on holiday so naturally what was there died and we got the last of the tomatoes and chillies off the plants and pulled them all out. It seemed then only natural to upgrade the system, add some more gizmos and gadgets, introduce some fish into the mix and see what happens.

Aquaponics is also organic as nothing is added to the water as the fish's waste provides the nutrients, so this was a plus and something we are keen to try and carry on.

Naturally Elliot has researched aquaponics extensively and as I write is wiring, building and programming ready for the fish to be introduced later today. Water testing is underway and we are as prepared as can be for this new system to take shape.

Updates and photos of our system and new little friends will come later today when we are all set up.

I'll leave you with an image of what our poor neighbours had to look down on from their place one night when the lights had been left on in the conservatory... they must have wondered who on earth had moved in next door...

Harvest tomato sauce

This is an Annabel Langbein recipe which I altered slightly. I had a bowl full of tomatoes to use when Elliot and I returned from holiday. They were ripening quickly and there are only so many pieces of toast covered in tomatoes and tomato salads you can have (cherry tomatoes with heaps of basil and feta with black pepper and lime is rather scrumptious though!)

Ingredients:

• 1.5kg tomatoes - cored and cut into wedges (I also used some cherry and just cut the little core out)
• 2 red capsicums - deseeded and cut into eighths 
• 1 large onion - cut into thin wedges
• 4 cloves of garlic - peeled
• 1 tsp chopped rosemary leaves
• 1 small chilli (I used 3 large ones and would probably add another 2 next time)
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 2 tb sugar
• 2 tb extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• ground black pepper

I also added:

• about a tsp dried oregano
• 1 tb ish of smoked paprika
• couple of tsp of chilli powder (from chillies we grew, dried and ground)

Method:

• Preheat oven to 160°C. 
• Prepare tomatoes, capsicum and onion and place them in a large roasting dish on baking paper (they need to be in a single layer so they caramelise and not stew - so you might have to use two dishes, which I did).
• Add garlic, rosemary, chilli.
• In a bowl mix tomato paste, sugar, olive oil, salt and pepper, oregano, smoked paprika and chilli powder.
• Spoon mixture over veges and stir to coat (only way to do this is with your hands).
• Bake for about two hours or until veges caramelise and shrivel.
• Allow veges to cool and then puree in a processor.
• Sauce will keep in the fridge for a week of you can boil it and pour into a sterilised jar.

The sauce was very yummy. You could taste the herbs and it had a good level of heat with the chillies and the chilli powder. The smoked paprika was an inspired addition if I do say so myself.

The one thing I would say was that the sauce was a bit thick. Next time I would probably add some stock when processing it, just to make it a bit easier to put through a pasta or something. Probably is a perfect consistency for a pizza sauce.

I used it to make a chicken vege tomato bake thing - just cos I wanted to use what I had. All I did was fry off the veges (anything you have in the fridge - I used zucchini, mushrooms, corn, beans, red onion and broccoli).

Then brown the chicken - two breasts cut into bit sized pieces.

Put chicken and veges into an oven proof dish, spoon the tomato sauce over and then add a breadcrumb topping which I just made from a mix of breadcrumbs (I had some homemade stuff in the freezer and added some panko to it), zest of one lemon, ground black pepper, rosemary and thyme and then I crumbled some feta into it.

Bake at 200°C for 20-25 minutes until breadcrumb top is golden. 

Serve with a dollop of lite sour cream on top and a side salad if ya wanna.

Yum (and a good way to get lots of veges into a meal if you're 5+ a day has been a bit lacking!)

Pre-cooking (was eaten too quickly to snap the finished product!)

The chillies

In this house, the hotter the better. We are always on the look out for the hottest sauces, the spiciest curries and new and exciting products to try (like Habanero kettle chips and Jalapeno and Cheddar flavour, Chipotle Tabasco sauce and Jamaican jerk sauce).

Elliot also likes to eat chillies. Yes, whole, hot chillies. There is always a glass of milk on hand and that is reached for once the eyes water and in some cases, hiccups start. I like a slither or two but have a feeling I will be trying a whole lot more once our many plants start giving us fruit. We have great progress, with a ton of Wild Fires and Cayennes ready to eat (Elliot has pickled some so we can use them down the track), lots of Thai chillies on the way and loads of Jalapenos.

Pickled cayennes and wild fires 

We are also growing Bhut Jolokias (330,000–1,000,000 on the Scoville Scale which measures the heat of chillies - and once deemed the hottest chilli in the world), Fataliis, Habaneros, Scotch Bonnets and Jamaican Red Hots. We also have some sweet pepper varieties in the form of Purple Beauties, Marconis and California Wonders.

Thai chillies

Jalapeno

Bhut Jolokia

California Wonder

Crazy hot chilli seeds are hard to source in New Zealand but there are a couple of good places to check out:
Kings Seeds do a good range and we got a lot from them - www.kingsseeds.co.nz
Garden Stuff - Mams got some awesome seeds for Elliot for Christmas from here (some of which he has just germinated so will keep you posted on those) - www.gstuff.co.nz 

Elliot bought the Fatalii seeds off a guy in a bar at a chilli eating competition, but that's a whole nother story...

Some of the more hard to find seeds will have to be bought from overseas and the next lot are likely to come from The Hippy Seed Company in Australia http://www.thehippyseedcompany.com/

You can get Jalapenos and Habaneros at plant shops which is where we got our first few, but have grown from seed this year. Elliot will save some of the seeds from the really good chillies we get this year for future use.

The new varieties of seeds on the go which are germinating in the propagator at the mo are New Mex Big Jims, Lemon Habaneros, Jamaican Hot Chocolate Habaneros and Poblanos. Exciting times...

The garden

Thought I would share what we are growing at the mo, what we have tried growing, what has succeeded and what has failed, what I would grow again, and what are one time wonders.

The three planter beds at the moment consist of: one of tomatoes, one of chillies, and one of lettuces, red onions, spring onions, basil and peas.

Tomatoes are always something I wanted to grow. I love eating them, I spend a lot of money on them and I have found some great recipes to make the most of them with. Our tomato plants have gone a bit mental. We started them too early this year. They were grown from seed, germinated well, potted into cups and then pots, hardened off when the weather allowed and then outgrew the conservatory rather quickly. We were counting down the days to when we could put them outside (Labour weekend and not a moment sooner). They went out Labor weekend, staked well as the wind and rain were still a bit dodgy but survived and have thrived.

We have four varieties growing - Cherry Tomatoes, Romas, Russian Reds and Moneymakers.
The cherries are delicious! I found myself wandering the garden, and just pulling them off and eating them like that. Yummo.

The Romas and Russian Reds are great as well. The are standard-looking tomatoes and are great for everything. Juicy, ripen well if pulled off a bit green and used in my tomato sauce (recipe to follow).

The Romas have been disappointing. They are the awesome egg-looking variety and looked so promising, however have been a bit dry and floury and not juicy and tasty at all. Mams had the same problem with the plant we gave her and put it down to either the weather or just the variety - and considering all others have down well in the weather - I think I will steer clear of that variety in the future.

Cherries will be on definite yes list for next season and I also want to try some beefsteaks (there were some HUGE ones the size of a small football at the markets today).

The main staple of our garden is definitely lettuces. I use them every day - usually for lunch or dinner and often both and they are so much better than the icebergs from the supermarket which you end up pulling half the leaves off and the rest ends up sitting in the bottom of the vege drawer of the fridge getting soggy and brown.

Cos lettuces have been the favourite by far. They are so great for just pulling off how many leaves you need and perfect of the Caesar salads we love.

Iceberg lettuces were great but take a while if you want to wait for the whole lettuce to develop and not just use it as it grows.

Rocket and tom thumbs have also gone down well.

The curly fancy lettuce has been less enjoyable and were pulled after we came home from holiday early January as they looked like Christmas trees and were not going to be eaten.

Lettuces are super easy to grow, cheap and there is nothing better than salad greens from your own garden.

Spring onions have also been a triumph. You can keep them in a smaller pot close to the door and pick them like herbs or separate them out and they will grow to full sized spring onions which are delicious!

We have had one red onion (as they take months) which was perfect. If you have the patience - a definite must. Easy to grow and little maintenance required.

We have had great success with snap peas running up the trellises and they are super yummy as a whole pod in a salad or stir fry or wait a bit longer and take the peas out which are sweet and delish!

Strawberries have also proved a yummy and easy to grow fruit and once the bird netting was up we have enjoyed a lot of yummy berries.

Another big success was broccoli. We needed winter veges when we started so got what we thought was a pack of six broccoli plants but when we got home realised we had picked up a brassica combo pack so had two broccoli, two cauliflower and two cabbages. They took ages but the broccoli were perfect as were the cabbages (however we did not have much use for it so they kind of went to waste). The cauliflowers were bizarre and not pretty and flower-like, rather spindly and a bit purple. Not something I will grow again - not something I am particularly fond of eating, so not a biggie.

The zucchinis we tried were not a great success. The first one died, the second one had lovely flowers (which I should have stuffed and fried) and the vegetable itself went from tiny zucchini to a strange, fat but short marrow-like thing. The third went a similar way but I managed to pull one and fry it and put it in some sort of vege thing. Not worth the hassle and something I probably won't do again.

Cucumbers also did not go too well. They never quite looked right and then went yellow. I think I will attempt these again next season as I love them and worth another shot I think.

Something else I am keen to do next season is radishes. Love them and they are quite expensive and something I am keen to give a go.

I think the triumph to date has been the potatoes. We did them on a whim but man oh man are they GOOD. Pulled the last of them today and was stoked. New potatoes boiled on the hot plate of the new BBQ for dinner! They are SO EASY - we bought some seed potatoes and let them eye up, you then cut off all but the biggest eye and we put about five in a big flexi tub, and did three tubs. Cover with soil then when they sprout cover them over with soil, they will sprout again and you cover them over until you reach the top, then leave until the sprouts die off then they are ready to eat, eat, eat.

Today's bounty

Chilli garden run down to follow as well as the herb garden. Am replanting it tomorrow so will update then...

How it all began

Once upon a time I lived in an apartment. I had zero grass, about 2x1 m of a connection to the outside world - consisting of a balcony usually full of clothes airers and the neighbours' cigarette butts, and lived an existence of no garden, no lawns, no fertilizers, no pump cycles, no timed fluro lights.

I enjoyed "hot food" - which meant a medium, not mild, butter chicken and the occasional Subway sandwich with all the salads "including jalapenos."

My wonderful green-fingered mother ("Mams") decided this existence would be better with a herb garden. A modest and easy to keep garden of about four pots with diagrams and pretty hard to muck up instructions. I loved it. Basil, parsley, rocket, lettuces - salads had never been so good. And two chilli plants - the variety was Wild Fire. And so it began.

This was Mams' Christmas present to me for 2011. A curious Elliot, who had been on the scene for about two months, took an immediate interest in the garden and how everything grew. A particular fondness for the Wild Fire plants developed.

This was quickly followed by a "we should grow jalapenos" suggestion - most probably over a Mexican lunch somewhere. "Yes", I agree, "what a great idea". So off we pop to the garden shop (after having to first find a garden shop - now I could point out our closest 12) to buy two small jalapeno plants. Success, we found jalapeno plants, but alas, there are about 26 different types of potting mixes - what one to get? One quick phone call to Mams and we were set.

The jalapenos went on the balcony and they grew. As did the collection of plants. A habanero and bhut jolkia joined the gang and pretty much filled up the balcony - oh no wait, that was the two small grow houses that had to go out there. Who needed a table and chairs on the balcony anyway?

We knew next to nothing about growing chilli plants and this was evident in the results. While they did a bit better being in the grow houses, temperatures would soar greatly and I was left to open and close the doors when Elliot was on his side of town. Photo updates and advice were sent back and forth but it was the blind leading the blind and not much happened.

We managed a few jalapenos which were pickled and consumed and very much enjoyed. Nothing quite like the feeling of eating something you have grown (even more satisfying when done from seed which was to come).

Much was learnt and that was the tiny beginning of what has grown into a passion for Elliot and I.

We moved to the North Shore in July 2012 and were lucky to find a house with decent garden space and a conservatory. We now have three planter beds (which I helped build by holding a tape measure), a whole lot of plants in pots, a wheelbarrow herb garden, a compost bin, a worm farm and the dodgiest looking conservatory in Sunnynook.

Elliot researches. Elliot researches like no one else. He can go from asking "I wonder how you would set up a hydroponics system?" to being a fully fledged expert on the subject in a matter of days. He explains things well (despite his mum Elsie saying I have the patience of a saint, I think it definitely goes both ways), especially when I ask why I am forking out money for some plastic tube thing.

We have a pretty good system going on actually. Elliot does all the research (God bless the internet and YouTube), I get the summary during the ads of whatever I'm watching, Elliot buys all the equipment and constructs, tinkers, does whatever men do, I hand over half of whatever it costs, we tend, water, nurture, I get given the fruits of our (his) labour and get to do with them what I wish and we then both get to eat said fruits.

It is fun. We have a great time doing it and have learnt loads. And oh how there are many more things to come.

The dream one day is a much bigger operation, hotter and crazier chillies from far away lands and a whole lot of new recipes and food I plan to share with whoever wants to know.


Elliot's passion is chillies and we have some freakishly hot chillies on the grow. Elliot has an equally as mad mate, Hunt, whose idea of fun is also growing and eating these mentally hot chillies. We have been to chilli eating competitions - who knew these existed? and eaten a fair few hot varieties of chillies (usually after a drink or six). There will no doubt be many more stories and spicy moments to come...

My passion is cooking and I love finding new and exciting recipes to try. I am getting into preserving and sauces and the like right now which is helpful when you have kilos of ripe tomatoes and chillies to be used.

I've got a good thing going on here and I am grateful to a wonderful Mams whose knowledge is priceless (knowledge which often comes from my amazing Grandpa in Picton who was master of the best vege garden I've ever seen), our landlords who have just given us another six months in our crazy little house (even after seeing the hydroponic set up!), and a wonderful boyfriend whose passion and commitment towards everything he does is an inspiration - and his technical skills are pretty amazing too.

What's happening now... we are currently on summer holiday which can mean one thing for Elliot - tinkering. We are in the process of creating the aquaponics system (hydroponics but with fish whose poop provide the nutrients for the plants), germinating some awesome seeds Mams bought Elliot for Christmas and eating and creating new recipes to use the abundance of tomatoes and chillies which are now to hand - posts about all to follow...