A Whirlwind Weekend and Lebanese Flatbread

Phew.. another weekend come and gone, and it just flew by! I spent Sat and Sunday afternoon at the Spring Ideal Home Show, where I gave a handful of seminars.. thanks to everyone who came out! It was a lot of fun and I loved answering your gardening questions and hearing about some of the fun things that you're doing in your own gardens! I tell you - spend 5 min with a gardener and you'll come away with a whole bunch of new tips and ideas!!

I've also been starting more seeds indoors for the second flush of cool season crops like cabbage, broccoli and kohlrabi. And, after 3 weeks, my first Mexico Midget tomato seed has germinated - see.. isn't it adorable?! (something only a gardener would think!) I was warned they were slow to germinate, but I was getting a bit worried! My Chapis Wild tomatoes haven't sprouted yet either, so fingers crossed.. Everything else is doing well though - tomatoes, peppers (what am I going to do with 40 pepper plants!?), parsley (Italian and curly), zaatar, among many others.

In case you haven't heard of zaatar, which I bought from www.kitchengardenseeds.com, it's a Lebanese thyme-like herb that's used to flavour a flatbread breakfast dish called 'Manouchi' (spelling will vary widely). It's a traditional Lebanese breakfast and I make it for the kids a few times a week.. they love it (and so do I!).. you can buy a bag of dried zaatar (not the seed) at your local middle-east grocery stores (look for the green type, not reddish) and it's a mix of the zaatar herb, along with sumac and sesame seeds. Just mix it with some olive oil until it's a slurry (not too oily, but not too dry) and spread it over your favourite pizza dough. Bake like pizza until the bottom crust is golden and eat! Delicious!!

On a side note, just found that top photo of some of the tomatoes from last summer - had to include it as a bit of inspiration as to why we grow our own tomato transplants.. just try finding seedlings for Black Cherry, Costoluto or Sungold tomatoes at your local nursery - I dare you! :)

Happy Gardening - another gorgeous day!