February finally brought us some summery weather, yay. 

We’ve been busily harvesting lettuce, silverbeet, courgettes, a few cucumbers and lots of epazote. Our little dwarf cherry tomato plants are loaded with trusses of tomatoes not far off starting to ripen.

Over 30 mint plants are settling in and we’ll do an initial light harvest this week. Coriander is being direct seeded and winter crops are coming along in trays ready for planting out in a month or two.

There is always a long list of tasks to be done but progress is being made and the amount harvested each week is slowly scaling up. Yus!

From the outset, we prioritised planting out one of our garden beds with flowers to provide food for bees and other beneficial insects. Bumblebees and honey bees have been loving the calendula and borage that have been flowering like crazy over the past few weeks. Beeple Honey Collective have hives sited a hand’s throw from the garden and it’s feeling good to be providing a little nectar for these girls and hopefully some other garden-beneficial. Both Calendula and Borage are also edible, so we’ve been harvesting the flowers for garnishes and salads.

Here a few pics showing our little corn patch cranking, the bed of calendula and borage, a Red Admiral Butterfly getting amongst some calendula nectar goodness and a little harvest from last week.

-Matt, Resident Boca Gardener 

Something delicious to keep you nice and cool during the summer! 

Agua Frescas (fresh juices) are served at almost every restaurant, taqueria, roadside market, food cart and fruit stall in Mexico.

Here is something that is rather refreshing that doesn't require much work.

Pepino, Menta y Lima / Cucumber, Mint & Lime

Serves 6

2 large cucumbers
1 cup mint leaves, stems removed
2 cups water
1/4 cup piloncilo or caster sugar, or to taste
20ml lime juice
ice

Method:

Slice unpeeled cucumber into small pieces. Combine with mint, water and piloncillo or caster sugar in a blender. (Or use a pitcher or other large serving container and a stick blender.) Puree until smooth, then strain out pulp with a fine seive. Add lime juice and more sugar if you prefer you agua fresca a little sweeter. Pour over ice and enjoy.

This agua fresca goes wonderfully with gin! Add 30ml to this recipe for a summer cocktail.

'Mole', from an indigenous Mexican language, means sauce, mixture or stew. Modern moles combine flavours from Europe (by way of Spain), Latin America and Africa. Like the Indian curries with which they share their moorish ancestry, there are many different recipes for mole. 

Ground nuts and seeds are generally used as thickeners, and a variety of spices balance the heat of the chillies. Moles can be used on a wide variety of meat and vegetables, including chicken, pork, goat and mushrooms.

Makes 1 litre 

What you'll need:
5 dried arbol chillies
50g dried pasilla or ancho chillies
50g dried negro chillies
Vegetable oil for the pan
30g pecans
30g raisins
Sesame seeds for sprinkling
1 wheat flour tortilla
1 small brown onion, sliced
500ml chicken or vegetable stock
125g Mexican chocolate
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Brown sugar

What to do:

Preheat oven to 150 degrees. Clean dried chillies, removing seeds, stalks and ribs. Saute in a little oil for 8 to 10 seconds. The chillies will redden; be careful not to burn them. Remove from heat and drain on paper towels. When cool enough to handle, break into pieces.

Separately toast pecans, raisins, sesame seeds and tortilla in a baking pan in oven until they begin to brown a little. Ocassionally shake the pan so as not to burn them. Once evenly toasted, break tortilla into small pieces. Heat a little oil in a pot, add onion and saute for about 3 minutes. Add pecans, raisins, tortilla bits and chillies. Cook all together for another 2 minutes.

Add stock; heat without bringing to a boil. Add Mexican chocolate and keep cooking until mixture simmers (but still do not allow to boil) and chocolate is all dissolved. Remove from heat and blend in a blender or food processor until very smooth.

Return mole to pot, bring to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Add salt, pepper and brown sugar to taste.

Sprinkle sesame seeds on top of mole when served.

Want to give this a go but not sure where to find all the ingredients? Click here to find the chillies & Mexican chocolate.

Tag us on Facebook and Instagram while cooking! We love seeing people creating Mexican delights at home.