Big Bunny would like to announce...

Drumroll please! I'm skipping with excitement about the launch of my brand new shop on Felt. Big Bunny's seed range has hit the market! Pop over to my shop and have a look.

bigbunny.felt.co.nz

It's been a hard day's work filling seed packets (go on, you try filling envelopes with furry paws!) so I'm off for a nap in the burrow...

Tomatoes!

I had a lovely time at a local market last night, hopping to it and selling my super range of spring tomato plants. I had so much fun I'm going to do it all again next week - you'll find me and my plants at Anissa Victoria's Vintage Market in that temporary architectural wonder, the Pallet Pavilion (corner of Durham and Kilmore Streets, central Christchurch). See you there on Friday 1 November, 4-8pm!

I have a super range of heritage varieties (all grown by my fair paws) in organic potting mix and raised from untreated or home-saved seed.

So, what have I got?

Beefsteak types

The heavyweights of the tomato world. Fry 'em up, sauce 'em up or enjoy a slab on toast.

Black Krim - Deep purple, man. Huge and known for doing rather well in pots.
Black from Tula - similar looking to Black Krim but with a smokier flavour.
Brandywine - available in a range of colours.
Greek beefsteak - the classic red, round, big tomato.

Mid-size all-rounders

Use 'em in salads, sandwiches or lightly cooked - however you like really!

Campari - golfball sized red tomatoes which grow on pretty trusses. Excellent in salads.
Orange Roma - low acid and a gorgeous deep orange colour. My favourite!
Purple calabash - the baby sister of the Black Krim. Mid-sized fruit with deep flavour

Sauce tomatoes

Want to make and preserve sauces? These are your go-to toms.

San Marzano - the classic Italian sauce tomato. relatively dry flesh makes for thick and flavoursome sauce with little boiling-down to do.
(Any of the beefsteaks and Orange Roma also make great sauce.)

Cherry tomatoes

Sungold - voted River Cottage's tastiest cherry tomato. A sunny orange colour and a sweet, intense flavour.
Broad Ripple Yellow Currant Cherry - small yellow fruits in prolific abundance.

Dwarf cherry tomatoes

Grow 'em in pots or hanging baskets! There plants stay compact and need no staking.

Minibelle - cute bright red, slightly teardrop-shaped fruits. Early to fruit and stays the distance over summer.
Henry Harrington's dwarf bush cherry - classic round red cherry tomatoes on a compact and sturdy plant.

Whatever you grow, enjoy it and experiment with it! Find out what you like best. The great thing about all these heritage varieties is that, being non-hybridised, you can save the seed of your favourites for next year!

Who'da thunk?

I had a bumper crop of perfect pumpkins (if I do say so myself) last Autumn, and I still haven't used them all up. I adore a piece of roasted pumpkin to nibble on, and my sweet pumpkin soup is a regular lunch or dinner favourite in the burrow, but I wanted to try something a bit different. So I went digging around, and found this recipe for pumpkin scones on the River Cottage Australia site.

Bless my cotton-tailed behind, but they're very good! They're a bit sticky to shape compared to a classic scone, and they take rather longer to prepare (and they're also a quite startling shade of yellow) but they are light, fluffy and absolutely delicious. Since they contain an egg, I suppose they're almost a cross between a scone and a muffin, but they are wonderful with a bit of homemade jam and cream.

Do try them, they're worth the effort! And while you're at it, give my sweet pumpkin soup a go too. This family recipe has no chicken stock in it, so it's a great one for vegetarians.

Big Bunny's family sweet pumpkin soup

You'll need... (no measurements for this one, you'll just have to trust your instincts!)

Some pumpkin
Some onion (one large onion for an average butternut or buttercup pumpkin, or 2-3 for a big crown pumpkin)
Cooking oil (rapeseed/canola is good)
Milk
Salt
Pepper
Nutmeg
Sugar (if your pumpkin isn't very sweet)

1. Peel and cube your pumpkin. (Be careful! Trust me, when you're a bunny and you don't have opposable thumbs you realise how great they are.) Peel and chop the onion coarsely. Feed the peels to your hungry compost heap.
2. Put the chopped onion in a large soup pot with a wee bit of oil. Fry on a gentle heat until clarified but not brown. You just want to sweeten it up a bit.
3. Add the cubed pumpkin to the pot and fill to about 2/3 the height of the veg with water.
4. Cook, lid on, until the whole lot is nice and soft. Drain thoroughly. (I keep the pumpkiny, oniony water to add to other soups, stocks, stews etc.)
5. Blend it all until it's smooth in a blender or food processor (or use a stick-blender to pulp it in the saucepan - saves dishes!)
6. Add milk, stirring, until the mixture is the thickness you desire for soup and heat gently. Do not allow it to boil.
7. Season to taste with salt and pepper and lots of freshly-grated nutmeg. If your pumpkin is not very sweet, add a little sugar until the flavour comes to life - you'll be able to taste the difference when you've got the salt and sugar balance right.

Enjoy with buttery toast.

Spring?

I'd like to say that Spring has sprung like a happy bunny, but really, this year it's flip-flopping like a fish out of water.

Honestly, we had better weather in my neck of the woods for most of winter than we're seeing this Spring.

Today I dragged my baby tomato plants back well into the shelter of the burrow, because we've got an overnight temperature of -1C forecast and possible snow on the hills! In October! I'm so confused my fur doesn't know whether to shed or stay. My dear friends the chooks are laying diligently, but their poor feathers are thoroughly ruffled by the southerly blasts.

It's always a bit iffy at this time of year though. The warm days make us want to get our gardens underway, but we have to remember that tender tomatoes, potatoes, sweetcorn, curcurbits, basil and beans will be severely set back by even one night of frost, so keep them cosy and tucked up. Getting these in early won't necessarily get production of the starting blocks any faster anyway, even if you cover them on frosty nights - cooler temperatures will slow down growth rates so much that later plantings will soon catch them up in the warmer weather.

Still, my radishes and peas are up and the broad beans are safely supported. A tasty crop of self-sewn mizuna, giant red mustard, lettuces, rocket, New Zealand spinach and miners' lettuce is keeping me in greens. I think I'm going keep my paws off any more seed sowing for a bit longer though - at this rate any poor wee seeds out there will just wash away...

Oh well, I'll just have to keep my whiskers dry in the warmth of the burrow. Time for some tea and marmalade toast I think.