The Mothercity speaks out!

In the name of Allah most gracious most merciful.

 

 

Nearly overslept for the march, the mother of all marches this morning. At 9.00 we were en route bumper to bumper on the M5 and all the way in to the city. Apparently the Parade area was serving coffee and koeksister since 8 am, Cape Town knows how to throw a march, hey. This one reminds me of the day Madibah was released from prison but well not quite as beeg.

 

We knew we would not find parking so we took a leisurely walk downhill from Walmer Estate, spirits were high and the weather superb. People were walking down in droves hey Capetonians with their matching colours of red black and green from great grandmoms to babes on arms with the Palestinian flag hoisted, wrapped around heads, torsos - but flying high. Scarfs made into caps and dresses hey takes me back to them days when we picketed outside the Israeli embassy, thrown into police vans, out before Jumuah - only to realise that the embassy had moved to Pretoria, ha ha.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I met activists from all over Africa, from Egypt to Malawi, from Zimbabwe to Congo. Amid the louds "Takbirs" the occasional " Pansi Israel, pansi! and sometimes the crowd would start with Malibongwe and end off with duahs for the protection of the Palestians.

 

Thousands upon thousands of people converged and even as the march snaked towards Parliament more people were joining, so my personal gestimate? about 60 000 people wow!

 

Calls for boycotts, re energised the campaign from boycotting Woolworths to The British G4S from calling for Agrarian reform to praying for Gaza.

 

Just before Thuhr we decided to head back up, the walking was great but when you're unfit its embarrassing how that small incline becomes a mountain. The day was still young and we were famished so we took a drive through Constantia and Tokai, showed the kids Pollsmoor Prison and straight through to Surfers Corner Muizenberg, The Lucky Fish and chips yay! A family box and for Yasmine two Florentines. I have tried Florentines all over Cape Town but these are by far the most exquisite. A bit crunchy and sticky and ultra delicious. We had to get home because I still needed to complete spinach, chilli and samosas and cashew baklava for Nadia and Rameez's farewell tomorrow. So I'm off.

 

plant food and maintain the protest and boycott.

 

later Yasmine

 

ps. and the almond blossoms are out in full swing!

 

 



Finally, the first poppy.

In the name of Allah, who created the heavens and the earth and everything in between, the Most gracious, the Most merciful.

 

 

 

In a world where abnormal is seen to be normal, where the limits of brutality has no constraint, the day can be beautiful, almost perfect.

 

Jumuah Mubarak everyone.

 

 

plant food and tread this earth gently.

 

 

Yasmine

Local is lekker

In the name of Allah most gracious most merciful. Nothing will happen to us except what Allah has decreed for us: He is our Protector"; and on Allah let the believers put their trust.

7 August 2014.




vark lelies en maats

Hey, it’s wonderful to be a part of get- togethers of family and old friends to celebrate the days our mothers birthed us. I love the piecing together of stories and myths in our family and there is no better way to verify events in our minds than when we chat and start with I remember …I also love that people are conscious of the boycott, so thank goodness no Coke on tables yay! Now’s the time to sommer wean everyone off it and introduce ice teas, berry spritzers, cocoa made with dark chocolate and cinnamon and herbal teas and tisanes. But first we are mindful of the earthquake that reverberated from the North West Province to the entire east area. Alhamdulilaah, there were not many causalities, but we do feel sadness and concern for those who were affected.

We have been fairly fortunate so far in our country with few natural disasters like the tornado that ripped through the Cape and displaced so many people. We lived in Taronga Road then and we had built a double volume dwelling so as I lay on the bed looking out of the window to the sky I could actually see the colour change in the dark clouds and a strange purple coloured funnel-like something in the corner of my eye but was not really attentive. The next morning there was mayhem as we drove up and down the streets of Surry Estate checking on family members and friends. Roofs blown away to other parts of the town. And we were aghast when we drove further into the townships.

But what I remember more vividly was the tremor that hit the Cape the night Imam Harun died.

From my writings: From our balcony one could feast one’s eyes on Table Mountain when there was no tablecloth, Lions Head and Signal Hill. It was quite a view, the mountains surrounding us and the boats and steamers in the Table Bay. The Sanlam building was the tallest building then, in the sixties. When I was about 9 years old our neighbour Boeta Koefie had passed away. My parents were downstairs and my sister and I were home alone. The sea made an eerie wooshing sound and the ground began to tremble and shake. That was the night when Imam Harun was murdered. That was the earthquake that ripped apart Grabouw where the interrogators of Imam Harun lived.

So there we stood, my sister and I, under the staircase scared and shaking and reciting the Fatiha and the Quls and when we were done we would recite it again and again until it calmed us down.

Anyway though I thoroughly enjoyed the evening last night, I realise that I had eaten too much of the delicious warm doughnuts served and the delectable rich mushrooms in sauce and the fabulous braai. But the cherry on top for me was getting one of the Angela Hall soaps made of honey and almond and sommer bathed my face when I got home. I also wanted to put on a hands off sign on it ha ha. I love those products personally because are completely natural to the body and they were really good for my skin when I was in the Sudan.

Luqmaans chisels and rasps

But I felt lekker jaded this morning, yes? Nothing that a smoothie, face scrub and brisk walk won’t remedy. So what went into the smoothie this morning?  Hhhmmm. a glass of berry juice (not bought at Pick n Pay or Woolworths) a lekker scoop of fat free yoghurt, a small handful of raw oats, half a pear and apple and a good zing. And as I go outside to find some red strawberries, the birds had beaten me too it. But there is enough to share. The weather is wonderful outside, in break time the boys have pulled up their thaubs and play soccer in the long grass. Luqmaan is so chaffed because he got some chisels and rasps.

 I realise that it is difficult for some to adhere to the boycott in support of Palestine, what with the convenience of popping in with your cards and the goods are cheaper and so on. And coke being so addictive and an addition to most peoples' meal. But in this boycott is also a ni’amah in that we can support our local sellers on the corner, at the robot, at shops because Local is lekker! Besides there are so many other options to a healthier life as well supporting the embargo.

I also promised some pictures and ta daa, at the end of the post. These are the almond blossoms and it is a non pareil type and although the other trees have no blossoms yet Insha’Allah I hope the honeybees come to visit our garden after they visited other gardens with almond trees of a different variety. It’s not male/female thing but different varieties needed for cross pollination (sorry about that).

And did I mention that on the 1 August 1888 pageviews and today 2020 as I post this blog. Shukran everyone.

Plant food take care of your skins with natural products.

Yasmine



almond

chard and red cabbages



purple daisies

Baby steps - getting started

In the name of Allah most gracious most merciful.

planting turnip seeds for soup

Also 5^th August 201.

There is a buzz in the community about growing food and treading on the earth gently. I like it when people say to me that they have no interest in gardening but when they are reading some of the stuff I write it makes them want to go out to a nursery, buy plants and start growing food.

tilted baths

Here’s a heads-up.  You don’t need much money to start up! You just need to unlock that love for it, it may become a bit obsessive sometimes ha ha but you will calm down after the honeymoon.  If you have a small piece of land, clear out the grass get a few bags of compost and dig it in. The winter rain will bless it with watering. If your piece of land is big, start with one bed or one corner at a time. If you have no soil and only concrete get some milk trays, tyres or old wooden crate or bath and some gardening soil.



red cabbages and chards

iris corms

 

seeds of love

Then you visit a friend with birds, preferably cockatiels or birds that eat sunflower seeds, borrow a few seeds, and push it into the ground not too deeply and you have sunflowers coming up! Buy some packets of seeds such as spinach or Swiss chards (a winner) read the directions and put them in both vegetables and flowers ( try your hand with cosmos flowers it never fails to impress). Now take a drive to Houtbay with strong clippers in hand, on the pavements there are much overgrown fig trees. Clips some good branches (you’re pruning, if anyone stops you) just above the joints and come home keep them in a bucket of water for a day and push them right into a buckets with good soil/compost. In a few weeks’ time all the leaves may have dropped off but you may see a bud or two. Daar is die vye bome. Hey I’m only kidding, rather ask permission from your neighbour to trim the branches overhanging your wall.

Visit friends with gardens and don’t just sound interested, be interested and they may offer you some seedlings, seeds, cuttings with advice. I would! You’d come across the gardening snob or two – ye have to use this kind of organic fertilizer and this kind of mushroom compost. Take no notice - you are there to learn. Get chicken manure from a friend with chickens and google how to water it down to feed your plants. Then check out the nurseries and see which ones sell little plug seedlings for a rand each, and plant them about a ruler's distance from one another. Spend your money that you were going to buy, candy, chocolates, Gatsby, lipstick or cigarettes or how so ever you splash money on and buy some varieties or lettuce, cabbages, broccoli or whatever you think. Even if it was the wrong choice or no one in the house eats let’s say kohlrabi, learn how to use it or give it to friends. Now you’re making progress ne.

Start looking at how you chuck away all the peels of your veggies. Make a furrow in the small piece of ground you have and chuck them there instead. Hey it may be full of surprises – potatoes, sweet potato, tomato and butternuts may sprout up there. Gently with your hands scoop out the plants with all of the surrounding soil and place in your patch. Soon you may not have any space left so you start taking out your old Tupperware bakke and drill holes in them and all those empty blikkies and maybe an interesting container or two and start by the holes first then a handful or two of stones from the driveway and then some good soil and hey you’re getting there! Oh and drop hints for what you would like for your birthday/anniversary, a pink wheelbarrow, an antique watering can, some meters of hosepipe and so on. And take a drive to the Rabbit King in Schaapkraal (thinks Kraal Rd) you will find really cheap used garden pots and lots more. But give yourself some cut off time, you can get lost in the rabbit hole.

Now go to your cupboard where you have lentils and sugar beans, black eyed beans, kidney beans and sommer while you are at it. Take out that packet of coriander seeds make some shallow furrows right around your beds and sprinkle in the seeds. Lightly cover with soil and pat down. Danya galore. Now you are ready for an entire morning to spend in the nursery, cancel all your appointments and get into your car with, later! There are coffee shops there too.

Later we’ll chat about making your own compost or getting someone to help you make it.

Plant food and start your garden with Bismillah today!

 

It’s raining again! 5 August 2014.

In the name of Allah most gracious most merciful

 

 gutter strawberries



Its raining again oh, oh. As a child of District Six I loved to walk through the rain from school, unstrap my shoes, slip off my socks and walk in the side of the gutter where the overflow stormed down. I’d hold up my head and open my mouth for the droplets - would be completely rained through by the time I got home. It was quite a walk up from Sidney Street and into the Dry Dock. This continued even when we moved to the Cape Flats. My Mom would freak out completely, running to the door with towels and wanting to usher me into warm water and rub me down so I don’t pick up a cold. She would put my head on her toweled lap and rub my hair and until I was red in the face. And then somehow I did not do it anymore, I mean walk in the rain. I think I became so boring.

 
Yesterday, Abu and I took our new/old bakkie for a spin – off course we went to a nursery in the area, how else could we test the back area. We pulled our hoodies over tightly and walked in the rain. That sensation of youth without a care in the world. It was groovy, you should try it sometime. We ran for cover, I pretended that my scarf had slipped off and huge raindrops plopped on my head - just take a warm shower afterward but if you get the flu please don’t blame me. It was such fun, because I also got some plants out of the deal for very cheap.

I have wanted to dig out one of the bushes of arum lillies or vark lelies as it is called in Varkensvlei on the road and stash it a corner in my garden – they grow wild on the fields here. But then I thought no Yasmine it may belong to someone else. So hello, what do we have here – some arums, nice developed foliage and some babies on the side. I picture it in my mind tall white lillies with the daisies at its feet, priceless!

Is this Als?

We also bought some overgrown carnation bushes from which I will do many, many cuttings, a few white lavender plants - so up Abu’s alley and rosemary and thyme little ones. I don’t know which kind of carnations they are yet but I will recognise them somewhere – my Mom used to put in steggies all over the garden all of the time.  And I found Als but don't know what its called in English. The groen amara from Wellington is similar.

curryleaf with berries

 I never realised that curry leafs are also male and female plants until I saw my sister in laws tree filled with berries and remember that mine have little sprays of white flowers but no berries. My foliage is also softer and greener but they are both awesome when it hits the curry. So I took some dried berries to see if they can grow from berries. Curry leaves are so pedantic.

 

wall creeper

 

 

My brothers outside walls (there where the golden lady bug lives and gutters of strawberries) are also covered with a creeper with tiny purple flowers that the wind somehow just blew there they are spectacular.

The one almond tree in the garden is filled with blossoms it is sooooo beautiful, pic later The other two young trees still linger without bloom but are filled with foliage - one needs more than one for cross pollination but I am sure if in your area there are other trees of the same kind,  just as good. The same goes for avocado trees and apple trees. The garden teaches me so many things.

The birds are undeterred by the rains I think, they dive for cover every so often when I am in the shed I see them perched up there. And when the rain stops they’re outta there diving low and all over the ground for worms. One the signs that we made good progress with From the ground up is that there are earthworms all over, every pot you pick up, every bed you dig in, so no need for a worm farm too. No wonder the gopher is having the time of her life furrowing under all the roots where the earthworms linger.

Seriously, I need to get us some gumboots, my old suedes are really starting to fall apart and it stays wet and I think it going to rain some more before the spring.

Plant food and walk in the rain.

Yasmine

Sunday, beautiful Sunday - 3 August 2014.

In the name of Allah most gracious most merciful.

daisy likes leek

The looming skies still threaten to rain but today I thought the garden can wait no longer, it does need a sip. Took a brisk walk snugly dressed with hoody tight around my neck.

You know sometimes we have an off day or week, some of us an off year or even life. That's why Allah SWT gave us gardens for good cheer and to lift the spirits. The Ramadhan does take a bit of a toll especially towards the end, and I think I am having a bit of that fall out. The sweet stuff was not good for my teeth and my tummy is irritable. And then there is work. But enough sorry for myself, out to the garden and its awesome bounty of beautiful daisies, rich mauve ones and fresh white ones. I swear the colours are enough to take my Ruh high. The poppies conspire till I have the camera again to unfurl.

The strawberries hang green row after row and not yet attractive to the birds, must check the nets. The fruit trees have blossoms though they're still in their youth and the seedlings and cuttings are doing amazingly well. The cold is not too helpful for the compost, it’s taking its time sitting and breaking down, but we got time. I got a heap of orchids and bought some orchid mix to plant out and keep it in a warm space. I am chaffed that butternut seeds are out and the sweet potatoes in jars are greening all the more. Subhanallah, just as I thought the cold had knackered the ginger, I peep into the warm room today and yes they're so making a comeback with green shoots. I have given myself a bit of a break from writing work this morning to cook a quick meal - a whole chicken quartered and marinaded in soya, oyster sauce, sage and lemon, whole garlic in their casings and ground pepper. Layers of onions from the garden as its base with potatoes and saffron rice. Plain and simple and delicious and back to boring work.

 I must confess though that the lifting of my spirits is the garden yes, as well as the Cloud Cake by 
Nigella Lawson, that Azrah made. I tried this recipe when we stayed in Johannesburg , swapped the Cointreau for orange juice and it was awesome.  it’s always a winner on a cold day to warm and lifts the senses and a wonderful take along cake to a get together. Today my daughter took the recipe and put her own stamp to it, she was more generous with the orange zest and did not add any juice but added a half cup more sugar to the recipe because she found it too bitter. It was phenomenal, she had her Dad beat the egg whites while she did the rest. We thought to zing some mixed berries for on the side but was too lazy - was brilliant as is.

From www.nigella.com/recipes/view/chocolate-cloud-cake

Ingredients

for the cake

·    250 grams dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids)
·    125 grams unsalted butter (softened)
·    6 large eggs (2 whole, 4 separated)
·    175 grams caster sugar
·    2 tablespoons Cointreau (optional) try orange juice
·    grated zest of 1 orange (optional)

for the cream topping

·    500 ml double cream (she used ordinary cream)
·    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
·    1 tablespoon Cointreau (optional) (she used dessertsp juice)
·    ½ teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder (for sprinkling)

Method

1.   Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4/350ºF.

2.  Line the bottom of a 23cm / 9 inch spring form cake tin with baking parchment.

3.  Melt the chocolate either in a double boiler or a microwave, and then let the butter melt in the warm chocolate.

4.  Beat the 2 whole eggs and 4 egg yolks with 75g / ¼ cup of the caster sugar, then gently add the chocolate mixture, the Cointreau and orange zest. - here she added another 1/4 cup sugar

5.   In another bowl, whisk the 4 egg whites until foamy, then gradually add the 100g / ½ cup of sugar and whisk until the whites are holding their shape but not too stiff. - here as well

6.  Lighten the chocolate mixture with a dollop of egg whites, and then fold in the rest of the whites. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 35-40 minutes or until the cake is risen and cracked and the centre is no longer wobbly. Cool the cake in its tin on a wire rack; the middle will sink as it cools.

7.   When you are ready to eat, place the still tin-bound cake on a cake stand or plate for serving and carefully remove the cake from its tin. Don't worry about cracks or rough edges: it's the crater look we're going for here. Whip the cream until it's soft and then add the vanilla and Cointreau and continue whisking until the cream is firm but not stiff.

8.  Fill the crater of the cake with the whipped cream, easing it out gently towards the edges of the cake, and dust the top lightly with cocoa powder pushed through a tea-strainer.

So there you have it Nigella’s Cloud cake without the Cointreau with a bit more sugar just fabulous!

Plant food and make cloud cakes

Yasmine

Berries are a girl’s best friend! - 1 August 2014.

In the name of Allah most gracious most merciful.

Jumuah Mubarak to all and may we reap of the benefits and barakah of this day and this month and this year and this lifetime. Alhamdulilah this blog is heating up. This blog is on fiya - not in a hellfire kinda way but in a lekker way. I hope the reason is that it’s informative about many things, something for everyone. From our progress with organic gardening to wholesome eating and treading gently on this earth and bit of this and that.

On 5^th of June the blog had 1000 pageviews, in 58 days the curiosity has increased to 1888 pageviews and this from all over the world, nogal - Ukraine, UAE, Kenya, Russia, Netherlands, Poland, Germany, US, Britain, Korea (ooh I am namedropping). You’ll notice that sometimes my pics really suck and sometimes they’re not too shabby (know that my son Zaheer is advising me how to crop and tweak them, shukran).

Anyway, I must say the Ramadhan has been rejuvenating Alhamdulilah, I am sure everyone lost a bit of weight and developed some better eating habits and other good habits. The weather is beautiful today, the sky is clear of clouds with a slight mist; school is on again and so on and so forth. I am really in the zone with writing, planting and konfyting but more than that managing my time well, even for a break and to watch something with my family now and then. We have a dog now who has just made himself comfortable on the couch outside and looks at us with those sad droopy eyes, I hope he is not lost. I am not sure whether to feel sorry for him or whether to shoo him away but we'll see. I think the boys have already fallen in love with him.

 

Artichokes pic from store.underwoodgardens.com

So what are we chatting about today? The Practical Encyclopedia of Wholefoods by  Nicola Graimes (check it out on Youtube www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXg3z8jB_E8) – I can’t rave enough about it. I got some artichoke seeds which are coming up and I wondered about its health benefits and how to cook it. So globe artichokes fall in the category of shoot vegetables and should have tightly locked, stiff leaves with stalk attached when you buy or pick them.  I love how it’s cooked, pity can’t show you the pics.  You have to trim its leaves with a scissor and cut off the stalk so it sits flat. Next you have to boil it in lightly salted water until soft (35 -45 min) and spoon out its core, the hairy choke. Pull off leaf for leaf, dip in garlic butter and pull it through your teeth so the soft flesh tantalises your taste buds. The heart is then dipped in the butter and eaten. Sound good? Yeah!The benefits of it is amazing as it is a great source of vitamins A, C, fibre, iron, calcium and potassium. As natural medicinal advantage it is used to treat high blood pressure.

 

cucurbits pic from UMassAmherst.

I have always thought that squashes, pumpkins and butternuts are good fibre but nothing much in terms of beneficial health. Was I ever wrong? Cucurbits include squashes and pumpkins and zucchini and marrows and also calabashes such as dhodi and snake calabash and African calabashes as well as cucumbers. They are high in potassium content which means that they are wonderful also to regulate blood pressure. They are good laxatives and a diuretic and are believed to reduce the risk of certain cancers. They are low in calories so you can eat wholesome quantities, no wonder, it’s so good for babies especially met maer gesiggies, as the hawkers shout for you buy them.

Berries are our best friends in summer – we have planted strawberries and black berries and blue berries and gooseberries. It would be so cool to get a cranberry, cherry tree and raspberry canes and I wonder whether I could possibly get a currant stalk or two. All of the berries are high in vitamin C and other vitamins. Added to that strawberries have great skin cleansing properties; raspberries are good for menstrual cramps and cleansing the body from toxins; blueberries improve night vision protect against glaucoma; cranberries reduces bacteria in the urinary tract and kidneys; blackberries for cleansing blood and an excellent anti carcinogen; gooseberries has beta carotene and currants, white, red as well as black high in anti-oxidants and calcium, iron and magnesium and used to calm down tummy upsets. I am so growing this berry orchard.  My daughter has fruit allergies and has absolutely no reaction to berries from our garden, Yay!!! Berry spritzes for summer!

That all folks.

 

Plant food and eat berries, cucurbits and artichokes for better health!

Yasmine