A gem of a Harvest Monday

that's a really corny title and I'm a day late with posting my harvest for this week: the first potatoes, some carrots that have done surprisingly well in the clay soil and what's that green thing at the back I hear you ask?  Why it's a gem squash of course ! (seeds kindly sent to me from Phoebe over at Balynoe Cottage).  I hadn't heard of this vegetable before but I did a quick bit of research and found out that they are commonly grown in South Africa.  It seems to like the Melbourne climate though - it has grown into a rapidly spreading/climbing  vine with heaps of little fruit on it.

This picture (it's the vine on the left) was taken about 10 days ago bit it's doubled in size since then!  We are training it up a trellis that we 've constructed by stringing twine between the two upright posts on the pergola - there is a trombone squash on the other side.

Apparently gem squash can be picked at any stage of their development - they grow to about the size of a cannonball - and the skin thickens up as they get more mature.  This one is  about golf ball size and I added it to a vegetable tagine.  Yay for swapped seeds and finding new things to grow!

Veggie tagine (serves 2 hungry people)

1 gem squash (or zucchini)
2 large carrots cut into chunks or a bunch of baby carrots left whole
1 onion, sliced
2 sticks of celery
2 cloves garlic
5-6 small potatoes, halved
Tbsp preserved lemon, finely sliced
1 can tomatoes
1 can chickpeas
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground ginger
Salt and pepper to taste
Coriander/parsley

Put the onion and celery in the bottom of a tagine (you could also put everything in a casserole dish) then layer up the rest of the veg, finishing with the tomatoes.  Add the chick peas and spices and give everything a light mix.  Add a splash of water, put the lid on a cook for 40 mins either on a low heat on the stove top (give it a stir from time to time) or in the oven at 180C until the veggies are tender.  Serve garnished with coriander and/or parsley with some couscous.