Posted on

Eco Pod Herb Pots For Indoor Gardening

eco pod herb pot

We decided last year to give up our allotment, because,… life, but I do really like having fresh herbs around and I’d like to keep growing a few things, as best I can in the space I have. We are blessed in our house to have large Georgian windows which get a lot of beautiful sunlight (okay, daylight, sun even beautiful windows can’t promise!) but the windowsills are low, so anything we put on it, ends up falling off or being knocked about in the general melee of daily life. So, when I spotted these gorgeous Eco Pod herb pots, they were the answer to a question I didn’t even know I had yet. eco pod herb pot

The Eco Pod Self Watering Herb Pots come as a set of two, and are three-part, egg-shaped little gadgets of wonder. Part one is the bracket which is attached to the wall by removable sticky tabs. You need to attach the double sided tabs to a clean surface, and then attach the bracket. Leave it overnight so that it can properly ‘set’. eco pod herb pot

I didn’t want to wait for seeds, so I bought some potted herbs from my local supermarket – basil and parsley in this instance. If you just tear them apart, I’ve found, they don’t tend to live very long, (I think the roots are too damaged). However, if you remove the herbs from their pots, and put them in a bowl of water for a day or two it all comes apart much easier and there’s less damage, and the herbs seem to survive better. The herbs can soak while the wall sticker is resting. eco pod herb pot

The Eco Pod herb pot itself is made up of two parts – the top bit is where the soil and plant go, and the bottom bit is where the water goes. The water will drip from the top to the bottom through a sponge-like filter and then, I suppose, get soaked back up it over time. So you water the top, it runs through, and then comes back up again as needed. It’s all very simple and yet very clever.

The two parts are held together by magnets, which so far, is still all holding together well. eco pod herb pot

Learn from my experience – put it all together and plug it into the wall bracket as one piece otherwise you have muddy water running down the wall! But that little mishap aside, it doesn’t seem to leak, so long as you top the water up with care.

I intend to get a few more pots to add extra herbs. They are small pots, so these are for the kind of herbs you would use on occasion, rather than for, say, pesto where you’d use the whole pot! I think it would be smart, too, to pop some seeds into the pot every few weeks so that you have constant new growth. I haven’t tried it that way yet, but I’ll let you know if it works. Even if I have to replace the herb pots every now and then, the herbs last longer this way, and there’s always fresh herbs for my cooking. Love, love, love it – and I think it looks gorgeous too.

 

Posted on

One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish – Savoury Crackers

Savoury Crackers

This little One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish project was a labour of love! The resulting savoury crackers were fairly stunning though, we think!Savoury Crackers

If you know Dr Seuss, you know this book title, I think? One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish.

Bizarrely, despite the yellow colouring of the text on Two Fish (on our version of the book), there’s no ‘yellow fish’ reference in the book, but there is a black fish. This may seem irrelevant, except it’s not, when you’re trying to bake multi-coloured and multi-flavoured themed fish crackers!

I know my US friends have something called Goldfish crackers, but we don’t have anything like that, so I had to look for the smallest cookie cutter I could find. I did, in the end, find this one.

I used my regular crackers recipe, and made up a batch of the dough.

Split the dough into equal sizes of the colours you’re going to use. 

I used black, green, yellow, red and blue – just a few drops of a gel based food colouring* worked well so it doesn’t affect either the flavour or make it too wet.Savoury Crackers

  • For flavouring the black fish, I used black onion seed but I think Aniseed (almost licorice in flavour) would work too.
  • For the green fish, I immediately opted for basil, but I thought chive might work well too. And possibly some cheese, but that would reduce the shelf life of the crackers.
  • Yellow fish suit garlic powder or onion powder – I prefer powders, again for the shelf life extending.
  • The red fish had some smoked paprika, but tomato paste would be good too, or chilli if that’s your thing.
  • For blue I went with the sea theme and just sprinkled some sea salt on but these are already fairly salty, so don’t overdo it.

Savoury Crackers

If you’re using the same bowl and don’t want to wash between each colour mixing, do the yellow first, then the blue, followed by the green, then the red and then black.

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish – Savoury Crackers
Recipe Type: Snack, Baked, Book Food
Cuisine: Savoury
Author: Keeper of the Kitchen
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: lots
If you use a larger cookie cutter, you’ll take a lot less time than an hour. The mixing of the dough itself takes less than 5 minutes. With these tiny fish 3 – 4 minutes of baking is sufficient (I use a stone try, so just try one to be sure it’s cooked if you use steel or glass.)
Ingredients
  • 520g (4 cups) Plain Flour
  • 10g (2tsp) Salt
  • 4tbs olive oil
  • 250g (1 cup) water
  • Extras
  • 1-2 teaspoons each of:
  • Drieid Basil
  • Black Onion Seeds
  • Garlic or Onion Powder
  • Sea Salt
  • Smoked Paprika
  • Red, Green, Blue, Yellow and Black food colouring
Instructions
Thermomix Recipe
  1. Heat the oven to 180C/350F
  2. Add all the ingredients to the Thermomix bowl
  3. Mix 10 Seconds/ Speed 5 till all mixed
  4. Then mix 1 Minute/Speed 3
  5. Split the dough into 5 equal balls
  6. Add one ball and its extras and colouring back into the Thermomix bowl and mix 10 Seconds/ Speed 8.
  7. Sprinkle flour on a clean surface and roll out the dough as thin as you can.
  8. Cut into shapes using a cookie cutter. Combine the left over excess, roll out and repeat, until all the dough is used.
  9. Repeat till all the colours are done.
  10. Bake for 5-8 minutes, but these fish are tiny so they don’t need long. Keep and eye on them.
  11. Loosen the fish from the baking tray as soon as possible, but leave to cool so they can crisp up. Transfer to an airtight container where they should last for a few days. If they lose their crispness, pop them in the oven for a few minutes again.
Regular Instructions
  1. Heat the oven to 180C/350F
  2. Add all the ingredients to a food processor and mix till well combined and pliable.
  3. Split the dough into 5 equal balls
  4. Add one ball and its extras and colouring back into the food processor and mix till it’s well combined.
  5. Sprinkle flour on a clean surface and roll out the dough as thin as you can.
  6. Cut into shapes using a cookie cutter. Combine the left over excess, roll out and repeat, until all the dough is used.
  7. Repeat till all the colours are done.
  8. Bake for 5-8 minutes, but these fish are tiny so they don’t need long. Keep and eye on them. Loosen the fish from the baking tray as soon as possible, but leave to cool so they can crisp up. Transfer to an airtight container where they should last for a few days. If they lose their crispness, pop them in the oven for a few minutes again.

Pin This Post:

One Fish Two Fish

*This post contains affiliate links. You will not be charged for purchasing through these links.