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Waterwise Gardening - a book review

Waterwise Gardening: Everything You Need To Know About Efficient Watering to Grow a Healthy Yard by Richard Restuccia Published by Rizzoli, 2025 I would guess that watering is the major issue that most gardeners grapple with, especially novice gardeners. I know from working at the nursery that the majority of questions and issues we get stem from either watering too much or not watering enough.  Many people in our area have sprinkler systems and I'm sure that can be a good thing if used properly but I feel that they primarily keep the lawns green but fall short for landscape plants. Especially when it comes to trees and larger plants, the timing and amounts are not satisfactory for many plants. I often hear people say that their sprinklers are set to come on every day - yikes! And there are those who did not water because it "rained" when it actually drizzled.  The best thing to do in this situation is to have a xeric garden but that would mean sacrificing favorite plant...
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Chocolate Banana Bread


Happy New Year and let's hope this year is a better one. I wanted to thank those who responded with advice about my shoulder. I think it helps you mentally when you realize that you are not the only person that has experienced the misery. I thank you for the helpful tips and encouragement. I would share a piece of this chocolate banana bread if I could but I can at least pass on the recipe.

I was watching a series called "My Greatest Dishes" which features mostly British and Australian chefs. The only one I was familiar with was Prue Leith from "Great British Baking Show". I wasn't familiar with Bill Granger and that is whoe this recipe came from. Upon further investigation, it is a hugely popular recipe and Granger is also credited with inventing avocado toast.

Bill Granger’s Chocolate Banana Bread

  • 2 cups plain (all purpose) flour

  • 2 teaspoons baking powder

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

  • 1 cup sugar

  • 4 ripe bananas, mashed

  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • 1 cup chocolate chips

Method

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350.

  2. Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl

  3. Mix the butter, sugar, eggs, banana, chocolate chips and vanilla extract in a separate bowl

  4. Add to the dry ingredients and stir to combine, being careful not to over mix

  5. Pour the batter into a non-stick , or lightly greased and floured 9 x 5” loaf pan and bake for 1 hour and 5-10 minutes or until the bread is cooked when tested with a skewer

  6. Leave to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.

 


Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

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  1. Hoover BooJanuary 1, 2021 at 2:33 PM

    Yum. I'll have to try that. I just made banana bread a few days ago, (because ripe bananas). Choc Chips sounds like a good flavor accent.

    Happy 2021, Phillip!

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  2. sweetbayJanuary 1, 2021 at 5:09 PM

    The banana bread looks amazing. Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kris PetersonJanuary 1, 2021 at 8:17 PM

    Looks great to me (even if I'm full from dinner). Best wishes for the new year!

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousJanuary 2, 2021 at 2:27 PM

    That looks amazing. I will have to check out the series you mentioned, as I love the Great British Baking Show. I wish you a wonderful 2021!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Gardener on Sherlock StreetJanuary 3, 2021 at 3:39 PM

    Yum! Happy New Year!

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  6. Ford 7.3L Powerstroke injectorsJuly 31, 2021 at 2:38 AM

    I make a simple banana cake in which all ingredients go into a blender, rather than bowl but otherwise similar. I love the idea of making it chocolate banana bread!

    ReplyDelete

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