Monday, 1 November 2010
What a whopper!
Here I make a rare personal appearance in the blog to show you my first parsnip which I dug this weekend. No need to dig more than one, as the one I eventually prised out of the ground was a whopping 2lb 8oz! delicious roasted with beef Wellington for my tea. This was planted in the 'magic' bed at the front of my plot, if only the whole plot had soil this good.
Friday, 22 October 2010
Jack Frost
We have have now had two good frosts in a row, brilliant news for my parsnips! I will give them a couple more cold nights then they should be ready to try. I can't wait, the tops look brilliant this year. Here are some pictures of them in June and October.
Spuds are up
Main potato harvest has revealed a whole barrow full of potatoes. 'Cara' the most successful, 'Sarpo Axona' less so, tending to be knobbly with rougher skins.
Friday, 24 September 2010
Beets, roots and leaves
I have found beetroot fairly easy to grow. Particularly nice is that you can use the young leaves in a salad or instead of spinach. They seem pretty immune to pests, which is another good attribute. They're a bit bland on the dinner table, but Moog's favourite recipe is for me to pan-fry them in balsamic vinegar and olive oil and serve with crumbled Roquefort cheese.
I have just spent an hour or so pickling the last of my crop. I am left with astonishing purple fingernails as a result. I also have four jars of pickled beetroot. Looking at them, I realised that this probably represents more pickled beetroot than I have ever eaten in my life to date. So, another vegetable creeps onto the 'not going to grow that next year' list.
I have just spent an hour or so pickling the last of my crop. I am left with astonishing purple fingernails as a result. I also have four jars of pickled beetroot. Looking at them, I realised that this probably represents more pickled beetroot than I have ever eaten in my life to date. So, another vegetable creeps onto the 'not going to grow that next year' list.
Thursday, 23 September 2010
the great green giveaway
Well, that went better than expected...
As previously mentioned, I did neglect the plot a bit toward the end of summer, and by the time the August Bank Holiday had been and gone there were a few large marrows lurking under the excessively spikey leaves of this year's courgette plants. Since we have tried, and got bored of, virtually every courgette recipe we could find over the last two years, they continued to lurk in the fridge for a couple of days. They sat there taking up a whole shelf, blocking out the little light, a brooding reminder of my culinary incompetence, before I hit upon the idea of taking them in to work as a 'holiday gift.' I promptly piled them into a basket and set off, to see what would happen when I let my unsuspecting colleagues assume the responsibility of what to do with them. Surprisingly they all went within a couple of hours, and I was even asked for more; amazing bunch, my colleagues. Suggestions ranged from Zucchini Bread (for the smaller fruits), to an ambitious-sounding marrow and ginger jam, some of which I was promised if the recipe went well (it did not). I went home with an empty basket and a light heart, finally relieved of responsibility for the blasted things and having made a change from all the packs foreign sweets and shortbread that appear in the shared kitchen at this time of year.
I very much enjoyed reading this humorous article on marrows in The Telegraph today, it seems I'm not alone in wondering what the hell to do with the things. People all across the land must be having the same thoughts. I think I will quietly forget to plant any courgettes next year. No-one really knows what to do with them anyway.
STOP PRESS: Apparently you can also use courgettes as bear repellant. You heard it here first:
Woman fights off bear with courgette
As previously mentioned, I did neglect the plot a bit toward the end of summer, and by the time the August Bank Holiday had been and gone there were a few large marrows lurking under the excessively spikey leaves of this year's courgette plants. Since we have tried, and got bored of, virtually every courgette recipe we could find over the last two years, they continued to lurk in the fridge for a couple of days. They sat there taking up a whole shelf, blocking out the little light, a brooding reminder of my culinary incompetence, before I hit upon the idea of taking them in to work as a 'holiday gift.' I promptly piled them into a basket and set off, to see what would happen when I let my unsuspecting colleagues assume the responsibility of what to do with them. Surprisingly they all went within a couple of hours, and I was even asked for more; amazing bunch, my colleagues. Suggestions ranged from Zucchini Bread (for the smaller fruits), to an ambitious-sounding marrow and ginger jam, some of which I was promised if the recipe went well (it did not). I went home with an empty basket and a light heart, finally relieved of responsibility for the blasted things and having made a change from all the packs foreign sweets and shortbread that appear in the shared kitchen at this time of year.
I very much enjoyed reading this humorous article on marrows in The Telegraph today, it seems I'm not alone in wondering what the hell to do with the things. People all across the land must be having the same thoughts. I think I will quietly forget to plant any courgettes next year. No-one really knows what to do with them anyway.
STOP PRESS: Apparently you can also use courgettes as bear repellant. You heard it here first:
Woman fights off bear with courgette
Tuesday, 14 September 2010
Autumn bargains
I've been letting the allotment manage itself for a few weeks, and to not much ill-effect thankfully. I've been very busy re-styling my back garden at home, and won another award for my front garden over the summer too. Luckily a couple of hours weeding and mowing and it looks quite neat again. Perhaps because I started my allotment at this time of the year, I always see the end of the main summer harvest as the start of the new gardening year. So here we are again.
This year's plan is to be a bit more careful where I source my seeds etc. I tend to buy online from the biggest suppliers but I want to be a bit more frugal. First off, seed potatoes. I read in a magazine that there are only a few companies that actually grow seed potatoes, and they do sell direct - so I'm going to try and track them down, as when I've ordered from Thompson and Morgan I find they take ages and don't give me an ETA.
Second, this is a good time of year to visit the garden centre, just before they get their Christmas stock in. My favourite local centre, Wyvale Woburn Sands, are running an offer for their loyalty card customers of all packets of seeds 50p each! At that price, it makes sense to buy what they've got and not worry too much about specific varieties. They also sent me a £5 voucher recently, so I went and filled my boots with 10 packs of seeds, net cost, FREE! As a result I will be growing mangetout peas and dwarf green beans in 2011, along with a selection of flowers for cutting. Can't go wrong really, all of them have 2012 'best before' dates. The garden centres just want to have fresh stock at this time of year.
One packet was onions - I'm going to try them from seed. I'm always anxious to do some gardening at Christmas when it's too cold to go outside and I've heard boxing day is the best day to plant onion seeds.
Finally I'm going to grow some garlic from my own bulbs this year instead of buying them in. It's supposed to be the best way, and I've got plenty spare.
This year's plan is to be a bit more careful where I source my seeds etc. I tend to buy online from the biggest suppliers but I want to be a bit more frugal. First off, seed potatoes. I read in a magazine that there are only a few companies that actually grow seed potatoes, and they do sell direct - so I'm going to try and track them down, as when I've ordered from Thompson and Morgan I find they take ages and don't give me an ETA.
Second, this is a good time of year to visit the garden centre, just before they get their Christmas stock in. My favourite local centre, Wyvale Woburn Sands, are running an offer for their loyalty card customers of all packets of seeds 50p each! At that price, it makes sense to buy what they've got and not worry too much about specific varieties. They also sent me a £5 voucher recently, so I went and filled my boots with 10 packs of seeds, net cost, FREE! As a result I will be growing mangetout peas and dwarf green beans in 2011, along with a selection of flowers for cutting. Can't go wrong really, all of them have 2012 'best before' dates. The garden centres just want to have fresh stock at this time of year.
One packet was onions - I'm going to try them from seed. I'm always anxious to do some gardening at Christmas when it's too cold to go outside and I've heard boxing day is the best day to plant onion seeds.
Finally I'm going to grow some garlic from my own bulbs this year instead of buying them in. It's supposed to be the best way, and I've got plenty spare.
Wednesday, 4 August 2010
The wonder of peas
My pea harvest is now over. I have been growing a variety called 'Kelvedon Wonder' for three seasons now, and I have realised where they get their name, it is because I am always left thinking 'I wonder what's happened to all my peas.' Time for a change next season I think.
A ridiculously small harvest again this year, I suspect mainly due to drought. No pea moth attacks this year though, due to my ingenious mesh cage, created from bamboo canes, held together with old drinks bottles to stop the canes poking through the net. Excellent fine grade insect mesh purchased online from Harrod Horticultural. Best not to think about how much time, effort and money went into growing about 5 grams of peas.
A ridiculously small harvest again this year, I suspect mainly due to drought. No pea moth attacks this year though, due to my ingenious mesh cage, created from bamboo canes, held together with old drinks bottles to stop the canes poking through the net. Excellent fine grade insect mesh purchased online from Harrod Horticultural. Best not to think about how much time, effort and money went into growing about 5 grams of peas.
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