Showing posts with label swede. Show all posts
Showing posts with label swede. Show all posts

Sunday 30 September 2018

Things Can Only Get Better

There have been a few light frosts in the last week - I had to scrape ice from the windscreen on Monday so we knew that the plot would have been hit by it. I'm pleased that the two Crown Prince squashes both look ok, but I couldn't risk leaving them on the plant any longer.
The site doesn't look too bad - mostly flowers looking sad around the place, but not these lovely dwarf chrysanthemums, which are such a pretty colour. I'm glad I bought the tiny plant at our Plant Sale earlier in the year.
Luckily the greenhouse just managed to stay above freezing (0.5°!) and the peppers are still looking healthy - especially as they're so close to being ready now. The big question is, do we eat the orange ones or leave them for the Food Festival? Decisions, decisions... we'll be so disappointed if they go over or get frosted before next Sunday morning.
Jamie sowed some over-Wintering broad beans Aquadulce and we weeded lots of areas of the plots so things are looking reasonably tidy (in places). I re-attached the purple-sprouting broccoli onto their stakes - only one of the four plants grew up straight. There were masses of whitefly - I hope we have some proper cold weather to kill them off over the Winter.
It looks like we'll get a couple of swede this year - not quite so successful as last year.
I've just made some squash soup. I used one of the not-so-good Festival and a Honeyboat, that was a bit small. I roasted the squash first - the Festival tasted much nicer than the Honeyboat. I added some pretty spices (Paprika, Turmeric and Parsley with garlic) and plenty of salt and pepper to the stock.
The soup is very thick and, to be honest, not very tasty. I'm hoping it will improve overnight..
So the song title is for the soup...! Thanks to D:Ream... try getting this one out of your head :-)

Sunday 25 February 2018

From the Inside...

..it looks like a lovely day with blue sky and sunshine.. but then a weather app tells you it 'feels like -7°'. No thanks, so I'm not expecting a plot visit today. Instead, here's a post that I started last week. I had tasty carrot and coriander soup for lunches - I haven't had a smooth soup in a while because my stick blender broke. Now I have got the one back from my mum - I gave it to her a couple of Christmases ago, but she didn't get on with it.
It's a Russell Hobbs blender, it's certainly a bit more aggressive than the James Martin one I've been using for years. I hope I'll get used to it. Otherwise, perhaps I'll need to return to chunky soups...which are delicious but some soups really do need blitzing. Not necessarily this one though... look how tasty that looks, mmm.
I was looking through my blog to see what soups I've made since having an allotment, I know there have been a couple of horrible ones but mostly they've been tasty and an easy way of using up extra veg:
  1. Carrot and Fennel - delicious
  2. Tomato - only made once, rather wasteful unless you really need to use up a lot of toms
  3. Thai Pumpkin - how adventurous of me, I even used coconut milk in it
  4. Parsnip and Leek - I think I need to make that again before the parsnips rot away
  5. Smokey Carrot - made with oak-smoked olive oil and smoked paprika
  6. Leek and Chestnut - this year I discovered what an amazing addition chestnuts are
  7. Vegetables with chestnuts - carrot, parsnip, swede, chestnuts and leeks
  8. Vegetable - Chunky carrot, leek and parsnip
  9. Parsnip and Pea - using frozen peas
  10. Curried Pumpkin - pumpkin is best if roasted first so it's more time-consuming
  11. Courgette and Fennel - peak courgette season!
  12. Potato and Celery - The one year we managed to actually grow celery
  13. Potato and Mangetout - FAIL! It was grey and disgusting!
  14. Roast Festival Squash - the squash didn't taste as good as it looked
  15. Celeriac and Fennel - so delicious. This soup is why I first started growing bulb fennel
  16. Swede (and Leek) - nasty! Nearly all thrown away..
  17. Carrot and Parsnip - I think this may be due next week too
  18. Pumpkin and Carrot - we'll be growing big pumpkins again in 2018
  19. Lettuce - well, it used up a lot of lettuces as they were going to seed
  20. Leek and Butterbean - nice and creamy
  21. Curried vegetable - curry powder cheers up a plain recipe
I also picked a couple of small swedes and had mashed carrot and swede with my frittata dinner last weekend. Jamie picked those sprouts from a plot which has been recently vacated - a perk of being on the committee? Well, they'd only go to waste otherwise. We generally say that anything left on an empty plot is free for use by other plotholders.
We both managed to do quite a lot of digging last weekend. Plot 7 is looking pretty good but we'll probably need to resort to weed-killer for some other parts of our plots. Jamie had laid bags on black plastic on the section shown above as that's where our sprouts are going this year - well away from the mole on Plot 3 we hope! We still need to do some proper planning of what we're planting where.
Linkin Park provide the title song...

Monday 5 February 2018

Weve Only Just Begun

Mmm, this week's soup is a good one, unlike last week. Swede with carrots, parsnips, leek, a bit of garlic and a hint of chilli from the oil I that I cooked the leeks in - lovely. This won't be going down the sink, which is why I couldn't resist a small bowl of it before dinner last night - well, it's a starter, isn't it?
On Saturday we only had a quick visit to pull some - you guessed it - leeks and carrots, to add to a cottage pie and it was a completely rainy day so we couldn't do much on the plot if we had wanted to.
We didn't want to, because we went to the Charlton Park Garden Centre in Wantage to buy our seed potatoes.
From the huge choice we were very restrained and only bought these:
  4 x Orla
  2 x Nicola
  3 x Pentland Javelin (because Jazzy were only available in bagfuls)
  1 x Foremost
  4 x Catriona (because there weren't any Kestrels left)
I find it hard not to buy masses of potatoes, especially when they're 16p per tuber, but on Sunday we threw away so many of last year's that were rotting away in the ground so it's only sensible. Here's Jamie digging through last year's potato plot, where we want to plant the shallots quite soon.
It was a very cold day yesterday, especially when the wind blew, but we did see a little bit of sunshine and were actually properly working so it wasn't too dreadful.
I cleared up the purple sprouting broccoli cage - all the plants have fallen sideways so I've staked them up. There were three tiny florets which I snipped off as (apparently) that should really help the plants to produce more.
While Jamie was clearing and digging I hand-weeded this patch, where our onions were last year. It was a bit painful but worth it. I added some coffee grounds that we've been collecting, as we're putting the potatoes here this year - they should appreciate the added bit of acidity.
After last week's slightly disappointing bird count we were inundated with robins this weekend. And this little chap was very friendly, bribed with mealworms.
He was particularly keen because we were doing some digging and providing him with fresh worms for a change.

We left yesterday as the temperature was falling and the clouds clearing for a frosty night ahead..
And here's our haul of veg. Look at that colossal parsnip! Unfortunately I put the fork through it, but there's still plenty for my soup and more than half left over - Jamie's going to add that to bubble and squeak.
So the song title for this post was a tricky one, but I chose this Carpenters song as it's pretty and we have only just begun really - at least we now have some clear earth.
 

Sunday 28 January 2018

The Three Bells

Another dull day, but this time no rain so it was slightly less awful. The temperature was reasonably mild too, but a little sunshine would have made a world of difference. I put a filter on this photo of the ash tree - to make it a bit more interesting.
Today I was counting birds for the the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch. I thought they were going to be a no-show, but although numbers were low there were quite a few different species (even the robin wasn't keen on posing though).
For an hour from 3:15 we counted:
 2 x Robin (annoying as we've seen 5 together (fighting) recently)
 1 x Great tit
 3 x Long-tailed tit (we've seen 6 or 7 of these together before)
 1 x Pheasant
 1 x Wren
 1 x Blue Tit
 1 x Blackbird
So, not great but not too bad either. I didn't count the two swans which flew over; I heard the lovely noise their wings make but couldn't get to my camera in time. On the walk to the site we spotted this little squirrel in the churchyard - I know some people don't like grey squirrels, but I do.
We spent the rest of the time doing more tidying and filled the fourth dalek compost bin mostly with old stalks of sweetcorn - chopped and mashed up a bit to break down easier/quicker. Jamie packed a load of stones in around the compost bins - perhaps it will help keep the rodents out. By the time we were ready to leave it was getting dark, so we had one more cuppa and picked our veg (leeks and the giant swede) and walked home.
The church (St Lawrence) was all lit up and the bells were ringing so it earns a photo for looking so pretty.
I think it is a Swede - Best of All (from Kings Seeds)
I was fully expecting the swede to have brown heart (caused by boron deficiency) as a couple of our roots have had traces of it, but it was perfect all the way through and weighed over 1kg! It's currently being made into swede & leek soup with the addition of smoked paprika as on first tasting it was a little bland - now I understand why 'swede soup' always includes lots of other veggies!
Jamie's using the other leeks tonight in a sausage and leek dish and is making leek and potato cakes tomorrow. Still plenty more to go though...
So, today's song is... not very related to this post, but there are bells in it and it explains why I did what I did to the tree photo (the singers are The Browns). Also I love this song, though the male singer is a little bit creepy :-)

Saturday 27 January 2018

Grey Day

Not the best day for showing a new plotholder around the site, but she is very happy with her new mini plot. In fact we've had four other new arrivals over the last couple of weeks so I hope the weather cheers up soon - for them and us! At least the rain stopped for a short while so we could get the kettle boiling.
Jamie sowed our Sutton broad beans in the greenhouse and put their little cloche tops on to protect them from mice. It's nice to be sowing something, but we've got lots to do before anything can be planted out. Plenty of time though...
I spent the afternoon clearing and composting. Three compost bins are full, but it will soon shrink down and make room for more green waste to be added, though I may need to use a fourth bin given the amount we still have to clear.
Jamie did 'neeps and tatties' for our lovely Burns Night meal with a Stahly's veggie haggis on Thursday - so delicious, with our own swede as the neeps but we had to buy the tatties.
Yes, I know I'm in pyjamas - it's the only tartan I own :-D
Leeks and carrots are still our main harvests at the moment. We had a tasty cheesy pasta bake with them last night. Here's a little timelapse.
We seem to have a never-ending supply of leeks! This was a bunch that I stuck in the ground last year - I couldn't bear to waste them but couldn't be bothered to plant them properly - they look in pretty good condition, as 'Baby Leeks'.
They certainly look better than the ones we planted into pots... when I say "planted" they were basically dumped into soil and abandoned, so that may have been the reason for the poor show :-)
Here's our french garlic that we bought at Hungerford Food Festival last year. Not many plants this year, but the cloves that we planted were huge. We usually end up with far too much.
The bunches we stored in the greenhouse are starting to sprout but there's still more at home which is lasting well.
And look what we spotted on Plot 3! Our very first purple sprout - I did have to zoom in to photograph it, so broccoli won't be replacing leeks and carrots on our menus any day soon!
The very apt title is provided by Madness.

Sunday 21 January 2018

Going Back to My Roots


These are the Double Red Sweetcorn seeds from RealSeeds - this year's attempt at growing funky sweetcorn - they're proper edible sweetcorn, not just for popping, so I'm going to try to look after the plants a bit better than I did with the Glass Gem last year (though we're on holiday in August, which may cause a problem..)
We had a very wet visit to the plot this afternoon. We managed to spend 3 hours clearing the greenhouse and doing various other little jobs - starting with clearing some of the debris from last week's awful gales. Lucky our Plot3 is such a mess there was nothing to damage!
These are just a couple of our Boltardy beetroot! Even boltardy may be a bit woody at that size, so...
I chopped them up and added them to the compost bin with some other plot waste. Such a great colour.
The greenhouse looked better by the time we left - notice the carefully placed watering cans to catch some of the rainwater that leaks through the roof. We need to do a bit of taping up when the weather cheers up.
I couldn't resist buying another bag of pre-cooked chestnuts as the soup was so tasty last week. So now I'm making vegetable soup with chestnuts - with carrot, parsnip, swede and leeks. For dinner I was going to have a stew but then I saw a lovely looking recipe here so decided to have roasted vegetables (and chestnuts) instead.
Today's song is provided by Odyssey.
 

Monday 1 January 2018

This is the New Year

Welcome to 2018! This will mark our 9th year of growing our own and my 10 year transplant anniversary. Time really does fly when you're having fun, or is it when you're getting older? Well, there's no avoiding getting older, so we may as well have fun while we're at it!
We celebrated the arrival of the new year by having a lovely meal of Stahly's veggie haggis (the best) with home-grown vegetables, which we picked from a very wet plot yesterday. At midnight we opened the windows (even though it was a bit chilly) and heard the town hall clock chiming and then watched the fireworks. I do love fireworks.
As usual I picked too much for our evening meal, so I intend to make parsnip soup later - the same recipe as I used on 1st January 2017 as it happens! The parsnips are huge - each over 30cm long.We were pleased that the sprouts were so good. They look in a sorry state on the plant but were really tasty. The swede are great (I still haven't found the variety, but they were planted late, in July), although the one we ate had a small 'hollow heart', possibly due to the weather..? It was delicious mashed up with the carrot.
This year I'm recording our plot efforts with the MyHarvest diary. It's a University of Sheffield research project investigating the sustainability of allotment gardening, so I thought it would be interesting to join in. Also, it should help me remember to note the weather each visit, which I always intend to do, but often forget.
So, here we go again...
I can't help thinking of blogposts when I hear new songs that I like now. This was a new one to me and is by A Great Big World... enjoy and here's to a happy, healthy, productive 2018

Sunday 3 December 2017

I Feel it in My Bones

It's December. We've had a Christmas craft sale at work and I bought some pressies and we've put lovely blue lights up in our living room window so I'm feeling Christmassy already.
I had a very quick visit to the plot this afternoon to pick some carrots - I was playing safe in case I found that the last Jaune de Vert squash had gone off once I cut into it. The little robin came to see me. He must have been missing our meal worms, especially when the temperature fell to -2° in the week. Brrr, it was quite unbearable for a couple of days but today it was back up to 12°.
All the garlic is up and should appreciate the frosts we've had. And the swede look like they're getting bigger! There are a couple of huge ones growing in this raised bed. It's the first time we've managed to grow it without it bolting. I wonder if they'll last till Burns night...
The squash's skin had hardened and changed colour but I'm pleased to say the flesh was good.
I roasted the squash with a few slices of carrot and a garlic clove. I left the skin on while roasting but removed it before the next stage.
Then cooked on the hob with some cumin and paprika added to the stock. I didn't risk too much garlic as my lingering cold means I could be very unpopular in the office! It's not tasting that great at the moment - quite bland, but I'll add some more seasoning when I come to eat it - hopefully it's will be tasty.
So, although there are still signs of Summer in sheltered spots I'm glad it's a good day for the Hungerford Christmas lights switch on - this year by author, Robert Harris. I love our Christmas lights!
Christmas  - it's on its way - hooray! And thank you to The Killers for the title track ..