Pumpkin Muffins

Yesterday I spoke of baking pumpkin muffins and promised the recipe.  Here it is, hopefully in time for some Hallowe'en partying this weekend.  I like to offer iced cupcakes or muffins or decorated biscuits to Trick or Treaters instead of sweets - does that make me odd?  It seems to go down well and I find it a more appealing alternative to the bags of tooth-rotting sweets that the kids come back with in their loot bags. (Most of which, in my home, don't get eaten - the thrill being in the hunter/gatherer phase.)

This recipe will make 12 good sized muffins (those are Lakeland muffin cases in the pic above, so probably about 2 inches deep - to give you an idea of size).

You will need:

7 oz (200g) peeled, deseeded and chunked pumpkin flesh
half Tablespoon oil (sunflower or other light oil)
10 oz (300g) plain flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 egg (I used large)
150 ml (5 fl oz) soured cream
50ml (1 3/4 fl oz) milk
5 oz (150g) soft brown sugar
2 oz (60g) butter, melted

:: This is the recipe I followed but, as an afterthought, felt the muffins would be extra nice with some fruit thrown in (raisins, sultanas, cranberries).  A friend who works at Jamie Oliver's Fifteen restaurant in Old Street also suggested the addition of ground cumin (which sounds delicious!).::

Assuming you already have your carved out pumpkin flesh, allow an hour for this recipe due to cooking time.  Important to know this if, like me, you are prone to whipping up a batch of cupcakes in less than half an hour for hungry mouths.

So, let's start:

Preheat your oven to 190C /375 F/Gas 5 ready to roast your pumpkin flesh.  Put in a baking dish, drizzle with oil and toss to coat.  (Or put oil and pumpkin in a plastic bag and give it a shake to coat.)  Roast for about 35 minutes (careful not to burn), remove, cool and mash with a fork.

Then turn your oven up to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Sift your flour, baking powder and cinnamon into a large bowl.  In another bowl lightly beat the egg, add the soured cream, milk, sugar, melted butter, mashed pumpkin and combine. (If adding raisins or sultanas and a half teaspoon of ground cumin, put those into this bowl with the other stuff.)  Pour this in with the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. 

Prepare your muffin pan:  either grease the wells or line with muffin cases.  Spoon large dollops of the mixture into the cases or pan wells. (See below for tip.) Bake for 20 minutes until risen and golden.  Leave to cool for a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack.

I then carried on and iced mine as my tasters were mostly female and under 10 years old but I thought they were nice eaten plain from the oven (I don't have a sweet tooth) and of course if you've added raisins, they'll also add sweetness.

For Hallowe'en, think about icing with orange glacé icing (icing sugar and water) and chocolate stars or with white chocolate and then pipe spider webs over the top.

~Not my best photo - the lighting was poor and the cakes wouldn't last until morning! ~

This recipe is adapted from Susannah Blake's in the book Baking Magic - 280 pages of incredibly tempting muffins, cupcakes, biscuits - both sweet and savoury - with irresistable photos.

Helpful tip - filling cake cases:  When making cupcakes or muffins, I can't be bothered with the faff of spooning the mix into the cases (waaaay too messy and time consuming) - I use my ice cream scoop (like this one: Ice Cream Scoop) i.e. a squeezy one that delivers just the right amount of mix over to the cases without mess.  I didn't realise they came in different sizes, mines about 5 cm diameter. 

Best for carving pumpkins…

Well, we're nearly at the end of October; I had the best intentions of thrilling you all with a daily dose of cooking inspiration with pumpkin as the main ingredient which - load me up with guilt - has not happened. Those particular seeds of inspiration have fallen on stony ground thanks to a several factors: a few autumnal tummy bugs sweeping through the home, extra large doses of domesticity being required from me as I have my twent-ager niece staying with me (I begrudge housework when I could be gardening) and getting my son off to a school trip to Spain (sooo envious) … not to mention Work.

The draw for my giveaway book took place (drawn by my son) and the winner is:  Pandora!  The book is now winging its way to Cornwall in time for some spooky and creative carving.  Thank you to everyone that entered, it was such fun checking out where y'all hail from.

And I found time to start my pumpkin carving experiments. Tomorrow I'm off to Fortnum's to see how the professionals do it (and will try and take loads of photos for a blog show-and-tell at the weekend).
In the meantime, for anyone about to start hollowing out a pumpkin, this is the tool that works best - for me at least:

Yep - a melon baller.  I spooned the orange globe into submission. My pumpkin was fairly small - about 8 inches diameter - and this really did the biz for final smoothing when getting the right thickness.  You can see the array of "tools" which I worked through:  Sharp knife, small sharp knife , spoon, grapefruit knife.  All useful but, seriously, with the melon baller we're talking icing on cake for speed and tired hands.  (Plus, I imagine that small, child-sized, hands could manage this easily.)  I've read elsewhere that ice-cream scoops can help; I haven't tried - yet - but I'd recommend one that has a clean edge for digging in to the pumpkin flesh.

 Did I mention cake?  By the end, I felt that I'd earned a treat and I baked all that lovely golden flesh into Spiced Pumpkin Muffins.  Yum, yum. Recipe will be posted later today - they're delicious eaten warm from the oven!

Last Day for my Giveaway!

There are lots of pumpkins appearing in the shops now and, (unlike me) if you were organised enough to grow some this year, I expect you've already harvested a few.  Are you saving any for decorating? You might want to know exactly how to deal effectively with all those innards (how to get the shell really clean so your decorated pumpkin won't start to rot and stink so soon), which tools are the best to use (and where to get them from) and how to be inspired beyond the spooky Hallowe'en faces.  For the more environmentally minded, there's even a project on making bird feeders from squashes - very important to keep the birds fed as the days get colder and there's less food around for them.

In which case …

… Decorating Pumpkins and Gourds: 20 Fun and Stylish Projects for Decorating Pumpkins, Gourds, and Squashescould be the very book you need (click on the book title for a 'look inside' linkthrough) and - more excitingly! one lucky reader will win a copy by midnight tonight … ~ahem~ by the time I wake up tomorrow morning.  Just leave a comment at the bottom of the original post (click here) (or at the bottom of this one - gosh I'm indecisive today) to have your name added to the Wellie Boot of Luck.  You can enter the draw even if you don't live in the UK! (A big thank you to everyone who has entered already.)

Regardless of your carving skills, what do you do with the pumpkin flesh?  I'd love to know!  I've heard a lot about American Pumpkin Pie so will try and track down a  recipe for that (anyone got a recommendation for me?) but check back tomorrow and I'll have a pumpkin muffin recipe for you.

And don't forget to save the seeds!  Keep a few back for re-sowing next year (wash, dry and store in dry place) and eat the rest!  Try this yummy way of cooking them: Chilli Lime Roasted Pumpkin Seeds from Roamyourwayhome, one of the members on Jamie Oliver's food website. I think these would make great grown up Hallowe'en snacks!

I've just popped a casserole in the oven - a piece of pork belly nestled among carrots, onion, garlic, turnip, parsnips and with sage going in later. (Trying out Heston Blumenthal's recipe of the week for Waitrose.) Bathed in home-made chicken stock (Prue Leith's recipe), it should be beautifully cooked by dinner time and all that will be needed is to mash the vegetables, fry off the meat and serve up with the crackling which is being slowly roasted in the oven alongside the casserole.

It gives me huge satisfaction to know that all the vegetables and herbs in this dish (bar the turnip) have been home-grown and, for me, the wonder veg is garlic. I planted a few cloves of ordinary garlic last November along with the onion sets, partly out of curiousity and partly because I wanted to have something growing over the winter.

I say "I" planted but, actually, the cloves were planted by the Veg Patch Kids, my part being to show the children how to measure the planting distance and dibble the holes (we used the handle of an old wooden spoon, marked to the correct depth) and which way up to pop the cloves in. I'm probably more amazed than they are that a single clove becomes a whole new garlic.  Even more amazing, I've read that home-grown garlic cloves will adapt year on year to produce the best bulbs. So I've saved a few of my heroes to go back into the ground later this month.

I assume that everybody grows garlic - it's really not hard - but what I found interesting was the little experiment that I ran.  Ever one to fly in the face of good advice, having been told not to plant supermarket garlic, of course I then had to. The original bulbs were, I believe, from Spain – they're the big whoppers in the picture.  They were already showing 6 inches of growth when the January snows fell and came through that beautifully. Then, in late April, the Gardening Guru gave me a few more garlic bulbs to sow - Isle of Wight and T&M Choice. They'd just been delivered to him by Thompsons which I thought was a bit late as they need a good frost to start them off.  I planted them anyway - some under the plum trees, some between the beetroot (probably not my best idea of the season).  The plum tree garlic should really have been watered more regularly and the beetroot garlic was overshadowed in the summer months.  A selection of the results are in the photo below, with the clear winner being my Spanish supermarket garlic which grew to be about 2 inch diameter with well-formed tasty cloves.  (But then it did have the benefit of being grown for 5 months longer than the others.)

Will I do it again this year?  Yes, absolutely. In fact, I've already selected some Porcelain Garlic which hails from the Highlands of Scotland (via Waitrose) and will plant those alongside my London/Spanish cloves - but will also be choosing some commercial bulbs to pitch against them for comparison.

P.S. I'm sure you all know of the massively diverse health benefits of eating garlic but did you know that recent research from the University of East London reveals that garlic may be effective against the superbug MRSA?  

A-Foraging we will go…

::Book cover image from Amazon::

What bliss, I've actually won a giveaway!  I can't begin to tell how thrilled I was yesterday morning to learn that my name was plucked from the wellie boot as the lucky recipient of this book: Collins Gem - Food For Free  (The last prize I won was a Cliff Richard single from a packet of Smiths Crisps when I was 8. This one's been a long time coming.) The book was given away by Damien who writes over on Two Chances Veg Plot and is a very active member of the UK Veg Gardeners network as well as introducing his young family to the delights of foraging earlier this autumn.

I love the idea of wild food from nature.  Wonderful word, foraging. When applied to people, rather than - in its original usage - animals, what a fine concept this is for 21st century self-sufficient(ish) living and becoming reconnected to the earth around us. It's old Middle English used from the 14th century to refer to cattle wandering the land, grazing for fodder or food – forage being both (verb) the act of searching and (noun) the food itself.  Obviously I've been in touch with my Inner Cow for some time as I love to munch as I walk.

It would be somewhat impractical to totally embrace hedgerow eating but I feel such a townie by having no idea what I'm looking at when out on the Heath or further afield in the countryside or coast. I'm in awe of people who return from a walk with armfuls of elderberries, sloes, rose hips and wild mushrooms. This book, I'm hoping, will help me to swell their ranks.  In my Cornish childhood, my father would take all four of us out walking the airfields in the early morning mists to gather large field mushrooms for breakfast - an awesome experience, akin to treasure hunting, and such fun.  Expeditions like this and other nature walks full of shared knowledge were, I'm sure, partly responsible for a lifelong love of being outdoors and fostered a healthy sense of curiosity and adventure.

Children on our estate go mad for the bramble berries that grow over from the railway lines and rush to pick up nuts and berries outdoors ("Can I eat this?").  Now, at last, I'll be able to say with more certainty, Ye-ess or, more probably, No!

Expect more posts about my foraged finds - I did see some very promising red berries on the Heath just the other day! (Although those might end up wired into christmas decorations.)

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 (photo © Cico Books/Heini Schneebeli)

P.S. If you haven't already entered the DRAW I started in this post, to win a free copy of 'Decorating Pumpkins and Gourds', there's still time (one week to go!) - and, in case you're wondering, yes I'll post anywhere in the world! 

Sunshine and soft fruits…

 ~ Carrots, leeks, courgettes, tagetes, cabbage, runner beans, tomatoes ~

:: The Regent's Park Allotment::

Being of a very curious nature, I do love a good nosey around other gardens and allotments. I find inspiration everywhere: the planting, the colours, the layout, clever use of discarded items… So, it was with a carefree heart that I pedalled off last Saturday to a half-day training in the Regent's Park allotment run by Capital Growth and Capel Manor College. The sun was shining as I cycled through the park, a highly enjoyable but somewhat rebellious act due to it being Not Allowed. (Why is that, I wonder? Children who won't walk any distance will often cycle happily, thereby allowing families to embrace the Great Outdoors together.)

But I digress…   my hopes and expectations for the day were fully met:  an excellent and comprehensive training in Growing and Preserving Soft Fruits was provided by Tom from City Leaf (with handouts, which was lucky as I would never have remembered it all).  In three short hours we covered the four Ps (Planting, Pruning, Propagation and Preserving) in relation to a range of soft fruits: gooseberries, red/white currants vs blackcurrants, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries and raspberries.  Whew - feeling hungry yet?  As if that wasn't enough, we also briefly looked at ways of training fruit, veering off into the realms of cordoned and espaliered apples.

~ Garden of Eden? ~

I must admit my motivation for going was to get access to an Idiot's Guide to Growing Raspberries as our canes didn't do well this year.  Poor little things. I now know that this is due to a combination of not planting soon enough (nor heeling in), not preparing the site well beforehand (it was nearly Christmas and we were desperate), not giving them enough space and also the poor plants being choked by weeds from a neighbouring patch. We'd literally plonked them into the soil in a spare corner of Leigh's allotment as the Veg Patch was not ready for them.  See?  Loads of info.  I'm going to replace the canes and, this time, lavish care and attention on them. 

We also looked at successfully growing grapes in an urban environment (apparently London is now warm enough for this, which is great  news).  Their grapes looked luscious:

And in anticipation of the wonderful harvest we'll all have next  year, and in case any of it actually reaches our kitchens (mine will all be eaten as it ripens by the children), our group was introduced to preserving your soft fruit harvest by a local guest speaker; a wonderful woman who brought along some of her produce and made it sound so easy.  She scotched several myths:  no, she doesn't use special preserving sugar (juice of a lemon will serve instead, if needed), blackberries do not set well on their own (throw in a Bramley) and the original jam jar lids are just as good as the cellophane/rubber band option, if properly cleaned. Mantra: Cleanliness is all when preserving!

I spotted this wonderful 1970s cookbook (Readers Digest, I think) on the table at the end.  It caught my eye, set against the jars of chutney and melons grown in the allotment.  Yes! Melons are possible in the UK - we had some of these fruits during the break. (Delish.) The allotment has an open aspect, sheltered by fencing on the North and East sides, with the melon vines planted at the southern end.

Elsewhere, other vegetables were all still flourishing and ripening (the carrots! the rhubarb! the beans! giant tomatoes!). You'll recognise the asparagus in the above photo - a huge bed of it, with ripening berries.  The volunteer gardeners try to nip them off when they turn red and before they burst and scatter the seeds.  Bare patches in the beds were explained by the recent harvesting of the butternut squash which was set to one side in baskets - there was an open day 'Harvest Cook Off' the following day (at least I hope so as the weather had turned wet by then).

The entire allotment was full of inspiration, if excessively tidy (but then they are on permanent view to the public).  Companion planting abounded:  Basil and cabbages, crimson nasturtiums under the runner beans and around the rhubarb,  and bright orange tagetes were planted (and interplanted) everywhere - around tomatoes, apples, beans, herbs - and doing a fantastic job of bringing in the bees.

But I especially l-o-v-e-d the use of recycling:  peppers, tomatoes and herbs grew in large empty white Italian tomato cans, an old Royal Parks watering can had been planted with herbs, and … the best bit for me …  the fibreglass poles from a defunct tent used to hold up netting.  I'm SO pinching that idea!

There, I think I've rambled on long enough.  It's worth a visit if you find yourself near Regents Park and also very handy the Cow and Coffee Bean Café. (Here's the Google map link). I took far too many photographs and am now making a Flickr page so, once the link is up, pop over there if you want to see more!

Gourdness! Giveaway and pumpkin carving

Last year I recall resisting the onset of Autumn and savouring the last days of summer but, this morning, I'm positively excited about the forthcoming Pumpkin Season for I have learned of an exciting competition looming… 

Some of the carved pumpkins featured in the book

A chance conversation yesterday revealed that Fortnum & Mason, renowned London-based purveyors of luxury food hampers and other delightful goodies, are holding their first Pumpkin Carving competition on October 29th.  It's a Friday so, presumably, you can take your pumpkin home to show off on All Hallows Eve. There are fabulous prizes (Fortnum's broomstick anyone? Even better: a £1000 hamper, which would nicely sort out Christmas) and themed food such as witch's hair (aka - of course - candyfloss).

I've just spoken to them and been told that places are limited due to pumpkin display space (as of today 50 spaces still up for grabs), booking is essential but it's free!  Not that I'm competitive or anything ~ahem~ but I'm definitely going!  (It is open to adults as well as 5-18 yrs…)

Pale carved squashes look like porcelain. Find out how in the book.

Now this may all sound jolly frustrating to anyone living out of reach but I know that you're a creative lot and hope you'll be inspired to rise to the spirit of the event in your own communities.  Personally, I'm going to be referring to a book which I bought last year:  Decorating Pumpkins and Gourds written by my York Rise neighbour and fellow gardener, Deborah Schneebeli-Morrell and photographed by her husband, Heini.

Debbie is a phenomenal artist and her ideas in this book veer right away from the usual fare of grinning face pumpkins; she not only shows us beginners (in my case) how to carve designs such as Birds in a Bush, Maids in a Row or the Hansel and Gretal house, but also tells us the correct tools to use.  I absolutely lOvE the lantern pumpkins shown in the above photos.  Her love of gardening shines through when we're taught how to make bird feeders out of squash (an easy project for children) and also which are the best - and easiest - varieties to grow. On a practical level, Debbie advises what to do with different squashes (acorn squashes, for example, are difficult to hollow out but can be carved and displayed before being roasted into a platter of patterned veg). Excellent illustrations and instructions throughout make this all very achievable and, although it's not mentioned, it's best to keep the children's involvement to scooping out the flesh rather than knife wielding!

 Giveaway!

Cico Books have very kindly offered to send me a copy of Decorating Pumpkins and Gourds as a !giveaway! for my readers.  I'll also ask the author to sign it. Just leave a comment before 15th October (should then give you enough time to get carving before Hallowe'en) and I'll randomly pick a winner.  (Please also say if you don't want the book.)

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(All photos in this post are © Cico Books and taken by photographer Heini Schneebeli.)

The Cheerfulness of Chard:

Isn't this fabulous?!  First year that I've grown chard - and I've yet to actually eat any of it - but those colours are a real show-stopper on the Veg Patch.  Love it!

(Note to self:  grow it in a higher bed next time to better display the stems!)

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In case of interest: Bright Lights Chard, Johnsons seeds, sown into recycled council compost in raised beds, open aspect but shaded early pm onwards.  Well watered by the weather.

From Soil to Sail:

Hello again, time's zipping by, we're nearly into Autumn and I'm still catching up with myself… There seems to be so much to pack into each day (not least of which is to get my potatoes dug up!).  As a result, I seem to have fallen out of the habit of popping in here to say hello which feels odd because, in my head, I've got lots to tell:  trips to the seaside, apple scrumping, a street fair, hedgerow-jam making, allotment-soup making, books to review (three!), autumn progress in the Veg Patch and new bedtime reading: seed catalogues for 2011…mmm, lovely!  So, whew. 

The thing that has taken a goodly chunk of time is the street fair which we had in our little corner of London.  I'd had a fancy to make fresh apple juice on the day (using a traditional press) and put my hand up to help in order to ensure that the event was actually going to happen. Doing the pressing was quite a learning curve so deserves a later post all to itself!   In among all of this frenzied activity, what with the end of the summer hols looming, I also decided to make a dash for the seaside to spend a few days on the south Hampshire coast with my parents. (Another reason for the silence here … I was beachcombing elsewhere!)

Lovely, isn't it?  I never tire of this view of the Solent (taken from the little cross-harbour ferry): Old Portsmouth on the left and, just out of view, sailing boats making their way in or out of harbour.  Look in the other direction and you see Portsmouth Harbour, ferries waiting to sail for the Isle of Wight and, in the historic dockyard, the masts of Nelson's HMS Victory and modern ships of the Royal Navy. All very busy and nautical.

For me, though, the highlights of a shore-side break-away are the long walks on the beach, picking up driftwood and shells (pebbly beaches are so interesting).

…and, at this time of year, collecting hedgerow blackberries (loads of them on the seafront common land). Turning the corner from my parents' house, a short walk leads to the common …

… with the Isle of  Wight clearly seen on a good day.  Wow, looks likes there's no sea at all between the mainland and island! (Although, I think there's probably a good couple of miles of Solent to swim before you get over to the Island, here reaching Ryde.)

Normally we walk along the shoreline towards the sailing club and the ice-cream café - yes, what bliss! New Forest ice-cream, yum yum, served with a sea breeze - or a cup of tea if the weather is chillier.  This time, we walked towards the scrubbier part of the common, for a change, where there were plentiful berries to be picked and, presumably from a discarded apple core, a heavily laden apple tree, ripe for the scrumping!  A big trugful of nature's harvest - and just in good time for my apple pressing venture!

Catching up…

Well, here we are again… I hadn't realised that I'd been away so long, the weeks have just slipped by.  (Did anyone notice?)  I wish I could say that I'd been enjoying myself on holiday somewhere warm - but, no. Truth is that the deluge of rain … day after soggy day … coupled with very strong winds was wreaking havoc in my little vegetable garden and I had to devise various Heath Robinson structures to stop everything keeling over.

My poor beans had been happily climbing up a ridge-tent-shaped frame of bamboo poles - but I'd forgotten to pinch out the growing tip. Gradually it became a tad top heavy and started to lean ever-so-slightly.  The problem was made worse as continuous rain softened the soil and the wind pushed it over as if the frame was being pulled from one end.  I had to duck underneath to get by!  All very well until someone gets hurt and one stick was, by now, at eye-poking level.

While figuring out a solution to the bean problem, the wind kept blowing and then I found my beautiful super-tall sunflowers had succumbed and collapsed across my fruit trees and crash landed on the potatoes.  The roots were ripped up but because I found them not long after, I was able to firm them back into the soil and start hoping for recovery… but that ol' wind kept blowing.

Time for some urgent action.  A hazel wigwam was dismantled and the branches used to pin the sunnies against the wall.  Hmm, gooood thinking. 

The beans, though, were slightly more problematic: I'd tried tensioning the frame with some ties, like pitching a tent.  That worked for a while but the wind got stronger and stretched the ties.  It was Leigh who found the solution: a small team of us dragged a very heavy builder's bag over to the veg patch as ballast and anchored the bean frame to that.  Looks ugly as hell but - hey - it works!  Should get a few more beans before the end of the summer.  And what have I learned from all this?  Next year, I'm going to grow my beans up a very sturdy wigwam!  (and pinch out the growing tip)

Elsewhere everything is a bit wind-bashed but surviving:  I'm getting some lovely carrots with excellent flavour…  (all that rain must have done them good)

The beetroot is getting awesomely large…

The bees are still visiting the last of the lavender…

And what I thought were wonderfully chic black chilli peppers are, in fact, turning a vile colour I can only describe as blorange.  Fingers crossed for improvements on that front…

How to store your garden produce…

I have a vivid memory at this time of year of my grandmother sitting, colander in lap, constantly trimming beans, shelling peas, bottling, pickling, preserving, wrapping and otherwise storing the tide of food from my grandfather's back garden-turned-allotment.  With the advent of freezers and supermarkets this has become something of a lost art.

When I wrote recently of my beetroot bounty and of the saga of my onions (now properly dried), several people remarked on the usefulness of the book I turned to.  Camillap, who writes about her veg growing at Seeds and the City commented, "Funny how storage is something veg books seem to gloss over a lot of the time."   Strange, but true - as a quick browse through my gardening bookshelf revealed.  The shelf offers plenty of advice about when to sow, when to reap, what to do in between and recipes - but nothing (apart from the occasional chutney) on storing. And even one of my most experienced gardening friends recently said "I haven't quite got the hang of successional sowing… " as we stared wistfully at her mounds of lettuce, etc.

The lettuce conundrum sent me delving back into my copy of How to Store Your Garden Produce: The Key to Self-sufficiency (no, you can't store lettuce) and I thought a post about the book (from a gardening viewpoint) might be of interest. (There are, of course, plenty of reader reviews to be found you-know-where…)

The first thing that I immediately appreciate is that the book is written and published in UK.  Not that I have anything against books published elsewhere in the world, it's just that, in this instance, I recognise the ingredients, the quantities and the terminology which is very reassuring because I am, after all, reading it as an idiot's guide to getting it right, with the added comfort that any recommended varieties are more likely to be successfully grown in the UK climate.

The author, Piers Warren, puts the argument for storing your produce very succinctly in his opening paragraph:  "… with less than an acre of garden, you can grow enough produce to feed a family of four for a year but, since much of the produce will become ready at the same time - in the summer and autumn - most of it will go to waste without proper storage, and you'll be off to the supermarket again."  Presumably having chucked a goodly portion of your (excess, bolted or woody) veg on the compost heap.

This is the revised and expanded edition of the book, the first being published in 2003 with much less practical information.  The book is very light on pictures - just a few in the middle of the book which are wholly unnecessary and (say it quietly) a bit boring.  (The same could be said of the design.)  But that's not what we're here for.

There are two sections: the first covers various methods of storing, some of which were already familiar (freezing, pickling, jam), some nice tips on drying, salting and bottling, the difference between fruit butter and cheese explained (new to me) and plenty of recipes for vegetable wine.  I'm not so fussed about that, but it shows the range of the book.  Part Two is an A to Z list of fruits and vegetables ranging over slightly more than 100 pages.  The list is not exhaustive but covers the basics and more.  I was impressed to find a section on Horseradish (my teeny, tiny horseradish plant is now over a metre tall) with 2 alternatives for storage and a recipe for H sauce - and I now know that I can put the young leaves into a salad. Bonus!

I love that the author is a gardener first and foremost, then a cook - or possibly then a winemaker?  Each vegetable section has a paragraph of advice and tips on when to harvest (e.g. cut lettuce in the morning for the crispest leaves), recommended varieties (onions, for example, best types for pickling, best for storage, even a Japanese onion for sowing now and harvesting early next summer), and then the most appropriate methods of storing.  Not everything can be stored and, when that's true, he says so and offers other appropriate advice.  (Short term storage and successional sowing for lettuce.)

Some people have criticised the book for not having enough recipes; I think they're missing the point.  It's a book targetted squarely at gardeners like me, jumping on the Grow Your Own bandwagon and not being experienced enough to plan ahead or quite know what to do with the glut when everything ripens at once.  With this book at my side, I'm able to work out what I should grow next year to see me through the winter and spring - and what I should grow more sparingly for eating in the summer.

It's not the ultimate reference book for storing produce (particularly if you're the leading light of your local Womens' Institute) but, for me, is an excellent starter book on the subject and definitely one of my gardening books that I have actually read!

And the recipes?  Haven't tried any yet but Mushroom Ketchup, Spinach Soup, Spitfire Sauce, Rhubarb Cheese (I'm guessing same texture as lemon curd - yum!), Pea Pod wine (didn't Alys Fowler do something alcoholic with her pea pods on TV?) and Baked Beans have all got my attention.

Now I just need to find a nice, dry, dark, cool but frost-free cubbyhole to put everything in…

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My copy of the book was kindly sent to me by the publishers, Green Books, in Devon. As they say "Green by name, Green by nature." Where possible, books are printed on recycled paper, covering topics which may appeal to the environmentally, ecologically or conservationist minded. ("Soil, Soul and Society".) You can find more information about the publishers, including their latest publications and where to buy, on their website.

Eating - and growing - seasonally

~ downpour imminent … look at that sky! ~

Yesterday's on-off downpours over North London (yes!! hooray!) had the added bonus of me being able to sit, guilt-free, in front of the computer for a while.  I was distracted by the Garden Organic newsletter - they now have a Facebook page in which the One Pot Pledge is mentioned so I had to check that out.  From there, I found a page in support of a UK company called Freshly Forked (take a look, it's quite a good page to bookmark) who highlighted a website called Eat Seasonably, which brings me to the purpose of today's keyboard tappings.  Am I the only person not to know about this?  Let's just say, for the sake of argument, that I have found it before one or two other veg growers - in which case let me introduce you to a jolly good website if, like me, a little advice or timely reminder is always welcome.  Have a look under the 'what to grow now' tab: there's pages of advice, offers, events, etc.  I sent myself an e-postcard to spread the word, which I was hoping to show you, but it hasn't arrived yet… 

For buyers, rather than growers, of fruit and veg there's a fun interactive calendar (find it here) which shows what's in season in which month (see below, plus you can download it as a poster).  You choose by month or by veg;  I'm thinking this could be fun in teaching kids what's in season (they could try guessing before pressing the button) and also perhaps tempt them to try new seasonal veg? (Okay, so I'm an optimist…)

Personally, I found it quite intriguing to see what I should have ready in the Veg Patch, or the possibilities for next year. 

Although, that said, I've been hauling in a good harvest of beans (runner and french), lettuces, radish, potatoes, garlic and beetroot all this past week.  Although I probably could save quite a lot of it (freezer, drying, soup making, etc), I really enjoy giving it away to the people who have been so encouraging over the past months.  It's such a simple gesture and yet it seems to build bridges.

Saga and Onions

A couple of weeks ago the onions started to keel over and I received several complimentary comments to the effect that they looked lovely and ready, followed by: "Could I have one…? Only I can't be bothered to walk to the shop".  Harrumph.  In fairness, at that stage they weren't quite ready so I pinned up 'Do not pick' notices, feeling that the vultures were circling, and cast my gaze across the internet and a few books to see what I should do next.  Apparently once the leaves start to yellow and they're properly fall down drunk, they can be lifted - on a dry day (preferably) - which has been a bit hit and miss of late in North London.

With the threat (or promise?) of heavy rain at the start of the week (… and I'm still waiting), I decided to go for it and have them all up (I did the reds, Karen did the whites) - and the winter planted hard-neck garlic.  I slightly cheated last year by growing from sets, a bag each of 40 red and 40 white onions.  Bizarrely, we dug up 43 red onions and 36 whites!  When planting, I just managed 40 sets to each bed by following the spacing advice and there seemed to be ample space still between them when fully grown. The learning curve here is that, in future,  I'm going to flout the rules and try planting at least 60 in each bed in true cram 'em in style!  After all, the white onion bed had room for rows of carrots as well, which seems (so far) to have worked (at least until the onion tops flopped).

A York Rise tenant (and keen veg grower from Zimbabwe) suggested that I should plait them together straight away while the leaves were still green and hang them from the wigwam, come rain or shine. This is what works for him in his home country.  This would look great covered in strings of onions wouldn't it? (Not sure it would survive the rain though.)

Anyway, I took a basket of first liftings off to be plaited - after following clear instructions from Matron at Hillingdon, I was thrilled to have several of these:

I then bumped into a local woman whom I slightly know; she's an artist, experienced gardener, author of many craft books and leading light of the Highgate allotments.  When she said, "Lay your onions out to dry for at least a week", I listened and learned.  The plaits were undone, more baskets found, a space cleared in L's greenhouse and the wait begins…

This is a sight that finally makes me feel like a proper 'good-life' gardener - stocking the larder for the months ahead.

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Several people were kind enough to comment after my last post on the extreme useful-ness of the book 'How to Store Your Garden Produce'.  Yet again, this book has provided very good advice on onions: "When dry, your best onions can be hung in nets or strung together.  They will store well in a cool, dry place until the end of spring.  Before you string onions, make sure that they have dried adequately." (my italics).  The author, Piers Warren, continues with a 'How To' on stringing and reminds us that onions can also be frozen by skinning, slicing and blanching for 2 minutes.

Beetroot Bonanza: Store it!

A while back I was sent a book called "How to Store your Garden Produce" by Piers Warren.  I gave it only a quick skim through back in May as I had nothing edible to store at the time but I knew that the book would come into it's own later in the year.  That moment is now.

Last year, you may recall, despite loathing the taste of beetroot, I was determined to give it a try.  I'm now converted and happy to eat beetroot in a variety of guises.  (If you find yourself in a similar situation, you might like to be aware of this extensive list of beetroot recipes on the Abel & Cole website.)

As a result of my conversion, I have sowed plenty of beetroot seeds and I find myself in the same boat as other gardeners in that they all seem to be ready at the same time - in spite of successional sowing.

So, back to "How to Store …", look under the handy A-Z listing of veg, turn to B, yep, there it is … beetroot.  A little bit of background, some recommended varieties (take note for next year), some advice ('pull beetroots for storage before they get too large and woody', yep, got that one), ('twist the foliage off, cutting causes bleeding of the beets', hmm, knew about the cutting, good tip on the twisting), then the How To.  Seems to be two ways:  Freezing and Dry Storage.  So…

Freezing:  Pretty straightforward this.  Small beetroots should be washed and boiled whole - the book says for 1 or 2 hours in salted water.  (Last year, I cooked mine for about 45 minutes, depending on the size, and that seemed to do the trick.)  When cooked, rub the skins off, cool, slice and pack into containers ready for the freezer.

Dry Storage:  This one I want to try, sounds interesting.  Gently remove soil from undamaged beets and pack in sand in boxes, barrels, crates (see below).  (My tip, go to your supermarket fishmonger for boxes.  They're usually pleased to hand over their empty polystyrene boxes which are perfect for this and have a lid.)  Store in a cool, frost-free building where they should keep until Spring.

He also mentions Pickled Beetroot (keeps for 3 months), Beetroot Wine (not my thing, but if you're a winemaker …) and Borscht (Russian/Polish beetroot soup) which, of course, can be frozen.  Strangely,  chutney isn't listed - perhaps because other vegetables are needed or it comes under pickling?

In an earlier section called 'The Methods', storing in sand (or sawdust) is described thus:

1. Use sand that is only just moist (but what sort? play sand, builder's sand, garden sand? and does it even matter? Does anyone know?)
2. Make layers of sand and roots (unwashed but with excess soil gently brushed off) in containers - making sure the roots don't touch each other.
3. Store the containers in a dry, frost-free place. Cellar = good; shed/garage = perfectly adequate except in truly freezing weather.  Consider filling them in situ - sand is heavy!

In the next couple of days, I'll post a proper review of the book.  Until then, trust me, if you're new to this, like me, this book is a mine of useful information and ideas - although, of course, to the more experienced among you, this post probably falls firmly in the category of 'Teaching your Grandmother to suck eggs'.

Funding opportunity

Just thought I'd flag this one up as I know that many people passing by this way are involved in gardening with kids via schools or other community groups and/or are keen wildlife conservationists.  Unfortunately, this one's only for UK residents (apologies to any overseas readers).

Anyhoo…  The Big Lottery Fund are giving grants between £300 to £10,000 (!) for  "projects that bring local people together to discover, enjoy or protect the wildlife in their local area".  Projects must (and I quote) improve rural or urban environments for people to enjoy and/or get people more active and healthier. Two examples of this might be by encouraging people to take up gardening or go on nature walks, or providing opportunities for children to learn about nature through play.

Anyone who has put such an idea on hold through lack of cash to get started should have a look at the Big Lottery page, here, where there's more information.  There are three rounds, by the way: 21 July, 22 September, 24 November.  You could just get in for July, if you're quick!

~ Couldn't resist adding this last photo - taken on the Isle of Wight ~

P.S.  Many thanks to Harvest, the Brighton and Hove food partnership, for highlighting this valuable opportunity.

Keep Calm and Carry on…

Last weekend someone crept onto the veg Patch just before dawn and helped themselves to the chicken wire which protected the crops from foxes and cats. We know when this happened because a friend recalls seeing it at 3 a.m., yet it had gone by 7 a.m.  Not to worry, I thought…  I'll just pop out and buy more.  Then I found out it's actually quite expensive: it will cost about £70 to replace all the wire that's been stolen.  (It's been disappearing over the past few weeks but somehow I didn't notice until the last but one piece had gone.)

~ "when we had wire" - the last 2 pieces ~

Without any security on the VP, I'd say the chances that the new lot would be stolen pretty swiftly are quite high - even if we had any cash left in the kitty for the purchase, which we don't.  So, nice one Mr. Burglar-person…  stealing from a community project,  must make you feel real good about yourself.  The Thief must have known he was doing wrong as he would have had to unravel the wire from around the onion bed - so it was hardly Not In Use at the time.  Unscrupulous villains like this rarely have a moment's guilt;  I can only hope that what goes around, comes around … and move on.

Because of this, I have felt disinclined over the past week to sow/plant any more stuff as the last lot got dug up overnight.  But, this morning, I was out on the VP at dawn (trying to beat the heat), weeding and digging and thinking that I should see what else I can grow this summer for the autumn.  Digging out my box of seed packets, this is what I came up with:

 ~ Carry On Sowing ~

Apparently there's still time to sow more broad beans, peas, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, runner beans, carrots, beetroot, spinach, squashes, salad stuff and herbs.  Gosh, I think I may just have talked myself into a little bit of busy-time.