Soft Fruit - Redcurrants

A few years ago when I used to keep a herd of goats I would cycle round the lanes collecting branches and leaves for them to eat.  On one of these expeditions I found a wild redcurrant bush in the hedgerow and took a cutting, and potted it up when I returned home.  This cutting turned into a massive bush which provides me with as much redcurrant jelly as I can use.


This year they haven't been as prolific as other years and started fruiting a lot later.  I am sure that the erratic weather had a lot to do with it, so I am not too worried, and anyway there is still enough for me to make a few pots of redcurrant jelly.


I love to see the bunches hanging from the branches like jewels with the sun shining on them.  Of course picking them is a rather messy, sticky affair - and they are a bit tart for my taste to eat raw.


No fuss fruit tart from Nigella


Redcurrants, with their high pectin content, make beautiful jellies that are perfect on toast or stirred into gravies and sauces to be served with lamb.  Fresh redcurrants are essential in summer pudding



but also marry perfectly with strawberries for a cool, elegant dessert.

via

  
This is what Nigel Slater has to say about them:-

"One of the first bushes to break into leaf, tiny fresh green leaves that appear when all else is still sleeping, and that signal spring is almost here.  The fruit comes as something of a wake-up call too.  One day the flowers will be hanging down in lacy, green festoons, the next time you look the berries are almost ripe.  By July you can be picking the fine stems with their rows of fruit hanging like costume jewellery.  But the birds are attracted to the red variety, so you need to move quickly or cover the bushes with nets."



via

I spent this morning making Redcurrant and Gooseberry Jelly - if when making the jelly you don't press the fruit and just let it drip - you get a lovely clear jelly - if you press the fruit it goes cloudy.

One punnet each of Redcurrants and Gooseberries
produced only two jars of jelly

The Ratatouille Garden



via

Each year I attempt to grow all the ingredients needed for the dish Ratatouille.  That includes Aubergines, Sweet Bell Peppers, Onions, Courgettes, Tomatoes, Garlic and the herbs Marjoram and Basil.  Except for the Aubergines I am mostly successful at growing all the rest.  It is a French Provencal stewed veg dish originating in Nice - the French word 'touiller' means 'to toss food'.

Aubergine - Tomato Marmande and Sweet Peppers

This is usually an autumn dish when there should be a 'glut' of everything and Ratatouille can be made and frozen to eat during the winter months.

Courgettes

So far so good - I have all the ingredients growing well after a slow start - and it will be a while before the large tomatoes start ripening - but it looks like the Ratatouille eventually will be good to go.  There are a few different ways of making this dish - but I usually cook each component separately  then add them all together in a large pan with red wine vinegar and sugar and simmer for a while till cooked.

via

The recipe for the above picture roasts all the veg first then mixes them alltogether  and puts them back in the oven with cheese on top and grills till brown.  There are quite a few variations  on cooking Ratatouille - all of them delicious - which way do you prefer - and are you growing a Ratatouille garden?

And of course there is always the wonderful film 'Ratatouille' - enjoy!

The Last of the Rhubarb

Round about this time of year I pull the last of the Rhubarb.  It is quite tough now and the outer skin needs peeling off before cooking.  Even though there are quite a few sticks left on the plant I leave them so that the plant isn't weakened too much and is able to replenish itself.  Anyway by this time of year I am pretty sick of it - and look for ways to turn it into something a bit different.

As there are about twenty hefty-sized sticks I am going to have to be pretty inventive to use it all up.  So I thought maybe a Rhubarb and Strawberry Compote - delicious with ice cream and a refreshing way to use a glut of summer fruit.




via

  And maybe some Rhubarb and Ginger Jam



via

  This makes a lovely alternative to marmalade - and finally I thought about some chutney using curry powder instead of mixed spice.




via

  Do you have any favourite ways of using up your Rhubarb - I'd be interested to know?

What's Happening on the Plot this week?

I have only managed a couple of sessions on the plot this week - a couple of fine days has enabled me to do a bit of weeding and staking and a bit of harvesting.  Progress is slow on the runner beans - no signs of any beans yet - I have sown some more in a container in the Rosebank garden as a fall-back.

The plot is looking very colourful and full to the brim except where I have been harvesting potatoes.

The brassica patch is coming along nicely and I have been harvesting broccoli and I think the scarlet kale and cavolo nero will soon be large enough to pick.

About a third of the plot is planted with winter veg

Scarlet Kale, Cavolo Nero, Hurst Greenshaft Peas, Cocozelle Courgettes, Savoy Cabbage and Broad Beans

The beetroot patch needs weeding but they are starting to swell nicely and will be ready for harvesting soon.

We have had strong winds these last couple of days and the sunflowers have taken a bit of a battering, this is the only one that has flowered so far and it was snapped of at the base and lay flat on the ground - oh dear.

The sheep-shearer came on Sunday and luckily the rain held off.  Here are Alf and Ed minus their coats - they hate being sheared and have refused to come up the field to see me since it was done.  I bet they're feeling pretty chilly without their fleeces at the moment.

Attracting Beneficial Insects to the Plot

Feverfew with the parsnips

For all you veggie growing purists out there my veg garden will come as a bit of a shock.  It is a bit of a mish-mash with flowers growing in amongst the veg.  But there is a reason why it has ended up like this.  At the beginning of the year I mentioned that I was going to leave a strip around the edge of the plot where I would be planting wild flowers in the hope of attracting more insects and bees.  Well, my first attempt came to nought.  The seed that I sowed was either demolished by slugs or didn't germinate because of the cold weather.  So I started again and grew the seed in the greenhouse before planting out.  This time my venture was a little more successful.

Poppies and Phacelia in amongst the onions

Sweet William where I saw a Hummingbird Hawkmoth feeding last week

Pot Marigolds at the edge of the cabbage patch

Mallow and Corncockle still waiting to flower

Teasles

Plantains

Runner bean flowers

Runner bean flowers

Runner bean flowers

Courgette flowers

Day lilies

Cosmos

Not quite sure what this is ?

Clematis - variety unknown

I usually have a patch on the plot for cutting flowers - but the sweet peas are only slowly coming into flower and the sunflowers haven't opened yet, as for the Zinnias - well, they haven't moved since I planted them - so they are a failure.  But on the whole, my plan has come to fruition fairly well - except there aren't many beneficial insects about because of the constant rain.      SLUGS DON'T COUNT AS BENEFICIAL - AND THERE ARE PLENTY OF THOSE!!!!!

The Great Potato Experiment and other things ...

First can I say thank you for all your kind comments on the award thingy - now let's get on with the real business of this blog - veg growing.

At the end of last year I did a post about potato chitting and the fact that I was going to try a new method of planting potatoes.  This method consisted of just laying the potatoes on the ground and covering them with straw - hopefully taking all the hard work out of potato growing. 

see the article which aroused my interest - here

I was a bit dubious about it but my curiousity got the better of me and I decided to give it a go - what did I have to lose - only a potato crop - that's all!

On the whole the rows of potatoes didn't look too promising - I think I picked a bad year to begin an experiment of this kind - the weather being apalling and wet.  Anyway, this morning I decided to take a look beneath the very wet straw and see what had been happening.  Of course, as I expected, there were loads of slugs beneath it enjoying the wet conditions, but lo' and behold there were potatoes - in fact, quite a few potatoes.

This is the amount I got from two plants.  As you can see there are a couple of green ones where the light got through the straw, and a few small ones which may have matured if I had left them longer - but on the whole I am rather pleased and surprised with the results.  So, depending on whether the rest of the plants give just as good a harvest - will I do it again by this method - I'm not sure.  I really missed putting the fork in and unearthing those hidden gems.  On the other hand planting potatoes and earthing them up takes a lot more space and physical effort.  And as I got such good results from the container potatoes I may not even bother planting them in the ground at all.  Oh dear - decisions, decisions!

Every morning when I go up to the plot I find something to harvest - this morning it was peas, broccoli and strawbs.  Maybe only a handful of each but at least it is something - and due to the weather - a bonus, if you ask me.

The plot is looking pretty full and reasonably healthy - the biggest surprise are the brassicas which haven't been touched by the slugs and are romping away.  Yay!

This is the carrot that I left to go to seed - just to see what happened really - I am so impressed that one little carrot can produce so many seedheads.  And as for the parsnip that has gone to seed - take a look at this

Isn't that pretty - they are the flower heads - but just look at the size of the plant now

Woo-hoo!  It's a monster.

Take care - till next time.

One Lovely Blog Award

Just a quick post to say thank you to Jane at Tidy Gardens by Jane to thank her for passing on the One Lovely Blog Award. I am sincerely grateful to her for this honour and list below the rules.

First I have to thank the person who gave me the award, then list seven things about myself then pass the award on to ten fellow bloggers.  Here goes:-

1. I am originally a Yorkshire lass from Sheffield
2. I have one brother six years younger than me who lives in Edinburgh
3. I used to exhibit and sell my watercolour paintings (something I no longer do - the muse has left me)
4. I started my first garden in 1972
5. I have been married twice but have no children
6. I am a bit of a nature geek and love the great outdoors
7. I was once rescued from drowning as a little girl when I fell off a boat in the Norfolk Broads

Jennifer at Three Dogs in a Garden

Ann at Welcome to the Garden Spot

Zoe at Zoe Lynch

Annie at Annies Little Plot

Carolyn at Urban Veg Patch

Green Dragonette at Green Dragonette

Anne at Marmalade and Catmint

Debbie at Serendipity Patch

Cheryl at Take Time To Smell the Flowers

Patricia at A Place for Everything

Thanks once again Jane

Peas Please Me oh yeah

"We have our first dish of peas.  The aisles of bean plants grow tall and the green walls are full of bulging pods.  Annie says she will pick the peas for dinner, but we rush to the garden to do it ourselves, excited at the start of yet another harvest.  Compared with the gathering of strawberries, pea-picking is intricate but undramatic.  There is no sudden glow of crimson, no soft warmth of fruit.  It is a world of shapes, pea being undistinguishable from leaf only by reason of its bulk and form.  We pick by feeling rather than by sight.  The pea plant is a gentle green, deep and soft against the pale colour of the lettuces that shelter from the sun in the shade of the pea rows.  Our baskets are full of hard, rattling pods, we pull lettuces for salad.  It is good to feed oneself from one's own earth (Clare Leighton)

Feltham First and Hurst Greenshaft peas

This morning I picked my first peas of the season.  They have been slow in coming and haven't grown as tall as I would have liked - but at least I have a harvest.

via pinterest

If only a small amount of peas is available, I use them braised in the French way with some shredded lettuce leaves, finely chopped carrot and spring onion.  But they could be used with cucumber and mint cooked in water for a few minutes, seasoned and a little sugar added.

via pinterest

 I expect I will get only a few servings from the small row and the container peas but I will try to pick them regularly to keep the pods coming - if they are allowed to mature this stops the plants producing.

via pinterest

 At the end of the season I like to leave a few on the plants to harden off so that I can use them for next years' seed.  I could just wait for the pods to dry, crack open and let the peas fall where they may - but I usually collect them and store them in jam jars ready for the next pea-planting season.

via pinterest

 If I had enough room I would successive-sow pea rows in order to get fresh peas through the summer, but in a smallish garden this would take up too much room so I have to make the most of my one row and two different types of pea which will stagger the harvest.

via pinterest

As you can see from these pictures I found on Pinterest - peas are eminently photographable - they make my mouth water just to look at them.

via pinterest