The First Real Frost of the Year

After a windy night,( the weather not me), I woke up to see heavy frost on the car windscreen signalling that winter is on the way.  The temperature was only 1 deg. but it felt colder after the mildish weather we have been having.  I ventured out to check on my sheep and see how the frost had affected the veg plot.

I gave Alf (pictured) and Ed some Sheep Mix which they love and they lick their bowls clean, but then hang about wondering if I will give them some kale leaves.  This morning I didn't as they were frosted.

The leeks that have gone to seed are putting on a lovely display

Although they look wonderful like this, it does mean they are mostly inedible due to the hard core that forms down the centre of the leek.

The last courgette plant is a gonner now, the colder weather has seen to that.  Now that it has finished I can compost it and start to weed the area before I mulch it.  Funnily enough the Nasturtiums have survived the frost, they are still manfully flowering, as are the Marigolds.

This year my raspberry crop has been zilch, and guess what, it is nearly winter and they have suddenly decided to produce fruit.  Contrary or what?

 It's been a funny old year.  Hoping for better next year - what say you?

The Winter Garden - Parsnips

Yesterday I spent a pleasant couple of hours at the veg plot, taking down the sweet pea nets, dismantling the runner bean supports and digging up a few parsnips for Sunday lunch.

I sowed them way back in March on one of the rare days when it didn't rain.  I didn't hold out much hope for them, but, surprisingly, they thrived.  Two rows is plenty for our household if they all germinate - and they did.  But, on digging up a few from each row, I was surprised at the difference between them.

One row were perfect, well, almost perfect, specimens - they hadn't quite filled out all the way down the root - a bit top heavy you could say - but they were a really good size.

I'm not quite sure what variety they are, as I had picked up several packets of different varieties, forgetting that I had already bought some - so I mixed them all together - the thinking being that if some didn't do well, others would.

The other row was a disaster.  Squat, multi-pronged roots, that were hardly useable.  Not sure what went wrong there - perhaps they hit a hard patch where I hadn't loosened the soil enough.  Anyway, the other good row will see us through the winter.  I will gradually dig the whole row up and keep them stored layered in dry earth in a very large plant pot.  They keep very well this way as long as they aren't washed beforehand.

Here's what Nigel Slater has to say about parsnips:-
The soil-encrusted root, gnarled like the bark of an old tree, hides a creamy flesh that is both earthy and sweet.  Snapped in half, it smells of freshly dug ground.  Roasted in butter, it smells of warm heather honey.  I value the parsnip for its gentle sweetness, its happy marriage with the crusted edges of a piece of roast beef, and the velvety soup you can make even from its woody core.  Steamed, mashed and softened to a puree with warm cream, the frugal root becomes a deceptively luxurious accompaniment to roast lamb.  Baked in a slow oven with cream and the milder spices - cumin, nutmeg, and a few specks of mace - the parsnip makes a sensual supper on a day when you are expecting someone to arrive home cold and sodden. 

Garlic Planting Time

I didn't have much success with garlic this year - they rotted in the ground or disapeared altogether.  So I'm just wondering whether I shall bother with them again - but if I do  - now is the time to be planting them.


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Garlic is widely used around the world for its pungent flavor as a seasoning or condiment.
The garlic plant's bulb is the most commonly used part of the plant. With the exception of the single clove types, garlic bulbs are normally divided into numerous fleshy sections called cloves. Garlic cloves are used for consumption (raw or cooked) or for medicinal purposes. They have a characteristic pungent, spicy flavor that mellows and sweetens considerably with cooking.
Other parts of the garlic plant are also edible. The leaves and flowers (bulbils) on the head (spathe) are sometimes eaten. They are milder in flavor than the bulbs, and are most often consumed while immature and still tender. Immature garlic is sometimes pulled, rather like a scallion, and sold as "green garlic". When green garlic is allowed to grow past the "scallion" stage, but not permitted to fully mature, it may produce a garlic "round", a bulb like a boiling onion, but not separated into cloves like a mature bulb. Additionally, the immature flower stalks (scapes) of the hardneck and elephant types are sometimes marketed for uses similar to asparagus in stir-fries.
Inedible or rarely eaten parts of the garlic plant include the "skin" and root cluster. The papery, protective layers of "skin" over various parts of the plant are generally discarded during preparation for most culinary uses, though in Korea immature whole heads are sometimes prepared with the tender skins intact. The root cluster attached to the basal plate of the bulb is the only part not typically considered palatable in any form.

Garlic is a fundamental component in many or most dishes of various regions, including eastern Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, northern Africa, southern Europe, and parts of South and Central America. The flavour varies in intensity and aroma with the different cooking methods. It is often paired with onion, tomato, or ginger. The parchment-like skin is much like the skin of an onion, and is typically removed before using in raw or cooked form. An alternative is to cut the top off the bulb, coat the cloves by dribbling olive oil (or other oil-based seasoning) over them, and roast them in an oven. Garlic softens and can be extracted from the cloves by squeezing the (root) end of the bulb, or individually by squeezing one end of the clove. In Korea, heads of garlic are fermented at high temperature; the resulting product, called black garlic, is sweet and syrupy, and is now being sold in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia.
Garlic may be applied to different kinds of bread to create a variety of classic dishes, such as garlic bread, garlic toast, bruschetta, crostini and canapé.
Oils can be flavored with garlic cloves. These infused oils are used to season all categories of vegetables, meats, breads and pasta.

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In some cuisines, the young bulbs are pickled for three to six weeks in a mixture of sugar, salt, and spices. In eastern Europe, the shoots are pickled and eaten as an appetizer.
Immature scapes are tender and edible. They are also known as "garlic spears", "stems", or "tops". Scapes generally have a milder taste than the cloves. They are often used in stir frying or braised like asparagus. Garlic leaves are a popular vegetable in many parts of Asia. The leaves are cut, cleaned, and then stir-fried with eggs, meat, or vegetables.
Mixing garlic with egg yolks and olive oil produces aioli. Garlic, oil, and a chunky base produce skordalia. Blending garlic, almond, oil, and soaked bread produces ajoblanco.
Garlic powder has a different taste from fresh garlic. If used as a substitute for fresh garlic, 1/8 teaspoon of garlic powder is equivalent to one clove.



 Location: Choose a sunny spot, it thrives in full sun if possible but it will be ok with some shade.
Make sure to give it well draining soil to prevent fungus and rot, if you have a raised garden bed it will thrive there since the drainage will be good.
Apply compost and aged manure to make a rich soil, mulch lightly after planting to help with soil moisture (weeds can also be deterred by a mulch layer). Before planting dig up the soil area really well (about 10″ deep) to provide a nice, loose soil environment.
How: Separate a bulb and select large, healthy cloves (the outer ones). Do not use any that are bruised or show signs of mold. Leave the paper on and plant them about 2″ deep (3″ to 4″ for colder climates) and 6″ to 8″ apart with rows 12″ apart.
Position each clove pointy side up and flat side down. In a harsh winter lay 4 to 6 inches of mulch on top when the ground freezes to provide some protection from winter kill, remove when Spring arrives.
Watering Conditions: Water deeply at least once a week. The soil should be consistently moist and not dry, but don’t let the garlic sit in water. A sign of overwatering is fungus growth or mold.
Garlic has a shallow root system so don’t let the soil dry out. If there is no moisture in the soil 1″ deep, it’s time to water.
Water well in the first few months then start easing off a couple weeks before harvest (when the top leaves start flopping over, that’s a sign to stop watering).
Location: Choose a sunny spot, it thrives in full sun if possible but it will be ok with some shade.
Make sure to give it well draining soil to prevent fungus and rot, if you have a raised garden bed it will thrive there since the drainage will be good.
Apply compost and aged manure to make a rich soil, mulch lightly after planting to help with soil moisture (weeds can also be deterred by a mulch layer). Before planting dig up the soil area really well (about 10″ deep) to provide a nice, loose soil environment.
How: Separate a bulb and select large, healthy cloves (the outer ones). Do not use any that are bruised or show signs of mold. Leave the paper on and plant them about 2″ deep (3″ to 4″ for colder climates) and 6″ to 8″ apart with rows 12″ apart.
Position each clove pointy side up and flat side down. In a harsh winter lay 4 to 6 inches of mulch on top when the ground freezes to provide some protection from winter kill, remove when Spring arrives.
Watering Conditions: Water deeply at least once a week. The soil should be consistently moist and not dry, but don’t let the garlic sit in water. A sign of overwatering is fungus growth or mold.
Garlic has a shallow root system so don’t let the soil dry out. If there is no moisture in the soil 1″ deep, it’s time to water.
Water well in the first few months then start easing off a couple weeks before harvest (when the top leaves start flopping over, that’s a sign to stop watering).

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Of Cabbages and Kales

Whilst I was thinking about what to write about the winding down of the gardening season - I had a wander round the 'net to see how Brassicas are represented in art - as you do - and found some wonderful paintings of Cabbages which I though I would share with you.

Green Cabbage - oil on linen
by
Jean Christofori Howton




Watercolour painting of Three Red Cabbages
by
Marilyn Z. Kahn

 

Ornamental Cabbage by Bonnie Haversat

I used to do quite a bit of painting myself and have to say I think these are wonderful representations of the vegetable.

Now - down to business.  As the vegetable garden is winding down the only crops, besides leeks and parsnips, are the brassicas.  I have planted plenty to see me through the winter - Savoy cabbage, January King, Scarlet Kale, Cavolo Nero Kale (if you look at the first illustration - top right, you will see it is called Dinosaur Kale), and Purple Sprouting Broccoli.  I have also just planted out Cauliflower and Spring Cabbage. I have to say that I love my greens.  I know it isn't the same for everyone, children in particular, and although I love the summer crops - beans etc.   In my book you just can't beat a good cabbage.



Savoy cabbage

 The original family name of brassicas was Cruciferae, which derived from the flower petal pattern thought by medieval Europeans to resemble a crucifix. The word brassica derives from bresic, a Celtic word for cabbage. The late Middle English word cabbage derives from the word caboche, meaning "head", from the Picard dialect of Old French. This in turn is a variant of the Old French caboce.

Scarlet Kale

Although cabbage has an extensive history, it is difficult to trace its exact roots owing to the many varieties of leafy greens classified as "brassicas". The wild ancestor of cabbage was originally found in Britain and continental Europe.  Nonheading cabbages and kale were probably the first to be domesticated, sometime before 1000 BC, and the Greeks and Romans had some variety of cabbage, although whether it was more closely related to today's cabbage or to one of the other Brassica crops is unknown.

Purple Sprouting Broccoli

During the 16th century, German gardeners developed the savoy cabbage.During the 17th and 18th centuries, cabbage was a food staple in such countries as Germany, England and Russia, and pickled cabbage was frequently seen.Saurkraut was used by Dutch sailors to prevent scurvy during long ship voyages.Jacques Cartier first brought cabbage to the Americas in 1541–42, and it was probably planted in what is now the United States by the early colonists, despite the lack of written evidence of its existence there until the mid-17th century. By the 18th century, it was commonly planted by both colonists and native American Indians.Cabbage seeds traveled to Australia in 1788 with the First Fleet, and were planted the same year on Norfolk Island. It became a favorite vegetable of Australians by the 1830s and was frequently seen at the Sydney Markets.

Cavolo Nero (Black) Kale

Most of the winter preparations have been completed - there is still a bit more to do but there is no hurry - plenty of time to get on with the mulching and spreading of manure.

The plot on Sunday - a foggy morning

Late Runner Bean Success (but only just)!

The emergency late batch of runner beans have made it just in time.  I sowed half a dozen seeds in a large container when my plants at the plot looked like they wouldn't make it. 

I worried that beans wouldn't form and grow in time before the frosts hit.

As you can see, the plan worked, but only just.  The strong winds blew the container over a few times but didn't cause any damage to the plants - I have now secured the pot to the shed with string - just in case.  And this morning I gathered my first beans.  There are enough for a good few meals still left on the plants.

I will definitely do this again next year - not only was it the right decision to have a late batch - but having the plants raised from the ground stopped the slugs from destroying them like they did on the earlier sowings at the plot.  I love it when a plan comes together.

The Big Autumn Clear Up

Well I've made a start anyway - in the greenhouse.  All the tomatoes have been stripped off the plants and the plants have been chopped down and removed.

Last year the beloved made me a table out of old pallets to give me more room  to store my winter veg.

I have brought in the container with the last sowing of dwarf beans which are now in flower and the salad leaves that were growing outdoors.  The growbags that held the tomatoes will now be sown with winter lettuce.


dwarf french beans and cauliflower and cabbage plants



salad leaves and chard seedlings

 All the green tomatoes have been put into seed trays and placed in the mini growhouse inside the greenhouse, snug and warm, to enable them to ripen.


Gardeners Delight



Sungold



Alicante



Marmande

 I feel better once the greenhouse is organised so I have more room to make late sowings.  I don't heat the greenhouse over winter so make sure I have plenty of fleece at the ready for extra protection. 

By the time I have finished filling the greenhouse it will become pretty crowded as I like to try and take geranium cuttings as well - some that I took a couple of weeks ago have already rooted.

There are still loads of jobs to complete outdoors, which is a bit daunting - but, if the weather stays reasonable I will hopefully get them completed - one job at a time before the really bad weather sets in.

Have you made a start on your big autumn clear up yet?

The Wanderer Returns and all is not lost

Returning from a late summer break I wasn't sure what I would find at the plot - as the weather had been hot and sunny all week.  It turns out the plot did pretty well without my interference



patty pan summer squash - sungold tomatoes - mixed runner beans
and cocozelle courgettes

 Just wish I had spotted this courgette before we left - I found it lurking -  whale-like -  when we returned.  The runner beans which were practically non-existant seemed to have found their feet during the week and have been cropping well ever since.  The freezer is now just about bursting at the seams - not sure what I am going to do with all the spare produce from now on.    This burst of activity on the plot is really welcome after a very slow start.  The late crops I planted as a back-up will have to get a move on if they are to reach maturity before the cold weather sets in. 

spaghetti squash

Out of the four different types of winter squashes that I planted only one - the spaghetti squash - has produced anything.  One huge one and two smaller ones.  Of the rest of them - the Turks Turban - Butternut and Sweet Dumpling - there is nothing.  Not sure whether to call it a day on the squash front as I didn't have much success last year either.  The summer patty pans have been fairly prolific though, as they were last year,  but it would have been nice to have some squashes in store for winter.

patty pan squash

As for the rest of the crops - well, I have spring cabbage ready to plant out, plus cauliflower and winter cabbage plants.  The Savoy cabbages are hearting up nicely and purple sprouting broccoli  of various types is growing rapidly.  It may have been a bad year for some veg but others don't really seem to have been affected by the weather too much - and even with the slug and snail invasions -  they have survived constant attack from all sides.  So maybe, just maybe, we might make it through to next spring.

Greenhouse goodies - mixed tomatoes, banana chillies and aubergine

And in the cutting patch the sweet peas are still throwing out short-stemmed sweet peas but the stems of the plants are brown and wizened now

the cosmos are still flowering  and one or two zinnias but I doubt I will get many more bunches for the house

So our short summer is slowly coming to a close - blink and you missed it.

Till next time ...

Autumn is in the Air - The Apple Harvest

Behold the apples’ rounded worlds:
juice-green of July rain,
the black polestar of flowers, the rind
mapped with its crimson stain.

The russet, crab and cottage red
burn to the sun’s hot brass,
then drop like sweat from every branch
and bubble in the grass.

They lie as wanton as they fall,
and where they fall and break,
the stallion clamps his crunching jaws,
the starling stabs his beak.

In each plump gourd the cidery bite
of boys’ teeth tears the skin;
the waltzing wasp consumes his share,
the bent worm enters in.

I, with as easy hunger, take
entire my season’s dole;
welcome the ripe, the sweet, the sour,
the hollow and the whole.

Laurie Lee

 I can smell a change in the air - the garden is starting to wind down - soon digging will begin on vacant spaces where the final crops have been harvested, and all that will be left are the cabbages and  leafy veg.  But of course there is always the apple harvest to come.

My apple crop is greatly diminished this year, and I could see blackbirds hopping through the branches pecking at them, James Grieve are a highly scented variety, and seem to attract birds and wasps alike, in their droves - some years you can hardly see the tree for starlings gorging themselves.  So yesterday I picked all that I could reach - maybe a bucketful - as we are on holiday next week - and I fear there would be no apples left for us on our return.  They are not a keeping variety but will be alright for a couple of weeks so I shall be making a few pies and crumbles with them as well as a bit of juicing.

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A Deeply Appley Apple Crumble
A sublime crumble is probably one where the fruit lies somewhere between thick juice and soft nuggets of flesh.  For me, the filling should be a mixture of barely recognisable chunks on the verge of collapse and a sort of sweet slush the texture of melting snow.
Nigel Slater

recipe here

A favourite apple is the Russet which has a lovely nutty flavour and I am hoping to plant one this year so that when the James Grieve is over I will  continue cropping from this tree.

via pinterest

My Golden Delicious tree doesn't have a single apple on it this year - last year it was heaving.
   I had so many that I was giving carrier bags full away and feeding them to the sheep - if only I had had an apple press.  Alas, this year is a different story.  Hopefully the tree will feel rested and give me a bountiful harvest next year.

via pinterest

Or I could have made them into apple crisps if I had had the time.

Carl Larsson - Apple Harvest

I still have two other trees which are Braeburn type apples but they are still small and won't be ready before October - and of course there is the Bramley - most of the apples this year seem to be a bit pitted and scabby - so I am not expecting a good harvest from it.  In fact, it has been rubbish ever since I planted it - so earlier this year I bought a replacement - and the old tree will be chopped down when the new one has established itself.   My Mum used to grate Bramleys with sugar  for us when we were kids, a treat that I always associate with autumn. 

via pinterest

And I also love cheese and apple sandwiches - a slab of strong Cheddar and thinly cut crisp, tart apples - in between slices of fresh crusty bread - simple, but delicious.

Apple Orchard, Kent - John Minton

 let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. tell yourself that you tasted as many as you could." 
                         --Louise Erdrich "The Painted Drum"