The plot thickens

A glorious day on the allotment has proved highly productive. The soil/dust has warmed up beautifully and all my little seedlings have now been let loose  in the big wide world.
My plot is divided into sections,by paths, which allows me to rotate my produce effectively. One area has never seemed quite right, the soil seems a little under nourished, so today saw me wheelbarrowing heaps of leaf mould and horse poo (happy days !) from the furthest corner to dump unceremoniously in a trench.

Hopefully this will encourage the purple sprouting broccoli, sprouts and kale to put down some strong roots that will tap into all this goodness. These brassicas ultimately grow fairly large so I planted them 50 cms apart with 100 cms between the rows. As this leaves a lot of spare soil while the plants are young I sneaked in a couple of rows of leeks.
I start my leeks off in a seed tray, I don’t trust the snails, and plant them out when they are around 10 cms high. To plant, poke a hole, around 5cms deep, in the soil and drop the leek in. Don’t firm in just water well, the soil will wash into the hole gently securing the leek into the ground. Plant 20 cms apart, picking some leeks young to create space for those you want to over winter.
Brassicas always need netting as those pesky pigeon love to tuck into the leaves and it is soul destroying to get them so far then see them ravaged.

The rest of the produce is coming along nicely. Chives are abundant and I will be adding the edible flowers to my salads, sweetcorn is growing strong and now has summer squash to keep it company, and the cut and come again salad leaves have been cut and, I can honestly say, have come again, with gusto and aplomb.

Has Diarmuid Gavin been on the loose in the fruit garden?

Remember several years ago Diarmuids balls caused a bit of a stir at the Chelsea flower show? It was 2004 and the designer used brightly coloured, enamel steel balls on sticks to bring colour, structure, movement and height to his garden. With these balls he covered every essential element of design needed to create a well balanced garden and then took it further. He added the element of fun to his design.

(image from The Telegraph)

Many of the ‘top’ designers play it safe rolling out similar designs year after year. Structural pavilions using rectangular shapes framed with rows of pleached limes. Smooth parallel paving, deceptively ‘floating’ on still water, guaranteed to get them a gold. But is it fun? Not really.

I heard Diarmuid on radio 2 the other day and the question was put to him. Are these show gardens really practical for the average house holder considering the amount of money spent on them or are they just for show? And I agree with the response that these gardens inspire and yes, visitors can take ideas home with them. Planting combinations for example, can be re-created in our own gardens and we can be confident they will look fantastic.

Yet Diarmuid’s gardens offer something different. They are works of art bursting with creativity, jaw droppingly different. Steel balls, vertical gardens, flying gardens. These cannot be re-created in our gardens, they are there to be looked at, talked about, reacted to. They have the vital element. Fun, fun, fun.

And so to my fruit garden. I could have bought the garden products available for protecting ones cherished red currants, white currants and gooseberries from the birds. These being fruit cages that make the garden look like a weird, forgotten Alcatraz, or plastic gizmos, grown up meccano for gardeners, easily slotting together for perfect protection. Instead I have gone for the home-made home look. Kirsty Allsopp would be proud. Netting draped seductively (think Nigella Lawson!) over the bushes, woven onto garden canes and secured with plastic balls. At last the perfect solution as to what to do with the garden toys my little broccoli’s no longer play with.

 

 

The Chelsea Chop

I have been thoroughly enthused by the Chelsea flower show, or is it the sunshine that has finally broken through? Either way both me and my plants seem to have gained vigour and enthusiasm and are eagerly looking forward to the flower show at Tatton Park.

I like the Chelsea flower show, I’ve never been but, to be fair, I don’t need to. The BBC coverage is so extensive I can view it all from the comfort of my own home. I even recall watching it at one o’clock in the morning. Don’t ask! What worries me about visiting Chelsea is the size of it. I have been spoilt regarding flower shows. I have exhibited many times at Tatton and love the sheer amount of space available to exhibitors and visitors.

The flower show is held in Tatton Park, a country estate with a fantastic mansion, stunning gardens, a working farm, a lake and acres of rolling parkland that is home to herds of deer, hundreds of rabbits and a rich array of flora and fauna, forming a fantastic backdrop to the show. I have seen some incredible sunsets when leaving the site at night, but on one occasion I remember having to stay much later to get my garden finished. Rain had slowed everything down,  judging was taking place early the next morning and I had a gravel path to lay. I spent that night on my hands and knees smoothing out gravel, silently so security didn’t notice I was there, listening to the sheep bleating and the hooting of the owls hunting in the night. Then, just for a moment, I forgot about my sore knees, my wrecked hands and the utter exhaustion I was suffering, I sat back, breathed a lungful of fresh air, tipped a wink at the moon and was happy.

But back to the Chelsea chop. The sudden increase in temperature has seen my herbs prosper and bloom, particularly the sage. I don’t know why this culinary herb isn’t grown more in herbaceous borders, the flowers are stunning. But it is too early for blooming I need flowers in July, and so I have been chopping. The Chelsea chop is a method of encouraging herbaceous plants to bush out whilst delaying their flowers. By cutting the plants down by one third at the end of May, to coincide with Chelsea, they will continue to grow vigorously and be at their best in July. Just in time for Tatton!

 

 

Monty Don in my kitchen

I had to laugh when I arrived home to find Monty Don in my kitchen. Methinks the label was too small to fit ‘Monty Don’s Rhubarb chutney’ but here it is, the first years batch, and I must now wait patiently for a couple of weeks before I can try it. A big thank you to my mum, once again, for making it.

I have mentioned my mother before, she is the one who keeps the broccoli family in fresh bread. Lately she has been difficult to track down as she has become a bit of a wild forager. When I do see her she looks flushed with twigs in her hair, her fingers stained green and there is a whiff of spring about her. In short she looks like she has been dragged through a hedge backwards and, to be fair, she probably has.

Adele Nozedar’s Hedgerow handbook is to blame. It is packed full of recipes and remedies all made from natures rich harvest and the hand drawn illustrations are divine. Nettle syrup is being made in abundance and both my parents are enjoying this tasty tonic made into a delicious drink with bubbly water. It keeps them going before the elder blossoms when we will be awash with elder flower champagne. Ah life is good.

Everything is growing well in my kitchen garden, seeds are sprouting, radishes are swelling, herbs are looking fresh and vibrant yet nothing is quite ready for picking. Thank goodness nature provides us with such an abundance of hedgerow delicacies to keep us going while we wait for our produce to ripen.

Something for the weekend http://www.elizabethdavidpicnic.org Sunday 26th May 2013

Coincidentally Elizabeth David…

There is something about coincidences. It was a subject recently discussed between myself and a customer in the nursery. She believes that if a subject, issue, matter comes to your attention three times it must be acted upon. Something has come to my attention thrice, within hours, and I feel compelled to act upon it. It’s not life changing or earth shattering, it may not even be interesting but I am going to take a punt on it anyway.                                                                                                                         Elizabeth David and her coriander mushrooms.                                                                 I know from my experiences growing and selling culinary herbs that coriander is a popular cooking ingredient particularly favoured by my web guru Ian. Several coriander plants left the nursery yesterday, bought by excited customers delighted to find this herb available on our premises. Personally, I can’t stand the stuff. It’s an association issue brought about through suffering terrible morning sickness with the eldest broccoli child. At the time I was working in the nursery surrounded by fields of coriander and, when harvesting began the ripe pungency of this prolific herb got the better of me. It’s a miracle that I can see my way to growing it for others.                                                                                                                             So imagine my delight on reading Saturday 4th of May’s edition of the Independent magazine and discovering that top chef Angela Hartnett also can’t abide the stuff either. Hurrah.                                                                                                                      Continuing to flick leisurely through the mag I notice a familiar name, Elizabeth David. Hmmm is that the minty chocolate maker I wonder? No that’s Elizabeth Shaw. Ah it’s the Queen of skin care. No silly me, wrong again, that’s Elizabeth Arden. Elizabeth David is the recipe writer of course, because this is the foodie edition. Yet the name seems all too familiar. A quick glance at the book shelf and, what do you know, I seem to have aquired a book by the self same lady.

Flicking through I am delighted to find some personal notes made by an Elizabeth David enthusiast. Who is this mysterious scribbler?                                                              Then I, inadvertantly, let out an “Eurrgh!”                                                              Husband looks up suprised.                                                                                               ”Coriander mushrooms” I inform him ”Coriander mushrooms !!!! “.                         ”Eurrgh” he agrees and goes back to his book.                                                             So I put the recipe book down and continue with the Independent magazine.                  ” Aaarggh!!!!!!! ” I cry.                                                                                             Husband looks over a little panicked.                                             ”What?”                                                                                                                     ”There it is again ” I inform him, more than a little anguished.                                 ”Coriander mushrooms in the Indy !”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  I have to confess this has unsettled me, it is a violation of mushrooms. Mushrooms, in my book (my imaginary book!) go hand in hand with thyme, all kinds of thyme although my favourite combination is chesnut mushrooms fried in a little butter with lemon thyme. Mmmm served warm on a thick slice of home-made wholemeal bread, lightly brushed with garlic and olive oil…..that’s my idea of mushroom heaven!

Dearest Sweet Cicely….

I have finally found the solution to my rhubarb dilemma, namely sweet cicely. I know that sweet cicely is reputed to take the tartness out of rhubarb but, I have to confess, I have never actually tried it, until now.

Yesterday the sun shone and I was all inspired and spent the whole day down the allotment. It was fab! I took loads of seeds to plant including radishes, carrots and beetroot but instead of planting them I got completely carried away with making the place look pretty when I should have been being productive. I went a little bit ‘Mondrian’ as you can see from the photo below.

In my defence there is method in my madness. These wooden boxes are left over from Tatton flower show last year and are taking up too much space in my shed. Using them to grow lettuce leaves and other tasty leaves means I can put some old windows on top and Ta daa……instant cold frames.

Ah the allotment gardeners, some call us hoarders, others recyclers when in fact, we are pure genius!

Anyway when I had finally finished perfecting my squares I noticed the black tub I had put over the rhubarb was perched in mid-air and what a fine crop of tender rhubarb was underneath. I picked as much as I could carry and headed home.

Later that day I whipped up (not sure this is the correct terminology and will no doubt stand corrected) a rhubarb crumble, remembering this time to add a large handful of chopped sweet cicely leaves. By golly they certainly made the whole dessert sweeter. I must remember to use less sugar next time before we all fall into a diabetic coma!

The only other suggestion I would make is to chop the sweet cicely as finely as possible. Seven year old boys draw the line at “finding half the garden in their pudding”.

Coincidentally just as the crumble was cooking Adrian phoned to say he was awash with sweet cicely seedlings and did I want them potting up.                                           Yes please Adrian.

Tomato and basil soup with artisan bread

I have indulged myself this evening, I have just finished watching Paul Hollywood’s bread episode five. It’s not a programme I would usually find myself watching but a phone call from an excited aged parent earlier today has lead me down this dangerous route. I can see myself warming, like a well risen dough, to the twinkly-eyed, silver fox chef and his delicious buns.
I was just about to tuck into my home-made tomato and basil soup when said aged parent telephoned to let me know she had a batch of freshly baked caraway seed rolls waiting to be scoffed and would I be interested. Would I! Warm, freshly baked bread delivered to the nursery, who could resist?
Shortly before mentioning the rolls she regaled me, enthusiastically, with the latest episode of Paul Hollywood’s bread insisting I watch and learn, whilst confessing to finding him rather attractive but don’t tell your father. To be honest I don’t need to learn as my mother is an adventurous artisan bread maker and we are the happy recipients of her wares. I am more of a soup maker myself and find the two culinary enterprises go very well together. You just can’t beat warm home-made bread, packed full of goodness, dunked into a delicious bowl of home-made soup. It’s a match made in heaven.
Tomato and basil is one of the easiest soups to make and I am not averse to using cans of good quality tomatoes when fresh ones prove too fiddly. It was the basil plant on my kitchen windowsill that inspired me to make this soup today. Basil ‘Magic mountain’ has excelled itself producing lush, aromatic leaves throughout the winter and providing me with enough spring growth to take cuttings. This is a basil worth sharing so while those cuttings are taking root why not take a look in my recipe book and join me in a bowl of deliciously tasty soup seasoned with the tantalising taste of the mediterranean.