Spade Work : From Plot to Plate

Grelos - The Tasting

In February I posted about the grelos seeds I got in Santiago de Compostela.

Well this is the grelos crop I've got from an August sowing and it has grown a lot more than I expected. It's a bit untidy looking and lacks the impact of other winter vegetables like sprouts and the blistered leaves of black tuscan kale have. But I didn't have to thin or transplant it so it was easy to grow.

I delayed a second sowing until mid September and that crop is a quarter of the size so I expect  it will provide spring greens next February/March when there is not a lot else growing.

Wilted with some garlic, red onion and red wine vinegar the early sowing was tart and fibrous despite removing the ribs. Next time I'll add a sprinkling of brown sugar to the pan. I may also try it with mash and make bubble and squeak and I bet it's just right for caldo gallego soup.

I sense  though that it may be a 'duty eat' just because it's there and it would be a shame to waste it.

Taiwan Sugar Pea Sowing

The weekend gone by was a weekend of firsts.

The first sowing of next years pea crop - Taiwan Sugar Pea - which Patrick at Bifurcated Carrots sent me.

He's already supplied me with the first ever sowing of next years crops - thirteen varieties of garlic - which I put in the ground a few weeks ago. I'll need to check the allotment next weekend to see how they are doing. Fingers crossed they'll come through the winter.

It was also the first time I put the greenhouse to use.

I've sown the seed  in a couple of lengths of gutter pipe and they will stand in the greenhouse through the winter. I'm hoping this way they'll grow on enough to plant out in February/March and maybe I'll get a crop a few weeks ahead of the seed sown direct in the ground in Spring. That's if the mice don't get to them and that's why there's a roll of wire mesh to cover the sowing.

Now maybe it's way too soon to sow now but it's a lot more interesting than tidying up the plot. If it doesn't work I can always sow again next year and anyway I'm banking that once they've germinated there's not going to be all that much growth before Februrary/March anyway.

I've kept some seed back in case I have losses and also because I want to compare the gutter sown peas against those sown direct in the ground next year. I don't know if there will be much between them but at least it gives you something to do this time of year.

What's In Store

"Eating locally in winter is easy. But the time to think about that would be in August." writes Barbara Kingsolver in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.

Well even though we are only getting to the end of November, I'm already dipping into to what's stored in the freezer. Mashed potato on the left, frozen flat in portion size so it stacks easily and parsley pesto cubes (I usually pop these out of the tray once frozen and keep them in a freezer bag). I've also got some coriander and rocket pesto frozen in cubes as well.

Checking on the Charlotte potatoes in the cellar, I notice some are getting a bit soft, so I think it's going to be a marathon mashing and freezing session later this evening.

Meantime if this snotty weather we are having would only let up maybe I could get out, tidy up the veg plot and harvest some Brussels.

Now You See It; Now You Don't

The asparagus bed has been in four years now and this summer I harvested freely until June, stopping then to let the spears grow on to this frondy mass, building up reserves for next season.

The two rows are not the same length - the one to the right is shorter where two crowns failed to grow on in the first year. I've never bothered to replace them and instead I use up the space planting any suitable oddments left over from elsewhere. This year is was a couple of sweet pea (they liked it here and hopefully didn't take too much away from the crowns - we'll see next summer) and some garlic left over from the main planting.

Previously I've grown dwarf beans and they seem to have liked it as well because of the generous amount of compost I spread on the bed each winter. It's also where there is a seam of heavier, moister soil and maybe this is why the missing crowns rotted off.

Now that they were beginning to yellow off it was time to cut them down and dress the bed and let them overwinter with the prospect of another good crop next summer - a real bonus of growing  your own.

Here they've been cut to ground level and dressed with compost.  The stakes mark the end of the row and in the remaining space I'll probably sow a catch crop of lettuce or put in some beans again - just three or so plants, maybe some raddish or I'll try and raise a few brassica seedlings.

In the field next to the allotments the cattle did what they do best - eat.

Winter Vegetables

This is one of the first winter vegetable harvests of the season - good old Brussels sprouts. I've already had some leeks off the allotment and snuck a parsnip earlier in the month but they go with colder weather than we are having at the moment. I think this is Seven Hills but I'll need to check. Some of the buttons are a bit small, others slightly blown but I'm looking forward to them.

BPs are one of my favourite vegetables despite my mother boiling them to death in ham water. I'm surprised I wasn't put off for life.

Now it's 5-6 minutes in boiling water, drain and serve plain (a knob of butter and some salt if you're allowed). Cooked this way they'll retain their colour and bite. They'll join some baked leeks this evening and roast Charlotte potatoes to go with grilled chicken breasts. I sense good things about to happen.

I've several plants of Red Rubine in the ground as well but they are taking a long time to develop. Will they retain their colour when cooked?

Winter Squash

I wonder if these butternut squash will ripen like the green San Marzano tomotoes I ripened on the window sill?

They are not at all like the buttery shop varieties. The books I've read all talk about letting the squashes ripen in the sun on the vine. What are the chances of these unripe looking fruits ripening indoors?

Vegetable Currency

The symbol of the leek is used on some British pound coins.

I wonder if vegetables appear on any other currencies?

Passata

I'm growing loads more San Marzano next year and will get them out earlier so they have a chance of ripening on the vine.

These ripened quickly on the windowsill and I was able to roast a small tray and turn them into a rich passata.

All the recipes I read said to sieve out the skins but I didn't think it worthwhile as I'd such a small amount. Even if I'd had pounds I still think I'd skip that stage. I just blitz them well in a food processor. The skin bits I don't mind - they'll remind me that this intense sauce is homemade.

I got a couple of servings out of my small harvest. Next year with a greenhouse.........