In the field of opportunity.......

It's harvest time again!

The strawberry bed yielded a great crop this year - enough for jam and picking for a good 6 weeks with the odd everbearer still giving a few.

Still struggling to find a good setting strawberry jam but used redcurrant juice as last time and a very gentle set- but still lovely with croissants or on scones!

The cherry produced over 7 kilos of fruit- so a mass freezing, sore fingers from stoning and a search for new recipes- clafoutis always a favourite but cherry and almond pudding and hot cherries with cherry brandy and spices was lovely too.

We have had great success with broad beans, french beans are just beginning but onions only mediocre and garlic pretty pathetic again this year.
Potatoes so far- Internation Kidney and Charlotte good yields but Kestral huge potatoes and a good weight - hope these store well for jackets in the winter!

I made Elderflower Cordial again this year , and rather than waste the lemons and limes decided to try marmalade with them after the soaking and draining- what a success- I used a basic recipe and was slightly worried that because all the fruit was there it would produce a bitter result, but I pulped all the fruit in the blender and used that as the starting point, cooking the fruit with water then adding the sugar and boilling until setting point was reached.

Hot Bed

When we demolished the shed we saved as much wood as we could ( don't like to see any waste!) with the intention of making cold frames and raised beds . During the prolonged cold spring we made  a start.

The sides were made from old walls - easy enough to cut to size and the sides of the cold frames just cut through at the angle we wanted the cold frame cover to be.

The covers were simple frames that we covered with reinforced polythene kindly donated by Rob as a by- product of the building of Cordwood . www.sustainablegarden.blogspot.co.uk

April 2013

With what was left we made a " hot bed" - the sides about 2 feet high and filled with a mixture of manure, leaf mould and compost. The idea is to generate heat from below as the contents rot down and the plants get a good boost. We set seed in this bed - salad leaves, herbs, salad onions and beetroot and the results have been great, we have been picking leaves and herbs for nearly a month with plenty more to come.

Hot bed   - April 2013

The cold frames have really helped us get tomatoes, courgettes, squash and other tender plants off to an early start . The other cold frame we have used to plant up squash to see if it helps bring fruiting on earlier; one of the problems we have always had is the short growing and ripening season for squash.So in this bed we have put - Crown Prince, Golden Hubbard and Musquee de Provence, and because they are in a frame I have been checking for female flowers and giving them a helping hand to pollinate- just in case the bees don't find them!

May Sunshine

I know it's a long time since I last (I want to say set pen to paper! ) wrote an entry on the blog, but we haven't been idle in the allotment or garden. The first of May is officially the beginning of summer and the weather rose to the occasion- lovely and sunny although a slightly chilly breeze. After such a cold start to spring I reckon the gardens are about 3 to 4 weeks behind last year. The weather has been so cold there have been hardly any flying insects to pollinate the plants so it's just as well they weren't out sooner.
Our new cordon fruit trees are just beginning to shoot and in the garden the greengages and cherry are flowering; and luckily we seem to have an influx of pollinators -a mixture of bumble bees, solitary bees and other flying insects. This year of course we have no hives in the garden but still have seen some honey bees.

The spring time is my favourite season in the garden, I love to see the fresh new growth and early flowers. This year we are rejuvenating a couple of areas in the garden and have made some changes in the allotment, of which I am aiming to get up to date with soon on the blog! 

Cordon Fruit Trees

For Christmas this year we bought ourselves fruit trees- last year at the Southwell Apple Day we had been tempted by two apple trees, so it seemed a good idea to add some pears as well and build a frame work to grow them as cordons. The frame is simply made with fence posts with wire at 2 foot heights .

Cordons are grown at a 45 degree angle and the spurs are kept pruned so the trees only fruit on these short   spurs along the trunk. If possible the tree should face north or east to encourage the short spurs to turn to the sun, so obviously tip fruiting trees are unsuitable as each year the growing tips will be removed. Pruning is carried out in August time, the spurs are cut back to either 2 buds- or about 4 inches long. The growing tip is rubbed out when the tree is between 6-8 ft and kept this height.

The trees are supported by bamboo canes at about 3 feet apart. The pears we got were bare rooted so we put them in straight away, but the apple have been in containers so these will go in during the next week or so .

The pears are on Quince C root stock and the apples on M9- we choose Beurre Hardy and Concorde pears- these give different fruiting qualities, will help to pollinate each other and spread out the harvesting time.The apples are Pixie- a small fruited apple but with a good flavour and Reinette d'Orleans - a heritage variety that has a russet look to it, apparently it can be variable fruiting but the flavour was great so we thought it would be worth a try.

'Chitting' Potatoes

A couple of weeks ago we collected our order of potatoes for this year- usually we plant them on Good Friday which this year is the 29th March, quite early in the growing season so we shall have to see how things progress. However the process of 'chitting' the seed potatoes has started- they have been placed in old egg boxes with the best looking 'eyes' or potential shoots facing upwards to the light. We put them out of the way in the spare room so it is cool but getting the light. Gradually green shoots develop and begin to grow until they are ready to plant out

Although there had been rumours of poor quality or scarce seed potatoes for this spring ours seem fine; we have gone for old favourites:

International Kidney- a lovely new potato that we have found develops good sized tubers if left in for longer and is great for jackets.

Kestrel-  a good all rounder

Charlotte- a waxy salad potato that has stored well for us.

Cara- we have not tried Cara before, but last year blight was such a problem that this variety that claims some resistance seemed to worth a go.

Fudge and Florentines

It is always good to receive hand made presents so this Christmas we began to think of treats to make - we love chocolate and we have honey so it is logical to think of combining the two. This recipe for Florentines adapted from  Nigella Lawson was delicious -

Honey  and Almond Florentines

100 grams flaked almonds
1 tsp. chopped peel
2 tbsp. butter
3 tbsp. sugar
3 tbsp. honey
2 tbsp. plain flour
150 ml. double cream
100 grams dark chocolate

1. In a heavy pan, melt the butter, sugar, and honey until smooth. Stir in the flour to form a paste, then remove from heat and whisk in the cream. Once the mixture is smooth, stir in the almonds and lemon peel.

 
2. Drop heaped tablespoons on the mixture on a baking sheet lined with greaseproof, leaving lots of room between them as they will spread. Bake at 190 C  for about 5-8 minutes, or until golden on the edges. Leave to cool for a few minutes before lifting, gently, with a palette knife onto another tray to cool fully. 

3. Once the florentines are cool, melt the dark chocolate then spread the chocolate on to one side or dip half of the biscuits in to the chocolate. Allow to set before serving.

Needless to say these did not last long and we made a few batches for Christmas!

Another recipe adapted from Nigella was for fudge- not true fudge but delicious and easy to make.

Chocolate and .......Fudge

350gm dark chocolate

1 tin ( 375gm) condensed milk

30 gm butter 

pinch of salt

150gm of flavourings

Melt the chocolate, condensed milk , butter and salt in a heavy saucepan until melted together.

Add flavouring of your choice- we tried cranberry and chopped macadamia nuts, sour cherries, and crystallised ginger ( in different batches) .

Pour in to a 23cm square tray lined with foil ( makes it easier to lift out) and leave to set in the fridge. 

Cut into mouth sized pieces.

The fudge needs to be kept in the fridge, but I made bigger batches and froze some as well so it was easy to make up gift bags - cellophane bags tied with ribbon and a tag- these made ideal gifts for Christmas.

Mead

Unlike some bee-keepers this year we had a reasonable crop of honey, especially considering the bees didn't settle to any normal pattern of behaviour. But some of the honey we had taken off late this year was still 20% water, usually we hope the water content goes down to around 18%. The higher the water content the honey does not always keep so well and may ferment- we have had a couple of jars look a bit doubtful so decided to check out the others and use them before they went the same way- the obvious thing to use them for was to make mead!

Like many people our age (!) we had gone through a home brewing stage and at the back of the cupboard under the stairs we have a cluster of demijohns and a box of wine making equipment. So really there was nothing to lose! Out they came and were sterilised- new wine yeast and yeast nutrient were bought and a simple recipe found.

After reading a lot of recipes I decide to just try a really simple, basic one:-

1.5 kg honey
1 tspn yeast nutrient
1 tspn wine yeast
Water

Heating the honey with cinnamon and cloves

I heated the honey with a litre of boiling water until it reached 140 F and kept it there for about 25 mins- this was to kill the natural yeast which can be unpredictable flavour-wise. Then I left it to cool down, added the nutrient and yeast, gave it a good shake, poured it into the demijohn and topped up with filtered water. I made 2 batches, one of them I put a cinnamon stick and a few cloves in as I heated it- just out of interest to see if it would pick up the flavours.
 Just in case the fermentation got too vigorous I put the demijohns in the bath so it wouldn't make too much mess!
After about half an hour they were both bubbling away and today- after 24 hours , not overflowing but steady and strong! It seems that it is now just a matter of time to wait while the fermentation stops, then letting the wine clear and racking it off - all of which will probably take a few months- I need to find somewhere else for the bottles to go for now though!

Bake Off!

It is that time of year again- The Great British Bake Off is on TV! As a family we like to bake- Trev bakes the bread, so the episode about bread always raises new possibilities and this time was no exception- bagels!!

So out came the recipes and we had a go- I have to say with great results- Trev produced not only bagels but plaited (OK only three plaits but why get complicated?) walnut and Stilton loaf for tea, as well as our everyday loaf- what a baker!

Venetian Carrot Cake

For the recent Allotment Show refreshments were provided and I made some carrot cake- I used the Hummingbird Bakery recipe (http://hummingbirdbakery.com/)  it was delicious and moist, but I also came across a recipe from Nigella for a gluten free carrot cake- and decided to give this a try as well , (http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/gluten-free_and_11807 ) as it has no flour there are lots of ground almonds alongside the carrots and sultanas in rum! Instead of butter the cake also uses olive oil- it specifies regular olive oil, as I only had extra virgin oil I thought I would give some cold pressed rape seed oil a try- on the bottle it suggests using in place of butter in baking.

The results were delicious- not a light sponge but a fairly dense and rich cake- I would make it again for the right occasion , but the Hummingbird recipe is lovely as an everyday easy carrot cake - I made it as a tray bake with a small amount of the cream cheese frosting on top which worked brilliantly and was much easier to eat outdoors than the layered cake in the book.

Wormery

I have long promised myself a wormery and as the compost bin in the garden was on the verge of collapse it seemed the perfect time to get a wormery to put in the garden to cope with the waste we produce in the kitchen. So I ordered a wormery from Wiggly Wigglers (www.wigglywigglers.co.uk) and this week I have set it up! It fits neatly next to the recycling bins, is easy to to set up and the worms are fascinating. Most of the things that we would put on the compost can go in, as well as things like dust from the vacuum cleaner.

Adding worms!

When the worms have settled in it is OK to start adding waste. Not too much to start with, the worms need a chance to get going - but to keep the wormery fresh it is a good idea to add crushed egg shells or lime mix regularly to stop everything getting too acid. We keep a caddy in the kitchen to collect the waste so it is more convenient to go to the wormery when that is full. An important spin off to getting lovely compost to use in the garden or allotment is that the worms produce liquid feed that can be drained off and diluted to water on the fruit and veg!

Worm Cafe in use

Preserving

Having arrived back from our holidays to find the weather had not improved we were surprised to find loads of strawberries- we picked 8 punnets of lovely ripe fruit!
As there were too many to eat fresh I decided to make some strawberry conserve- I used fresh redcurrant juice from some redcurrants that I had in the freezer to help with setting and the jam set beautifully and I also found a use for some of the many redcurrants that I still have stored!

As well as the strawberries the cherries were starting to ripen on the tree- and the birds were having a feast. We decided to pick as any as we could - again a really good crop. I love the idea of preserving - a row of jars,  tins or bags full of things ready to store to eat later gives me a real sense of satisfaction. (Simple pleasures!!) So, something I have never done before- cherries in brandy- I followed an age old recipe by Mrs Beeton, basically pack the cherries in to jars with layers of sugar and top up with brandy. Very easy but after a couple of weeks the cherries have gone an anaemic colour- the recipe says to leave them a couple of months - I was hoping to use them at Christmas. We will just have to wait and see if the bottle of brandy was worth the expense!!

Elderflower Cordial Again

It's that time of year again- the elderflowers are blooming and we have been foraging! This year we have collected the flowers early enough to make a couple of batches, I have tried using a small amount of campden tablet in the finished cordial to help with the problem of fermentation, apparently this will mean that it can be kept almost indefinitely!

Elderflowers ready to collect.

I have used more or less the same recipe as before (June 2010) using limes and lemons- I would like to try using honey but am not sure if the flavour of the flowers will be overpowered by the honey flavour. The local shops have sold out of citric acid so I have ordered some on-line- it just means that I will have to wait and hope there are still some flowers left when it comes to make more!

First Strawberries

Marshmallow strawberries- hopefully the first of many.

With the summer getting off to such an unpredictable start it's not wonder that our crops on the allotment  are all over the place- the asparagus seems to have completely given up and we have just picked the first few strawberries!

Only a few spears of asparagus have shown themselves so far this year!

The greengage tree in the garden has lost all its fruit in the storms and late cold spell, although it looks as if the Victoria plum may have some fruit to come later in the season. The Stella cherry has fruit, a reasonable crop if we can get it- I've just realised we have booked to go away just at the time we picked last year- hopefully with the season being so out of sorts they will still be there when we get back!

Trevor's Honey!

This week we have been harvesting more honey! For last weeks batch we finished off our 12oz jars labelled as Cordwood Apiary Honey, as we had decided to focus on the 1lb or 454g packaging from now, especially as we had the labelling and website designed for us by Simon of Cubic.  http://www.cubicstudio.co.uk/

We are still not sure if this has some Oil Seed Rape honey along side the early tree and wildflower forage, other beekeepers we have spoken to say theirs has already begun to granulate but ours is still runny, although it is cloudier than last years later crop - maybe this is an indication that it will be set honey. It is interesting to hear which honey people prefer- we have honey and lemon/lime everyday and it doesn't matter whether it is set or not, set is certainly easier to spread as the runny can get messy, but to drizzle on porridge and fruit and yoghurt the runny is best!
Honey is a saturated solution of mainly glucose and fructose, if there is a higher percentage of glucose then it tends to crystallise or set more quickly. When there is more fructose the honey will take much longer to granulate- it all depends on the nectar that the bees collect! To help liquidise set honey it can be warmed through by standing in hot water for a while and giving it a stir- also I have heard people say it is OK to remove the lid and put in the microwave for a few seconds before stirring to help it go runny.
Trevor's Honey website-www.trevorshoney.com

Pollinators

At this time of year the strawberries are beginning to flower, the blueberries are waiting to be pollinated, broad beans bursting with blooms- but on Monday on the allotment, not a sign of any pollinators flying. The weather (again) cold for the time of year. The forcast for this week is for sun and heat so hopefully there will be evidence of those insects we rely on doing their jobs!!


Strawberries- beautiful pink flowers!



Blueberries- lots of flowers, lets hope for a good crop!

This year we have planted a whole bed of strawberries, some Marshmellow, some of the everbearing varieties such as Albion and a late harvester called Florence- a delicious variety we tasted last year. Later in the year I hope to say which is the best after having tasted lots!!

Purple Sprouting Brocolli

Easter is traditionally the time to plant potatoes and this Good Friday we took the seed potatoes to the allotment ot plant. We have been busy making 3 new raised beds and used one of these as a potato bed. We are growing 3 of our favourites- International Kidney, Charlotte and Kestrel. Last years crop was great and we are still using up the last few stores.
Still cropping- we have a few leeks, chard is sprouting fresh leaves and the past month has seen us cropping one of very favourite vegetables- Purple Sprouting Brocolli.

Cherry Clafoutis

With a crop of about 3 and a half kilos of cherries this year I have looked for recipes to use them, as well as enjoying them as they come- they must be one of my favourite fruits! Clafoutis is an old favourite and this year I used a recipe from the Nigel Slater book-Tender 2. This book is excellent, organised in sections for each fruit alphabetically!
His recipe wasn't so different from others I have tried, it was delicious warm with a little drizzle of maple syrup.

Summer Fruit

I have not been able to get to the allotment in about a week- our youngest daughter had her 30th birthday this weekend so we had a great visit to Portsmouth to see the family and have lots of cake!!!
However the summer fruits have been cropping beautifully- the cherry tree in the garden has the biggest crop so far- have the bees made a difference to pollination? There have been strawberries for about 3 weeks now and yesterday Trev came home with raspberries and tayberries.


The broad beans are cropping and Trev made a lovely broad bean and bacon salad to go with the salad leaves for tea, alongside his homemade stilton and walnut rolls- what a treasure!!




Today's haul!

 

Elderflowers

It's that time of year again- the elderflowers are blooming and my thoughts turned to making cordial. I used the same recipe as last June, but this time I tried one batch with oranges as last time but made another batch with limes instead. I haven't yet tried both so can't express an opinion, but I'm hoping the limes will give the cordial a fresh edge.


Elderflower Cordial



New Recipes

For my birthday I was lucky enough to have books- including the two new Nigel Slater books on Fruit and Vegetables. I had wanted to try a seasonal recipe using Rhubarb and polenta. This cake had flour in and as I needed something gluten free for a visit to Jen's I opted for his Elderflower, Honey and Polenta dessert. (Still a link to bees!!) He serves his cake with baked gooseberries, but our crop at the allotment was still little sour so seasonal strawberries have been chosen to go with it- oh- and having been teased about the yoghurt when we last had strawberries I have opted for full fat cream from Jersey cows to go on the side!!

The holes are where I drizzled the syrup made from honey, elderflower cordial and lemon  over the top- it looks very moist , can't wait to try it!