Autumn 2011 - using autumn vegetables

Using Autumn and winter vegetables

Now it is the end of October and the very start of November (gosh! Where did the summer disappear to? I think the poor, wet summer has misled us all somewhat).

Yes, there have been disappointments – my brassicas and beans have been miserable (I’ve been saying that all season, I am so boring!). My onions were great, I still had too many beans and tomatoes and, let’s face it fruit has been brilliant this year. But every year is going to give us different conditions when some crops will be great and some will be disappointing or a complete failure. We need to look at what is not worth pursuing and what is worth having another try at in, hopefully, different conditions.

This year my new try-outs were West Indian gherkins, outside grown physalis and several different varieties of carrots. The gherkins and physalis were a complete waste of time. Unfortunately, when I grew them in my polytunnel, although they were brilliant and very productive, they also took over the whole tunnel.

I have grown a variety of carrots in a variety of situations. Yet again, I have grown some in a raised box – 1 metre off the ground and in bought-in compost. Yet again, this has not been particularly successful. Both Purple Haze and Flyaway have been attacked by carrot fly by the end of the season for not very productive crops - so much for the myth that carrot root fly can't fly above 30cms!

For carrots - I have grown 2 rows of ‘Blanc a collet vert’ straight into the ground which have given me superb roots, albeit attacked by rootfly. There are still enough of good-enough roots to eat for some-time yet. The best crops, sown March to April were in a raised bed (only 10cms up) of Creme de Lite, Flyaway and Resitafly. The Creme de Lite have been the star of the season – super huge roots, particularly tender and, although not totally resistant to root fly, they have given me a crop I can continue to use – brilliant!

Beetroots have been amazing this year – head-sized roots which are still tender and usable – surprisingly. This year I have only sown one crop and as it did particularly well, I didn’t re-sow. Now I have so many, I feel I must use them before the bitter winter we have been forecast kicks in. I guess, now that we are preparing for it, this amazingly cold winter won’t happen. You know what they say – You hope for the best but, prepare for the worst!

I have only ever used beetroots for pickles, chutneys or soups. This year I have tried them as a vegetable. I have steamed them - unfortunately, for my super large roots, they have taken some time to steam but, what a delicious and colourful vegatable. And, of course, if you are using smaller specimens they won't take so long to cook.

What can we do with these ‘winter’ vegetables? Try the following for nutritious, wholesome and low calorie soups:

Beetroot Soup

Allow ⅓ pint (190ml) approx per portion when served as a starter. When served as a main dish (eg lunch with a chunk of country or homemade bread, increase the quantity)

4 medium to large beetroots                                     1½ pts vegetable stock

2 leeks                                                                     Juice of 1 lemon

2 tomatoes                                                               1 tsp sugar

1 tsp tomato paste                                                    1 apple

fromage frais and chopped chives to garnish               seasoning

Method

·         Peel and grate the beetroots.

·     Trim the leeks and wash well to remove any grit or soil from the vegetable. Chop into fairly small pieces.

·         Peel and chop the tomatoes.

·         Peel and core the apple, then chop into fairly small pieces.

·         Put all the prepared vegetables and apples into a heavy pan that you can cover.

·         Add the stock and bring to the boil. Then reduce the heat and simmer gently until the beetroot is soft. This will probably take about 1 hour.

·         Add the tomato paste, lemon juice and seasoning (salt and pepper) to taste.

·         Serve with a dollop of fromage frais or cream in the middle and garnish with chopped chives.

Leek, Potato and Cauliflower soup

Ingredients

1 medium cauliflower                                      4 - 5 good sized leeks

½ Kilo ( 1 lb) potatoes (not new)                    3 – 4 cloves of garlic – well chopped or crushed

1 red onion – finely chopped                          1 litre (2pints) vegetable or chicken stock

1 cup white wine                                               Salt – to taste

Freshly crushed black pepper                         Chopped parsley to decorate

½ tsp finely chopped lemon thyme                Double cream to decorate

Method

·         Slice or shred the leeks then wash well to remove any soil or dirt ( personally, I like the green parts of leeks so, I keep in as much of this part of the leeks as possible).

·         Peel the potatoes and cut into fairly small pieces.

·         Cut the cauliflower into small florets and wash well.( make sure there are no hidden slugs)

·         Peel the garlic and chop finely.

·         Peel and slice finely or chop the onion.

·         Add the oil or oil and butter to a large saucepan or soup pan and heat.

·         Add the prepared vegetables and sweat (cook gently without browning).

·         Add the wine and stock and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat until it is just simmering, until all the vegetables are soft - about 40 mins.

·         If you are going to add herbs, use with discretion. This soup has a fairly delicate flavour which can be overpowered with too many herbs. I like a little lemon thyme.

·         Add the salt and pepper.

·         Put through a food processor if you have one – a hand held processor is excellent for this job. If you don’t have one, sieve the soup through a coarse sieve.

·         Return to the heat and correct the seasoning to taste ( salt and pepper)

·         Serve with chopped parsley and a swirl of cream – personally, I don’t add cream or more fat where it is not necessary.

This is a simple, wholesome and cheap soup. I have added lots of ingredients which enhance the flavour but, are not necessary. Leek and potato soup is excellent – just make sure the seasoning is right.

Serve with a sprinkle of chopped parsley and a hunk of wholemeal bread. Enjoy!

Preparing for winter 2 - broad beans, globe artichokes, shallots, garlic, digging

Preparing for Winter

I have not written anything for a few weeks as I have had some family issues to deal with. In any case, it’s that time of year when everything slows down as we prepare our plots and gardens for winter.

As I’ve cleared crops I’ve been digging so that the winter frosts can help break down my heavy clay soil. There is a lot of digging to do and as the weather gets colder and wetter, it is more difficult to find opportunities to go digging so, I try to dig a bit every time I am at my plot and dig a bit between other jobs – I was going to say ‘chores’ but, that sounds as though it is work I don’t enjoy. I think the only job which really is a chore is carrying endless containers of water to my poly-tunnel or to young un-established plants in dry weather. Although my heavy clay soil is very fertile, it is extremely wet and sticky in prolonged wet spells but, dries out very quickly. This allows me about three to four days when the ground is diggable between the heavy mud and the rock-hard clay which splits open in lengthy dry spells.

Unfortunately, that happened this year when young plants like brassicas should have been planted out and beans should have been sown. So, this has been a poor year for those crops – not a total failure, just hard work achieving pretty low production. As I, in common with most other allotment gardeners, grow far too many beans anyway, it wasn’t a disaster for them but, I am sorry that my brassicas have been a bit miserable as they are – by a long way – my favourite group of vegetables.

My potatoes have been lifted, dried and stored a good six to eight weeks ago but, (I am always afraid of blight) I lift them as soon as they are ready – late August, if possible. This has the advantage of providing warm enough weather to dry the potatoes quickly before I store them. If you have not lifted yours yet, make sure you do so before the frost hits as it will destroy your crop. I was in Northern Ireland last week and was surprised to see many fields in prime potato producing country with crops still in the ground. Clearly the haulms had not been removed and had been allowed to die back naturally. I guess the farmers are using fairly heavy duty chemicals to protect their crops from blight, though not from the frost, and it will hit them before it attacks my plot! Though thinking of the chemicals makes me glad I produce my own. Thinking of storing potatoes – make sure they are dry, remove as much of the clay attached to them as possible. Store in a cool, frost free place [garage, attic room, unheated room in your house, frost-free shed – I stored a bag in my shed last year but, when I went back to get them in January they has been frosted – spongy, wet and smelly!]. Store in cardboard boxes, hessian sacks or paper potato sacks – not plastic as they will rot - and make sure they are protected from light. This all sounds like a pain but, really – put them in a cardboard box in the corner of an unheated room and cover with several sheets of newspaper – bingo! Of course, if you have several tons..........!

I’ve already done my main seed order for this year. I do love, on a wet miserable day in autumn, poring over this year’s seed catalogues and working out what I will grow next year. I think it is one of my favourite jobs. Of course, as always, I’ve ordered too many different beans, too many brassicas and too many different lettuces and probably several others. Some of these will keep so it doesn’t matter but, when my order arrived, I realised I’d forgotten something. It’s the same every year. I forget to order wallflower seeds. I always grow them in a seedbed on my plot then bring them home for my garden and my neighbour’s garden. I will just have to place another order.

I have already planted/sown my shallots and garlics this autumn. My shallot harvest was poor this year, although onions were amazing but, I will try again, this time in a raised bed. This year I didn’t grow enough garlic though that might have been because I ate so many early in the season as wet garlic and, wanting to introduce others to this delight, I gave a lot away. I hope I have planted enough for next year. I bought only two varieties – those which have done best on my plot – Solent White and Purple Wight. These two have been the best producers on my plot over the last few years. I have planted the cloves from six bulbs of each. I’m hoping this will be enough.

I have also started my autumn broad beans – Aquadulce Claudia. As, in the past, I’ve had little success with planting straight into the ground (no more than 25-30% germination), I have taken to chitting or sprouting the beans first (set out on wet paper – make sure it stays wet! Within a week or less they should have sprouted). Then I pot up those beans which sprout. I have now put these into my poly-tunnel and will keep them there until the plants are about 20cm ( 3-4 inches high). As the poly-tunnel is cold it is possible to plant them out to a prepared bed during November. I will cover them with fleece to keep the worst of the frost off them. This method has been hugely successful in the past, providing me with heavy crops of excellent beans early in the season which miss the black-fly plague. However, last winter’s bitterly cold weather did affect my crops. I will grow by the same method again but, I plan to sow some in the spring as well, just to make sure I have a crop. I do like my broad beans.

As I’ve been ranting on somewhat about last year’s bitterly cold weather I will also say that I’ve already cut back my globe artichokes and covered them for the winter. Last year’s very harsh weather destroyed 50% of my established bed. I am actually surprised that 50% survived! This year I have taken the painful step of cutting back strong lush growth so that I can cover it with fleece. I do hope it works. I’ve not done this before, although really, all the advice books on gardening suggest that you should do this and cover with straw. – I don’t have a source of straw so, fleece must suffice!.