An Abundance of Apples, A profusion of Pears

An abundance of apples, a profusion of pears

Goodness, the weeds are taking over and I normally pride myself on being reasonably in control of what is happening on my plot.

However, apart from the constant harvesting and preserving crops – now can I really complain about that? – though I do think I might have to compost some of my beans – really, if they are not picked the plants will stop producing so, if you can’t use them or give them away, put them in the compost. I think I will take them to Lawrence Weston Community Farm – they can sell them or give them to ‘Pig’. Actually she is a Gloucester Old Spot. She has been named ‘Jasmine’ by the children of the community but, to me, she is ‘Pig’. Now she has a rival. Not yet named but, for me, This one will be ‘Pig2’  Good grief, we are going to eat their babies and they don’t know that they have a name. They just know that I bring them goodies each time I visit – and Pig just loves over-ripe bananas. So, if you have them.......

My real excuse for my  poor performance on my plot is that my daughter was married last weekend and how excellent was that! But, making and decorating the cake, the build up to the big day, the guests, the celebrating over a long weekend was just brilliant though, it was, of course, time consuming. And! I would happily do it every weekend just to see everyone so happy again.

Back to my crops.

I still have most of a tree-full of plums to harvest and preserve- see my last blog. Tomatoes are only just getting into their stride; main-crop potatoes will need to be lifted in the next few weeks; raspberries and blackberries must be harvested and used every couple of days; chillies are ripening; herbs must be harvested and chopped for freezing; french beans and runner beans must be harvested and used or composted, just to keep the vines producing; courgettes must be picked and used every couple of days and – apples and pears are now ready for harvesting and preserving. As they are most urgent (apart from the continuing plum harvest and bean harvest ! ) they are the focus of my blog today.

I have a wonderful crab-apple tree (John Downey), which is now with me for three years – a mere youngster - had produced an amazingly luxuriant bloom in the spring. This has been followed up with a very heavy crop which, as I was dealing with other issues, has started to drop significantly. I have now got around to harvesting them and will take the windfalls to ‘Pig’ at the Community Farm in Lawrence Weston. The rest – a large bucketful will be turned into preserves.

This quantity gives me enough for two separate sessions, each requiring a couple of days (well! If I were a factory there would be no problem but, I just have my kitchen which now has all sorts of fruit and vegetables waiting to be dealt with in all corners.

Today, I’ve had delivered, a large consignment of glass jars with lids. While I have to use them occasionally, I just hate using old jars from coffee/honey/peanut-butter/supermarket jams. I know people mean well when they give them to me but, I really wish they would give me back the pots I give to them. That said, I’m not complaining – really! I would be in serious trouble if they didn’t.

Let’s look at what we can do with these amazing crops. I could not possibly, in my little blog, put multiple recipes for apple pies, apple/pear puddings, apple crumbles, pear tarts, etc. You can find these elsewhere. What I do want to provide is a range of recipes of preservation of this fruit. Do try these:

Recipes for Pears

Pear Chutney

1.4 kg (3lb) pears – slightly under-ripe and peeled, cored and chopped into chunks

450g (1lb) onions                                           2 cloves garlic – crushed

450g ( 1lb) under-ripe tomatoes – washed, core removed, skinned and sliced

225 g ( 8oz) raisins or sultanas                   700g (1½lb) sugar

2-3 hot chillies ( jalapenos, hot cayenne, etc)

2cm – (1”) cube of fresh ginger, finely chopped – or ½ tsp ground ginger

Chilli pepper to taste                                      1 lt (2pints) malt vinegar

Level dsp. Salt

·         Put the vegetables, chillies and spices into a preserving pan with the salt and vinegar.

·         Bring to the boil and simmer well until all of the ingredients have softened and blended.

·         Add the sugar and stir well over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved.

·         Bring to the boil and boil until the pulp has reduced and thickened.

·         Taste for seasoning and heat. If necessary add more salt and chilli pepper to give the heat that you want.

Spiced Pears

1.4kg (3lb) pears – slightly under-ripe

570ml (1 pint) – white vinegar                                    450g (1lb) sugar (granulated)

2 sticks of cinnamon broken into short pieces or a few pieces of cinnamon bark

 6 dried red chillies                                                       1 dsp. mixed  pepper corns

1 tsp. whole allspice                                                     1 tsp. whole cloves

½ tsp salt

·         Put the spices, salt, sugar and vinegar into a preserving pan.

·         Add the sugar and vinegar and, over a gentle heat, dissolve the sugar.

·         Bring to the boil then simmer for 5 minutes to release the flavours of the spices.

·         Wash, peel and core the pears then cut into thick slices.

·         Put the pear pieces into the vinegar mixture. Bring to the boil then simmer until the fruit is soft but, not breaking up- they should be slightly translucent.

·         Allow to cool slightly then pack the pears into hot sterilised jars. Pour the spiced vinegar over the pears (ensure any air bubbles are removed).

·          Add the spices to the jars and make sure a piece of cinnamon bark and a chilli or two is added to each jar).

·         Cover and label.

Excellent served with cold meats or roasted fowl or lamb( turkey at Christmas – yum!)

Making Jam and Jelly

Remember that hot jam or jelly is VERY hot, especially when the sugar has been added. Make sure it is out of reach or children and don’t be tempted to stick your finger in to taste it! If you are planning on making a lot of jams and jellies, it is probably worth your while investing in some proper equipment.

You can use a large saucepan but, a preserving pan provides the best shape for water to boil off quickly, thus reducing the chance of you preserve ‘catching’ and burning. A sugar thermometer helps to tell you when the setting point has been reached which removes the doubt from the ‘testing-on-a-plate’ method. Although, I always use the latter – when you think the jam/jelly has reduced significantly and you feel might be approaching ‘setting’, put a dessertspoonful on a plate or saucer and put in a cool place (not the fridge). If setting point has been reached the preserve will wrinkle up when pushed gently with a spoon or the tip of your finger.

You can make your own jelly bag from heavy muslin, cotton calico or other similar fabrics. Make sure the fabric is well scalded before adding the juice and that it is well secured to a ‘stand’ (upside down stool perhaps – perhaps you are handy with wood and can make your own) before pouring in the boiled fruit pulp. However, you can buy the jelly bags and stands ready made. If you choose to do so, buy one which is sturdy and safe.

The quantities I have given in the following recipes give a fairly high concentration of sugar. You can reduce the amount of sugar in jams and jellies to suit your taste. However, the less sugar in the preserve, the less likely it is to keep well. If you choose to do this, you can store the fruit in the freezer until you are going to make your preserve then, use quickly. Or you can store the preserve in the fridge for a few weeks.

Crab Apple Jelly                                                                
3 Kg. (6lb) crab apples                                                               
1½ litres (3pts.) water                                                               
Small handful cloves    or /and                                                  
a few pieces of cinnamon bark  

Method
1. Wash the crab apples, cut in two and put in the preserving pan with the water and your chosen spice.                                  
2. Simmer gently until all the fruit has softened and pulped. - about 30 mins.                                               
3. Put the pulp into the jelly bag over a suitable bowl.               
4. Leave until all the juice has drained from the bag - overnight. Don't squeeze the bag or your jelly will be cloudy, for little extra juice.                                           
5. Measure the juice and add sugar - for each 600ml (1 pint) add 450g (1lb) sugar                           
6.Add the juice and the sugar to a clean preserving pan and stir over a gentle heat until all the sugar has dissolved.
7. Bring to the boil and boil rapidly until setting point has been reached.                                                      
 8. Pot up in hot sterilised jars, cover and label.                       
I like to use crab apple jelly as an accompaniment to roast meat dishes – especially with mint added with lamb dishes. When you are simmering the fruit in water at the beginning of the process – instead of adding spices add a fairly  generous handful of fresh mint and cook down in the first process.

If you have lots of cooking apples (this even works well with eating apples though, the texture and flavour are not so good) - Peel, core and slice the apples. Put into the microwave with a very little water and cook on full for 10 minutes or until the apple is pulped. Pack into freezer boxes and freeze for use in pies/puddings, etc. in the winter months. Or - Add a little sugar and pack into small freezer containers for use as apple sauce.

I have just bought a Kenwood Mini-chopper. This is seriously the business. It can reduce large bunches of herbs to ‘finely chopped’ in seconds. It can grind whole spices to ‘ground’ in seconds. It is easy to clean and easy to use and – NO! I’m not in their employ. Do buy one if you can afford it and would find it useful.

For more useful fruit recipes do keep watching.

I am now getting into my stride with tomato harvesting – and main-crop potatoes. Next Blog!

Sorry about my first version of this. Although the two recipes of blackberry and Apple jelly and Crab-Apple Jelly sat side-by-side on my original - when I published it, the text moved around and it made no sense. So, I've taken the Blackberry and apple jelly out. If you would like a recipe for this you can find it on the website.

The Summer Harvest - Tomatoes, Peppers, Chillies, Blackberries, Cooking apples and Recipes

The Summer Harvest

This is such a busy time of year. My intentions, when I go to my plot are:

• to spend some time maintaining the ground – weeding, strimming, pruning, etc.;

• to harvest crops which are ready;

• to water where necessary;

• to keep in touch with my allotment neighbours.

Well! I spend so much time watering, harvesting and chatting to my neighbours that I’m finding that the general maintenance is falling behind. Let’s face it:

- watering is essential for life;

- harvesting is essential for the satisfaction of having achieved;

- chatting is essential for the feel-good of life.

The maintenance will just have to be done as and when. I usually spend about 3 hours, 5 days a week on my plot. Occasionally this can extend to 5 hours and rarely- can reduce to 2 hours, depending on my reasons for going there. Really! If this is not enough to maintain my plot then – TOUGH!

I hope this doesn’t put prospective plot-holders off but, really – once a week with kids in tow who will not let you stay there to work will not result in a productive plot.

It is most important that we understand that ‘what we put in – we get out’, as my daughter put it so succinctly. But, this is not really what I want to talk about today:

Tomatoes – I’ve just harvested my first for this year – really too few to photograph and actually, well behind many others (including my son who has just started on the allotments experience – his were ripe three weeks or more ago!). This year, my firsts are Sultana – a small plum-shaped salad tomato from Dobies. Each year, following a suggestion from my daughter, I try something new, (this is not always successful but, new products and different varieties are always worth a shot if you have the time and space). The Sultanas – I picked all two of them which were ready were very delicious, though somewhat hard-skinned. I’m sure that is a positive in preventing –disease /blight maybe (give me time to research).

Don’t forget to keep removing the side shoots. These will re-grow and will keep coming up as your plant grows. Unless you are growing bush varieties, it is most important – very important – extremely important that you remove the side shoots as they appear (always, as the year progresses some side shoots will have escaped your notice. If this becomes apparent you must decide to leave them or remove them, depending on the amount of damage you might do the mother plant). If you don’t remove the side shoots you will find that you have hundreds of small green tomatoes of which, few ripen.

It is also very important to (as well as watering your plants regularly) feed your tomatoes. They are quite greedy feeders but, let’s face it, when we get it right they will continue to produce wonderful crops until the weather become too cold for them to do so. You can buy tomato plant food which is excellent though, last year, I decided to make my own organic food for my plants. I have a large bath tub on my plot which I filled with a mixture of nettles, comfrey and cow manure – topped up with water. This produced a thick black liquid that, I thought, was better diluted. This year I think it has been diluted enough with rainwater so am adding it to my plants neat – nothing has keeled over yet. Over-winter I will put the sludge out on my plot and start again.

Don’t forget that tomatoes can get blight – similar to potato blight. If you are growing outdoors you might want to look at ways of protecting your crop. In the past, I have used Bordeaux Mixture (essentially copper sulphate). This worked well and I believe was accepted by the Soil Association. However, it has now been removed from the market and I am growing all of my tomatoes in my poly-tunnel. If you have an organic solution for this problem (or even one which is not organic but is not too poisonous), please let me know and I will pass the information on.

Peppers/ chillies – these have been slow to establish this year and after a poor outdoor harvest last year I have dedicated a larger area of my poly-tunnel to this crop. I am amazed when I see tiny plants producing full sized peppers but, I do hope that they will grow a bit more and give me a better crop. That said, last year I had one particular plant, grown from a free packet of seed on a gardening magazine which I had bought – Sweet California – from a little plant, no more than 30cms high ( 12”), I had 8 full sized beautiful, ripe peppers. -perhaps I will be able to recreate that crop this year but, although my various pepper plants are looking hopeful, I don’t think it will be so spectacular.

Fruit – Blackberries and Cooking Apples

Blackberries are now ripening so, apart from just eating them straight from the briars we must think of ways to preserve them.

When I first took over my plot, half of it was overgrown with a very strong, invasive, 2 metre high bramble thicket. I spent a long time cutting back and digging out the roots which only mediocre success – I have been cutting out new young shoots ever since but, I’m winning. Of course, I was beguiled by an advertisement in my favourite seed and plant catalogue for a blackberry which produced amazing 2-3cm long fruits. Stupidly, I planted this about a metre from the door of my poly-tunnel. It established itself very quickly and started to fruit in its second year. It was quite good though, since I left childhood, I’ve not been a huge fan of blackberries. The fruits are nice enough but, the thorns are wicked.(I hate thorns and nettles!) This year, I find I have to hack my way into my tunnel about once a week as the plant is now putting out amazingly strong branches and side-shoots for next year’s crop. I can’t quite regret it, however, as it is also giving me a good crop of large succulent fruits and I now have to think what to do with them.

Fortunately, my Bramley apple trees – one at home and one on my plot – now in their third year with me, are looking excellent, with quite heavy crops. They are not totally ready to pick (they should come away from the tree easily when you take hold of them, without pulling) but, they are ready enough to use.
Do try:

Apple and Blackberry Pie

I can’t believe that my old college cookery book has no recipe for blackberry and apple pie. When I was a child this was definitely the dish I waited for all year. (well! apart from Christmas dinner!)We went out blackberry picking when I was very young – my mother said that I ate more than I picked. In wet years, I remember, the blackberries were full of maggots - well, each berry may have had its pet maggot but, I soon learned to ignore them in favour of the berries themselves. Blackberries are one of the real wild fruits available to us as the ‘brambles’ – the plants they come from are very hardy, deep-rooted, tenacious, so – are particularly difficult to eradicate. So, let’s make the most of them. (Don’t be put off by the reference to blackberry maggots, I haven’t seen a single one this year, in spite of the rain).

Ingredients – for a 1 litre ( 1½ - 2 pint) pie dish

2 good-sized cooking apples – Bramleys for preference

1 good sized punnet of blackberries( 1lb or 450 -500gm). The amount is not critical. The fruit must fit into your pie dish to fill it well.(the fruit will drop as it cooks)

3 Tblsp. sugar

Short crust pastry

150g plain flour (6oz)

75g margarine or butter (3oz)

Pinch salt

6 tsp cold water approx.(this amount may vary slightly depending on the weather and the flour you are using – you need the ingredients to bind together without being sticky).

Method

• Sieve the flour and salt into a baking bowl. Add the margarine and rub in with your finger tips to create a texture like fine breadcrumbs – don’t allow the mixture to become sticky.

• Add the water slowly to ensure the ingredients combine without becoming too soft.

• Knead gently to combine the ingredients for a short time – 1 minute.

Making the Pie
• Preheat the oven to 180°C, Mark 6 gas
• Peel, core and slice the apples and place half of them in the pie dish.
• Put in a layer of blackberries and a layer of the sugar.
• Repeat this process until the dish is full.
• Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured board to ½ cm thick approx.(¼in)to the shape of the pie dish. Cut off a strip of pastry wide enough to go around the rim of the dish
• Wet the edges of the pie dish with water and apply the strip to the edges. Wet the top of the pastry strip with water.
• Put the pastry on top of the pie. Trim and seal the edges. Put a small slit on the top of the pie to allow the steam to escape.
• Bake for about 15 – 20 minutes then reduce the temperature and bake for a further 15 – 20 minutes to ensure the fruit is cooked. Don’t allow the pastry to burn
• When baked, sprinkle the top with a little caster sugar immediately and serve with cream, ice-cream or crème fraîche.
Try also:

Blackberry Jelly
Ingredients
Blackberries (the amount is, up-to-a point irrelevant, they must fit easily into your preserving pan)
Perhaps a little water to start the juicing process - ¼ - ½ litre if needed- depending on the amount of fruit..
Lemon juice
Sugar – depending on the amount of juice
A knob of butter
Method
1. Pick over the fruit to remove any leaves, etc.
2. Put in the preserving and over a very low heat, simmer gently until the fruit has broken down and is totally tender, (with the water if you feel it is necessary).
3. Strain though a jelly strainer.
4. Measure the amount of juice.
5. Allow 1 kilo (lb) sugar for each litre of juice (pt) – don’t mix up the quantities from metric and imperial measurement.
6. Put the fruit juice and the sugar into the preserving pan over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Add the lemon juice.
7. Bring to the boil in a preserving pan or a large saucepan to allow the preserve to come to a rolling boil.
8. When setting point has been reached, add the knob of butter and mix in well to reduce the amount of foam on the top of the preserve.
9. Pot, cover and label.

Blackberries can freeze easily, similar to raspberries – choose perfect, dry- if possible, fruits. Pack them gently into freezer tubs ( don’t squash them) and freeze.
On storage of cooking apples – more later.