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!

Mid Summer - You Can Still Plant and Sow Seeds

Mid July – filling the empty spaces     

Well, whether or not you can still sow and plant depends very much on where you are in the country. I think I am very lucky in the UK in that I live in the South West and I believe that this is probably the best combination of weather conditions for the amateur grower. I really can’t say that about soil conditions and how they combine with the weather to provide excellent conditions depends very much on the season.

I could go on about this subject for a long time but, I think there are more dedicated people than I who can give you better information on the subject.

If you are interested in the science of growing and you can get hold of a copy, I really recommend – ‘Know and Grow Vegetables’ – P.J.Salter, J.K.A. Bleasdale, & others (from the national vegetable research station). Unfortunately, this book is now out of print and possibly some of the information is out of date but, what a wonderful source of information on growing. Do get hold of a copy if you can – it is still available second hand and maybe the authors would be inspired to rewrite if enough people wanted to buy it.

Today I want to discuss the use of the empty spaces now appearing on our plots as we harvest onions, peas, early and 2nd early potatoes. Well, my plot has these spaces so, I guess everyone else has them too. I suppose we could just shut down for the winter. Whoa there! This is July, the middle of summer and just because some of your crops have finished, been eaten or are now in the freezer, doesn’t mean that we can lie back and relax! Well, of course you can if you really want to.

We have a winter to face and more importantly, the lean months of spring. I think I am always planning ahead for the winter and the lean months, at the back of my mind. For the past two bitterly cold winters I have had to resort to the supermarkets to supply me with the vegetables I am now expecting to eat all time. Oh! The shame of it!

But, we can and should still plan ahead. There is a huge range of vegetable seeds and ‘plugs’ (very young plants grown by the major seed houses) which can still be planted out – most of them catering for the winter and ‘hungry gap- March/April’. If you want to go down this route, do consider what you really want and what you are likely to harvest in the winter months. These plugs are expensive so don’t buy them if you think you will not go out there in the bitterly cold weather to harvest them. But, it is good to know that there is a load of stuff you can still plant out and a smaller list of what can still be sown – depending on where you live.

The amazingly broad range of French Beans can still be sown – up to the end of July but, we are thinking about those beans which can be dried for use during the winter – and I do love them. I grow dwarf Borlotto and Yinyang beans and I had never had anyone coming back to me saying anything negative about them. They are also satisfyingly attractive on the shelf in glass storage jars.

You can, just about, get away with sowing French Beans for eating fresh now though, I would recommend sowing in pots in a green- house or poly tunnel after soaking overnight for best results. Try, Dwarf Purple Teepee – a favourite of mine which, this year, I left myself no space to plant. They are amazingly prolific so be sure to keep harvesting them, even if you can’t use them (compost, give to friends, sell, etc.) or they will stop producing. I have given the seeds to my son and I hope he’ll have success with them on his plot. I bought mine from Dobies but, lots of seed houses provide these. If you are looking for organic seeds, do try the Real Seed Catalogue – one of my favourite suppliers. By the way, bean and pea seeds will keep for a few years so, if you do have some over, think of using them next year.

It might still be possible to find young plants of sweetcorn – I believe it is too late to sow but you could still get a crop from them if you establish young plants now – have a look in your local garden centres. If you do, remember that they must be planted in square blocks, fairly close together to ensure the plants pollinate each other. My plants, and I have two different varieties planted side-by-side, seem to be producing the male and female flowers at different times. The plants are no more than 8ins (20cm) apart. I hope this is close enough as I have had poor results in the past from failed pollination. More later.

Of course, for me the basic and most important plant group for any season but, especially for winter and spring is the brassica family – cauliflowers, cabbage, brussels sprouts, kale, broccoli, swede, etc.

It was not a good year for nurturing young plants from seed and I have been pushed to supplement my own with ‘bought-in’ plants. Dobies have provided a good service with excellent plants at the right times (and - NO! They don’t pay me to say this). You can probably still find lots of different brassicas for planting out now – definitely my favourites and most likely to provide for you during the winter and spring months – barring another particularly cold winter.

We can still sow seeds for a wide range of salad vegetables. Marshalls and Dobies sell an excellent range of salad leaves and I see that Dobies have eventually caught up with Lettuce – Winter Gem. Do try it. It will grow into late autumn and again in early spring and gives an excellent salad lettuce and one which can be cooked successfully.

I suppose carrots can still be sown though, in my experience the later the carrots are sown, the more likely

theyare to be attacked by carrot root-fly. I had high hopes for my carrots this year, having organised

with my daughter which ones were best for our different soil,types and which we had noticed more prone to

carrot rootfly. In my daughters experience the purple varieties were more affected and in my experience, the

white varieties were less likely to be attacked. I had also noticed that the earlier the crop the more likely

they were to escape attack. However, this year seems to have disproved all my expectations and

certainly those of the fans of growing carrots in raised beds. All of my carrot crops – whatever the variety,

colour or height of planting ( in my carrot box 1½ meters from the ground) have been attacked by carrot root-fly. So, I’m still looking and I haven’t yet had enough of a crop where I need to think about storing for the winter. I hope everyone else has had a much better result. Please let me know what you are doing.

If you have young plants of leeks, they could also still be planted out. Do cover them with fleece or

environmesh to keep the leek moths out.

If you really don’t fancy any of the crops for sowing or planting for the winter/lean months period, do think about a green manure, especially if you don’t have access to good animal manure – try ‘Mustard White’ from Dobies. It has to be said, I haven’t tried this. My ploy is to have all parts of my plot engaged in growing a crop I can eat or use. But, do remember that what you take out of the soil must be returned – one way or another.

This is also a good time to start thinking about next year – really, it is not so far away.

Planting Early Potatoes

Planting Potatoes

Well!  Here we go again.  Yet another Blog about planting potatoes. But they are so important – well, for me anyway. Not everyone thinks they are an important crop. As I have said in a previous Blog, I think the difference between homegrown and shop bought is more striking in potatoes than any other vegetable. But, that’s my opinion.

The potatoes I planted in my polytunnel a couple of weeks ago have already put their shoots up. I’ve earthed them up as I am worried about the really cold nights we are having now, minus 4° here in Bristol. Gee! I know this is not cold by many standards. However, it can be damaging to my early plantings.

Although it is really cold at night now, it is also really sunny and ‘warm’ during the day and is absolutely delightful to have work to do on the plot. I am catching up on digging areas I had previously dug in the autumn. Although it is still very wet a spade deep, the ground is drying out quite nicely and breaks up well on the spring digging. This is the first time I am planting my potato seed into fairly well tilled, friable earth. Up to now I have been using them to help ‘till’ really heavy, solid, clay ground. And yes, they have been very productive, in spite of the poor conditions. This year I will hope for bumper crops of excellent potatoes. Of course, as Robbie Burns said – ‘The best laid schemes o’ mice and men gang aft aglay’, Please forgive me if I’ve got some of that wrong, I’m writing from memory.

My neighbour on the allotments was planting his early potatoes yesterday, when I was sowing parsnips and spring onions (the latter in a covered raised bed.) I always watch what my neighbour and his wife are doing. They are very experienced in our area and with our soil and, although not always successful in all crops, they are definitely ‘the business’.  He was planting in such beautifully tilled soil I looked at it enviously – like something from a BBC gardening programme. Mine will never, ever be like that. For me good enough has to be good enough.

Anyway, I did go home and collect my chitted early potatoes (Accent). I had enough for two ridges, which I could cover with one length of fleece ( highly recommended!). It was only when I had them planted that I realised that some of the potatoes were, in fact, Charlottes (salad potatoes – 2^nd early) Oh well! They’re in now.

A couple of days ago I sowed carrot seed in a raised bed under a poly cover. The accepted view on carrot root fly is that they won’t fly above 30cm. Believe me, this is not the case. Last year I had carrots growing in a box 1mtr above ground, and I covered it with fleece. The root fly still got into one of the varieties I had sown there. This year, my daughter and I (she has an allotment in London) are experimenting with varieties which the carrot root fly are not attracted to. Perhaps we need to plant the attractive ones alongside but, we’ll get back to you on this.

I was amazed to note that several of my asparagus crowns have already put out their new shoots, not only the older, more established crowns but also, last year’s new planting of one year old crowns. I thought it a bit too early so, I’ve earthed them up a bit.

Please get back to me on any thoughts/arguments you may have. I would love to have your comments.

new year,new plans, new plantings

As always, at this time of year, I am tired of winter, am suffering from 'cabin fever' and looking for ways to start the new growing year. Every year I waste at least 2 packets of seeds by sowing too early and achieving poor or non-existant crops later in the year.
I read that we can sow carrots in January to have early crops. I tried this last year in a deep box and covered them with fleece. Yes, I did get a crop but, disappointing. Of course the particularly harsh winter might have had something to do with that.
Talking about carrots - I have heard and read that carrot root fly can't fly above 30cm. Well! I'm telling you, in the SW they can fly up 1 and half metres - at least. A friend very kindly made me a 'carrot box'. 1and half metres by half metre and 1 and half metres high ( brilliant for thinning, I could sit on a chair to do that tedious job). I grew 2 varities - Autumn King ( which I love) and a variety I haven't come across before - Blanc a colet vert, from The Real Seed Catalogue ( a small, independent group selling heritage and unusual varieties of different veg.  and no! I'm not a shareholder, just feel they are worth supporting). These have a really strong carroty favour, delicious raw and cooked.
Anyway, back to the season. I have sown my sweet pea seeds on 1st January. Last year I sowed some in November and some in March and had 2 overlapping and excellent crops- I love them, especially as one MUST keep cutting them to have a continous supply of these wonderful flowers. I will sow again in a couple of months.
As soon as the weather is mild enough, but this month, I will clean the inside of my poly tunnel. I will just use soapy water as I'm not happy about using disenfectants. Last summer I had red spider mite, for the first time
( probably due to the very dry early summer). I kept it under control with frequent watering. If anyone has any advice on this please let me know... as organic as is practical, please.
I'm awaiting, with considerable impatience, the arrival of my potato seed for chitting. I hope to sow an extra early crop of Earlies in my poly tunnel. I've done so for the last 2 years with some success and very early Early potatoes. They are then out in time to plant other crops.
Happy New Growing Year