Early January on the Allotment and Using stored pumpkin and Squash

Early January on the plot and using stored Pumpkins and Squash

It has been a wonderful day here – mild and dry, what more could we want in early January. We even had a brief glimpse of the sun. Lots of my neighbours were also out today with great plans for work in the coming season though, many are also worried that we might have a similar year to 2012 and are reducing expectations accordingly.

Of course the ground is sodden, it has been raining constantly for such a long time. I wouldn’t say my plot is totally waterlogged. I am at the top of a hill and it drains really quite quickly. I would think that the plot holders at the bottom of the hill won’t be able to do much on their plots for some time and that is if it stays dry but, I fear that will not happen.

I even managed to tackle some of the small patch of potatoes I had not managed to harvest in the autumn. Fortunately they are a late maincrop variety – Sarpo Mira – and although there is quite a lot of slug damage, the untouched potatoes are fine and are still excellent for eating.

Apart from the weather, I haven’t been to my plot for a little while – over Christmas and the New Year. Visiting family in London and Norwich then the continuing appalling weather has prevented me from visiting.

Although I have lost a few cauliflowers - they have gone beyond eating and a few Savoy cabbages – the slugs have enjoyed them just a bit too much, I still have lots of leeks, Brussels sprouts and parsnips. I’m pleased to see that there has been little damage from leek moth this year.

My autumn planted garlics and elephant garlics are obviously growing well now though that is no guarantee that the will continue to grow successfully to harvest time.

I have two different varieties of rhubarb – one early very sweet variety [well, sweet for rhubarb!] and a later variety which is big and chunky and not so sweet. I don’t know the names of either variety as I inherited them when I took over my plots. Each year I manure them well and cut out chunks of the root to share with other plotters but, I don’t eat a lot of the stuff myself.

It’s at this time of year, when I am starting to plan all the heaps of wonderful fruit and vegetables I will harvest from my plot [well, I have to live in hope!] that I start to think about all the stored fruit and vegetables I have at home. I still have about 20 or so, smallish pumpkins. Most are Baby Bears though there are a few Justynka, Hooligan and BeckyF1. They are all small varieties which, for me, are so much more useful but, even then, I am struggling to use so many of them.

A few of my favourite recipes are: [I find squash and pumpkins interchangeable in these recipes]

Butternut Squash  Soup

1 Medium to large butternut squash ( well this depends on the average you have produced on your plot)

 2  Large potatoes ( the floury variety)

1 litre ( 2 pints) chicken or vegetable stock

1 medium Chilli pepper ( my choice is for Joe’s Long, I find them reliably medium hot even in cool years)

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Finely chopped coriander

 2 – 3 cloves of garlic

150 ml ( ¼ pint double cream) if you wish you can add milk to deduce the fat content.

A dollop of crème fraishe to garnish.

Method

·         Wash and cut the squash in half lengthways. Remove the seeds.

·         Peel the garlic cloves and put them in the seed spaces of the squashes to raost.

·         Roast the squash – oven 180ºC  no 5 gas for 25 to 30 mins.

·         In the meantime, wash, peel and cut the potatoes into cubes.

·         Put the potatoes into a large saucepan with the stock, chilli and seasoning and bring to the boil. Simmer gently.

·         When the squash is cooked and soft, scoop it (with the roasted garlic), into the saucepan. Bring to the boil then simmer gently for 10 minutes or so to blend the flavours.

·         Put through a blender or blitz with a hand blender until smooth. If you don’t have electronic equipment, just mash the ingredients well.

·         Correct the seasoning to taste and serve.

·         Garnish with chopped coriander and a dollop of crème fraishe

·         Serve with hot crusty brown or white bread.

Roasted Herby Pumpkin

For 4 people as a vegetable dish to serve with roast meat

1 small to medium pumpkin or 2 small if you like lots

4 - 6 garlic cloves –  skin, peel and chop them

2 – 3 Tblsp of top quality olive oil

A good sprinkle of sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Some sprigs of rosemary

Method

·         Wash the pumpkins and remove the stalks.

·         Cut each into 4 sections and remove all the seeds

·         Add the seasoning, herbs and garlic and splash some olive oil into each section.

·         Sprinkle several rosemary leaves on top of each [they can be chopped if you wish].

·         Cook in a moderately hot oven about 30 minutes before your roast meat will. Test with a skewer or fork to make sure the vegetable is well cooked – it should be golden brown on top.

·         Serve immediately with any roast meat or with a nut roast.

Helen’s Pumpkin and Coconut Soup

A totally delicious soup from my friend – Helen Yates

1 medium sized pumpkin or squash

A little olive oil

 1 stalk of lemon grass

A tin of coconut milk

1 litre (2 pints) vegetable stock

Salt and pepper to taste

·         Peel and roughly chop the pumpkin or squash.

·         Drizzle with olive oil and roast but don't let it go black.

·         Remove from oven and put in a large saucepan with a bruised stalk of lemon grass.

·         Cover with a light vegetable stock and simmer until the pumpkin flesh is really soft.

·         Remove the lemon grass and liquidise the pumpkin and stock, if it looks too thick add a touch more stock.

·         Put the lemon grass back in and add a tin of coconut milk, then heat gently. Remove the lemon grass before serving - that's it!

·         Serve with hot crusty bread – delicious!

·          

Roasted Butternut Squash with Roasted Potatoes – this recipe came from Philip Drew, but I can’t find his original so this is my take on his idea

 1 – 2 medium onions - red onions for preference – peeled and cut into chunks

½ kilo suitable roasting potatoes – washed, peeled and cut into large chunks

1 medium butternut squash – sliced, peeled and deseeded then cut into chunks

1 garlic bulb – separate the cloves and skin them

A good dollop of top quality olive oil

A good sprinkle of sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Some sprigs of rosemary

Method

·         Prepare the vegetables.

·         Heat the oil in a roasting pan until hot - 200ºC, No 6 gas

·         Toss the prepared squash, onions and potatoes in the hot oil.

·         Add the seasoning, herbs and garlic and return to the oven.

·         Cook for a further 30-40 minutes until the vegetables are golden brown and crunchy ( this will depend on the size you have cut them.

·         Serve immediately with any roast meat or with a nut roast.

December on the Allotment

December on the Allotment

At last, after an apparently endless wet and flooded summer and autumn, we are having some frosty, sunny weather. There are only a few hours each day when it is possible to do any work on the plot. By the time it has warmed up enough [and the warmth is relative!] to do something – about 11.00am, the sun seems to switch off about 2.30pm and the freezing cold sets in again for the evening. That said, I don’t think the ice melted in many places at all today.

Still, it is cheerful and many plot holders are out there doing what they can to clear up for spring. I am lucky in that I am close to the top of the hill so my ground is not as wet as those plots at the bottom of the hill and being surrounded by trees and hedges [on the western side, so they don’t block the sun], I am also fairly sheltered. In spite of the wonderfully fresh, dry air and the pleasure of being out there doing something after so long, the ground is still sodden. It is possible to walk on it only because it is frozen. I still have a patch – quite a large patch really - which should have been dug. Perhaps it will now have to wait until I’m planting potatoes.

A neighbour was telling me this morning, with some pride, that he has dug over his whole plot since September. And it does look good! He said he just carried on digging through the mud. To my shame, I still have a small patch of potatoes which must still be dug, and yes, I know that if I leave them any longer, they will start growing. I have had little incentive to dig them as the ground has been so muddy and the potatoes themselves have not been so good that each time I have gone to my plot, digging potatoes has been pushed to the bottom of my list of priorities.

Yesterday, I had my much needed bonfire – pieces of rotten wood which have been used as walkways but are now just harbouring woodlice and slugs, prunings from blackcurrant bushes, redcurrant bushes and fruit trees, also the tops of raspberry canes. I have also burnt the cut back asparagus fronds, as well as any litter on the ground around the crowns - hoping to reduce the numbers of asparagus beetle next year.

There is a huge heap of wood chip from cut back hedgerows and trees around the field which I am now using to replenish and tidy the surfaces of paths and free areas around my plot. This year it is beside me so, I am taking the opportunity to make as much use of it as possible. Saying that, there is a lot of it so, if you have a plot near mine, do use it while it is there. And, it looks like the potato digging has been pushed back yet again!

Talking of asparagus, don’t forget to cut back the old fronds and clear all litter from the ground around the crowns to remove as many as possible of the hibernating asparagus beetles. A good dressing of well rotted manure on top of them will help next year’s harvest.

As the winter weather starts to bite, our birds are struggling for survival. It has been a dismal year for them in any case and now that the ground is frozen, it is particularly difficult for them to find food. If you are birdie minded it would be useful to give them something extra to ‘tide them over’. Pete, our vice chair of committee and a bird lover was telling me that he has been putting out the remains of his 2010 Christmas cake. I’m sure the birds just loved it. He says that blackbirds have also invaded his poly tunnel and have been eating his grapes. Of course, many birds, in bitterly cold weather, don’t die from lack of food as much as from lack of water. It is important to ensure, if possible, that there is a source of unfrozen water for them to drink. Last winter, which was so very cold, I would take water each day to my plot and put it in suitable containers for the birds but, I found it would be frozen again in a very short time. Proper bird food is obviously best and I do provide it as often as I can afford it, especially during brood raising season but, I guess our stale household bread is better than nothing during the winter when the birds are starving. Obviously, I don’t put it out every day – well I don’t have a loaf of stale bread every day but, I hope that once a week will keep them ticking over during the winter.

At the moment, each Sunday on our fields, we have a dedicated group of members re-laying part of our boundary hedge along Donkey Lane [ also known as Dead Man’s Lane or Gastons Lane]. It is believed that the lane and the hedges that border it are, at least, 500 years old. How awesome is that! If you are interested in taking part, do check on the details on the linked website.

In case I don’t write again before Christmas, do have a fantastic Christmas and a wonderful New Year.

Feliz Navidad y Feliz Año Nuevo

Frohe Weihnachten und Happy New Year

Glædelig jul og Godt Nytår

Prettige Kerstdagen en Gelukkig Nieuwjaar

Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année

Feliz Natal e Feliz Ano Novo

圣诞之际，祝你心中有首快乐的圣诞和新年快乐

मेरी क्रिसमस और नया साल मुबारक हो

Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo

Nollaig Shona agus Athbhliain faoi mhaise daoibh

Wesołych Świąt i Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku

Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda

મેરી ક્રિસમસ અને નવા વર્ષની શુભેચ્છાઓ

Selamat Natal dan Tahun Baru

Linksmų Kalėdų ir Naujųjų Metų

Счастливого Рождества и Нового Года

God Jul och Gott Nytt År