Ok, just a quickie.
Was considering carving up one of the small chestnut squashes for Halloween, and Beans first at that.
Then, someone (who shall remane nameless on their request) kindly donated a massive pumpkin.
Here's the before shot:
The resultant seeds (of which there's quite literally, lots!):
And, some hours later:
Won't win any awards, but as a first go I'm kinda happy. Knackered, but happy.
I didn't have a particularly good onion crop this year - and those I did have were'nt great. So I decided to use what I have to make some onion marmalade.
Patience is a virtue.
I knew the basic ingredients - onions (obviously), wine vinegar, sugar, but wasn't sure on the rest. Method etc.
So I asked LadyWayne if I could borrow her notebook (mini laptop) when she'd finished as it's nice and small to have in the kitchen rather than my great lump of a thing.
So I waited.
Did a bit more waiting.
After some minutes I decided that I'd make a start and chopped up the onions and garlic, put some butter and a blob of oil in the pan.
Started to sweat down the onions nice and slow, all was going well.
I then opened the bottle of white wine vinegar which had a decent sized splash in the bottom (a few tablespoons worth probably). I then added the brown sugar - probably about 150-200g.
Then I opened the full bottle of white wine vinegar and proceeded to empty this bottle into the pan.
(those that know how to make onion vinegar have already seen the error of my ways, bear with me those that don't)
It was at that point that (having poked my head round the living room door and seen LadyWayne in conversation with someone on the phone whilst faffing with the laptop) I decided I'd wait no more and went to get my laptop to check the recipe.
The recipe I was "following" http://www.riverford.co.uk/recipes/recipe.php?catid=9&recipeid=153 called for 5 tablespoons of wine vinegar.
Oh dear.
So, the suggested cooking time of 10 minutes was ever so slightly longer in an attempt to allow the vinegar to evaporate.
The kitchen at this point was a decongestant chamber - in that any attempt to breathe through your nose resulted in a stinging sensation at the back of your nose, and gave you the urge to cough (and that was only LadyWayne who is full of cold and can't smell a thing at the moment).
So, after quite some time simmering, stirring, simmering and so on, the mixture had reduced to quite a gloopy/sticky consistency. However, there was still a quite strong smell of vinegar to the marmalade.
I decided to empty it into my Kilner jar anyway (just the right amount to fill it coincidentally), and we'll see how it tastes in a few days.
Can anyone smell vinegar?
Just realised, this post is going to take a while (I got about halfway through, and have just come back up here to warn you).
Well, with the sun shining and the temperature outside being very decent it seemed only right to get our backsides down to the plot once we'd made ourselves decent and fed our faces.
So - we packed a bag into the car (with the view of bringing back produce) and off we went.
I remembered to take the camera with me so that I could hopefully solve the bean identity conundrum.
As we arrived on the plot I noticed that my neighbour had cleared a load of the foliage from his pumpkins, and the fruits that were now in full show were fantastic, which convinced me, I have to grow them from next year on. They looked fantastic, and would make great lanterns for Halloween when Bean gets older.
Given that we're quite late in the season I'd pretty much given up hope on getting any more fruits from my courgettes (having had maybe three or four - two of which were 2kg whoppers), and given up hope of getting any at all from the "exotic" varieties that I'd tried. However, I saw peeking through from behind the leaves, that my Lebanese had a couple of fruits on it - not sure if it's over grown, or if this is how it's supposed to look. Don't think I'll grow them again next year regardless, but you live and learn.
One thing I will be growing again however - Chestnut Squash. On the same patch of ground they seem to have flourished, I'm properly pleased and can't wait to try them.
Oh, and I finally remembered to take a snap of my prize Chicago Warted Hubbard, which I'll save the seeds from and grow again next year. Apparently the flesh is a bright orange. Can't wait to cut it open and have some roasted. It's got tan lines at the moment so I moved it a bit for that "all over" tan.
Picked a couple of cobs from the standard sweetcorn which we should have had for dinner tonight, but will have to be tomorrow instead, and noticed that the baby corn had a load of cobs on with reddich tassles on. I'd also given up host on these, but I'm hopeful that they'll have some decent cobs on, but will do a bit of research to see if the reddish colour indicates that they're ready.
Whilst up by the sweetcorn I noticed that the raspberries are a little "unkempt", so I will have to get busy with the secateurs pretty darned soon I guess...
Whilst up at the "top end" I thought I'd take a quick snap of the plot in general, and I have to say (modesty aside), I'm pretty pleased with how things are looking. Thankfully the weeds have slowed down this time of year, so keeping it tidy is a little easier.
I left LadyWayne and Bean sat on the bench next to the carrots, and shouted over that they shoudl help themselves as we were having them for lunch when my folks came over later. I took a quick sneaky peek of them sat there:
Then closed in to see that Bean was indeed helping himself and tucking in like a good boy!
The carrots, were smaller than I'd hoped, so my theory on prize winning using the grown in tubes method, may be misguided.
In some investigative work that would rival Columbo himself, I finally managed to work out which beans where which. I simply took the camera, snapped the label at the bottom of each plant, and then took a photo of the pods growing on that plant. Genius I know!
Anyway, the mystery unravelled...
and...
also...
finally (I think these are right)....
By the end of it all, it was all a little tiring for our very own Bean.
Phew - it's been a busy weekend. I'm going to get some shuteye now (well after Waking the Dead).
Tata.
In a rare break in the weather that coincided with me being able to have time to get to the plot, myself, LadyWayne and Bean drove down to the plot this afternoon to harvest some veg for dinners this week.
We set Bean down on his favourite quilt - next to the beans so that LadyWayne could keep an eye on him whilst picking beans.
As you can see - he was quite happily sat playing with his toys and enjoying the outside air.
and of course, LadyWayne was loving the bean picking.
By the time she'd finished, LadyWayne was carrying a carrier bag (ironic that) bursting to the seams with a variety of runner beans, climbing French beans and dwarf French beans. Her words to me were "we're gonna need some help with these". I fear she's not wrong - our previous attempts at freezing runners (and any other type of bean) have been less than successful. Beans often going mushy, or a dark colour and tasting - lets say "funky".
I've grown 4-5 different types of beans this year, and I have yet to find the labels in amongst the foliage and mass of vines/leaves/beans that the plants have thankfully produced. I do love beans - so forgiving to grow, and most satisfying.
There are some bog standard runners, some "patterned" pods (seen below) and some that produce beans that look like they're made of porcelain (see below below).
LadyWayne has just bought my dinner through (which I cooked earlier - chilli), and it's accompanied by a damned fine looking cob of corn which I harvested earlier today. Last year I opened up the cobs to find sporadic corn on the cob. This year however - as you can see the cobs (thus far) are completely "corned". I'm confident that they'll taste just as good as they look - perhaps better.
.....sorry, I had to break for dinner, and I'm pleased to report the sweetcorn was exactly that, sweet and oh so tasty! Boiled for just under 10 minutes and then coated with butter.
Next on the menu is a pie - not just any old pie either.
A couple of weeks ago I took the remaining apples from the tree (those that I could reach) and they've been in the fridge since then until we had the time and inclination to do something with them (having used the previous harvests with some of the rhubarb in a crumble).
Today I decided to pick a load of elderberries with the intention of making an elderberry and blackberry jam from a recipe that I'd seen online. However, having picked and de-stemmed 500g (the recipe calles for 1kg!!) elderberries I discovered that the blackberries were not so abundant - well, not in the back garden anyway. So I decided to make an apple and blackberry pie.
Having bling baked the base, I then filled the case with the cooked apples (with plenty of sugar and a good dose of cinnamon. Pastry for the lid was a little short on supply, so I had to be a little artistic.
Anyway - here's a before and after for posterity.
Lasty, I dug up another pound or so of spuds and we'll have them with our dinners during the week.
Now, what to do with those elderberries....
Oh, and I forgot - I pulled up some more beetroot. Just baby ones for roasting!
Having had lots of problems logging in (in no small part due to transferring from Tiscali to BT and subsequently losing access to all emails) I have finally managed to wade through the google "help" pages and regain access here! Whoop whoop.
Clearly the main growing focus for me has been our gorgeous son - who, not surprisingly is growing at a decent rate, and is quite literally off the chart.
Anyway - you guys having seen him for a while, so it's only right I post an update pic.
Well, here we are again almost at the end of another season - this will have been my third I think. Several things growing well, and some that have not faired too well at all.
Going well:
Sweetcorn - albeit once again growing at 45 degrees due to the wind.
Beetroot
Carrots - in the tubes, in a wheelbarrow
Cabbages - but have mostly been eaten by something
Kohl Rabi - just need to figure out how to cook/eat it
Beans - Runners, French Dwarf & Climbers
Rhubarb (after initial worries)
Raspberries - although the plants are threatening to take over the plot unless I get busy pruning!
Potatoes - although I'm not sure if they were blighted or not (guess we'll find out when we try and store them)
Squash - Chicago Warted Hubbard. This was a real surprise, it's a HSL variety and I'd almost given up hope on, until the weekend when we had some friend over and they helped with some weeding in return for roast dinner. During the process I uncovered a football sized fruit looking really good, so I'll keep an eye out for more, and watch this one with interest.
Chillies - plants from last year are all fruiting well, with some already dried and stored
Broad Beans - Martock. Seeds saved form last year and plenty of plants/pods. All died now, but will have more next year.
Not so great:
Peas - again, far too few planted and not tended properly
Onions - some decent sized, some like shallots. All planted at the same time.
Courgettes - only just started producing fruits now. Bout 5 varieties and only 1-2 plants are fruiting.
Baby corn - planted at a similar time to sweetcorn but seems a long way off any cobs starting.
Swiss Chard - got forgotten about
Tomatoes - 1 tomato fruit growing from 3 plants. Don't think I'll bother next year, maybe try some outdoor varieties
The plot still needs a lot of work to get it to a point where input is minimal from me - having Hayden has really made me realise that time on the plot will be a premium, at least until he's toddling.
Plenty of plans for the winter months to include moving my compost bin and adding another two. Hard pruning the apple tree. Creating more raised beds - maybe a nursery bed of some sort. Creating a bit of a flower bed under/around teh apple tree to help attract beneficial insects. Get the rest of the plot "bedded out" and create mulched pathways between to help surpress weeds.
I've been a bit lax with the camera as I've not been posting here so have seen little point, but hopefully now I'll start to log progress again and have some visual references too.
Until then - it's good to be back.
Finally managed to get logged on after many many attempts/emails etc.
I can get back to logging my progress - or lack of it!
So much to say, so little time to say it.
Sorry, been a bit pre-occupied of late. Can't imagine why!
Oh yeah, this little fella!
Life has not been the same since he arrived - yet I'm still hopeful I'll be able to keep at the allotment, and grow him some good old veg which can of course be mashed and frozen!
Changes happen daily - and I don't mean just the nappies. Each day I come home from work and he seems to have changed again since I saw him last. The photos above were taken a couple of weeks ago, he looks different already.
I'm in danger of gushing here, but he is the most fantastic thing to have ever happened.
Can't wait to buy him his first pair of wellies, and a spade.
Look out for his first blog!
Back to thge gardening stuff - I've garlic and autumn sown onions sets in the greenhouse along with some allium flower bulbs. I've now also sown some broad beans - Martock harvested from my last seasons crops, so I'm hopefull they'll germinate and grow.
I've also planted various bedding plant seeds - hopefully to give a bit more colour to the garden this year and encourage both Bean, and bees into the garden (though perhaps not at the same time?). I'm twitching to get some more seeds into propagators indoors - tomatoes, chillies, basil.
Seed potatoes are once again chitting on the kitchen floor by the back door - Kestrel, Pentland Javelin and Sante.
Recently bought a small bag of spring planting onion sets too, as I seem to run out of onions to use early in the year, so hopefully will bolster stocks this year and be able to last right through.
Anyway, just a quickie for now. I'll hopefully be able to update again soon.
Well, that'd be me! My beautiful wife gave birth to our gorgeous son last Saturday - in actual fact, in about an hours time he'll be exactly 1 week old.
When people say that having a child changes your life - they were severely under-egging the cake. Having our little Hayden is the most profound experience I've ever known and he's altered my/our life in so many ways - every one of them for the better.
With the recent weather ("the worst snow for decades") we've not really had much chance to venture out, and certainly not to the allotment, though I'd dearly love to get out into the fresh air with him. If we're not careful, he's going to start thinking the world outside is permanently white!
Back to work n just over a week, and I'm dreading having to leave him home. I've only known the guy for just a week, but my heart aches whenever I'm away from him.
I'm looking forward to sharing life with our little Bean, I'm sure I'll post on here when he gets his first spade!
For now, tata.
Not great as individual excuses, but combined they've all I've got to explain my reasons for not gardening and blogging.
Back when we visited Tuscany I felt a twang in my lower back, but having had several of these in the past I thought nothing much of it and get on with the holiday and made sure I performed my exercises every morning/evening which had always sorted it in the past.
After we'd been back a few weeks I saw no real improvement so bit the bullet and booked to see my osteopath, something I had put off due to the £30 a session fee. Again after seeing no real improvement I eventually went to the doctors and asked for a referral. Having had surgery on my back in the past to rectify 3 slipped discs, my doctor referred me back to the same surgeon/specialist. Once I'd seen him I was sent to have an MRI scan which confirmed what I'd feared - more slipped discs. This time the disc that had been operated on before was fine, having not much disc left it didn't really have much to slip. The problem this time is the discs above and below the "healed" one.
So, I was then booked in to have an epidural (at this point I had to check he was looking at my notes and not LadyWaynes). I've just got back from the hospital having had the needles stuck in my back and I feel ok.
It was a very surreal experience - I was taken from my room down to the operating room, and was one of several having the same treatment that day. I was laid out face down, and had a tap inserted into my hand - from that moment on it's all a bit fuzzy. I remember feeling the needles going in, and it being quite painful, but it was as if I was detached from the pain. I do however remember saying that hurt out loud, but I can't be certain.
Came round not long after and seemed very chatty, then taken back to my room where LadyWayne was quite happily watching some tosh on the telly - don't ask me what as things were still a bit fuzzy at thi stage.
Food was brought round a little while later and I was left to recover, with only the odd occasion where the nurse came to check bp and so on.
Just home now and the drugs are wearing off slightly, so I can again feel a "niggle" down my right leg, but I guess that's to be expected.
Fingers crossed the injections work, otherwise it's another operation, which whilst it doesn't worry me - I am concerned that I will not be up to full health to assist when Bean arrives - which is only just over 4 weeks away if all goes to plan.
The early signs are good, but I don't want to get my hopes up just yet. Cross your fingers for me.
In terms of growing I haven't done much other than plant onions and garlic in pots and put them in the mini greenhouse along with some bulbs of various descriptions.
The plot is looking decidely untidy, but with the abundance of cardboard we've acquired due to all the baby stuff I've simply covered a few of the beds and placed black bags full of leaves swept off the lawn to hold it down.
Here's hoping 2009 is a healthier year.
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