Harvesting in January

So I have a confession…

I have not worked in the vegetable garden at all this Christmas break.

I know, very bad. But I was juggling work, university work and working in the pig run to prevent it from resembling the battle of the Somme over winter. Those are my only excuses.

Despite my lack of care, the garden has looked after itself pretty well (the grass is thriving in all of the beds it should not be in…)

It has been so long since I worked over there regularly that I had actually forgotten what I still had planted and left to harvest. I had forgotten the kale, the rest of the sprouts and carrots, the tree cabbage… all I thought we had left were potatoes. So I made a big effort and harvested and prepared lots of our produce during the week.

Carrots: these are the last of the carrots sown this year. They were under horticultural fleece and managed to survive some of the freezing temperatures we had suddenly. Not one has rotted so thank goodness we are on sandy soil. They were delicious and not a lot of damage or forking going on. We even had one gorgeous proper sized carrot!

Think they are ‘Flyaway’ carrots.

Celeriac: first homegrown celeriac harvested from this crop. I know, lazy. But it was in really good condition, a good size, and tasted really good. I like to boil mine but roasting them makes an excellent replacement/accompaniment to roasted parsnips as they apparently taste the same. I have also eaten it raw, grated with apple, in a salad and that is surprisingly good too.

Brussel Sprouts – the left over small ones from Christmas finished up. They did really well and packed a punch to the taste-buds.

Kale – the kale is still alive and doing pretty well despite the various slug/pigeon/ cabbage white attacks it had this year. I do love kale boiled and it goes great in stews, on top of pizzas, in casseroles or stir fries. Kale is brilliant because it fills in the cold ‘hungry gap’ aka, winter, when most other things aren’t available.

Garlic – I sneak up a bulb every time I need it. Garlic is still prolific in our garden from years of growing it.

Potatoes – Too. Many. Luckily, they taste really good and are in pretty good condition.

All of this dinner was homegrown, except the lentils. Self-sufficient and proud of my little garden for doing so well all on its own.

Lentils, potatoes, runner beans and cranberry sauce

I always struggle with finding a vegetarian protein at Christmas and then I struggle to find one to pair with cranberry sauce afterwards. Cheese is always an option, it famously goes well with cranberry and redcurrant, but I’m not a huge fan of it at the moment. I love cranberry sauce with potatoes, and Brussels sprouts (Recipe: Potato, Brussel Sprout and Cranberry Bake), but that isn’t enough protein to tick the boxes for a well-balanced meal.

I tried red split lentils last night. I like red split lentils because I don’t have to soak them for hours before hand when I need an instant meal, they are very nutritious and filling and never taste how you think they are going to (they have a lemony taste to me). I use them a lot in daal (Courgettes and carrot Daal) but they are actually very nice just boiled, plain. And even more nice with a little bit of sweet cranberry sauce added to them.

Do you know what else goes really well with cranberry sauce? Runner beans. I dug out a packet we froze from this years harvest.

I’ve got another 3 1/2 large jars of cranberry sauce from December left to eat up… 🙂

Lentils, potatoes, runner beans and cranberry sauce

(Serves 4) 

-4 medium sized potatoes -250g red split lentils -8 serving spoons worth of runner beans -4 generous tsp of cranberry sauce, to serve

1. Pierce holes in the potatoes and place in the microwave. Heat for approximately 10-15 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft and squishy and have cooked through.
2. Meanwhile, bring a small pan of water to the boil. Add the red split lentils and simmer for about 15 minutes or until they have absorbed the water and are cooked. If there is any spare water, drain, and put to one side.
3. Bring another pan of water to the boil and add sliced beans into it. Boil for about 6 minutes or until the beans are cooked. Drain.
4. Place a potato on each plate and slice open. Spoon lentils next to it and 2 serving spoons of runner beans. Add a large dollop of cranberry sauce to serve.

Christmas time = cooking time

Well, it is December and the festivities are drawing closer.

I end my uni term this Friday (finally) and at space 2 grow we have our last meeting on Wednesday to clear space for the vegetable patch!!!! before breaking up until the new year. We have a special Christmas dinner on Thursday night to celebrate all of the work that we have done so far. I thought I was going to have to make nut roast for it (ah) but it turns out I don’t need to (phew) so instead I am making some brownies tomorrow night to bring along to our Wednesday meeting to encourage everyone to keep digging, pruning and burning (we have a couple of pyromaniacs on board).

But back to Christmas – this is a time for not so much growing in the garden, but they are very special because of this. Brussel Sprouts, Celeriac, Celery, Kale, Cabbage, Carrots. All of those cosy winter veggies. And Cranberries.

You’ve planted all of your delights in the warm weather, now it is time to play with the harvest indoors when it is hitting minus temperatures outside. So here are some little festive treats to get you in the mood. Some are from this blog, some are from my other blog Bella’s Baking, now very recently Beagle Baking. If any of you have a beagle, you will understand.

Brussels Sprouts – ideas and information about your favourite green!

Cranberries – cranberry sauce is essential for Christmas lunch, as is this Christmas Chocolate Walnut and dried Cranberry cake!

Chestnuts – chestnut jam anyone?

Gingerbread Men — Bella’s Baking – link to Bella’s Baking/ Beagle Baking blog with plenty of baking recipes for the festivities, plus more coming…

Christmas Cake: https://bellasbakingsite.wordpress.com/2017/11/05/iced-and-marzipan-christmas-cake/

Christmas Pudding: https://bellasbakingsite.wordpress.com/2017/11/04/christmas-pudding/

Brownies make great presents: https://bellasbakingsite.wordpress.com/2017/01/07/brownies/

Christmas Buns: So good: https://bellasbakingsite.wordpress.com/2016/12/24/christmas-buns/

Chocolate Log: https://bellasbakingsite.wordpress.com/2016/12/19/chocolate-log/

TO COME: Californian Christmas Cake, Mice Pies, Homemade Mincemeat, Homemade Redcurrant Jelly, Brussel Sprouts Cranberry and Potato Bake, Vegetarian Stuffing…

March – sowing and growing

There are too many plants that can be started off indoors/outdoors in March to name! But here are a few to get you started…

Carrots – Carrots – sown one trench outside under fleece

Spinach – Salad – Spinach – planted out ‘Turaco’ spinach sown last autumn in a cold frame with fleece and started off indoors ‘Barbados’ and ‘Emelia’, onto ‘Samish’ soon…

Lettuce- Salad – Lettuce – planted out lettuce sown last winter in the cold frame with the spinach and sown some seeds indoors

Radishes – Salad – Radish – sown outdoors under fleece between other crops

Celery – Celery – batch sown indoors

Celeriac – Celeriac – ”

Courgettes – Courgettes – sown indoors

Squashes – have yet to plant ‘Honey Bear’ and ‘Sunburst’

Quinoa – Quinoa – batch sown indoors

Chickpeas – Sown indoors, first time trying them this year!

Broad beans – Broad Beans – ready to plant out under fleece

Peas – started off indoors but can be sown directly now – post hopefully coming soon…

Okra – Okra – couple damped off so planted some more indoors

Rocket – Salad – Rocket – sown indoors, not doing so well…

Watercress – sown indoors

Herbs – sown the parsley and coriander so far

Fenugreek – damped off, need to sow some more indoors

Cucumbers – Cucumbers – sown indoors, doing best at moment, please stay that way!

Tomatoes – germinated very well indoors

Potatoes – time to think about planting them outdoors under a lot of earth and some cover

Turnips – just sown some

Purple Sprouting Broccoli – just sown some (as well as some more Calabrese Broccoli) indoors AND just harvested first batch of last year’s crop the other night to have with some of the last dug up potatoes from last season with baked beans, cheese and frozen homegrown runner beans – yum!

Leeks – Leeks – indoors

Spring Onions – indoors

Beetroot – indoors, on my list

Cabbages – Cabbages – ‘Red Rodeo’, ‘Advantage’, ‘Caserta’ – sown indoors

Brussels Sprouts and Brukale – Brussels Sprouts – quickly sow before it gets too late

Kale – The last of the Kale

Sweet Corn – on my list but I know from experience that I can still get away with sowing it in May, indoors

Rhubarb – Rhubarb – time to feed and start forcing

Fruit Trees/Bushes – time to feed!

There are bound to be plenty more veggies to sow/plant out as we plough on through the first month of spring. Temperatures are finally warming up but hang onto some fleece – the fruit trees might be lured into a false spring, deadly for blossom and fruit production… Make sure anything you sow outside/ plant out is wrapped up under cover, nice and snuggly. It will be a shock to the system if they are exposed to Britain’s ‘spring time’ too early!

FLOWERS TO SOW INDOORS:

French Marigolds

Cosmos

Viola

Lavender

Geraniums

Calendulas

Lupins

Sweet Peas – they are ready to plant out under cover

There are BILLIONS more… 

 

February Sowings

List of edibles you could start sowing indoors in February:

Cucumbers: Passandra, Marketmore, Crystal Lemon.  For more information on planting cucumbers, visit my cucumber page: Cucumbers

Calabrese Broccoli – Ironman F1 – Calabrese Broccoli

Cauliflower – All Year Round

Spinach – Emilia and Barbados Salad – Spinach

Peppers – Californian Wonder

Aubergine – Black Beauty Aubergine

Rocket – Salad – Rocket

Onions – bulbs (outdoors under cover) and seeds

Shallots – seeds

Brussels Sprouts and Brukale – Maximus and Petite Posy Brussels Sprouts

Lettuce Salad – Lettuce

Tomatoes – Shirley, Gardner’s Delight, Sungold, Losetto…

Radishes – Salad – Radish

First early potatoes (outdoors under cover)- e.g. Swift, Red Duke of York, Epicure, Rocket The MIGHTY Potato

Garlic (outdoors) Garlic

Herbs indoors

Beetroot – Bolthardy

Spring Onions

Cabbages – Caserta

Oriental greens – e.g. komatsuna, pak choi, mizuna, mitzuna)

Okra

Cape Gooseberries

Rhubarb (forcing time) Rhubarb

Broadbeans – Masterpiece Green Long Pod, Aquadulce Broad Beans

 

I’m bound to have missed lots – anyone got any ideas to share??

 

Hungry Gap

What to think of growing for next winter’s hungry gap?

Kale

It will start to flourish in the most ‘hungriest’ gap of all, around February when all of your stores have dwindled. Boil, steam, fry or add to stews, curries, soups, pizza toppings, lasagnes, bologneses, casseroles, etc and it will wilt down to nothing but is so good for you!

The last of the Kale

Cabbage

Kept under only insect netting, cabbages can be grown for an early spring crop or throughout the autumnal and winter months for a warming cooked green due to their hardiness.

Cabbages

Spanish Tree Cabbage

Huge plants that should last for two-three years once sown. They are frost resistant and produce huge green leaves that you harvest like kale. Pull them off, cut them up, and cook like cabbage/kale. They taste just like them.

Purple Sprouting Broccoli

This one will not be ready until just before spring each year, but it will give you an early green before the calabrese broccoli has even been planted out into the ground. Snip off the little flowers as the grow and boil or steam for some homegrown goodness before the rest of the veg is ready for harvesting. The plants are frost hardy during the winter months.

Swiss Chard

Giant spinach that lasts all year round and self-seeds magnificently. Plant a few and they will die back when they get worn out but will regrown pretty quickly. You will want to cook these leaves as they are a bit strong – avoid the stalks, they are not very tasty. I like putting mine on top of homemade pizzas or chucking them in a stir fry.

Potatoes 

Plant lots of potatoes, store some and cover the rest in the ground with tonnes of soil and some horticultural fleece to prevent frost damage. They might suffer a little from slug damage but I promise that they will still be completely edible and wonderful! They last a lot longer in the ground than they do in storage.

The MIGHTY Potato

Swede

Swedes can be left in the ground, like potatoes, all winter long. You don’t need to fleece them but can if you like. They will be exhausted by mid-spring so aim to pull them all up then.

Turnips

Same as swedes.

Beetroot

Cover your beetroot with fleece and they will stay in the ground throughout the winter.

Carrots

Again, keep covered with fleece and dig them up throughout the winter months. The green tops will die back but the roots themselves will stay fresh in the ground.

Carrots

Brussels Sprouts and Brukale

These need a little frost to keep them tender. They should be pickable around Christmas time and thoughout the winter months. Boil or steam.

Brukale is a cross between a Brussels Sprout and Kale – I personally think it is even more delicious than either!

Brussels Sprouts

Leeks

Will last longer than onions in the ground that will rot when the frost strikes.

Leeks

Celeriac 

These should be ready to harvest after the frosty time, during December and throughout the winter months. They can be roasted, boiled, mashed, made into soups, added to stocks etc. for a nourishing root vegetable.

Watercress

I was surprised when our watercress flourished in the cooler months than it did throughout spring or summer. Grow it in pots and cover with fleece and it will be a salad leaf that will see you through winter.

Rocket

It won’t last as long as watercress in the cold months but it will see you through a majority of it as long as you keep it fleeced.

Micro-Greens

Grow these on your windowsill indoors. These can include speedy cress, sunflower seeds, beansprouts, alfalfa, pea shoots, and lots more sprouting seeds are available in the shops.

 

Do you have any winter veggies to grow through the ‘hungry gap’? 

 

Brussels Sprouts

Sow: February-April

Harvest: October-April

Brussels Sprouts are members of the Gemmifera Group of cabbages, Brassica oleracea, grown for its edible buds. They look like mini-cabbages and taste like slightly stronger versions. The Brussels sprout has long been popular in Brussels, Belgium, and may have originated and gained its name there.

‘Maximus’

Forerunners to modern Brussels sprouts were likely cultivated in Ancient Rome. Although native to the Mediterranean region with other cabbage species, Brussels sprouts first appeared in northern Europe during the 5th century, later being cultivated in the 13th century near Brussels from which they supposedly derived their name. The French coined the title in the 18th century. It was common to put a landmark on a food. Whether they actually were developed in Brussels is not certain but there are records of Brussels Sprouts around where Brussels is as far back as the 13th century. During the 16th century, they enjoyed a popularity in the Southern Netherlands that eventually spread throughout the cooler parts of Northern Europe.

I grew this year the brilliant ‘Maximus’ which I highly recommend. I sowed it in February and planted it out after the frosts had gone. I did not harvest any until Christmas Day, Boxing Day and the day after but they could be picked from September onwards if you are lucky. I still have a few small ones left to develop that should see us through the winter months.

Other varieties to consider:

‘Noisette’ and ‘Groininger’ are good earlies, pre-Christmas.

‘Seven Hills’ is recommended for the Christmas season.

‘Wellington’ will offer a late winter harvest as will the red coloured ‘Red Rubine’.

Start sprouts off indoors in February in pots of compost, 1.5cm (1/2 inch) deep. Transplant April-June when the plants are big and strong with at least three leaves growing. Plant firmly in a trench with well rotted manure and Blood Fish and Bone mixed in. Space them 60cm apart. Water well – brassicas need hydration. Prop the plants up with sticks, especially as they get bigger. You will want to net them straight away to keep out the pesky Cabbage Whites, and I am afraid you will have to keep the insect netting on them all year round. However, these hardy plants will not need fleecing or any type of frost protection. In fact, they need a little cold to prosper.

Pick the sprouts from the bottom of the plant upwards, the largest ones first, a few at a time. However, don’t ignore the leaves of the actual plant. They make good cut-and-come-again greens and often taste milder than the sprouts themselves. Take a few at a time. Another thing you can do is chop the tops of the plant off. They taste very mild and are like mini-cabbages when boiled.

Brussels sprouts are rich in many valuable nutrients. They are an excellent source of vitamin C and vitamin K. They are a very good source of numerous nutrients including folate, manganese, vitamin B6, dietary fiber, choline, copper, vitamin B1, potassium, phosphorus and omega-3 fatty acids. They are also a good source of iron, vitamin B2, protein, magnesium, pantothenic acid, vitamin A, niacin, calcium and zinc. In addition to these nutrients, Brussels sprouts contain numerous disease-fighting phytochemicals including sulforaphane, indoles, glucosinolates, isothiocynates, coumarins, dithiolthiones and phenols. Brussels are credited with reducing cancer, cardiovascular disease and supporting the dietary system as it contains a good amount of fibre.

Steaming or boiling sprouts should only take about 6 minutes. Cook until just tender. They are of course brilliant with Christmas dinner or any other boiled veg meal (sausages and mash, roasted chicken are such examples) but don’t just reserve them for roast dinners. Shredded bacon mixed with Brussels Sprouts makes a good side dish. Bubble and Squeak is a classic. Chestnuts is another good one to mix in. Melted parmesan cheese on top. I personally like boiled potatoes, Brussels sprouts and cranberry sauce mixed together in the form of a dish – a light, warming continuation of Christmas dinner.

‘Brukale’ Petite Posy

Brukale

Another veg to consider is Brukale – which I actually prefer to Brussels Sprouts. It is a cross between a Brussels Sprout and a Kale. It is basically mini-kales that grow like Brussels Sprouts. Sow indoors in February (try ‘Petite Posy’ from Mr Fothergills) and plant out along with the Brussels Sprouts. Pick them like you would pick Brussels Sprouts and boil them for slightly less longer. Their taste will be less potent than a sprout.

Brukale and Brussels Sprouts picked for Christmas lunch 2016

Boiled Brussels Sprouts

Boiled Brukale

Christmas Lunch 2016 – homegrown Brussels Sprouts, Brukale, Potatoes, Carrots, Runner beans and cranberry sauce (unfortunately, roasted parsnips and peas were not, fortunately the sausages, bacon, turkey and homemade stuffing were not too!)

Tis the Season for Brussels!

The weather has been awful this week. Not even my trusty fleeces could stop the frost. it has been too cold and dark for me to do any work in my veg garden this week which has made me very low.

However, last week I uncovered my brussels sprouts to give them some new sticks for propping – and look at how beautiful they are!

 

The purple plants are Brukale – cross between brussels and kale. Aren’t they sweet? You can buy seeds from Mr Fothergills.

Let’s hope they are still looking as beautiful by Christmas lunch!

Happy December all, hope no one gets too cold.