The weather's been mixed again this week, summer one day, autumn the next. I expect the plants are confused. I am anyway.
But it's not been bad for harvests. I'm continuing to get lots of overwintered rocket, that we have in sandwiches or with salady meals ( here including my own grown and fermented gherkins)
The organic veggie stall on the market was closed for a couple of weeks, so I was trying to get creative. Having run out of onions from the stall, I snipped off a couple of the greens from spare onion sets I stuck in the garden.
...which added an extra dimension to a noodle soup, which also include the last of my corn from the freezer.
I'm running out of overwintered chard but getting some reasonable pickings. I think we had this with pie :)
I almost forgot, I rustled up my first potatoes! I was feeling a bit under the weather that day so only got this pic. A couple of the guys on the allotment site had been lifting theirs, so I thought I'd have a go (even though I knew I'd planted mine later than them). So rather than lift a whole plant (likely to mainly be small tubers ) I pulled back the grass-clipping mulch and some loose soil from a few plants and just took the biggest potatoes I could see /feel and left the little ones. The plants will then continue to grow and I'll have another check along the row this week. There's been lots of rain over the weekend so that'll help them.
I spotted a couple of asparagus spears in the bed I've sort of abandoned (I've planted the bed witha couple of squash plants instead)
...and added to a soup tonight, with the last frozen potatoes ( I thought I'd already used these up, but spotted another dishful at the back of a shelf) and some perpetual spinach I picked the other day.
Drum roll.........My first broad beans of the year! About 2 pounds, picked on friday
I was thinking of making a broad bean soup but first I fancied something a bit different. Shaheen's 'A Veg Table' blog is always good to check for recipes and I wasn't disappointed - plus this Broad bean stew was really easy.
I podded the beans in the (rainy) Saturday afternoon so there was less time pressure later on - it always takes longer than you think, and I cross-referenced the original recipe that inspired Shaheen too because my beans were fresh rather than soaked. I didn't have any dill either but have loads of marjoram so used that instead, I'd picked some the day before from the plot and brought it home because I thought the flavours would probably go ok with beans and was originally just thinking of making a soup.
Nice with some honey and walnut sourdough from the Norwich Providore stall on the market. And we liked it so much and it was so quick and easy, we had it the next day too! ( we needed something quick after spending a rainy Sunday afternoon watching the awesome new Jurassic World film.)
Another big harvest this week has been strawberries. - 1.1kg picked on Friday
Picked two days later (Sunday), Another couple of kg! I've picked 5kg in just under 2 weeks, phew.
We've eaten lots raw as snacks or with yogurt and I've given lots away too, plus frozen some. I thought I'd make a cake too using this Strawberry cake recipe for something a bit different.
Yums! I'll be heading to the plot tomorrow after work to pick the next batch.
Linking in with HarveEst Monday on Daphne's Dandelions.
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I love seeing all the meals you cook up with your garden harvests. And look at all your strawberries and broad beans. So wonderful.
ReplyDeleteThank you Phoung, it's very kind of you to say so.
DeleteI just love your salad with the egg & rustic breads...they look so delicious! And those broad bean pods are huge! This will be my first year growing them & I have no idea what to expect - is that a pretty typical size for them? If so, I had better add some better supports or my plants will be keeling over with the weight (crossing my fingers that this actually becomes an issue as I planted the seeds rather late and am worried about even getting a harvest). And THOSE are strawberries - most of mine are small and many are misshaped - looks like I will have to find a new variety once I start a new bed in a year or two.
ReplyDeleteThanks Margaret, the bread is locally made, very tasty! The broad bean pods can get quite big, it depends on the variety a bit. Also it depends how big you want your actual beans, you have to feel the pods to feel how big the beans are inside. It's good to support your plants too, I usually do though didn't get round to it this time and some of my plants flopped and snails n slugs did a bit of damage but not too much. Also, my pods weren't all 'full', sometimes only one or two beans had properly formed but in others more. Not sure why that happens but the soil in that bed wasn't particularly good, so that may have had something to do with it. You should be ok with the timing, some people do several staggered sowings over a few months to vary the harvests. I have some spring-sown ones that're just starting to pod.
DeleteThanks, I've picked over 7kg strawbs now! Ah, I think I forgot to take a pic of the last batch, oh well, more picking tomorrow.
Ooh, your rocket! I'm envious. Mine (arugula here) all bolted and I had to pull it all after only a tiny harvest. But I have a bit more on the go in a container now. Those broad beans look HUGE! I've never seen any in their shell before.
ReplyDeleteArugula, that's a cool word susie! Mine is quite spicy, the plants are a couple of years old, I just keep cutting them back. But I did sow more this year, which has been bolting. Though you can eat the flowers and seed pods of rocket too.
DeleteThe broad bean pods are big'uns! It was Aqua dulce, an autumn sown variety. The insides of the pods are brill, with lovely soft white padding. Some people will pick the pods when they're smaller and eat the whole thing a bit like a mange tout, I've never tried that though.
What a wonderful harvest. Strawberries and broad beans are wonderful early summer things aren't they. You've reminded me I meant to pick a bowl of strawberries for tea last night. I doubt we'll have many this year, neither of my strawberry patches is doing well. We had a sprinkling of tiny broad beans raw on a salad the other day, they were absolutely delicious.
ReplyDeleteThanks CJ, it's nice to be getting some tasty harvests. I've tried raw baby broad beans but there's something about the flavour I don't quite like, but I know lots of people do. It's just me I think! So I let mine get abit bigger for cooking.
DeleteWow, you certainly know how to make nice meals with your fruit and veg! The Strawberry cake reminds me of "Clafoutis", made with cherries. The Broad Bean stew looks excellent too. My favourite herb with BBs is Savory (preferably the more robust Winter Savory, not the softer Summer version). I know this won't appeal to you, but I also think that BBs go exceptionally well with bacon! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Mark, it's nice to hear coming from a foodie like yourself. The stew was really, really easy and quick which is always a bonus. Ah, I haven't tried savoury before. Ha ha, yes I've heard that bb go well with bacon.
DeleteYour chard has served you well- pity we don't like it. We lost all our frozen potatoes and shepherd pie when a freezer went on the blink ( well to be more accurate the long sleep).
ReplyDeleteI always end up with black fingernails when podding broad beans. and ny the way the cake looks delicious
Oh no, shame about your freezer sue!
Deletei don't tend to get black fingernails podding bb but I think I came up with a method by accident. I split across the pod about 2/3 down (you can just see this in the pic) then ease the beans out with the side of my thumb.
Mmm, still enough for two slices of strawb cake left, that's tomorrow's treat.
Those fava beans look so good. I used to always pod them as soon as I picked them. They always take so long. But so worth it.
ReplyDeleteThanks Daphne, I've been podding some more tonight, it's taking a while!
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