Kale has been amazing at the plot this year, cropping all the through from summer, despite the drought and attack of grey aphids. I've seen on various Facebook posts that the aphids have been particularly bad this year, I've certainly never seen them like that before, even a few of the smaller plants died completely before I noticed how badly they were covered in aphids. The curly kale seemed to be affected more than the cavelo Nero.
I had a reasonable crop of winter squashes, this piccie taken recently, set up on our sofa, not a fancy background as it looks!....The squashes are storing well in the house on various shelves. We'd already eaten a few of the smaller ones. I definitely need to try and grow more next year, they're so good for winter food.
I recently dug up all the parsnips as I wanted to cover that bed with leafmould, and knew I'd lose where the 'snips were hiding. Well, they were pretty small (about twice as many as in the pic) but tasty roasted. I blame the drought again (good to have something to blame this year, ha ha). Actually they're usually quite good, I intercrop them between broad beans....the 'snips grow on after the beans are cleared.
On Saturday I had a good couple of hours on the plot, sorting a few things out including protecting all the brassicas with netting / mesh etc to keep the pigeons off over the winter. They've been ok uncovered up until now but as the weather gets worse and 'wild' food in the area becomes more scarce, the pigeons tend to come and have a munch. I've got plenty of self-sown chard uncovered around the plot, so they can have a good old feast on that.
I harvested most of the remaining beetroot (variety cylindra) which I'd originally multi-sown in modules at home before planting out on the plot. They were intercropped as well, with little gem lettuces earlier in the year and then czar runner beans growing up wigwams over the top later. The Nero kale is still looking healthy but as growth slows at this time of year, the leaves are small. I've started harvesting leeks as well...they have a bit of rust but are ok when the outer leaves are removed. They were sown in pots at home and then planted out into dibbed holes in the bed once the early potatoes were all lifted. The corn salad is looking great around the plot, this is another plant I let self seed. I have to hoe some of it out where it grows too thickly or on paths but that doesn't take long. I find the best plants are those where they have a bit of space to grow into a decent size rather than all crammed close together. Plus you can help by harvesting individuals to then let the others around them grow on.
Jan was making mince pies today (yum!), so as the oven was on I took the opportunity to roast up the butternut squash. Excuse the photos, it's difficult to get a decent shot in the electric light. I meant to weigh the squash first but forgot.
It was really easy to cut through, so I left the skin on for roasting. The colour was gorgeous but you can't tell in this pic unfortunately.
Oh my gosh, it was so so good. I did one batch just in olive oil which was real good but even better was with ground coriander, a pinch of salt and chopped dry chilli (rough recipe from BBC Good Food).
I used the chilli ones to make a spicy meal with my own onion, garlic and kale, plus green lentils, mushrooms and a tin of tomatoes, and a dollop of yogurt. Mmm.
This Autumn I did a bit of foraging. I went to the usual sweet chestnut woods, not actually expecting too much because of the drought, but I guess the rains came at the right time for the nuts to swell because they were amazing! We've still got some in the fridge, and am hoping to use them to make a pie for Christmas lunch. I've found a really good way of roasting so they don't dry out....slice them all as usual then soak in water for at least 30mins. Roast in a tray, adding water to the tray every now and then - keeps them lovely and moist.
There's a walnut tree on public land near my allotment, planted by the city council a few years ago (nine or so?). Last year it had a handful of nuts but this year it really bumped up the numbers...surprising what a different one year will make. Most of them came down in a strong wind so I headed home with pocketfuls that day. The grass underneath the tree had been recently cut so it was easy to find them whereas last year I was scrabbling around in the undergrowth (raising a few eyebrows I'm sure). Here's some of them....
Last year my two hazel nut trees put out an incredible crop but this year all the leaves fell off mid-summer in the drought! There's plenty of catkins now so will have to see how it goes next year, they make a fantastic addition to the free nutty protein from the foraging.
In November we were really lucky in Norwich to be visited by renowned no-digger Charles Dowding. I've been interested in his methods for quite a while, so it was a real treat to see him speak in person...a very full-on two hours packed with information. As well as his main no-dig approach (applying composted mulch to the surface) he has loads of advice on time-saving methods. Check out his website, books and many You Tube videos. Oh and huge thanks to Norfolk Organic Group for arranging the visit, I know they've been trying to get him to Norwich for a couple of years but he's not often in this part of the country.
He kindly gave me a free bag of salad as I bought a couple of books and calendars!
To finish, a pic from yesterday, when we had a sunny winter walk down to our local Country Park (Whitlingham). Amazingly, although we live in the centre of Norwich, the park is within walking distance for us.
Thanks for taking the time to read this...I'll hopefully be back next week if I've managed to get a few pics. The iPad keeps grumbling at me that it's full, which isn't helping. Wow, it'll be Christmas Eve!
Massive thanks to Dave at Happy Acres Blog, who hosts Harvest Monday.
Good to see you back! If you hadn't said so I would have thought the squash pic was an 'art shot'. Your roasted squash treatment sounds yummy, and I wouldn't have thought about using ground coriander. I'll have to give that a try. And that's a lovely bowl of chestnuts too. A friend recently gave us a few that were already roasted and ready to eat. I was happy to oblige too!
ReplyDeleteThanks Dave! I'll definitely be repeating the squash recipe with coriander, chilli and salt, it really brings out the flavour of the squash. I remembered that I have lots of saved coriander seed from the summer when I was helping at a community allotment where it self-seeded everywhere, so that'll be handy.
DeleteAh thanks, thAt reminds me I need to roast the chestnuts before Tuesday, as I don't fancy prepping them on Christmas Day!
What a delightful post. Thanks for sharing. The squash look wonderful. I miss growing parsnips. Yours are the size I prefer.
ReplyDeleteThanks Susan. I'd have liked the parsnips to be a teeny bit bigger as they were a bit fiddly to scrub, but at least they didn't need peeling, there'd have been nothing left!
DeleteGreat to see you back! I would blame the drought for you aphid problems on the kale, I always have terrible problems with them here where rain-free summers are the norm. They especially like frilly leaf kales here too so I rarely grow those. You are so fortunate to be able to forage walnuts and chestnuts, I have to buy them.
ReplyDeleteThanks Michelle. Ah that's interesting about the aphids on your kales. I'll carry on growing the curly kale for now and hope we have more rain next summer.
DeleteYeah the walnuts are quite a new thing so are very exciting. We do buy shelled nuts through the year though, useful as snacks.
I can’t seem to get on with the app. It won’t scroll in edit mode so I have to write my blog on my desktop computer. Maybe I am doing something wrong. We want to grow more small squashes next year. Have you one that you would recommend?
ReplyDeleteHi sue, I've been using blog touch pro this year, it's ok but a bit clunky. I take my photos on the iPad, so using an app on that makes things a little more straightforward. I don't like typing on it though, it sets off my RSI...I should hold it at a better angle really!
DeleteFor small squash, I like the flavour of sweet dumpling...they are very sweet though. You can use them in various ways but I usually just roast them in slices (sliced along the groove, keep the skin on). I went to the Lost Gardens of Heligan this year with my mum and bought some seeds there - pumpkin Giraumon galeux d'eysinee and butternut Waltham. I've got no idea what they'll be like but really wanted to try some of their seeds!