Harvest Monday - nuts! And Science!

I wanted to try out some of the hazels from the allotment - it's been a few weeks since I harvested them and they've got a nice full flavour now. So initially, as I had half a red cabbage left (bought from Folland Organics on Norwich Market) I thought I'd try the spiced cabbage recipe from last week, using hazels instead of chestnuts. Jan dutifully started cracking hazels whilst I chopped the red onion and cabbage etc. She amassed a nice little potful...

Then I started doubting myself, whether the flavour would work as well, so instead I added some frozen chestnuts to the cabbage, and cut all the hazels in half (photos aren't very good due to poor light).

And made one of my all time favourites - toasted hazels, yum yum yum. Simply toasted in a dry frying pan, they taste so good. The stash of stored hazels wasn't dented too much, so there's plenty more of these to be made. And the catkins for next year are already formed on the two allotment hazel trees, looking good too.

The internet is awash with photos of winter squash at the moment so I didn't want to miss joining in. These were assembled together on our sofa, from their current homes on various shelves and tables downstairs. The three big, long ones underneath are the green butternuts, surrounded by sweet dumpling (stripey), cream of the crop (pointy) and blue kuri. It's hard to tell the size here but the biggest squash is about 16lb (according to my bathroom scales). So a good number of meals coming from that lot. We'll be having friends round to watch Stranger Things on tv soon, and I can see us cooking a squash meal (or two or three).

Out in the lean-to greenhouse at home I picked most of the rest of the sweet peppers, which were almost all ripe. I'd noticed some little flecks had appeared on a couple and it turned out they had grubs inside, eating away at the peppers, urgh - the flecks were their poo I think, like caterpillars leave. Anyway, I managed to salvage quite a bit of pepper flesh so lucky I didn't leave it too much later to pick them.

We're still eating nice fresh salad leaves in our sandwiches. Today I picked most of the outdoor lettuce that was left - it can't be long until the first frost and they probably won't last past that. I also picked some more coriander and dill from the lean-to, which make a flavoursome combination. Then on top, are some sprouted lentils which I sprout in a jar on the windowsill then keep in the fridge once they've got to the right size. (Though I remember reading years ago that those sprouted in the dark produce different vitamins...I'll have to look that up and see if I remember rightly). The bread is delicious organic sourdough from Timberhill Bakery, double-yum.

I've been to loads of food related events this week! Most were being put on as part of the Norwich Science Festival. There were so many sciencey events and loads were free as well, which is always a bonus.

 

I didn't get many photos but a quick mention - Nicholas Crane (from 'Coast' TV prog) talked about man's impact on the British landscape, which as we know includes the effects of agriculture past and present. Professor Alice Roberts talked about our history of taming species, the first covering wolves / dogs and also included the (possibly accidental) development of agriculture. They both have books out about their respective themes, so there's some Christmas pressie ideas for you. Both these talks ended with a question about where modern agriculture will go next? My view is, bearing in mind that the soils are trashed, we're losing species and increasing carbon emissions, a hastening move towards regenerative agriculture needs to be on the cards. Ecological farming and soil building, here we come (hopefully).

 

I also saw Helen Sharman (Britain's first astronaut) who was an amazing speaker (as was Alice Roberts). Interestingly they both shared the view that the long term future of humans will rely on colonising other planets, as for example, if a huge asteroid came along we'd be in proper trouble (not their exact words). Hopefully no big asteroids are heading this way anytime soon then.

 

The last day of the Science Festival (yesterday) was actually 'food and agriculture' themed (other days were Nature, Engineering, Physics etc). First I went to a talk on soils, focusing on the battles between all the microorganisms happening without many of us noticing. There is so much life and diversity in a healthy soil, it's amazing.

On a lighter topic, Tim Kinnaird (finalist of MasterChef who now runs a macaron business in Norwich), explained the science behind making the perfect macaron, which is actually surprisingly sciencey. There were some samples afterwards which I *may* have tried (very yummy).

Ironically his show (where recipes involve a fair amount of butter and sugar) was followed by one on the positive effects of eating plenty of fibre in your diet, but hey, a little bit of macaron every now and then is ok, eh. The final talk I saw described the fungal problem affecting bananas - interestingly, even though there are over 1000 banana species, there is mainly just one grown for commercial export (the Cavendish) and it grows as a clone (no seeds as they have been bred out). So there are these genetically identical plantations across the tropics, at risk to the fungus, which is spreading about quite nicely. Whilst there are methods for minimising the risk of spreading the fungus (footwear hygiene for example), the scientist who gave the talk, Dr Sarah Schmidt, is looking for ways to combat the problem. One of the methods involves identifying soil bacteria which inhibit growth of the fungus...so we're back to the importance of soils again. She has a website where you can find out more if you're interested.

 

Also this week I've been to the pre-launch of Norwich FarmShare's exciting crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for their new site. I'll say more about that next week, after the proper launch. And tonight, this very evening, I've been to the Norfolk Organic Group's monthly talk, this time about growing potatoes.....also very interesting, and with the added bonus of taste-testing some delicious freshly baked potatoes of different varieties that members had brought in. What a lovely idea.

 

Finally, a shot through the larger polytunnel at Eves Hill Veg Co (not for profit market garden where I volunteer) from Wednesday. All the summer crops have now gone but look at that brilliant winter salad. Yes I still have polytunnel envy.

Thanks for reading this week, it was a long 'un. I'm linking in with Harvest Monday kindly hosted by Dave at Our Happy Acres.

(PS I wrote this on Monday evening but then had iPad issues, so am publishing Tuesday instead)

 

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Harvest Monday - another roast (and some seed sprouting)

Wow, it's been really windy the last few days and some heavy rain too. But I did get to the plot on Saturday afternoon for a couple of hours and made a start on a hugel bed (ooh).

This is where you layer up material, starting with logs at the bottom, then smaller branches then twiggy stuff, green stuff and then top off with some soil. I've got the first two layers done. Not sure exactly what I'm going to top it off with as I don't have any spare soil, but I might be getting some horse poo soon. The idea is that over time everything breaks down, levels out, and feeds the plants grown on top. Or if you build one as a toblerone shape you can plant-up the sides and top too.

I had a spot which was in a big dip, next to a big buddliea, so thought I'd bring up the level by making one of these beds. I am taking pics which I'll share later in the process. I'm planning on growing a couple of squash plants here but I'm a bit worried that slugs and snails will find it a nice place to live too. Though I found a couple of toads which might help (I moved them somewhere safe).

On to the harvests this week...not too much!

I forgot that sprouting seeds would count as a harvest - these are alf Alfa. My pack of seeds is 2 years old! I didn't sprout seeds for ages and they went out of date. So not that many actually germinate, but enough do each time, this is about half.

This is the start of the process - put in a couple of teaspoons of seeds, add some water and let them soak overnight. Then leave them in a light place and give them a rinse twice a day. After a few days they'll have sprouted and you can enjoy in salads, sandwiches, add at the end of a stir fry etc. There's loads of different seeds you can sprout too, like mung beans, lentils, chickpeas. This container has holes in the lid for the water to drain out and the green arm thing keeps it leaning at an angle. But you can just use an old jar and make holes in the lid (best to use a plastic one).

Yesterday I thought I'd use up some of my smaller squashes, one had started to go mouldy (it was one which came late from a self sown plant from the compost and probably hadn't cured properly)

But half of it was ok

And the others in half too:

The larger squash had big enough seeds to roast, so I did some of my hazel nuts at the same time (I roasted the amount that I could crack open in the time it took the squash to roast, which wasn't too long because I'd chopped them up quite small.)This is them before roasting, all that remains is in the paper bag. I roasted on gas mark 4 for about 10 mins (after the squash was finished on gas mark 6).

The roasted squash...YUM! With some of last week's chestnut roast from the freezer. Other veggies not home grown!

And a few of the hazels (all eaten now... SO TASTY! I hope I get more this year). The skin flakes off once they're roasted, making a nicer flavour.

That's me for for the week. Linking in with Harvest Monday on Daphne's Dandelions

 

 

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Harvest Monday - brrr

Yup, autumn / winter is here and we've even had the heating on (I always resist this as long as possible!).

I've brought two of my pepper plants in to the house from the lean-to (which is basically a greenhouse stuck on the back of the house). They still have little green peppers just growing through the flowers so thought I'd see if they'll get any bigger. It's nice to have more plants in the house anyway.

I still have in the lean to; some basil, a chilli pepper, two aubergines (with small aubs on) and two more peppers with small fruit on too. I'd like to bring them in to the house as well but don't have the room unfortunately. One day I'd like to build an earth ship with one whole side of the house for growing food!

Earlier in the week, a pepper and some basil -

I got a reasonable picking yesterday from the plot - chard, kale

I also picked a little cabbage, found a potato, brought a couple of onions back from the shed and....found acouple of cucumbers! These were from one I planted quite late, under some enviromesh and forgot about. I was pulling out the plant yesterday and found these! Haven't tried them yet, so they might be too bitter. The little pepper fell off a plant from the lean-to when I moved it inside.

Yesterday I also spent a couple of hours getting the ground ready for planting garlic, I had to cover it over with sticks afterwards to stop the cats and foxes jumping and digging over the beds. Next in line is the broad beans.

This week I've also used up some frozen cubed pumpkin and a batch of frozen pumpkin soup. Tonight we had a yummy tea of fried onion, tomatoes (slowly ripening in the kitchen - they get a bit wrinkly so are better cooked with than in sandwiches), last weeks' courgette, cooked chard plus a couple of eggs all scrambled together on toast, drizzled with a bit of balsamic vinegar. Mmm, wish I'd taken a pic!

Oh, and yesterday, with the oven on I roasted some potatoes, the chard stems (braised) and some of my hazel nuts (they were awesome! I'll be doing more hazels that way for sure. The skin flakes off as well, leaving just the clean nut).

Linking in with Harvest Monday hosted by Daphne's Dandelions

 

 

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Harvest Monday - better than expected

Yep. Autumn is here now. Not much chance of getting on the plot after work anymore as its getting cold and dark sooner and we've got lots of busy weekends in a row (and for the past few weekends). It's all fun stuff but means the plot is a bit neglected (and the house is a tip). I did get nearly 3 hours on the plot yesterday and made a start at clearing the bed I'm going to sow broad beans. Of course I got side tracked many times and didn't seem to finish one job off. I had wanted to clear the bed for garlic too but didn't even make a start on that. Never mind!

And on to the pickings this week:

Thanks to the warm daytimes I've still got some courgettes limping along. The chard is doing ok too.

We were doing some baking for a hen weekend and there was some leftover melted chocolate, so I cracked open a few of my hazelnuts, toasted them and coated in the choc, yum!

Also toasted some flaked almonds and added some sultanas (not home grown!). Brandy snaps in the background made by Jan. I also made cheese and courgette muffins (using my courgette) but forgot to take a pic.

Toms ripening in a paper bag in the kitchen, basil from the lean-to and rocket from the garden.

A lonely pepper from the lean-to.

Headed down to the plot yesterday (Sunday) after coming back from the hen-do. These carrots were a nice surprise. And a couple more courgettes, one was a big 'un! Not sure how I missed this one before the weekend. A happy courgette-face too, although one of the little squashes was brown inside so it ended up in the compost

I had some neglected perpetual spinach that had got out of hand, so cut it right back and picked out the best leaves. Discovered a few missed potatoes when weeding the leeks (that I planted out where the pots had been). Brought back a few onions from the allot shed and cut a teeny bit of broccoli. Also found a small butternut squash and brought it home to ripen. I've now taken up all my winter squash plants as they were all looking very sorry for themselves. It's ironic that the courgettes have out-lived the winter squashes!

And finally, a few more toms ripening slowly in the kitchen. These went into a curry with the big courgette, a couple of carrots and the spinach. Very nice :) If I was being clever I'd have picked one of the chillis from the lean-to and added that as well. What can I say, I'm not clever!

Linking in with Harvest Monday on Daphne's dandelions. Also must apologise for not being very social on people's blogs at the moment, October and early November this year are v busy for me, which is quite unusual!

 

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Harvest Monday ......

So weather-wise we've had a bit of a mix again. This weekend has been really hot and sunny, a bit foggy and finally today we have had much-needed rain, though it's only really got going tonight.

Here's my round up for the week :

Some not v impressive peppers (I picked these first, there are some better ones). Anyone know what causes these brown bits? They were ok when these bits were cut out.

Contemplative crystal lemon cukes.

I brought a few onions back from the shed. I've grown Sturon from sets the last couple of years. I did autumn onions a few times but they never worked out that well so am sticking with spring planting.

Apples! A good crop this year. This doesn't include the ones we've eaten :) also I spotted a large gherkin peeking out. Unfortunately I wasted several gherkins as I found them at the back of the fridge all soft and mushy. Yuk. I'd run out of jars and forgotten about them. Oops.

Rubbish sweet corn from the back garden, tasted ok though. I only had three plants and they obviously didn't pollinate v well! The ones on the allot were better.

Last of the ripe toms from the lean to in the back garden plus a chilli. Got more chilis but still green so thout I'd take this one off to encourage the others to ripen.

The rest of me toms, removed to ripen-up. I've now taken out all the tom plants too, it really must be autumn.

A few more strawbs :) they were super-sweet, yummy. Last ridge cucumber.

These nuts are from an allotment friend's plot. His hazels are much bigger than mine! See previous post for a comparison. I helped him pick his and we shared the results.

Yesterday we decided to eat another one of the butter nut squashes.

It had a really tiny seed cavity like the last one! Not good if you want to save seeds but good for the tasty flesh. It's Sprinter

We roasted it and made some of Shaheen's quinoa and carrot meat balls / burgers, they were really tasty. We did change the recipe a bit (by accident). Jan got a bit carried away with the grating, and grated the carrot instead of steaming and mashing, so we added an egg to bind it all together. The photo doesnt do them justice :)

Tonight I dropped in to my allotment friends (Andrew) to give him half the nuts and he kindly gave me a bag of quinces and some of his apples. The apples are small but v sweet.

Tonight I also thought it'd better sort my potatoes out after they've been sat around for a while. I've tried to keep them out of the light as much as possible.

Minxie liked the cardboard box but not the potatoes.

And here's the mess! Top is the long term keepers, then clockwise....the mankiest (you can't see how bad they are, some even had living creatures inside, most will go in the compost), anyas (which have started sprouting), Colleen 2 bags (earlies. These have started sprouting too), and the medium term keepers.

This is one of my least favourite jobs, so I'm glad it's nearly over! I still have to put them in bags tonight though.

I didn't get any harvests today as I had to leave work late and it was dark by the time I got home (after I'd popped in to Andrew's) but think I might have some beans in the back garden ready to be picked...not too many left now though. I had wanted to check out my carrots on the plot but maybe I'll get time tomorow (and if it's not raining)

I went to a great open day at Norwich Farmshare on Saturday, which I'll report on soon...

Linking in to Harvest Monday over at Daphne's Dandleions

 

 

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Nutty comparison

So today I thought I'd have a lookee at my nuts! I decided to compare 3 different hazels, mine, Andrew's (allotment friend) and Turkey hazel (grown a lot by the council in ornamental planting)

First, the size...

Quite the difference! L to R (biggest to smallest), Andrew, me, Turkey hazel

And next the cracking

The turkey hazel split but mine and Andrew's were quite clean. No skin on the turkey.

The size of nut unsurprisingly reflected the size of the shell. Taste-wise, they were all quite nice but mine actually was the most hazely. This could've been because the other two were 'fresh'. I'd got the one from Andrew's plot on Friday after work and the turkey hazel whilst on a wander last night (there was a residential street covered in them!), whereas mine have been set out on a tray for a few weeks.

I got a tubful from Andrew's plot today - he'd collected loads around the same time I did mine (it was him who tipped me off they were ready). I spied some more in his trees from the path outside the allotments the other day and offered to collect them for him to save him the hassle (he moves himself around on the ground on the allot as he doesn't have use of his legs..amazing guy). I'll post a pic of the nuts tomorrow, they're rather large! Anyway we'll split the pickings. He said his last lot varied, some didn't have any kernel (? Is that what it's called) in and when he roasted some they were a bit mushy but he reckoned it might have been cause he didn't leave them to cure for a while first.

Well, we'll see how this next load turn out, I'll set them out on a tray for a while :)

Oh and I went to an open day at Norwich Farmshare yesterday, great place, I'll post soon about this. Also met Bob Flowerdew who was there to open the event and stayed around all day (he actually lives in Norfolk). Anyone who doesn't know, he's well renowned in organic gardening and is a regular on Radio 4s Gardner's Question Time. I have one of his books Grow your own, Eat your own, which is very good. I decide not to take this along to be signed!

 

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