Apple…crumble…pie…baked… July 24, 2009

Apples…apples…apples. I LOVE apples. Especially when you have grown them yourself, OR you can get a tonne of them from next door, who have grown them in their orchard. I am not so lucky to have an orchard, but I grew my own tree about 3 years ago (okay, I got it from the garden centre as a little twig) and now, its flourishing!

I’ve had to take a couple of handfuls of the smaller fruit off, as I thought it may not take the weight. Better to have less fruit of better quality.

Unsure about anyone else, but I’m having MAJOR problems with slugs and snails – this is just a little slug in my garden – I’m finding them sat at the bottom of my garden in a reclining chair, pair of glasses on, smoking jacket, smoking a pipe and reading the evening paper, and picking off my lettuce leaves and radish one at a time, popping them into its mouth, glaring at me menacingly – urging me to try and beat it up. When I’m brave I may do…..!

Rhubarb Jam was Rhu-bish! July 23, 2009

Disaster – I used 1.2kg of my “best-est” rhubarb (ie. the stuff I had grown rather than supermarket stuff!) because I thought, well I’m making jam – it will last longer than making crumble. I’ll save the rhubarb and make a big batch of it…give it to friends – the recipe is on the links down the side – but not any more….I apologise for the pic below, it looks like I’ve just been sick into the pot!

Its a DISASTER….its just rhubarb juice! GUT-TED!!! I think theres not enough sugar in…but WHY put a recipe on a website if it DOESN’T WORK!?!? I’m going to try and rescue it tonight (putting it out of its misery is probably more helpful).

The Rhubarb Cake was nice though – recipe down the side thing to the right for that too. AND you only need 6oz!

Also, a small trauma with runner beans, which is not so big a trauma as I was sick of them last year, but I think that the evil sycamore trees are overhanging the runners bed, and they’re not getting enough light. Add to this that the Jerusalem Artichokles are also in full growth and theres no light. I only have a few flowers, but i think runners tend to come later in the season – I hope.

Also having trauma with slugs and SNAILS – what the chuff’s going on this year with them?? Snails – I must have lobbed about 50 over the fence, and SLUGS – I picked about 25 off my lettuce the other day! And now they’ve started on the radish. Grrr.

The Horseradish I’ve grown is an “hurrah” for it being massive, but I’ve also read its a thug and needs to be kept on top of – seems you dig it up in autumn, ALL of it, use the bigger tap roots for cooking and the smaller ones for growing on for next year.

Looking forward to making fresh horseradish sauce! And giving some of it away for poeple, unlike the jam!

I’m going to go and cheer up….rather a ranty post.

Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers July 22, 2009

He didn’t really, he just went to my greenhouse. I have a few, but not a lot (as paul Daniels would say), and they are green and quite unripe looking. The pepper bushes I’ve had for the last 2 years have not grown very big – unsure if they grow according to their pot size…? And I’ve only ever had about 2 peppers (not chilli peppers) from a plant and they’ve been pretty pittiful.

So these green beauties are my Dads seed saving adventures again – these are the long red (come on sun!) peppers that you find on your holidays. Currently small and very green. But we’re watering, feeding and hoping for sun!

These are my chilli’s – they look a lot hotter (as they’re a damn sight smaller) than the ones from last year. I can feel the burn now….again, hoping for sun to turn them red! (only say that as had a friend say “why can’t you grow red peppers” to me last year…..had to explain they go green then red – just like her!)

these are more chillis – bit fatter

Cucumbers – not mine, but how prickly are they? I never realised!! You just rub the prickles and they come off, but that was a bit worrying! I’m looking at pickling them – anyone done that?

Outside of the warmth of the greenhouse, are my mop-top hair shop sweetcorn (us children of the 70’s/early80’s will know that!)! Hurrah!

And my gorgeous looking lettuce that has fed me for the whole of summer so far, is running to seed….boo! But, we can seed save for the Oxford get together in October

I also have winter rocket that I’m letting go to seed so I can sow a fresh batch for the winter.

And whats a compost bin any use for, if you cannot use it to play in…?

And finally….
Q: Whats a Peck of Pickled peppers…find out here…

Meet Ken July 21, 2009

Ken is ‘one of us’ (and my boss)…..he’s brought me in some pickled red cabbage from his lotty in Spennymoor. Hes very proud of it. And it tastes NICE!!!

What to do with a Kilo of Goosegogs July 21, 2009

Now, when I was a kid, I hated Gooseberries, but loved Goosegogs….a cunning, clever mother trip to trick her stupid child into eating that tart food group! So what do you do with over a kilo of the little blighters? Well, with these 2 books as inspiration,

I got cooking:

I made Gooseberry Muffins – I will post the recipe (later), but this is a gardening blog….but you need to use the food that you grow! I used them with my gooseberries, and the eggs from next doors chickens!

Talk about food provinence. I think thats edging on the okay side….

They were lush – not very sweet, but then you hit a full gooseberry and there was a hit of tartness. People in the office liked them!

But….I still had some of the blighters left,

so I made an almond and gooseberry jam-like-gloopy-conserve thing.

Tastes nice. Supposed to go nicely with baked apples (never have them), or rice pudding (never have that) or maybe over a crumble, or pie (I’m on bloody Weight Watchers – how many points is that gonna be!!!???). So, I gave it to my mum.

Tonight is rhubarb….

I’m doing orange-rhubarb jam and a rhubarb almond tea cake – lets hope they go okay!!!

Pentland Javelin Update…& Freaky Tomatos July 14, 2009

So…yesterday. I’m debating about growing tatties. My dads trial of growing them in bags has proved unsuccesful, so I said I would debate growing them next year. They’d not flowered, they looked a bit crappy and poorly, but no sign of blight.
So I went home and thought, right, lets dig up two plants and see how they’ve got on……and take a look at these beauties!!!!!!!!!

Only dug up two plants – the first had about 3, and the second plant had about 12…bloomin….spuds!!!!! Happiest of days!!! All decent sizes aswell. (can you tell I’m just a tad excited about this??)

I also looked at the tomato’s yesterday too, and I have the freakiest tomato lengthed plants that I’ve had for some time – well, the 3 years I’ve been doing it! Bare in mind that they are seeds saved by dad on a bit of kitchen roll from Spain…

..and it measured in at…

Oh yes….60 of your finest centimetres!!!

On another plant – there is this truss…

…3 of them – all on one truss! My dad was obviously messing with the old GM for these babies!!!

Non Flowering Pentland Javelin July 13, 2009

I’ve had a few hits for this recently, and was only thinking at lunch how pitiful mine looked. They haven’t flowered, although they had the start of 1 flower, but they’ve started to yellow, look pitiful and are wilting. BUT, no discolouration to the leaves that you would normally associate with blight, so hoping these are now ready for pulling…

They are first earlies, and to be honest, should have been pulled up before now. BUT, my dad planted 2 lots in bags to see if he got a better yeild from them, rather than being in the ground, but he put 5 seed tatties in, and he got 3 large spuds and about 15 small 50p sizes tatties out – doesn’t seem worth it!? May as well just buy a bag from Aldi (59 pee).

So, I may brave the rain and see what pitiful tatties I have this season.

Has anyone grown a decent first early where you’ve got loads of potato’s and a high yeild? Please let me know. I had new soil, it was quite sandy, but I added my own compost and also manure to the ground last autumn, and loads of it, to rot down to give some depth to the soil, but unsure if its the soil, and the tatties……Mmmmmmm.

Shall I grow next year? Takes up a lot of ground for no return….we shall see.

Corn Flowers July 10, 2009

My nemesis, namely the corn, has started to flower.

I also have an aubergine flower. Lets hope it flowers (Jo @ Good life – fingers crossed in doesn’t drop off!)

The (bloody) courgettes are flowering nicely:

The tomato’s – I have 1 plant with 5 of these trusses on and they are all formed and all of them have this many fruit on. We’re seeing if its going to make it, or just keel over, and the fruit not ripen, but it looks pretty sturdy….at the moment. (tomorrow its gonna keel over and die!)

Cooking tomato’s – these are again from Dad and his seed saving – looking good, and all of them have about 8-10 fruit on. They look rock solid-ly green. Come on sun……

And this beauty was DE-LIC-IOUS!!!!!! Yumma – the first raspberry of the season! Glen Ample. Only planted in feb and didn’t expect a crop. But they have quite a few fruit on each. Next year…Sainsburys supplier! Or me sat there ready to pop with raspberrys all over my face trying to shove them in…..! I LOVE THEM!

Courgettes…..courgettes…. July 8, 2009

Are they doing your head in? They’re doing mine in. I found this recipie in the News of the World magazine (cannot beat it for general gossip and cr*piness on a Sunday) about 6 months ago! Ripped it out and kept it for a moment like this – when courgettes are getting tedious!

So, here is Courgette Pickle:

500g Courgettes (is that all?! You not need 3 tonne of the stuff?)
2tbsp sea salt
500ml cider vinegar
100g caster sugar
1tsp mustard powder
2tsp black mustard seeds
1tsp yellow mustard seeds
1tsp turmeric

1. Chop courgette into small cubes. Transfer to a bowl with the salt
2. Cover with water. Leave to soak – 1 hour
3. All other ingredients into a pan, mix, bring to boil, simmer for 3 mins. Cool.
4. Drain courgettes
5. Mix into cooled mixture
6. Transfer to sterilised jar
Keeps for few weeks in fridge.

I’ve not made it yet, it could taste rank, but fingers crossed!

Damn those courgettes!

Tornado Over Castleford July 7, 2009

Now, it was peeing it down last night, BIG TIME, and I had to go pick up the car (4×4) from the other side of town. The rain was that hard that I aquaplained the car. Happiest of days – not. Luckily it was only a bit of skating, not a full blown roll it off the road. But on the way back, I though, bloody Nora, that sky looks evil – I nearly took a photo, but I didn’t….and it seems that we had a mini tornado! Get us! Look at this thread to view :

What do you mean its not really a tornado…? Best Cas-Vegas is going to get – ehhhh, we could be Cas-Vegas, NEVADA!!! Whoop, whoop!