Neglect and an Autumn Pot Boiler

I have a confession to make.  It is at least a month since I have even got to either allotment – I have just been too busy, too ill or too lazy.  I have spent the summer gallivanting around and have loved every minute of shirking my duties.   Jamie has been running there as part of his evening run to keep it ticking over, and he had reassured me that they looked okay (ish).

Today I got the shock of my life when I revisited them both.  All the crops that I had carefully sown have gone to seed or been overgrown, and generally looked very neglected.  This cabbage sums up the damage:

The plot now needs some serious weeding and replanting for next year.

Despite the complete wasteland that the allotment seemed, I was still able to bring home some great picks of the day,which I have rinsed ready to put in the pot later:

I am going to put the mix of sweetcorn, potatoes, carrots, peppers, chilli and borlotti beans into a huge cooking pot over a bonfire, along with some braising steak, onions, beef stock and some fresh tarragon picked today.

This is all going into a dutch oven on the fire.  Watch this space, I will post the results tomorrow, if they were worth a look.

I am going to eat my stew with oven roasted tomato and parmesan bread that I made earlier:

This was made using the tomatoes from the plot a few weeks ago, which had been overnight-roasted according to the recipe on Make Grow Gather.  This created the perfect addition to home made bread:

So, two hours later, here we are with food cooking on the fire:

I haven’t tasted it yet, but I can’t wait:

It looks a lot better and browner after a few hours of cooking.  Here was the final result.  It actually seemed like a real Ray Mears kind of meal, with lots of whole veg and a bit of spice.

Granted, it still looks pretty grim with the flash on the camera, but it tasted amazing, with a Central American accent, with sweetcorn, Cherokee Trail of Tears beans, chillis, peppers and potatoes.

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If in doubt, go to Flittons

Despite my efforts to grow everything from seed, we don’t have a greenhouse, or a decent windowsill to propagate seeds.  Sometimes garden centres can produce such great value that it seems a waste not to take advantage.

Flittons were selling a whole tray of brassica seedlings for a pound today, so I had to go for 8 plants of each of:

• Savoy cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Broccoli
• Brussels sprouts

They have gone into the Warren plot alongside the sweetcorn and squashes.  Roll on Autumn!

Netted to keep pigeons away

The Savoy cabbage will have to wait until we have dug out some space, but the others have gone in.

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The Warren April 09

Well, following the cultivation notice (that apparently we shouldn’t have got because we have had it less than 3 months) Jamie has worked incredibly hard on digging and planting the plot.

The new plot

The plan is to have mainly perennial fruit on this site, so that it is lower maintenance. Also, fruit takes up a lot of space and you want to give it plenty of room. There were already three small plum trees on the plot (seen at the back of the photo below), and some Rhubarb (also at the back). Jamie has added raspberry canes with a frame, and gooseberry.

Fruit patch

Once the asparagus seedlings are well established, they will go in and already have a dedicated row. The yew trees were in pots in the garden, but have been transplanted in as have a number of box plants (of course!).

This year I am going to get some space for annuals (the bare patch at the front). I already have some Charlotte potatoes chitting on a windowsill. I don’t think there’s any danger of putting the potatoes in too late. The girls have planted a lot of different flower seeds this year, so we will see if any of those are successful.

Finally, there is going to be a very small vineyard in the space shown below.

Space ready for the Vineyard

You never know, Costello home-made wine might be coming your way in years to come? Jamie has taken some cuttings of the vine that currently runs over the canopy at the flat.

Grapevine cuttings

We met a local grower/winemaker at a Farmer’s Market from the Old Railway Vineyard in Merstham. When we described our variety, he identified it as a good one for wine. It has a good pedigree, having successfully grown on the patio for what looks like the last century.

Finally, the first French tarragon of the year is coming through, so we picked some for our favourite dinner, recipe below.

Tarragon Chicken

For this recipe you can use either quarters, legs, thighs, breasts on the bone, whatever you have in.

Chicken pieces (see above)

Butter or olive oil for frying (depending on cholesterol count)

1/2 chopped Onion

Mushrooms

1/4 bottle of white wine

4 or 5 sprigs of French Tarragon (chopped)

2 cloves of garlic

3 tablespoons Creme fraiche (this can be low fat or full fat)

small amount of chicken stock (optional)

lemon rind and juice (optional)

Tips: This recipe has many variations, depending on what you have in the cupboard.  Stock can be added for flavour, but you can use a chicken Oxo cube, gravy granules etc., or leave it out altogether.  I find if you use chicken pieces on the bone, you don’t need to add stock, but if you use chicken breast fillets, it might need the extra flavour.  Lemon isn’t essential, but goes very well.  The basics are chicken, white wine, creme fraiche and tarragon.

Fry the chicken pieces in the butter/oil in a heavy bottomed pan or casserole, until nicely browned on the outside.  Take them out and reserve on a plate.  Then use the same oil to fry the onion and mushrooms if using, followed by the garlic (chopped or crushed as preference).

Once the onion has gone slightly brown, add the chicken pieces back to the plan and add the white wine and half the tarragon, stirring to get the brown glaze off the pan into the sauce.  Add water or chicken stock to cover the pieces.  Add the lemon juice and rind (you may need to add a tiny bit of sugar if using a very dry wine and lemon juice).

Simmer for about 30 – 45 mins on the stove, or put the casserole into the over, checking occasionally.  Strain excess oil if needed.  Add salt and pepper and more stock to taste.

When you are sure it is cooked through and ready to serve, add the creme fraiche along with the rest of the tarragon.

Serve with rice and mange tout or french beans.

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Fruit planting Spring 2009

Jamie has been at the allotments all weekend. A pattern is emerging where I tend to look after the girls while he does the hard graft in the cold/rain/wind, but he is keeping me up to date on progress – photos to follow.

Stanley Road – he has uprooted most of the raspberry canes, which were too close together through overenthusiastic planting last year. These have been transplanted to the Warren which will have most of the perennial fruit. This leaves blackcurrants and the Christmas tree in the back bed at Stanley Road. Stanley Road will have the crops that need more maintenance, and strawberries are the main fruit on the patch.

The Warren – the row of raspberry canes has been planted in much more space, and in honour of this, our first fruit support structure – I will have to wait and see this next weekend. There are already three or four well established damson/plum trees on the plot (we will wait and see exactly what they are), along with a gooseberry.

Seed planting: We need to get going on the seed planting. The coldframe at the Warren will be really helpful to get things started. I am waiting for this latest cold snap to pass, just in case we get a repeat of the severe frosts that have been commonplace this year.

Coming soon: A plan of the whole two plots, with crop rotation diagram.

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