More on Quinces

Googling 'history of the quince' produced this article in The Washington Post.

Having been so impressed with the trees I saw yesterday, it would be great to plant one in the garden. If anyone has any tips on growing a quince, I'd love to hear them. 

The quince jam will have to wait until tomorrow - I was too busy today, especially with  watering the plot after another hot September day - according to the news it's not been this hot in September for 100 years. 


I don't mind leaving the quinces until tomorrow, they are giving out a heavenly scent.

Quinces

I visited a walled garden today and picked up some large windfall quinces. Having only seen the small fruits that grow on japonica bushes, I was amazed at the size of these large, yellow, pear-like ones. The plan is to make quince jam tomorrow afternoon.


Quince Jam Recipe

Autumn Drought Continues

Still no rain!!! Perhaps a rain dance would help.


There's no avoiding it - I'll have to get out the watering cans again. This must be one of the driest years on record for East Anglia - or at least our little corner. 


The sky is blue, the sun is hot, it's felt like the middle of summer today. The only indications that it is autumn are the hawthorn leaves losing their chlorophyll and the mist in the early morning.


If I didn't have an allotment, I wouldn't be moaning - it's a question of perspective!

Free Strawberry Plants

New Plants for Free!

Finally, I've put some of the strawberry runners into pots. There are a few strawberry plants on the allotment and I hope to create a strawberry bed next year. These babies, together with their parents will be transplanted in the spring.

The runners are weighted down on the compost with large pebbles. All I need to do now is remember to water them in this Autumn Drought! We have not had our fair share of rain in this neck of the woods this year.

Ripening Fig

Ripening fig!

Look what I found! After moaning yesterday about all the figs on my tree that won't get a chance to ripen I found one that is ripening - hurray! Now I have to make sure that I get to it before the birds. From past experience I know they'll have their beady eyes on it too and I'm determined to get there first.

Bought figs just don't taste the same - at least, the ones I've bought have been bland but the home-grown fruits have a delectable sweetness that is just - yummy, for want of a better word - don't think there is a better word, in fact.....

Autumn Clear-Up

So much clearing up to do! 


It's time to take down my runner bean poles and compost what's left of the plants. Now I'll have to deal with all the knots and lashing that are holding my home-made trellis together at the top of the bean poles - well, it's warm outside so it won't be too unpleasant. 


While looking after the allotment I've neglected my little salad patch at home so there's major weeding to do there too. No idle hands here!

Courgettes Still Forming

Walking around the allotments yesterday it looked as though most of my neighbours had pulled up their courgette plants. Mine are looking pretty mildewed now and some of the older leaves have withered altogether but the plants still have new, green leaves coming and small courgettes forming. 

Wanting to give the courgettes a bit longer to develop the new fruits I cut away a lot of the older, decaying leaves so that there's not quite so much to clear away later. I'm hoping these last few courgettes will grow before the first frosts. Learning as I go!

Hand Cream for 'Gardener's Hands'

After a session on the allotment or in the garden my hands often feel in need of hand cream, soil seems to dry them out. I use Aloe Vera Hand Cream, it's rich, soothing and easily absorbed. I don't like a cream that leaves my hands feeling greasy.

Green Manure

Tomorrow, for the first time ever, I will be sowing a green manure in the beds where I've harvested my vegetables. 


I've chosen White Mustard, according to the packet it will revitalise the soil and improve its structure while also suppressing weeds. If it can suppress Gallant Soldier I'll be very impressed.


Sown now, the mustard will overwinter and I'll dig it in next year.

Pickled Red Onion Slices - I hope!

After making Sweet Pickled Cucumber Slices I had some spiced vinegar mixture left - it had reduced down to a syrup.


Not wanting to waste it, I sliced a large red onion very finely, layered it in the colander, sprinkling salt on each layer and left it for a few hours (3 at least) to leach out excess liquid from the onion.


I then warmed the syrup, added the onion slices and brought to the boil; simmered for 1 minute and tipped the whole lot into a sterilised jar (prepared in the oven as in my Tuesday 20th September post in Sue's Musings).


As the vinegar syrup was already reduced no further boiling was needed.


I now have Sweet Pickled Red Onion Slices! After they've had a month to mature I'll find out if it was worth doing!

Apple and Apricot Chutney

Stirring it up!

Cooking up the harvest! 

There are too many apples to freeze so I've decided to make apple chutney. This batch has dried apricots in it as well as the usual raisins. I'm wondering what other things I can add to make life more interesting. 

Watering - again!

Just got back from watering the allotment - the cabbages and cauliflowers are growing well but the foliage on the squashes and pumpkins looks very sad. I don't think they'll be winning any prizes for size this year. I'll have to keep a better eye on them next year and make sure they're not short of water. The forecast rain often hasn't happened.  


Maybe we should move to Dorset - it seems to be wetter down there and better for growing things.


On the bright side, anyone who's been holidaying in East Anglia this year has probably had a great time!

Let it Rain!

We got the dark clouds - but they passed over precipitating only a few drops! Tantalising and disappointing.

Drought!

Putting down the straw for the pumpkins etc last evening I realised how dry the soil was, although we've had a bit of rain it's obviously not been enough. We've had a very dry year here in East Anglia. I hope there's some rain coming soon - we'll need a lot of rainy days to make up for the drought.


Weather Forecast

Protect the Pumpkins!

I've bought a bale of straw to put beneath the squashes and pumpkins to protect them from damp. There's a lot of straw in a bale - but then we've got a lot of fruits to protect. Am off to the allotment to 'put them to bed'!

Corn-Cob Eating Dog!

The Evidence!

Our golden retriever ate the corn cobs - so they must have been delicious!

I'll remember to keep them out of her reach next year.

Corn Cob Stealing Dog!

I don't believe it! Never leave a bucket with corn cobs where our golden retriever can get at it. Normally I wouldn't but I was tired, having had a few hours on the allotment, and when I got in I put the bucket on the floor in the kitchen. 


Before going up to bed I did my usual 'walk-round' and went into the sitting room. There, on Jazz's luxury bean-bag dog bed were the shredded remains of several corn cobs! I was livid. Shop-bought would have been bad enough but our precious allotment grown cobs? How dare she? No pigs ears for her! 


Jazz knew she'd been naughty because she was lying in the corridor watching me, not lying on her comfy sofa as usual. She was sent to bed with a flea in her ear......

Butternut Squash

The butternut squashes are growing well and, barring accidents, should provide us with many warming dishes throughout the winter.

I just found this great site which says it so much better than me!

Plants Fight Pollution

Not exactly do do with allotmenteering - houseplants. It's amazing how these plants contribute to our well-being without us even noticing. 


After reading this article I'm going to take better care of mine - they seem to thrive on neglect, or maybe that's 'survive'.


NASA Study House Plants Clean Air

Main Crop Harvest

Some of the Desiree potatoes drying in the sun

Forking up more

After an unpromising start this morning, the weather improved, the sun came out and it became the perfect day to harvest the potatoes. It took a lot longer to dig them up than to write about it, I'll feel it tomorrow! My very first harvest of main crop ever doesn't look too bad although I did damage quite a few forking them up. 

Some of the tubers have potato scab (Streptomyces scabies)  and reading about it I've discovered that Desiree are more prone to this infection of the skin. Apparently it won't affect the eating quality as the damage is only cosmetic but I wonder if it will affect how well they keep.

Scab can be particularly troublesome if there's a dry Spring when the tubers are forming - we had the driest Spring I've ever seen. A soil pH at or below 5.2 will suppress scab but I've read that scab infection builds up in the soil so I'll have to think what to do next year. 

It's Blackberry Season!

Our blackberries are lovely this year - probably because the rain came at the right time. These are a thornless variety. The berries have been big and luscious but I won't be making apple and blackberry pie. crumble etc.


I planted this bush so we could have the simple pleasure of picking and eating blackberries in our own back garden. I've been indulging in that pleasure a lot over the past few weeks!

The Potato Harvest is Coming!

Am awaiting the arrival of the potato sacks that I've ordered so I can harvest the Desiree potatoes. I've dug up one plant already and I was amazed at how big the tubers were - large enough to share one baked potato between two.


I want to dig them up before the pests discover how delicious they are too. I'm going to try Garlic Mashed Desiree Potatoes


There are a few points to remember when digging up and storing potatoes:


1. When you've dug the potatoes up they should be left in the sun for a few hours so the skins can dry off and harden a little.


2. Brush off soil and check for pests/damage. Fork-damaged  or slug damaged potatoes need using up quickly.


3. Put potatoes into hessian sacks (I ordered mine online) to allow them to breathe and to allow excess moisture to evaporate. 


4. It is essential to exclude light. If potatoes are exposed to prolonged light they will go green and become poisonous - they are a relative of Deadly Nightshade!


5. Stored potatoes need to be kept between 5 and 10 degrees centigrade and if the weather becomes very cold take care that your potatoes don't freeze.


6. Check your stored potatoes every so often, it's easy to miss a slug or two - also check for rot.


I'll be using this checklist myself as I store potatoes for the first time in my life!!!

Bramley Apple Campaign

There are 9 carrier bags full of Bramley apples in my kitchen - the results of stripping our bent, old tree. I'm going to be very busy tomorrow! We'll probably need a new freezer to store all the bags of prepared slices in.... 


Our tree only fruits like this every few years so I'm making the most of it! If you've got lots of apples to use up or maybe just fancy something nice made of apples there are some great looking recipes here:


http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipes/tag-233/apple-recipes.aspx

Bramley Apples

Just four of the fabulous Bramley apples from our ancient tree. It's laden this year and it's time for the harvest. There'll be a whole lot of peeling to do and freezing too...

I took this photo earlier this evening and then 'baked' the big one in front on the bottom like this:

I used an apple corer to punch out the stalk and core and filled the resulting cylindrical hole with demerara sugar and raisins. 

Using a sharp knife I made a cut right round the 'equator' of the apple and put it into a stoneware dessert bowl with a small, glass pyrex bowl inverted over the top. The apple was fully enclosed.

Then - into the microwave for 2 minutes - check then 30 seconds more.

I managed to allow it to cool a bit before scoffing it with whipped cream. Yum!

Here's an interesting site about Bramley's including history and, of course, recipes:

http://www.bramleyapples.co.uk/index.html

Cabbage or Cauliflower?

It's rainy, windy and cold here in Suffolk today so my planned visit to the allotment hasn't happened today. 


The cauliflower and cabbage plants are growing well, with just one problem - I can't remember which is which! Two rows of each plant are growing under protective cloches - to keep off the pigeons and butterflies. One set of plants is growing larger than the others - could those be the cauliflowers? I suppose time will tell...


Think I'll go to the fridge and get a corn cob (allotment grown). The ones I've eaten so far have been beautifully sweet.

How to Stop Apples Slices Going Brown

How to stop sliced apple slices from going brown? Drop the slices into salted water: 1 oz of salt to 4 pints of water. I was amazed at how well it worked. I was peeling and slicing Bramley apples from our tree to freeze and they go brown really quickly on exposure to the air but dropping them into the salty water kept them white.

The method I used for freezing them once they were all peeled was:

(1)  rinse the salty water off the apple slices

(2) drop the apple slices into boiling water and blanch for 1 minute

(3) remove the apple slices from the boiling water and drop into iced water to cool

(4) dry the cooled apple slices on towel/kitchen paper

(5) line a baking tray with baking parchment and lay the apple slices on the parchment

(6) put the baking tray onto a shelf in the freezer

(7) when frozen pack the apple slices into freezer bags and keep in the freezer

Frozen like this, the apple slices are separate, so you can use as many or as few as you like in recipes.

Using up Courgettes

First attempt at courgette chutney tonight

 - it smelt good even though it looked pretty boring in the pan. Now it's in the jars it looks good, probably because I didn't peel the courgette (as I think I should have done, if I'd followed the recipe properly). The green skin, sultanas, bits of onion and apple look attractive in the glass jars. The couple of left-over spoonfuls were tasty, which was surprising as courgettes have a bland flavour. 


I followed the Chutney Blueprint in Marguerite Patten's 'Perfect Cooking'.

Potato Harvest

The Desiree main crop potatoes are ready now and I'm looking for good quality sacks to store them in. I'm not sure how many I'll need but I think 5 will probably be enough. I dug up a plant last week and the tubers were enormous! So far I've mashed and baked them - delicious.


I'm going to try some of the recipes from the Potato Council at http://www.lovepotatoes.co.uk/recipes/

How to Identify This Plant??

Globe Artichoke??

It doesn't look like the illustration on the package. These buds are spiky and small - not the large, luscious buds I was expecting. The plant is taking up a lot of space too so I plan to dig it up and try again with a new plant next year. 

I've googled 'globe artichoke' and haven't been able to find this type anywhere. All the photos are of the type of globe artichoke that I was hoping to grow.

Can anyone help??? Please???