This morning’s picking!

Carrots, patty pans, celery, tomatoes, kake, sweetcorn, french beans and the last of the broad beans

Garlicky chicken, roast turnips and turnip greens… hooray for the garden!

Abbie was really keen to get out in the garden today after spotting all the strawberries on our plants. Whilst we were there, we thought we would see how our garlic was doing as well as I had heard about ‘green’ garlic, which just means that you pick it whilst the leaves are still green instead of wilted. You can see that our looking turned to pulling!

Ta da!

I separated the cloves from the stems. I put the stems into the cavity of the chicken (instead of herbs)before roasting. I boiled the cloves, with a head of cloves from a garlic I already had, for 5 mins and then put them in the roasting tray for the last 15 mins. Whilst the chicken was resting (I took out the ‘green’ garlic for us to eat), I made a gravy by adding a glass of wine to the roasting pan, squashing the soft cloves into the juices and the boiling to evaporate the alcohol. I then sieved this into a jug, squishing the wonderful garlicky flavours through the mesh! An amazing gravy – no thickening needed.

We also picked some of Abbie’s turnips. I separated the roots from the leaves, discarding the larger, partially eaten ones. The roots, I parboiled with our new potatoes and then roasted with oil and a splash of balsamic vinegar for 20 mins at 200C. The leaves were boiled in a little bit of water for 4-5 mins and then tossed in a little butter. Great use of the whole plant!

Roast chicken with garlicky gravy, roast potatoes and turnips, broad beans and turnip greens

The windowsill of life…. I feel a song coming on!

‘From the day we arrive on the planet, And blinking, step into the sun, There’s more to see than can ever be seen, More to do than can ever be done….’ (Tim Rice)
This definitely resonates with me this week…. in a week full of parents’ evenings, finshing off work, getting ready for the holidays is there any time to grow plant or get readyso we actually have a summer harvest! Here’s proof that you don’t need immense gardening skills or equipment to get growing.  Currently on the windowsill are; some chitting pink fur apples, old clean tins containing basil and corriander (I’ve heard that the metal gets hot on the windowsill and helps them to grow), two different varieties of chilli peppers waiting for the greenhouse to arrive and Abbie’s tomato plants from a grow-your-own pack in Sainsbury’s (likewise needing a greenhouse). 

Have to say that looking at this every morning and afternoon makes me feel as if we are really nearing summer now… even if the weatherman continues to be a burgeoner of doom!

It's the windowsill of life.... and it moves us all

Jon's chillis

Abbie's tomatoes

Basil and Corri!

Abbie’s patch!

Abbie has loved helping me garden and grow vegetables…. I think it has really encouraged her to eat vegetables as well.
This year I thought it would be a good idea for her to have her own patch and it was easier than I thought it would be to sort out. For those of you also interested in doing this on your patio, you’ll need just over 1m x 1m space…. this is how I made ours.
1) I bought a grow your own raised bed kit from Homebase – 4 mitred, predrilled planks and 4 cornerposts
2) you also need 8 x 50mm screws, 8 x 35mm screws and a screwdriver (I was glad of my electric one!)
3) it is advisable to have someone strong to help you screw it together as you need to hold the pieces together as you screw into the wood
4) Once constructed, I lined the bottom and sides with some black weed preventer fabric (don’t think this is actually what it’s called!)
5) then I put some organic compost (made by our local nursery) at the bottom and then a large bag of multi purpose compost on the top

Abbie has planted a strawberry plant, one pink fur apple potato – probably not enough soil, but she insisted!; and rows of carrots, (enormous) turnips and lettuces (frilly, little gem and an unmarked variety – surprise!)
Keep posted and I’ll put on update photos…