Salad a Plenty

The 'all year round' mixed salad leaves have started to sprout so just hope we can get them through the winter months. Little Gem is having some success but just have to see if we can get it to take as an indoor crop. Loads more apples from the Hubbard's at the weekend to boot........

Lentil Soup

We eat LOADS of Red Lentils at home and there is no finer way to enjoy them in this very easy and very cheap soup. We got through countless bowls over the weekend with my home made bread. Spot On

Lentil Soup

8oz Red Lentils (no need to presoak)
Large Onion, sliced
1 Litre Veg Stock

Fry off the onion in a little oil/butter and sweat for 5 mins
Add the lentils and stir to coat before adding hot veg stock
Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 mins or so.
Leave to cool a little then blend with a hand blender or similar (if you wish)

Garden Frenzy

A busy day in the plot today. We got out the last of the potatoes, pulled up the last of the onions and generally tidied up and dug over. 24 Spring Cabbage are now in together with a dozen or so garlic and 40 mixed onions which will sit patiently over the winter months. Also set the first of the salad leaves for the kitchen window. Fingers crossed for a bumper crop.

Apples

Still a glut but we are slowly working through them, with Michelle on crumble duty this afternoon. The Marrow Pickle looks spot on and I added copious amounts of Ginger and Chilli as well, so hopefully by Xmas time we should have a tasty pickle that packs a bit of a punch. Dave T also supplied me with a ridiculous amount of bread mix from a leading manufacturer that he has acquired from heaven knows where. I made the first loaf last night and it is blinding. The mix is somewhat out of date but tastes OK and its only flour and yeast. What could possibly go wrong........

A Glut Of Apples

I still have an ENORMOUS amount of apples that need using up. Tonight will see production of a few jars of Apple Sauce (despite the fact that we don't eat pork but I'm sure we can find a home for them) plus a batch of Apple Chutney, which is absolutely cracking with white cheeses. The ingredients for the Marrow Pickle are ready and we can cook and bottle later.Also managed to do 4 jars of Damson Cheese last night together with 3 jars of Pickled Green Beans. Not sure what these will be like but extremely useful for using up all the surplus runners we have presently.

Coming soon....

I picked up a rather fine and very large marrow from Newbold Verdon at the weekend for the princely sum of 50p. Today I have unearthed a 200 year old Marrow Pickle recipe. I have to chop, salt and soak the marrow flesh for 24 hours in the first place so thats a job for this evening as well as making up the first batch of Damson Cheese.

The Good Life

A busy and rewarding weekend has passed. In no particular order we came away from Michelle’s friends with 2lb of plums, countless blackberries and more Bramley apples than you can shake a stick at (Thanks Zarla). I also caught up with one of my oldest mates, Dave Tyers, who I hadn’t seen for years. Dave has taken the whole grow your own/self sufficiency thing to new heights. He has very kindly supplied me with a large number of brand new jam jars, together with various other goodies. Armed with a stack of sugar (15 kilo of Tate & Lyle Fair Trade on offer at Tesco presently for £8) I made numerous jars of Plum and Apple Jam (which at the time of writing doesn’t appear to have set very well!!), Japonica Jam and Parsley Honey. Needs to get a shift on this week and get some more stuff made whilst the fruit is still good. Also managed to pick up a couple of dozen Spring Cabbage plants (var. Durham Early) and a wealth of cut and grown salad leaf seeds.

Marguerite Patten

The first celebrity cook. A gift yesterday of her classic work on Jams, Pickles and Chutneys makes mega reading. I am about to launch into jam and chutney's following a dabble last year and this excellent (but dated) book is packed full of belting recipes. One that caught my eye was Parsley Honey which I hope to be trying in the next few days. Watch this space.

Elderberry and Cinnamon Rock Buns

We went to the park in the village the other night with the kids and Michelle had the foresight to bring an ice cream tub to pillage a large bramble stand near the play area. To boot I managed to bag a good few handfuls of very ripe Elderberries. The Blackberries will be used over the next few days but the Elderberries didn't really give me enough for jamming so I took a very basic Rock Bun recipe and gave it a twist.

250g Self Raising Flour
3oz Butter
3oz Caster Sugar
1 Egg (free range of course!)
Pinch of Salt
Ground Cinnamon to your liking
Handful of ripe Elderberries

Pre heat oven to 190 degrees. Sieve flour and add butter, working in with your fingers. Add sugar, fruit, salt and cinnamon. Then mix in the egg and you should have stiff dough. It may well be dryer than this but DO NOT ADD WATER as this will spoil it. Once the egg has been mixed in use your hands to shape into 12 balls. Rough the top of each bun with the back of a fork, sprinkle with a little more caster sugar. Place on a greased baking tray and bake in the centre of the oven for 12-15 minutes (although my first batch took nearer 20 minutes. Cool on a wire tray and then scoff. I think I might swap the Cinnamon with Ground Ginger for the next batch.....

New Blog

I confess to have been bitten by a bug. We have adopted our neighbours garden and this years have grown (with the help of my father-in-law) a modest selection of veg. Runner Beans, Broad Beans, Radish, Potatoes, Onions and Pumpkin. This has all coincided with other recent 'good life' type events such as Blackberry and Elderberry picking in the village the other day plus the discovery of the most mind blowing small holding in a nearby village that sells (very cheaply) an incredible range of stuff from Jams to Eggs, Cut Flowers to Cabbages and Runners Beans to Marrows. However, I am not prepared to reveal where as I want to keep it all to myself. Anyhow, to cut to the chase this new blog will be all about, well, anything relating to growing your own, recipes, self sufficiency and anything else that springs to mind. Hope you all enjoy.