Is there anything better than....

....a Sunday roast? Well actually yes - certainly one where you've grown from seed, nurtured and harvested the veggies for it - and priceless to see your children's smiling faces at every stage of this. I'm also pretty sure that it encourages them to have a healthy appetite for fresh veggies and respect for the wonder that is nature. 

So here's what we picked today from our plot - 

Carrots - my daughters loved pulling these up. 

More delicious runner beans. 

Maris piper potatoes - today's dug by the  hubby. 

All served with roast pork and stuffing - a true family effort. 

Pickings and cookings...

So yesterday I popped down to the plot - just to water the tomatoes, but ended up coming home with bountiful harvest - love that my allotment has fresh organic produce just when I need it, who needs a supermarket?!

Well, 'waste not want not' as the saying goes, so I've made even more sweet chilli sauce (I think I now have enough to keep us going for at least 6 months!), and for lunch today I made carrot and courgette fritters - even my girls (6&8) loved them, which in my book is always fantastic when they're eating veggies and enjoying them. 

'Is there a recipe?' I hear you ask, of course - and here it is...

Carrot and courgette fritters

Ingredients 

1 large courgette - grated

An equal quantity of grated carrot 

2-3 finely sliced spring onions

2 large eggs

3 tablespoons flour (I used gram but you can use any you like)

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 teaspoon dried Italian mixed herbs

Coconut oil for frying (you can use other oils including butter)

Method

1. Mix all ingredients apart from the oil in a large bowl. 

2. Heat a frying pan and add oil.

3. Add spoons of the mixture to make inch thick patties and press down. 

4. Fry on each side for 3-4 minutes on quite a high heat - coconut oil is great for using at high temperatures as it doesn't smoke and retains all its nutrients.

5. When ready serve as a light lunch or as a side dish. I had mine as a quick lunch with some home made chilli sauce. 

Now all I need to do is figure out what to do with the rest of the allotments offerings....

I just got carried away!

Well I went to the plot this afternoon with 2 jobs in mind - water the greenhouse tomatoes and dig up some spuds. 

Firstly I watered the tomatoes - tick! 

Secondly I pulled up the bolted lettuce and dug over the bed, then as I was getting dirty decided to put new edging around it. Then I spotted the untidy corner that annoys me every time I look at it - waterbutts and compost bins, it is now a weed free neat and easily accessible corner - nice. 

As the wheelbarrow was on the path I though I'd make use of it and weeded around my chillies, peppers, out door toms, pulled up the last of my red spring onions and dug that bed over... 2 wheel barrows of weeds!!! Isn't if amazing how fast things grow when we've had a drop of rain?

I stood back and admired my work and realised how much the grass on the edge of the paths had grown, and since my strimmer is out of string I used the hand shears to chop down the foot high grass.

My cape gooseberries which I didn't expect to grow seem to have taken off, I've never grown these before so it will be interesting watching them develop - they have a few flowers at the moment and quite unusual ones at that. 

After all that I decided to pack up, leaving the allotment without digging a single spud! There's always tomorrow I guess.

 

Not so sloe gin...

When we took on our new allotment at the beginning of the year we were thrilled to see so many fruit bushes, one of which was a red currant. Now I will admit I've never really liked red currants, so went in search of recipes to use them in. 

Amongst the usual jams, jellies and tarts I found a recipe for red currant gin. I've been making Sloe gin for years, but it's always a race between me, the frost and the birds to get the berries.  So would my sloe gin recipe work with red currants? I couldn't see why not so gave it try - if you don't try you won't know, nothing to loose as they say. 

So at the end of May I picked the red currants and used them as per my sloe gin recipe. Last night I sampled a drop of the bright pink liquor and wow, this is surely what red currants were made for?! So this morning I have strained and bottled, this will definitely be in my list of allotment makes for next year. 

Is there a recipe I hear you ask? Well yes, of course - here it is....

Sarah's very pink red currant gin

Ingredients

1 litre of gin (any cheap gin will do) plus a spare bottle

Red currants

White Sugar

Method 

Empty the gin in to a jug

Wash the red currants and remove all stalks/leafs as these will make it bitter. 

Fill each bottle approx 1/4 full with red currants. 

Add sugar until just under half way. 

Top up the bottles with gin until full. 

Screw lids on tight and gently tip up and down a few times, do this every day for the first week, then once a week for the next 12 weeks. Store bottles in a cool dark place. 

Once 12 weeks have passed, pass through a sieve to remove berries, then bottle your pink gin and label. 

Can be served neat with ice or with lemonade - enjoy!

First job of the day - Thai sweet chilli sauce

Now I don't know about anyone else but this sweet, sticky, spicy sauce goes down a storm in my house, even my 8 year old likes it! 

My plans for this started way back at the beginning of the year when I planted chilli seeds, they grew, they flowered, they fruited - hoorah!

Thai sweet chilli dipping sauce is delicious to dip your prawn crackers in, poured over spring rolls, or even a yummy salad - my hubby likes it over a king prawn salad, I like it slathered over a chicken and tomato salad - it turns what could be a boring salad into something to look forward to. 

So after a little research with my friend Google I've come up with my own version, which even if I say so my self is very tasty, here's what I did - i'd love any comments if you try this yourself. 

Sarah's dippy-chilli sauce

Ingredients 

6 cloves of garlic

4 chillies (heat level of your choice, I like them hot, but you can make it milder by removing the seeds)

1/2 cup white vinegar

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups water

1teaspoon salt

2" root ginger

2 tablespoons corn flour

4 tablespoons of water 

Method

Firstly add all ingredients apart from the last two to a food processor and process until everything is small enough for your sauce. 

Transfer the blitzed up sauce to a pan and bring to the boil. 

Keep stirring and simmer for 5 mins to soften all the ingredients. 

Mix together the last 2 ingredients - then add the water/cornflour mixture slowly whilst stirring, simmer for another 30secs. 

Remove from heat and pour in to sterilised jars - this makes enough for just over 500g jar. 

Enjoy! 

Perfect weather for...

....snails! So it would seem!

I just popped down to the plot - yes in the pouring rain to water my green house tomatoes (I may have eaten a few while I was there), oh how I love that tomatoey greenhouse smell... anyway... While I was getting soaked I decided on a walk around the plot to check the other crops, well, why not? after all I was in my flip flops and my feet were soaked to the bone by this point anyway!

So I casually wandered up to the runner beans determined there wouldn't be MORE after the Avalanche that was tumbling down a few days ago, and hoorah! No beans! BUT there was a whole army of snail, army? What is the correct term for them? A gathering? A herd? A slime of snails maybe?

I picked off by my reckoning about 50 of the slithering suckers!! Why are they determined to munch my bean stalks to the ground?! Horrible little things!!

Here's a pic of a few, they've now been dispatched over the hedge, no doubt only to return another day.....

Excited!

I subscribed to kitchen garden magazine and just got my free gift in the post - 20 packs of seeds whoop! I can't wait to get busy planting these :o)

More? Again?!!!

I bet you think I'm talking about courgettes right? But although it is very true that I'm inundated with them, I also have an avalanche of runner beans! Although they had a very very shaky start, they've grown and blossomed into a beautiful row of red and green loveliness. But as fast as I can pick them, they're growing even more! 

I love them steamed with freshly ground black pepper and a knob of real butter, yummy!

I have also found that if cut, they also freeze really well - guess I should get chopping and freezing, I think I'll have enough to keep me in runners until next season 😆🌱🌱

Snap shots... 11 August 2015

Before I go to work, here are a few pics of this mornings pickings, aren't they beautiful colours? I just need to figure out what to do with the giant courgette now!

 

Pickle-liscious!!

Well, the gherkins grew and I had to find something to do with them, so after trawling through many recipes on line I finally came up with my ow version...

Sarah's spicy pickles gherkins

Wash and slice gherkins

Sprinkle with salt and leave for a few hours. 

Rinse thoroughly. 

Pack in to sterilised jars. 

In a pan add white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar (I've done a batch of each and will report back!), bring to the boil. 

Add:

2 while garlic cloves

1 teaspoon pepper corns

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 teaspoon oregano

1 chilli halved (or 1/2 tsp dried chilli)

2 tablespoons white sugar

Simmer all of the above for a few minutes. 

Divide chilli and garlic between 2 jars

Pour liquid over gherkins and seal jars.  

I couldn't wait to try these so opened a jar the following day and wow, amazing, pickle with a kick! These will be fantastic in salad or in a burger at your summer BBQ.