Projects for the New Year

   This will be my first full growing season on my plot so i want to take full advantage of that. Theres lots to be done however I can see myself getting carried away and starting lots of things but never actually completing any. Therefore I'm going to try and be organised and name the projects that I want to get done this year. So my projects for 2012 are:

• Get my new shed. I already know which one i want and the company come and build it for you on your site. the only thing Ive got to do is get the base done for it. Ive already got the paving slabs at my plot (thanks to dad!). All i have to do now is level the ground, lay the slabs and order my shed. my current shed is a spider infested rickety old shack. Its useful for storing my tools but i want somewhere i can shelter in when its raining and relax in and enjoy my plot!

• Build a compost heap. Ive got a few pallets and I need to turn them into a place where I can make my own compost. Ive just got a darlek for the time being. After listening to Monty Don talk about homegrown compost i don't want to miss out any longer.

• Clear the brambles. This is a big task! There are currently four rows of overgrown brambles on my plot. The space they are taking up will be valuable growing space. I'm aware though that the roots go far and wide and are going to be an ongoing task to clear them forever.

 
    These are my main projects for the year. If I get any more of the plot cleared then that will be a bonus. Theres still an elder tree and wild rose to clear and a path to make, but I've got my main priorities now. With the weather being this mild it's a perfect time to get started. What projects have you got lined up for this year?

Happy New Year!

   A new year, a new start, a new growing season! At this time of year the weather might be stopping you from venturing out into the garden or up to the plot (although it has been a lot milder this winter than last!). However when those bleak days arise you can always settle down with a cuppa and start flicking through next seasons seed catalogues. I love looking at all the different varietys of vegetables that there are to grow. I do quite easily get carried away and can find myself circling far too many choices. This year i need to be sensible orelse I will end up with more seeds than I can grow.

 I hope you all had a merry Christmas and a great New Years!

Tomato Harvest

Ive just moved house and my new house is yet to have internet so theres been a delay to my post...

    The weather seems to have been milder for longer compared to last year so i risked leaving my tomatoes outside for longer than normal. However i couldnt put it off forever and i had to bring in the last of my toms. It always feels like winter really is on it's way when the toms are taken down.
    This year I grew Ferline, Yellow Stuffer and Country Taste. I also tried Pineapple as a bit of a gamble as it says it prefers a greenhouse. The gamble didnt pay off though as the toms never ripened.

     Ferline toms are my reliable crop that I always grow. They have good blight resistance and produce large, sweet, firm toms. Yellow Stuffer produced large toms that did what they said they would 'good bakers'. My overall crop wasnt as bountyfull as last year but they remained completely blight free!

    Theres so many different things you can do with tomatoes. My favourite ways to preserve them so you get the taste of summer through the winter are 'Green tomato Chutney' and 'Homemade Tomato Sauce'. 

    I think Green Tomato Chutney is a must have recipe! The fact that it can turn a crop that would otherwise go on the compost heap, into a tasty chutney is pretty amazing. There are loads of different recipes out there but my favourite is from My Tiny Plot http://www.mytinyplot.co.uk/recipes/green-tomato-chutney/ .

   I also like to make a tomato sauce to rival any ketchup. I got the recipe from the River Cottage book of perserves by Pam Corbin.

I roasted my tomatoes with garlic and herbs to make a passatta.

Then you cook it with added spices, vinegar and sugar.



   It soon makes any ordinary sandwich very special and tasty.

The last of the runners

   Sorry I haven't posted on here for a while, but that doesn't mean I've been slacking in the garden . . .

I grew a lot (and i mean a lot) of beans especially runner beans. I loved all the different colours of the flowers, they are an attractive climber and shouldn't be over looked for any garden.

   Ive had plenty of harvests from my plants, in fact there's been too many! As Ive never grown runners before I wasn't sure what to expect. I find the strings a bit off putting, and because I had too many plants i couldn't keep up with picking them young and tender. I even pickled some in an effort to preserve them for later months. Does anyone have and tasty recipes they use for runners  (you can only have so many boiled runners) ???

    I think next year i will definitley plant more french beans than runners. This year I've grown purple teepee and they were tasty and the colour made them stand out at the plot. It's just a shame that the colour disappears when they're submerged into boiling water. I've also grown borlotti beans this year, which was another first. The type was 'Blorlotti Lingua di Fuoco' and they are still going strong now. They're great to add to stews and casseroles to bulk them out.

  

successful beets!

    I decided to pull my first beetroot up from the plot. The beetroot I've grown in previous years have never really been that big, they're normally more leaf than beet. However this year is the year of the beetroot!

    I think the success of them has been down to the lack of rainfall this year. My problem before has always been that ive over watered them so they grow lush top growth and dont get chance to make a nice fat root. I roasted these with some balsamic and then had them in a salad with goats cheese - perfect!

Tiny Sweetcorn ?!

   This is my first year growing sweetcorn. They seemed to get off to a flying start in modules, but ever since ive planted them out they havent been as happy. First they went quite yellow, however a quick feed soon perked them up and they returned to a lush green. My problem with them now is that they seemed to have 'bolted'. My whole block of sweetcorn have got male flowers appearing at the top and if you look closely you can see small cobs appearing. 'Why is that a problem?' I hear you ask. Well, the problem is that they only come up to my knee!

    When i think of sweetcorn i think of fields full of plants that are taller than me (at 5ft 2 thats not hard) not plants that are as high as my knee! I can only put this down to the dry spring and summer so far this year. My plot doesnt have a water supply so they probably haven't had as much water as they would have liked. Does anyone know if this is normal for the flowers to appear while they are so short still? Will they keep gaining height? Even if i end up with small little cobs of sweetcorn i'll still be happy. I cant wait to taste how sweet sweetcorn should really be instead of the bland stuff you buy in the shops.

The Harvest Begins

   Ive been harvesting some crops now for the last few weeks. It feels good to finally be able to get some fruit and veg to use.

   The strawberrys in my pots were a few weeks behind the ones at the plot, however they were a lot bigger in size. I had to cover my pots with fleece ( i had no netting) to stop all the birds from pecking at them. 

   Dont the first peas always taste the best. You've waited all year to taste the sweetness and they never dissappoint. Mine never make it back to the kitchen as they are always eaten as i walk round the garden. This was my first ever harvest of mangetout. They arent as sweet as peas but they are miles better than the bland ones you buy from the supermarket. I cant get over how productive they are either.

   I wish i could say the lettuces were mine, but they were given to me by my plot neighbour. however the magetout were mine and so was the blackcurrants, which i turned into jars of blackcurrant jelly.

   I picked the first of the gooseberrys. Ive never used them before but now that ive got three big bushes on my plot, i need to collect a few recipes for them.  This first batch got turned into chutney.