Organic Allotment

Thinking About Cuba

Looking outside at the glorious Indian summer that we are currently experiencing here in Manchester it feels impossible not to look forward to seven weeks today when I will be waking up in a similarly bright and sunny Havana, though I suspect it will also be a little hotter there as well!

Through the kind support of The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust I will be spending four weeks in Cuba researching urban agriculture. I still need to pinch myself to believe that this is actually going to happen and think I'll only be able to fully believe it when the long running saga of The Visa is finally resolved.

I have never been to Cuba before and don't quite know what to expect when I get there. All I know so far is that everybody I have contacted over there to help support my adventure have been kind and helpful beyond belief. I am so excited to finally get to meet some of these people in reality, some of whom I have been in communication with since early February! I also can't wait to finally set foot on a world famous Cuban huerta or organiponico like the beautiful one on the photograph above which is just on the outskirts of Havana and was photographed by the wonderful team at IPES Centre for Urban Agriculture. By all accounts, these huertas are truly inspirational places and I am eager to find out how they function practically and what role they have within their local community and local food infrastructure.

Sounds interesting to you? I can't guarantee that I'll be blogging too much when I'm out there as the internet is intermittent to say the least in Cuba. But I promise I'll share everything that I learn here as soon as I get back.

Chard - A Great Allrounder

I love chard. It's easy to grow, looks beautiful on your plot or in your garden and really starts to come into its own at this time of year as other summer crops are starting to come to the end of their season.

It's mainly sown in the spring for picking over the summer, although by protecting the crop with a cloche, leaves can be harvested during autumn and winter. It's also a pretty unfussy crop - so long as it is planted in a relatively rich, moisture retentive soil in a sunny or slightly shaded spot it'll do just fine. It's also a great cut and come again crop so if you just take the leaves that you want to use it'll continue being productive right the way through the season.

My love for chard was reinforced further when I tried this delicious recipe for Chard and New Potato Curry which is from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingtall's latest book- Veg Every Day. Hugh's version of this curry is great but here's my own, slightly modified version which I think works even better!

Ingredients

• About 500g Swiss chard
• 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
• 1 onion, halved and finely sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• 3cm piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
• 3 cardamom pods, bashed
• 350g new potatoes, quartered
• 200ml smooth passata
• A small bunch of coriander, roughly chopped
• Sea salt and freshly ground
• black pepper

Separate the chard leaves from the stalks. Cut the stalks into 2–3cm pieces and roughly chop the leaves.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat, add the onion and fry until just golden. Meanwhile, pound the garlic, chilli and ginger together with a pinch of salt to a paste. Add to the onion and cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes. Tip in the rest of the spices and stir for a minute or two.

Add the potatoes and chopped chard stalks and fry, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes, so that they are well coated with the spice mixture. Pour in about 200ml water and 200ml of passata – enough to just cover the veg. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 10–12 minutes until the potatoes are just tender. Add the chard leaves, stir and cook until just wilted.

Remove the curry from the heat and stir in most of the coriander.

Taste and add salt and pepper if needed. Scatter remaining coriander, then serve with rice and naan or chapattis.