Organic Allotment

Fair Exchange

This morning I went to visit a friend of my Dad's who had offered to give me some advice on some work that I am currently developing. Obviously there is nothing I like better than spending Saturday morning talking about accountancy and finance and there was no motivation in my visit at all to get to have a look at their beehive...! When I go to visit people I always like to take some produce along as a gift if I can so today I took one of my Turks Turban winter squash. One of the best things about growing things is having enough to share with other people and the pleasure it gives them to receive some fresh veg, a bunch of cut flowers or a jar of home made jam - simple things in life but still the best!

Today was a particularly good day because, as I mentioned earlier, my squash was in exchange for a look at my host's bees - firing me up even further that honey is the next produce that I want to have a go at harvesting so this is where I will be going in spring to start putting that plan into action! In addition to that John and Pat are also keen growers themselves so I went away with this beautiful, sweet bunch of grapes that they grew in their conservatory. I can tell you they didn't last long after I took the photo...

No Meat and Two Veg

You can hardly move these days for people telling you how great it is to grow your own veg. From Sara Cox growing as part of the BBC's "Dig In" to Hugh Fearnley Wittingstall, it's all about getting out there into the fresh air and growing something to eat, which has to be a good thing as far as I'm concerned. Especially as there is little more satisfying in life than planting a packet of seeds and ending up with fresh and tasty food to eat within a matter of weeks for many crops - what's not to love about that? 

The one reservation that I have about many of these veg growing evangelists is that whilst they speak out about growing and eating your greens they are generally also advocates for a healthy portion of meat on the side. I am not against eating meat as such if it is fairly and sustainably produce but as someone who is interested in sustainability it is always going to be difficult to justify the ecological credentials of tucking into a hearty steak alongside your garden-fresh kale and peas.This is one of the reasons that I am so impressed by Nigel Slater's latest book "Tender" that was featured in today's Observer. In a culinary world where the size of your pork chop seems to be considered as a direct representation of your prowess in the kitchen it takes a strong minded cook to step forward and make the statement that, in the world that we now live in, we should all be making the move to eat a lot less meat and fish in our diets - if we continue to eat it at all.

I have always loved the way that Nigel writes so passionately about growing and cooking your own food but now I'm doubly impressed by his recognition that eating meat and fish should be a luxury addition to a diet based mainly around veg. Hurrah for Nigel! And hurrah for me because it means there's finally a Nigel Slater recipe book that I as a vegetarian will also be able to enjoy!

Pesto Time

Pesto is a perfect summer recipe. It uses up the piles of basil that you will be trying to get through by this time in the season, and is the perfect light and zingy meal for a warm, sunny afternoon. There is also something positively therapeutic about the satisfyingly simple process of making it that is a lovely way to wind down to the relaxed mood that should be a guaranteed feature of every August afternoon.

I use the recipe that Matthew Fort swears by and that was published in The Guardian a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately I can't seem to track this down online so instead I've had to link to another by Antonio Carluccio that is pretty much the shame and that I'm sure will taste just as good. And for those of you who've never made your own pesto before? I implore you to have a go because it is so easy and because it tastes so much better than any you will ever buy in a jar, and I can also assure you that it is one recipe that is just as much fun to make as it is to eat.

Broccoli Part 2

As I explained in my last post, it wasn't looking very good on the purple broccoli front because the pigeons kept getting to it before I could. However, as you can see from this picture, things have improved and the broccoli is now coming so thick and fast that my feathered friends can't keep up with it leaving plenty for us to eat. This has to be one of my favourite crops off the plot so I'm really glad that we've finally got a share of the booty!

With regards to cooking it - the taste is so good that I don't like to meddle with it too much. One of my favourite things to do is pan fry it with a little garlic, fresh chilli and tomato to be served with pasta, fresh pepper and a little parmensan cheese. Deliciously simple!

Superfood

In this country you hardly ever see pumpkins or winter squash except for the awful orange monstrosities that appear in the shops for a week or two around Halloween that taste terrible and nobody eats anyway. Despite their lack of popularity they are a great vegetable to grow partly because they come with such a brilliant natural packaging. These ones were picked in October last year and are still waiting to be eaten in my kitchen - as long as you don't cut the stalk too short and give them a couple of weeks in the sun to dry out properly they'll last right through the winter. They do take up an awful lot of space on the allotment but if you grow a little one like Golden Apple, which is the one at the front of the picture, they'll be perfectly happy growing up a trelis. As a rule summer squash have a softer skin and need to be eaten as soon as they are picked but winter squash and pumpkins will keep all winter in a cool but frost free place.

The ones in the picture are Lady Godiva which is grown for its seeds that are perfect for eating - they have no husk and a fabulous almondy taste. The tiny ones are Golden Apple which are amazingly productive plants but feel so rock hard that you think you'll never be able to eat them. If you start them off whole in a very hot oven they get soft enough to cut the top off and mix something tasty in with the flesh before finishing it off in the oven for about ten minutes more - my favourite is rice, mushrooms and cheese. Their skin never gets soft enough to eat but that's great because it cuts down on washing up makes it a great bio-degradable bowl.