Digging & Dreaming

Growing Food in Small Spaces

As Spring is now just around the corner lots of people's minds turn to the possibility of growing their own food. Drawn to the ever appealing notion of allotments and smallholdings, and fired onwards by the programmes that are now all over the television and radio about growing your own, people dream of getting out there, getting their hands dirty and having the pleasure of eating delicious food that they have grown themselves. The problem for lots of people, a number of whom have contacted me on this blog, is that they don't actually have a great deal of space to grow in. They aren't lucky enough to have an allotment to call their own so may be grappling with the teeniest of spaces within which to grow.

Does this sound familiar to you? Are you an aspiring smallholder but only have access to a miniscule fourth floor window box? Well don't despair because I am a great believer that it is possible to grow a decent amount of food even in a seemingly impossible spaces. So, on that basis, this is the first of my guides to Growing Food in Small Spaces. I'll start by giving you some tips on how to plan your space, no matter how humble, and in the coming weeks will follow with specific tips about crops you may be able to grow successfully and fun planting styles you can use to get the best out of your space.

With regards planning how you want to use your space, this is even more important when you don't have so much to play around with. On a big allotment you may be able to throw in a bad of this or that willy nilly but if you've only got a small back yard to deal with you need to make sure you're making the most productive use of every inch as is possible. Bearing that in mind here are some hints to get you started with making a plan for your own mini-farm.

• Start by thinking of what wants and needs you have from your space. These aspirations and necessities should form the basis of the design that you go on to create. For example, you may want to produce salad crops and also to have an area to sit outdoors and eat, but alongside that you may need an area to store your bike. At this point think big about what you want to achieve - your space may not be able to deliver all of these wishes but it is important to give even the wildest fantasy some consideration in your thought process!
• Next think about the features of the site that you are working with. Which direction does it face, what already exists there, how does it work in relation to your neighbours...? Try and think of every detail that you can at this stage and add it.
• Then take some time to think about all the potential yields from your site. Some of them will be physical things like edible crops, herbs, flowers...etc... But some may also be more abstract ideas such as relaxation, tranquility, privacy...
• It is also worth considereing the potential risks on your site as these could be a hinderance in getting what you want out of it. For example the soil fertility may be low, or noise from a busy road nearby could be audible in your green haven. If you list these things and acknowledge their existence it makes it easier to consider how you may deal with them in your design.
• Finally, make a list of plants that are already in the space that you would like to stay in your new design. Alongside this create a list of the plants that you are intending to grow.

There you have it. You should now have five different lists encompassing - wants / needs, site features, potential yields, potential risks, and plants. The next stage is to draw up a plan of your space using this information as the starting point.  And I'll tell you more about how you can start to do that next time.

Winter Baking - Focaccia

On days when we aren't out on the plot we're quite keen on a bit of baking in our house. Today was one of those days and the weather felt suitably cold outside to inspire a bit of bread making - the perfect activity for a winter morning when you're pottering around the house. Today I decided to have a go at making focaccia which is relatively simple to make and deliciously tasy to eat.

One of the joys of focaccia is that it doesn't require too many complicated ingredients to get started. In fact, if you've got a basically stocked store cupboard you will probably already have most of the things you need in the house. To make two large loaves you will need:

• 500 g strong white bread flour
• 10 g sea salt flakes, crushed
• 2 x 7g sachets of fast action dried yeast OR 18g fresh yeast
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• fine sea salt, for sprinkling

And here's what you need to do to make your bread:

1. Place the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl and stir in your dried yeast. Make a well in the centre of the bowl and add the olive oil along with 300ml of cool water. If you are using fresh yeast you will need to crumble this into the water before adding it.
2. Use your hands to gradually mix the flour and liquid to create a dough. Massage the dough for 5 minutes then very slowly add about a further 100ml more water.
3. Work the dough in the bowl for around 5 minutes. Stretch it using your hands then fold the stretched dough into the centre. Turn the bowl 80 degrees then repeat the stretching and folding process.
4. When the 5 minutes is up, tip the dough out onto a well-oiled work surface. Knead well for a further 5 minutes.
5. Oil your mixing bowl and return the dough to it. Cover it clingfilm and leave to rise at room temperature for about an hour and a half or until the dough has increased to about 4 times its original size.
6. Gently tip your dough out onto a floured work surface (you need to try and keep as much air in the dough as you can). Divide the dough in two and put each half in a baking tray. Gently press out the dough, pushing it into the corners of the tray.
7. Leave the dough to rise again at room temperature for an hour or until it has doubled in size.
8. When it is ready place the trays into a pre-heated oven to 220*C / 425*F / gas mark 8. Just before doing this drizzle with a little more oil and sprinkle with fine sea salt, then bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
9. The focaccia is ready when it can be tipped out of the tray and the bottom is brown. Sprinkle with a little more olive oil and serve hot, or allow to cool and serve the next day. Once cooled wrap in clingfilm and keep for 24 hours - just before serving, sprinkle with olive oil and reheat in a 220*C / 425*F / gas mark 7 oven for 5 minutes.