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.

Moss Cider

The Moss Cider Project is a brilliant group based in the Moss Side area of Manchester. Founded in 2010, their purpose is to harvest, or scrump, unwanted fruit, from parks and gardens in Moss Side and its surrounding areas, so that it can be mashed and made into cider. Dan Hasler, who founded the project, is a local project manager for the Manchester-based charity, Action for Sustainable Living. He was inspired to get it up and running by the proposed demolition of a local bus depot. Dan was taken by the amount of land that this demolition would leave and how green space could be integrated into its future re-development.

On Saturday 25th September 2010, a group of neighbours and volunteers gathered for their first 'mash-up' of locally 'scrumped' apples. In that first year they made over 40 litres of apple juice, of which 35 litres was turned into cider. Now, in October 2011 the group are looking for apples to be included in their current harvest and I was delighted to discover that they would be happy to take a donation of apples from our plot, even though we are a little outside their normal neighbourhood.

We only have one apple tree on Plot 45 but it is a big one that yields a huge number of apples - many of which go to waste each year. The apples off the tree are cookers which are not ideal for cider making as the resulting cider will be less potent, due to the lower sugar content I suspect. However, Dan and his team are confident that our apples will be of use to them and are going to be popping over later in the week to pick them up. I'll keep you posted how this year's brewing goes for them!

I love this project because it is an amazing example of local food production, demonstrating how to make the best use of every day crops that nearly all of us have access to right on our doorsteps, but which often goes to waste. Have you got any examples of projects like this in your local community that you'd like to share? I'd love to hear about them!

 

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.

Wild About Salad

A couple of weeks ago I was over in Lancaster for my Permaculture course. As part of the lunch that we share a fellow student bought in an amazing foraged salad made up entirely of leaves and flowers that she had found growing wild on the estate where she lives. The salad was delicious and inspired me to think about being a little more creative when I'm making salads at home. The one in the picture above is the first example of this newfound creativity.

I'm not quite as confident as Robin who created the salad I ate in Lancsater but taking inspiration from hers I decided to add common lettuce we are growing with more unusual leaves. On that basis this tasty little bowl contained mixed Italian Lettuce leaves, Radicchio, Sorrel, Nasturtium leaves and flowers and Calendula petals. Needless to say, the salad was absolutely delicious and went down a storm in my house! In fact, I'm already planning what I'd like to add to my next one. I particularly love the taste and look that flowers and petals add so any suggestions on other edible flowers would be much appreciated.

Local Food Part Two - Formby Asparagus

Few culinary events are as hotly anticipated in our house as the beginning of the asparagus season in Formby, Merseyside. Formby is world renowned for the quailty of its asparagus and as soon as April ends and May starts we eagerly wait for our trips to buy veg Bury Market in the hope that Brian, our veg man and all round veg growing extraordinaire, will announce that the first asparagus of the year is there. Brian is based out at Hesketh Bank near Southport and is lucky enough to have access to one of the remaining asparagus farmers in Formby, meaning that this beautiful delicacy makes it from the Merseyside Coast to the market in less than twenty four hours. You certainly wouldn't get that kind of service from a supermarket!

The coastal area around Formby was, until the mid-nineteenth century, regarded as a "sandy waste", useful mainly as rabbit warren. Following the construction of the Liverpool, Crosby and 'Southport Railway in 1848, considerable supplies of fertiliser in the form of 'night-soil' from Liverpool became available as a sewer system had not yet been completed in the city. This enabled local farmers to "improve" and bring into cultivation the previously uncultivated sand dune area, particularly suitable for their chosen crop - asparagus. This went on to develop into over 200 acres of asparagus beds, with asparagus becoming a very important local product, the quality of which made Formby well known nationally. Cultivation decreased after WW2 and is now continued on only two farms in Formby, with the support of the National Trust who own much of the land around this part of the coast.

The season for asparagus is tantalisingly short, around 6 weeks in most years, but to me Formby asparagus is a great example of what local food can be. It represents local, seasonal food at its best; something so tasty and fresh that once you have eaten it pale, out of season imitations just won't do anymore. It also represents the role that local food can play in cultural identity, with Formby asparagus being key to the heritage and identity of its local area. And, on top of all this, it shows what heroes people like Brian are, and the farmers who work hard to maintain and promote these culinary and horticultural traditions, playing a huge part, almost wholly unsung, in making collective cultural heritage and identity stronger and securer for us all through the sensitive preservation of local food traditions.

Oh... and did I mention?... It tastes realy dang good too!

The Problem with Rhubarb

We grow alot of rhubarb on our plot. A large, healthy bed of it was left by the last plot holder and we never had the heart to do anything dramatic with it as it's right next to the pond and the frogs and newts love the cover of the large, shady leaves during the summer months. The bed contains seven very healthy crowns that produce a hearty crop each year.

"So what's the problem with this?" I hear you ask. Well, the major problem is that nobody in our house actually likes eating the stuff! My Dad will take a little off us, as will be best pal who lives round the corner from the plot and some colleagues at work but, apart from that, the majority of our yearly haul normally goes to waste.

Over the last couple of weeks this year's crop has started to come into its own and I got thinking about my dislike of rhubarb...

"Do I actually not like it?" I asked myself. "Or do I think I don't like it after some horrible experience as a child eating soggy, overcooked rhubarb?"

On reflection I realised that my dislike was probably based upon the latter, and that's the reason why 2011 is the year of the rhubarb in our house. I'm trying as many different recipes as I can to see what this versatile crop has to offer and to see if I've actually not been being a little bit unkind in my prejudice against it.

Last night I started with Stewed Rhubarb with a Vanilla and Yoghurt courtesy of Jamie Oliver. I'm not normally a fan of Mr O and his recipes but this stuff is really good and was a great treat after a long day (though I have to admit I served it with custard rather than yoghurt!) So a rhubarb recipe I actually like? Who'd have thought it? Next I'm planning to have a go of making Rhubarb Chutney using a recipe from Monty Don's book, "Fork to Fork", which is, incidentally, a wonderful book for anyone who's interested in home grown, season food.

Sorrel - A Spring Super Food

As soon as spring was in the air I knew it was only a matter of time before sorrel reappeared on the allotment. It isn't the most handsome plant by any means but it's always a welcome sight because it's the first salad crop that starts growing after the winter. In fact, it's actually tough enough to cope with the frosts that we can still experience into late spring / early summer making it a real winner as a reliable early leafy green.

Sorrel is a green leaf vegetable native to Europe. It is also called common sorrel or spinach dock, and is actually considered less a vegetable and more an herb in some cultures. In appearance sorrel greatly resembles spinach and in taste sorrel can range from comparable to the kiwifruit in young leaves, to a more acidic tasting older leaf. As sorrel ages it tends to grow more acidic due to the presence of oxalic acid, which actually gets stronger and tastes more prominent.

Young sorrel may be harvested to use in salads, soups or stews giving an amazingly zingy taste wherever you use it. If you are planning on using sorrel in salads, it’s a good idea to stick with small tender leaves that have the fruitier and less acidic taste. Young sorrel leaves are also excellent when lightly cooked, similar to the taste of cooked chard or spinach. For soups and stews, older sorrel can be used because it adds tang and flavor to the dish.

From a nutritional standpoint sorrel has high levels of vitamins A nd C. It also contrains moderate levels of calcium, potassium and magnesium meaning it packs a big nutritional punch for a little leaf. However, it is worth noting that it contains very high levels of oxalic acid meaning it may not be suitable for people with kidney problems or rheumatism. And when you first start eating it try it in small doses - it's got a laxative effect if you eat too much of it!

Local Food Part One - Staffordshire Oatcakes

Not being out on the plot so much at this time of year does have one benefit - it means that I've got much more spare time on my hands to stay in and read. The book that I've been reading most recently is Barbara Kinsolver's inspiring record of her family's year of local eating on their small farm in the Appalachian Mountains in the USA; "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle". The book charts their journey to live a life where they eat a diet that focuses more on local, seasonal food through a process of growing their own food but also through engaging more closely with food producers in their own local community.

I have really enjoyed the book but it has got me thinking about the food that we eat at home. We try to grow as much of our own fruit and veg as we can and are lucky enough to live close to a wonderful market where we are able to fill in the gaps! We also make a conscious effort to avoid food that has come from outside Europe and always buy British, seasonal, local produce where possibile. However, reading the book also got me thinking about food that is individual to my local area, and what makes it particularly special.

Picture above is a glorious Staffordshire Oatcake that has been produced less than 50 miles away from my home here in North Manchester (Barbara sets her family a 100 mile limit on sourcing food, and if that's good enough for her...)

A Staffordshire oatcake is a type of pancake made from oatmeal, flour and yeast that is cooked on a griddle or 'baxton'. They are a local speciality in North Staffordshire area. It was once common throughout the area for oatcakes to be sold directly from the window of a house to customers on the street. In fact, one producer of this style still remains selling oatcakes fresh and warm, direct to the public.

We buy pre-cooked, oatcakes and I think they are really one of the oldest forms of fast food. They can be warmed up in a matter of minutes containing one of any number of fillings - my favourite is melted cheese or local honey! They are traditionally re-heated by steaming between two plates over a saucepan of water but can just as easily be grilled, fried or warmed in a microwave. Delicious!

Not able to buy Staffordshire Oatcakes in your local area? Why not try making some yourself? This recipe looks so simple I may even be tempted to give it a try myself.