Making the most of the winter

At this time of year there isn't much to convince me to go to the allotment, obviously there is still plenty that needs to be done but without the pressures of planting and picking I find it easy to let the horrible weather keep me indoors. So without the allotment to keep me busy I have started to do a bit more cooking, now is a great time to experiment with new recipes and foods because any you find you love can be added to next year's growing list.

A few weeks ago I made this recipe with my borlotti beans some tomatoes and a few other bits from the allotment and it was amazing. So if you're not sure whether to add Borlotti beans to next year's planting list buy a few and try this recipe. I think you'll make up your mind.

My celeriac has been a total disaster this year, only 8 survived long enough to be planted out and all but one died over the summer before the final one scorched to death in September so I am celeriac free this winter. Only I'm not because I love it too much to go without, so they have had to be added to the shopping list and I can continue to eat the lovely smashed celeriac. Hopefully next year I'll have more success in the homegrow area.

Next year I am planning to experiment with some new squash types and increase the variety of beans that I grow too so I'll be putting these cold wet months to good use to find some winning recipes. Which foods are you planning to add to the list next year?

Avoiding the gluts

The borlotti beans are coming along nicely, I don't think I will ever have a glut but hopefully there will be enough to try out a couple of Sarah Raven's recipes. I took the time to patch up their rather shakey structure and removed a few of the weeds but this weekend was mostly about improving the look of the allotment rather than actually improving the allotment so I have been hoeing the weeds rather than digging.

The weekend turned out to be a hot one and also to be a weekend of firsts, the first plums were eaten (very tasty) and the first maincrop potatoe roasted, more exiting thought was the first of the sweetcorn, boiled and eaten. Delicious, and there is plenty more to come.


The couregettes have been politely producing 1 couregette per week which has been a very modest amount but it looks like all this sunshine has convinced them to put out 3 or 4 each, next week will mark the beginning of the courgette glut...