Preparation – My Plenty Food Project

Jan/Feb sowings

When it’s cold or wet outside there’s a limit to the amount of time I want to spend on the plot on preparation of beds or other infrastructure projects. And lack of forethought and loss of my polytunnel in the autumn mean that I don’t have a lot to harvest – now limited to cavolo nero, celeriac and parsley! So what other gardening related tasks are there that I can use to distract me from work?

I spent some time cataloguing my seeds (I’m a tad nerdy!) and then decided the best way to store them would be in order of their sowing dates. So I made 12 dividers that would fit into my storage box and dropped in the seed packets in the appropriate month for first sowings. For crops that I want to succession sow as soon as I’ve made a sowing I can just refile the packet in the following month and then it’ll be good to go again.

Last year I didn’t take on my plot until 1st April and had only known for certain a couple of weeks before that I was getting one so my early sowings were both not very early but also a little haphazard and not planned. I was then somewhat thwarted by a very wet April and a badly drained plot so didn’t get the best start. I’m hoping to be more organised this year and ready to go just as soon as I can.

I am a tad nervous about starting seeds in January and February in case they end up too far advanced before the weather is kind enough to plant them out. But hopefully my polytunnel will be finally in place and will provide a temporary home even for those crops destined to be grown outside in my raised beds or borders. But as I’m also nervous at my ability to successfully germinate and grown on young seedlings by starting early it gives me time for second sowings if/when the first ones fail. But one of the main reasons for wanting to start early is simply one of logistics – I don’t (yet!) have any heated propagators so my seedlings live on my kitchen windowsill and my spare bedroom. If I can get some of them ready to move on into the polytunnel or my garden lean-to before the main sowing months of March and April it will ease the pressure on limited space.

So what did I sow in January and have planned for this month?

Broad Beans – Karmazyb

Trying out nursery bags instead of plastic pots

Peppers for sowing in February

Babingon Leek Bulbils

Flowers too

Seeds for February Sowing

January sowings:

Babington’s Leeks
Leeks – Musselburgh, Stocky F1
Aubergine – Rosa Bianca and Black Beauty
Goji Berries
Kale – KX-1
Caucasian Spinach/Hablitzia Taminoides
Peas – Kent Blue, Charmette

February sowings:

Peppers – California Wonder, Unicorn, Grueso de Plaza, Bendigo
Chilli Peppers – Padron, Early Jalapeno, Hungarian Wax
Tomato – Brandywine Black, Purple Ukraine, Chadwick Cherry, Iraqi Heart-shaped, Green Zebra
Hops
Peas – Kent Blue, Roi des Conserves
Broad Bean – Karmazyn
Red Orach
Broccoli Raab
Celeriac – Monarch, Giant Prague
Shoo Fly Plant
Tiger Nuts
Parsnip – student (trying these in loo roll inners)
Welsh Onion
Crow Garlic
Beef & Onion Plant (Toona Sinensis)
Asparagus
Flowers – Aquilegia, Hollyhock, Echinacea, Cosmos, Zinnia

Most of the above are destined to be grown to fruition (hopefully!) on my allotment plot but some will go into pots in my garden. My front garden is very neglected and is mainly covered with small slates so not much growing. I’d like to get some more pots of flowers and maybe even some edibles out there too.

When it comes to sowing seeds I am still unsure as to how many to sow. I am still (overly?) enthusiastic about trying out lots of different varieties and hopefully giving myself an all-year harvest. So I may only want to grow small numbers of each type of plant but it seems hard to only sow 3 or 4 seeds of each type. So I’m not going mad with vast numbers of seeds but am probably growing more than I need if they do all germinate and grow on to suitable plants for planting out. But my intention would be to pass on to fellow allotmenteers & other growers. I may even get some swaps – and then have to try and squeeze them. But all that’s looking ahead. For now I’m just feeling content starting to see my windowledges filling up and the first few shoots from my January sowings.

Garlic chives

Aubergine Rosa Bianca

Late Autumn happenings on the plot

Hard to believe we’re into November already! Where does the time go? But even though the days are shortening and the temperatures dropping I’ve been finding lots of opportunities to visit my allotment plot and have been reaping the rewards of earlier plantings whilst getting lots of prep done for next year.

I’m still harvesting lettuce – Morton’s Secret Mix from Real Seeds – taking a few leaves at a time from each plant. Throughout the summer I’d had no success at all despite several sowings but by September my last sowing had germinated and despite a slow start finally produced a decent crop and the plants are still going strong. This mix includes Reds, greens, brights, darks, splashes, blushes, crisps, butters, leafs, heads, and tongues. The mix is really attractive in a salad and all of them are tasty.I’m harvesting a bag full of leaves about once a week. Surprisingly they last really well in the fridge – much better than a commercial bag of salad despite them probably being in a protective atmosphere (at least until the bag is opened!).

I’ve been able to supplement this late summer crop with oriental greens – particularly mizuna and with some mustard greens too. I was intending to make some successional sowings but haven’t gotten around to it (yet!) But if the mizuna keeps producing as well as it is at the moment maybe it’ll keep me going all winter….

I’d originally planted it in a bed in the polytunnel but once that had blown away I just put a fleece over it. I can’t quite believe that a thin fleece can do much to stop freezing temps – I’d need one more than a few microns thick! – but it will keep off pests including the local pigeons. And the plants are supposed to be frost hardy anyway.

The beans and tomatoes are almost a distant memory now although I do still have some from my garden ripening on the kitchen windowsill. I’m not a huge fan of chutneys (have to confess I prefer Branston pickle) so will wait for them to ripen gradually. I do fry some of them green and have with a breakfast fry-up.

Although not a huge radish lover I’m hoping to be converted by different varieties, especially not I’ve discovered that cooked in a stir fry they actually taste quite pleasant. So I’ve tried some Spanish black radish

I’ve not had a huge success with my brassicas although some are now coming on. Despite being netted they have suffered some insect damage and now seem to have a whitefly infestation – do they not get killed by the cold?

I’ve had a couple of small broccoli spears and one slightly manky cauliflower. But the Cavolo Nero is looking good and I’ve started harvesting it by taking a few leaves each week. There are a few cabbages which are starting to heart up and I even discovered some tiny sprouts starting to form – maybe they’ll be ready for Christmas? 😉

It was Halloween this week and I had managed to grow one pumpkin! I’d picked it a couple of weeks ago whilst still green and had hoped it would ripen and go orange by 31st but it was still mainly green. I did do a very last carving to put outside for trick and treaters.

But my daughter’s creative skills put my feeble efforts to shame – and will provide a much longer lasting autumnal decoration.

I’ve planted garlic and elephant garlic together with onions to see how they overwinter. And also field beans as a green manure on a couple of beds. Not too worried about the cold but am concerned about how wet it might be given that my plot was very sodden when I first took it on. I’m hoping that using raised beds will keep them out of the worst of the floods.

But I am disappointed about my leeks which have been infected by the dreaded allium leaf miner. The green leaves showed no signs so I was unaware of it until I harvested a couple of stems last week. So I’ve now harvested them all and disposed of any infected material. And so instead of a crop that I hope would keep me going over winter, I’ve been left with a few usable remnants that might just be enough to make me cup-of-soup! And of course, I am also a tad worried in case the bugs get onto my young garlic or onions. I’d planted elephant garlic in a gap in the leek bed but following the discovery of the ‘miners’ thought I should move them before they got too established. But furtling around in the soil to find them as they don’t have any green growth yet I was surprised to discover how much root growth they had put on. I didn’t feel I wanted to disturb them as they were doing well so decided to take a chance on leaving them in situ and will cover them with mesh to prevent any later infestations.

So all in all a bit of a mixed bag on the production side but I am pleased with the progress I’ve made on prep for next year already. I’ve set up several more raised beds using the lasagna bed methodology. Layers have included cardboard, horse manure, semi-rotted compost, green and kitchen waste and leaves. I’ll top up with a layer of compost when I’m ready to plant them. I’ve sown a couple with a green manure mix and another with field beans which I’ll possibly chop as a green manure but may be tempted to leave to produce a crop.

And I’ve planted a few perennials – currant and gooseberry bushes, Daubenton’s Kale and asparagus and moved the strawberry bed. So a productive month in many respects.

Will be concentrating now on prep for my first full gardening season in 2019; getting my shed built and hopefully salvage the polytunnel. And sorting out my already large seed collection and filling the gaps from the ever-growing stash of catalogues piling up by my desk.

Two Weeks In….

Brussels sprouts & Tofu

Ultimate winter couscous (bulgar wheat)

Brussels sprouts & tofu

Roasted Vegetables

Roasted veg with caper vinaigrette

Mushroom Ragout with poached egg

Two weeks in and going strong! Above are a selection of Ottolenghi inspired dishes I’ve enjoyed cooking and eating over the last couple of weeks. I say “inspired” because I’ve had to adapt on occasion to the ingredients I have available but there haven’t been many deviations. Swapping hen’s egg for duck egg to top my mushroom ragout – which may not have had the full variety of fungi in the original recipe – doesn’t seem like a cardinal sin.

I’ve actually cooked or prepared more dishes than this – but I seem to have omitted to photograph them all before tucking in. Must try harder!

Verdict so far

Cost? Hard to tell as haven’t kept detailed records of previous expenditure on food but allowing for stocking up or restocking additional spices etc I don’t feel I’ve spent much extra. But using large quantity of fresh herbs could add to food bill – will definitely aim to grow more in garden this year and look into what I could do for next winter. I’m usually only cooking meals for myself or myself + Aidan and try to cook enough to have leftovers next day for lunch.

Waste? No cooked food gone to waste – as too good to not want to eat leftovers. But buying veg specifically for one recipe can mean that I’ve got spare raw veg left over. Still have a dozen sprouts lingering after the sprout and tofu dish which haven’t found their way into another dish and are looking increasingly sorry for themselves. But intend to start preparing more winter salads or slaws to have for lunch or as meal accompaniments to address that problem.

Healthy eating? Certainly eating a larger variety of veg on daily/weekly basis than have done of late although would like to include more greens (all food looks a little orange at the moment).

Vegetarian? I’ve not gone completely veggie -but am probably eating more completely veggie meals particularly when I eat with Aidan. But I have got some meat in the freezer and have several times cooked a chicken breast or lamb chop to have with a vegetable concoction. The only meat I’ve bought since New Year has been some liver and bacon from Kings Heath Food Assembly (see later blog). Had liver & bacon on bed of braised veg with cauliflower mash one night and have had bacon and mushrooms a couple of times for breakfast.

Low carb? I have been low (but not zero!) carbing and have found it relatively easy using this style of cooking. I have had occasional grain – bulgar and also freekeh. And I made some low carb bread (see later blog) which lasted me a week. Suspect if want to follow a real low-carb diet I would need to reduce further at least initially and see this as a real possibility with little effort.

Time of preparation? Pleasantly surprised that haven’t spent that much longer cooking than previously – but even when have it has been enjoyable rather than a chore. I’m excited to see – and eat! – the results.

Overall verdict: Enjoyed reconnecting with food and cooking some interesting, flavoursome meals from fresh and in-season vegetables. Will definitely continue my Plenty Food Project – and will try harder to find time to write more regularly.