Drawing inspiration from the RHS Autumn shows

I went to the annual RHS Autumn show - what a great deal.  Free to member and £3 for non-members and slap bang in the middle of town - it gives you a wealth of inspiration and the chance to buy plants (always welcome!).

Among the displays there were some stunning giant vegetables on show - what an amazing amount of work must be involved. I also picked up a couple of recipes from the Vegetable Society. These include a recipe for Runner Bean Chutney (cue a trip to the freezer) and buttered shallots which I am looking forward to trying.



On my list of lovely new buys I got Elephant Garlic and two sorts of garlic to be planted (along with the garlic I bought in France).

I also have a bag of onion sets in three varieties (white, yellow and red).  The sets are mini onions that grow up to be big onions. I will be planting them 20cm apart and covering them to keep the mice and birds away as apparently they like to pull them up.

Amazing size vegetables on show - what an amazing amount of work must be involved
TO add to the onion field I seem to be building up I got shallots sets and an everlasting onion. I wish I had also got Egyptian wandering onions which apparently 'walk' by bending over and rerooting and meandering across the plot.

I have replaced the summer bedding in the steps planters with hardy herbs - pineapple sage, cat mint, thyme and bergamot.

Also on the list of things to do is to sow broad beans 'Aquadulce'.

Taking a break

I have been on holiday. The neglect and mini Indian Summer while I was away combined with the previous wet, bad weather meant that crops stopped much earlier than last year.

On my return I decided it was time for a tidy up. I took up the beans (remembering to keep the nitrogen fixing roots in the earth) and, with the help of my friend Carole, weeded the plot.  Now all I need to do is shift (I did say shiFt) a load of manure that a local pony owner left and mulch the plot to prevent weeds from regrowing and to nourish the land.

Earlier this year I was forward thinking and, looking to future, I ordered purple broccoli plants.  Unfortunately they arrived just before I went on holiday and while I was away in Sicily they died when left out (unplanted - very wasteful Katrin) in the unexpected late sun.

In the mean time I have gone mad and bought a myriad of vegetable based cookery books:
- Verdura - vegetables Italian style by Viana La Place
- River Cottage Veg Everyday by Hugh Fernley-Wittingstall
- Vegetables From an Italian Garden by Phaidon deserves a special mention for being a simply beautiful book with special seasonal sections on growing vegetables too. A delight to look at.

I can't wait to try out some of the recipes.

Much ado about mildew

Sometimes things get on top of you and your best laid plans go awry.

I DID mean to mulch and water the courgettes well.

I DID think I planted them far apart enough.

Unfortunately, I obviously didn't. It would be obvious to anyone passing the plot too as they lay eyes on the mildewed leaves.

Mildew is a fungal infection and is caused by stress (much like getting spots when you've been partying too hard and neglecting your multi vits).

Stress can take the form of lack of nutrition, lack of water or lack of air. I seem to have contributed on all levels. If you see early signs of mildew, remove affected leaves (don't compost) to allow better airflow and water well at the roots (try to avoid getting water on the leaves in general to avoid scorch.).

At least the mildew has slowed the tidal wave of squash for the moment....

Allotments abroad

Last month I was lucky enough to celebrate a family birthday on a German allotment which allowed for a little cultural compare and contrast.

Unsurprisingly it was very well organised and tidy.  The one thing that stood out among the German flags and that hinted at a secret other side was the Che Guevara flag proudly flying in one plot.

The main difference of the allotment movement in Germany is that they were set up for relaxation and recreation for working class people rather than the focus being purely on food production.  Mainly they are known as Schrebergarten after the founder of an allotment movement in Leipzig however there are also two other accepted names.

Generally the plots are laid to lawn with a smaller growing area.  Every plot has a shed and they are larger - they are treated more as a living space and tenants can stay overnight in them (just not permanently).  For some, their plot is even their summer holiday destination.  The plots tend to be bought rather than rented and the allotments serve a real social function with a dedicated open area for long tables and celebrations.

This particular spot was in a truly idyllic setting with mountains around and a little stream - perfect for a busman's holiday.

Less than legendary legumes

The legumes family includes broad, French and runner beans, mangetout and peas and asparagus peas.

I have discovered I like broad beans and these are the earliest to harvest. Their one drawback is that you seem to need a lot of plants to get a substantial crop. They also suffer badly from blackfly which is a bit gross. I definitely plan to sow some in November to get a great harvest early next year as the Hungry Gap hits. If you pick them young enough you don't have to faff about with taking the inner membrane off.

Peas are definitely off the cards next year after yet another lacklustre performance. The purple flowering mangetout will be repeated (if I remember to save the seed) if only for their lovely flowers. Asparagus peas were something of a novelty and grew well but were rarely eaten as they taste of neither asparagus or peas. Not convinced.

Runner beans are just now coming into their own and even though I only have 6 plants they provide more than enough for two without us suffering overload.  They are nice lightly boiled and served with red pesto.

The dwarf french beans are slow taking off but should be OK and I frankly have not idea what to do with the Borlotti beans which looks pretty but I think I have to dry and then cook later (why bother? Canned beans are great).

Whatever variety you grow, once the plants have stopped cropping, cut them down but leave roots in ground so they can give back nitrogen to the soil.

Weeding out the weeds

Self seeded coriander

I have been bad and neglected weeding recently. While still dashing down to collect the last of the raspberries and fast swelling courgettes I just haven't had time to tackle the weeds. I am now regretting that haste as I am faced with an increasingly daunting task.

The advice is to hoe weeds however as I have seedlings in among them I am worried I will cut them too down in their prime so I have to hand weed. All fine apart from the nettles that sting my hands.

There are several types of weed. The weed that is beneficial like the stinging nettle whose tap root digs deep and brings up nitrogen from the soil. This means you can create a liquid (stinky) feed from it to feed other plants. You can also eat it a little like spinach but I am less excited by that though I have made soup out of it.

There are the dubiously edible or medicinal. Bittercress is actually edible (as the name implies it tastes like, you guessed it, bitter cress). Chickweed is a herb and chickweed water used to be a treatment for obesity. Even goosegrass (the sticky one that has velcro balls that get stuck in your pets' fur) is supposed to help cystitis, psoriasis and eczema. You can use the seeds of fat hen (if you REALLY want to) whole or ground into a flour for bread.

There are the weeds that serve no discernible function other than to self propagate and to annoy me.  Like the evergreen bugloss that is related to borage and comfrey but is a pain to uproot and spreads like mad. The petty spurge is also pretty prolific so keep on top of it if you don't want to be overrun but at least it can be easily uprooted.

And then there is the mystery weed that is prolific on my plot but that doesn't feature on any online guide to weeds I can find.  Any suggestions?

Potato feasts

We are snowed under by potatoes.  Once again I forgot that we tend to prefer rice and pasta to potatoes.

After sorting the good unblemished potatoes by type and storing them in breathable canvas bags in the dark to stop them from turning green or sprouting I turned to the rejects.

These were either mainly scabby or damaged by a stray fork when lifting them though it also included some of the mystery spuds that popped up unasked for.

I prepared roast potatoes for freezing (par boil and freeze on a baking sheet to stop them from freezing in a clump) and pseudo oven chips (cut and bake until slightly turning colour - remember to use oil to prevent sticking which is something I forgot and resulted in a bit of a mess). I still had tiny potatoes that I didn't want to compost for fear of them reseeding but that were too small to peel. With these I made a potato salad loosely based on Lucas Hollweg's excellent German potato salad recipe from his recipe book 'Good Things to Eat'. I didn't remove the skins because it was too fiddly and I thought the fibre was good for me but I did crush them to allow the sauce to penetrate them and infuse them with flavour.  I used  my own puny garlic but supplemented with more.

Serves 4

- 750g waxy new potatoes, evenly sized
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- ½ tsp sugar
- 50ml mild olive oil (not extra virgin) - think I only used the olive oil (health again)
- 50ml vegetable oil
- 1 bunch of chives, chopped - I substituted with a clove of garlic and chopped shallot

Boil the potatoes in salted water for about 20 minutes until soft. Drain and leave to cool. Meanwhile, make the dressing by mixing together the dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, sugar and some salt and pepper in a bowl. Gradually beat in the oils. Mix with the crushed potatoes and leave for an hour or two for the flavours to become acquainted. Scatter chives over the top and dig in.

Since my trip to Germany I am also searching for my mother in law's version which seems to involve cream, pork fat and mustard and very slow cooking the potatoes.