The weekend's harvest

Things are really starting to take off now which means that we can eat something other than broad beans and eggs. Talking of eggs, production has eased off. We are assuming it is the broody/moulting season but it at least gives me a rest from cake making for a while.

We dug a row of early potatoes, some carrots from the greenhouse, fennel from the greenhouse and the garlic that was planted in the Autumn as well as the first couple of beetroot.








Add to this two more boxes of broad beans...








A box of strawberries and a box of raspberries....







A big basket of new potatoes, I call that a meal and a half.







The new potatoes deserve a bit of an explanation as I realise that scale is not clear here. New potatoes are supposed to be small and sweet. Although sweet with lovely skins that just rub off, they can't really be described as small. This basket was too heavy for me to carry.

The harvest begins

I have said before that I learn something new every year. Well this year I have learned that you only need one trailing tomato plant per hanging basket. This one is destined to produce a bumper crop as evidenced by the number yellow flowers already.




No, your eyes didn't deceive you, there are two ready to pick.







Last year was disaster for broad beans - not so this year. I can't keep up with them. The plants are starting to go over so I have pulled up a load and sat with a cup of tea shelling them. It is amazing that I got almost a full tub of composting for a shoe box full of beans.





Another change from last year is the strawberries. I put it down to the duck bedding placed around them early in the season, but the plants in the bath and the old wheelbarrow are really producing beautiul fruit. With all the sun we have had recently they are ripening faster than we can eat them. Thanks to my new toy - the ice cream maker, there is no worries what will happen to the surplus.



And still the beans keep coming. I have now harvested about a quarter so a few pounds to go.

Artichokes

In a mad moment last year, I bought a packet of globe artichoke seeds. Now this year, we have three enormous plants which are covered in flowers.

What I didn't consider at the time was that I had never eaten globe artichokes so didn't know if I liked them and also that I didn't have a clue how to cook them.

Well, now I have a solution to my second problem which will (hopefully) solve the first as well.

Yesterday evening I met a previous colleague for a drink after work and we agreed to meet at Carluccio's in Canary Wharf so she has a couple of weeks before she starts her new job (she is a lawyer). Well, if you have been to Carluccio's you will know how irresistible the shop is and I was drawn towards a book called ‘Complete Italian Food’ which had wonderful descriptions of all the traditional Italian game, fish, vegetables, pulses, eggs etc so decided to treat myself.

Here is an example:

Duck eggs
Duck eggs with their distinctive pale blue colour, can be easily distinguished from other eggs. The have a rich pale yellow yolk with an intense flavour. Duck eggs can be used in place of hens eggs but the stronger taste gives a more powerful result.

Globe artichokes
[full description of all the varieties of globe artichoke, where in Italy they come from and how to prepare them] The variety I have are La Mamma which are ‘usually boiled and eaten leaf by leaf until the fleshy heart is reached, with the hairy choke being discarded.’

Amongst the recipes there is one for Frittata Di Carciofi which for the non-Italian speakers translates as Artichoke Omelette. How spooky is that as I just happen to have a spare 30 eggs!

Summer is on its way

Never mind what the date is, you can tell when spring has well and truly spring and summer is on its way but what is available to eat.

We have a glut of broad beans but now have some early carrots to go with them.




Even better than that - I am not sure if you will remember that I planted two potatoes in a tub in the greenhouse in February, well, here is our first crop. Enough for two meals and the words cannot describe the taste. The ones that I planted early in the ground are coming into flower so it won't be long and we will have our first real crop.





Talking about gluts - 10 ducks are lovely but when we get between 8 and 10 eggs a day we have a bit of a glut. I do get some strange looks on the train occasionally as I bet I am the only commuter that regularly has half a dozen eggs in her handbag.

I managed to use them all up, in some form or another, last week, we have sold two dozen, I have used 15 today but still they keep coming.

Just in case you are wondering, I have increased the quantities in my batches so it is now 5 eggs to 10 ounces of butter, sugar and flour, so rather than 15 eggs, I have 60 muffins. Luckily Katy popped in with her apprentice so that was 8 muffins gone in a very short time!

Bartering

Which is worth the most, a box of duck eggs or a cauliflower?

The answer is they have equal worth in the bartering system and, if I didn't work for a bank and rely on money to keep me in a job, I would lobby for bartering to be the way we should trade.

I really wish I could grow a cauliflower like that. I have put up every defence imaginable but somehow my brassicas are getting eaten. One slight problem I have is that I lost the labels as to what they are so it is possible that, what I think are cauliflowers are actually sprouts. The only thing that is certain is the red cabbage. There are two left that haven't been eaten so fingers crossed that the make it through to Autumn.