A glut of cucumbers is a new one for me - I don't normally do that well! Much as I like a pile of thinly sliced cucumber with a sprinkling of salt and a grind of black pepper it doesn't use them up particularly quickly!
My first glut-busting recipe will transport you to the late 70s - I give you Salmon & Cucumber Mousse!
Flake 8oz salmon into a bowl (for that 70s vibe I used canned red, but fresh is lovely) and season well with salt, pepper and plenty of dill - fresh or dried whatever you have.
Fold in 5floz of whipped cream.
Roughly chop half a long cuc or a whole small one and then blitz in a blender or processor until you've got a finely chopped cucumber! Stir into the salmon and check the seasoning again - it should taste fresh and summery, you may need more salt, or a squirt of lemon juice to bring the flavours out fully.
Dissolve half an ounce (1 envelope) of gelatine in 2floz of hot water until completely clear. Stir well into the salmon and cucumber mixture, then pour the whole lot into a mould, bowl or tin and leave to set in the fridge.
Mine's ready and waiting for tomorrow's supper - I'll add pics then!
Monday, 30 August 2010
Thursday, 26 August 2010
Today's harvest
All things - like rain - considered this year's harvest is turning out not too badly. Everything is growing well, but some of it is going remarkably well - like cucumbers, tell me, is it natural to have five in the fridge?!
Still the pain of picking three more was softened by picking my first red tomatoes of the year. Hoorah - perhaps it won't all be green tomato chutney!
Friday, 9 July 2010
The Holy Hollyhock
Do you remember the Bagthorpe Saga by Helen Cresswell? In one of the books the Holy Hollyhock featured large (or was it the Blessed Hollyhock - hmm shall have to ask Glad).
I love hollyhocks, but have had varying success with them. Or more precisely getting the colours I wanted! I've had some beautiful yellow ones over the last few years - trouble is the packet said black! And now this year a robust plant has grown - and turns out to be peach. How does that happen?!
I love hollyhocks, but have had varying success with them. Or more precisely getting the colours I wanted! I've had some beautiful yellow ones over the last few years - trouble is the packet said black! And now this year a robust plant has grown - and turns out to be peach. How does that happen?!
Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Treasured Berries
Ta-daaaaaa
We're getting a bit blase about these now - we've picked bowlfuls.
We started last year with six plants of Cambridge Favourites and the slugs and cheesy-bobs beat us to everyone. So we just propagated on some runners and left everything to its own devices over the winter.
Now the plants are strong, lush and fruitful - and judging by the price in the supermarket, jolly good value! More space next year I think!
We're getting a bit blase about these now - we've picked bowlfuls.
We started last year with six plants of Cambridge Favourites and the slugs and cheesy-bobs beat us to everyone. So we just propagated on some runners and left everything to its own devices over the winter.
Now the plants are strong, lush and fruitful - and judging by the price in the supermarket, jolly good value! More space next year I think!
Monday, 21 June 2010
Where does the time go?
It's nearly a year since I last posted here. Shameful.
The garden is blossoming - even if not everything is doing quite as it should. Photos and confessions another day, but for today I shall bask in the glory that we picked half a pound of strawberries - the fourth or fifth day of picking - and there's plenty more to come.
The garden is blossoming - even if not everything is doing quite as it should. Photos and confessions another day, but for today I shall bask in the glory that we picked half a pound of strawberries - the fourth or fifth day of picking - and there's plenty more to come.
Sunday, 5 July 2009
Path News - The Beginning
It was a garden without a path. There were some stepping stones - set hopping distance apart, useless for walking on, and not even particularly decorative.
So we marked out a path from the house to the veg patch, and on the hottest day of the year Wilf and Himself set to work.
Very soon we had turf mountains
And after three days work and much earth moving later the path was dug out to its full length and depth.
Because of the curve in the path, bricks are really the only option for the edging and so on another hot day Wilf turned bricklayer for the first time and got to it.
Seventy bricks later one side is nearly edged and suddenly the space looks less like a new motorway and more like a garden path.
So we marked out a path from the house to the veg patch, and on the hottest day of the year Wilf and Himself set to work.
Very soon we had turf mountains
And after three days work and much earth moving later the path was dug out to its full length and depth.
Because of the curve in the path, bricks are really the only option for the edging and so on another hot day Wilf turned bricklayer for the first time and got to it.
Seventy bricks later one side is nearly edged and suddenly the space looks less like a new motorway and more like a garden path.
Tuesday, 23 June 2009
Veggie progress
Everything is growing like mad without too much interference from us!
Peas are flowering and setting their pods - just a few more days before we start picking I reckon. After giving them one final go last year we seem to have found our pea legs - they were a big success last year, and this year looks to be going the same way. This is a dwarf variety - Early Onward.
We're also growing sugar snap peas and mangetout. The mangetout are purple-podded, and have the most beautiful flowers - almost good enough to pick!
Courgettes are coming on nicely - I inspect them every day for fear of growing a marrow! Madly, we've got three plants this year - Bianca, Defender and Soleil. This is the first Defender just coming to picking size.
The greenhouse is cleared and home to the tomatoes and chillies - a bit further behind than I'd hoped, but there's still time for a good crop. We've also got four hanging baskets of cherry tomatoes which are setting fruit nicely.
The chard and overwintering onions came out the other week, and more onions and carrots went in. This is our second sowing of carrots - very poor germination of the first lot - I wonder if the soil was just too cold. The bed behind supposedly has broccoli, chard and calabrese in - but the poppies seem to be hiding them from sight for the time being.
The potatoes are looking abundant - too early to peek yet though, these are second earlies. Have to resist the temptation until next month. Hidden by peas, the dwarf beans, runners and borlottis and runners are all starting to set pod. And in any spare gaps there are spring onions and beetroot.
So with the veg garden vaguely under control we've started digging a path. Well. I use 'we' loosely. What I actually mean is that Wilf and Himself (my nephew) have started digging a path, and jolly fine it's looking too.
Peas are flowering and setting their pods - just a few more days before we start picking I reckon. After giving them one final go last year we seem to have found our pea legs - they were a big success last year, and this year looks to be going the same way. This is a dwarf variety - Early Onward.
We're also growing sugar snap peas and mangetout. The mangetout are purple-podded, and have the most beautiful flowers - almost good enough to pick!
Courgettes are coming on nicely - I inspect them every day for fear of growing a marrow! Madly, we've got three plants this year - Bianca, Defender and Soleil. This is the first Defender just coming to picking size.
The greenhouse is cleared and home to the tomatoes and chillies - a bit further behind than I'd hoped, but there's still time for a good crop. We've also got four hanging baskets of cherry tomatoes which are setting fruit nicely.
The chard and overwintering onions came out the other week, and more onions and carrots went in. This is our second sowing of carrots - very poor germination of the first lot - I wonder if the soil was just too cold. The bed behind supposedly has broccoli, chard and calabrese in - but the poppies seem to be hiding them from sight for the time being.
The potatoes are looking abundant - too early to peek yet though, these are second earlies. Have to resist the temptation until next month. Hidden by peas, the dwarf beans, runners and borlottis and runners are all starting to set pod. And in any spare gaps there are spring onions and beetroot.
So with the veg garden vaguely under control we've started digging a path. Well. I use 'we' loosely. What I actually mean is that Wilf and Himself (my nephew) have started digging a path, and jolly fine it's looking too.
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