The Shopshire Prune - A Damson

Just got back from the Ludlow Food Festival where I went to a taste workshop on Damsons - specifically the Shropshire Prune. I have planted one of these trees in the kitchen garden and was very keen to find out how to make the most of it. We sat down to a plate of lemon scones with damson jam, pork pie with Damson Chutney, Damson Cheese, Damson Icecream (dipped in chocolate) all washed down with Damson Gin. Well food for thought as they say. This variety is not the largest of the Damsons and more egg shaped than some but supposed to be superior in flavour.

I got home to find my Damson tree laden with beautifully ripe fruit - Damsons can be lip puckeringly sharp but this year they are lovely and sweet. Here is my first picking. The fruit has a lovely blueish bloom on the skins. I'm going to make some jam and puree the rest for the freeze. The next bowl full are destined for a bottle of gin.

The Shropshire Prune has been adopted into the Slow Food Ark visit the blog here for more information and recipes. I'm definitely going to try the ice cream. 

Word of warning, it is best to make sure you remove all the stones when using them in cooking. You can otherwise spend happy hours playing Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor with all the stones and new teeth are expensive!

Rhubarb, Rhubarb

Picked the first of the Rhubarb this week. The Timperley Early is living up to its name and is coming on despite a couple of heavy frosts. I zapped some in the microwave on medium with a tablespoon of soft brown sugar for five minutes and it came out perfect. I also made some St Clements ice cream to go with it. Very easy in a machine and surprisingly used half tin ambrosia custard, pot of good orange curd and a splash of double cream. I added juice of a lemon and some grated zest. Served with lemon shortbread and made a very yummy pud.

I also have some later varieties such as Victoria to follow on and am hoping to make some rhubarb and ginger jam - which is delicious. I also like to make a rhubarb and orange custart tart which can be very posh with a caramelised sugar topping. Crumble, traybake - ginger or orange sponge with some ground almonds and chopped rhubarb, if ginger ad some chopped preserved ginger too.

Quick & Easy Jam (promise)

I never seem to have much luck with jam made the traditional way on the stove with a preserving pan, it always seems to end in tears and a blackened pot. I went on a foraging course at Ballymaloe with Darina Allen and she explained that making just one or two jars was much easier than trying to fill your pantry with rows of preserves for a long winter ahead. You can also take advantage of reduced fruit at the supermarket and just use a couple of punnets.

So for foolproof strawberry jam I use 800 g (two punnets) or strawberries which had been sitting in the fridge for too long and looked a bit manky and 800 g of jam sugar (with pectin). I use a large stoneware pudding basin which is microwave safe, you need plenty of room as the jam rises when it boils more than you would think.  So slice up the strawberries and cook on high for 7 minutes then mash up with a potato masher. Stir in the sugar until it disolves and then cook on high for 15 minutes. You can add a very small amount of butter with the sugar if you like to prevent the scum forming.  Then remove and pot.  The mixture needs to boil for at least 4 minutes to activate the pectin but these timings seem to work well - don't be tempted to peak or you will interrupt the boiling.  Also boiling sugar is VERY HOT. Make sure your bowl is big enough to avoid your microwave turning into a sticky mess as you don't want this boiling over.

I've now got 3 jars of strawberry and 8 of blackcurrant as well as some redcurrant jelly from a few potterings around the kitchen. I used Delia's recipe for redcurrant jelly which just involves the above recipe but you strain it all through a nylon sieve before potting up. If you are very patient and don't rub the fruit through the sieve the jelly is clearer but it does seem a waste not to extract every last drop.

For the blackcurrants I use half jam sugar and half plain granulated. Now roll on the plums and blackberries which are looking wonderful this year despite the wasps and hornets.

Leeds Castle Homes & Gardens Fair

Sorry for radio silence, I have been busy getting ready for the Homes & Gardens fair at Leeds Castle this weekend and have been making candles and planting up tureens etc in readiness. The weather looks great and there will be loads of stall holders and plant nurseries there as well as yours truly.

We also have another project on the go in the kitchen garden, making some raised beds with crates used to import oranges from Uruguay. I thought I was buying old orchard crates but never mind. Will post some pics over the weekend.

Belmont Park - Kitchen Garden

day was the morning after the night before and have survived the Garden Soc. supper last night. Despite the grotty weather I met up with some friends at Belmont House & Gardens near Faversham today for their spring fair. They have the most amazing walled kitchen garden which was completely renovated a few years ago and gives me lots of inspiration. The gardens have far reaching views across the Kent countryside and you can see nothing but trees and fields which is quite something. I'm very jealous of the greenhouses which are huge. I bet they don't have a bindweed infestation either.

Kitchen Garden

Greenhouse Staging

       

Trained Vine in the Greenhouse                    Apple: Lord Lambourne

First Asparagus

Yummy look what I've just picked for supper. I only have about six plants which have been in for a couple of years now and the warm weather this week has really brought it on. Cheated and bought some hollandaise.

bon apetit

Today in the Kitchen Garden

Oh dear, the North wind doth blow, and blow. Its cold still despite some lovely sunny days, the wind is whipping across the Downs and keeping us chilly. Things are stirring in the kitchen garden, although slowly and evey day something new is appearing. Looks like there might have been some losses, the myrtle bush is looking very dead, although I haven't given up hope as it is always slow to come into leaf. I have also lost several potted french lavenders and the Rosemary bushes have taken a beating and are not covered in masses of flowers this year. No signs of life from the Olive trees either but the small cutting in the greenhouse is beginning grow away.

Positive notes are the greens under the cold frame are looking very well, here is an updated photo. The Hispi cabbage are beginning to form hearts and the radishes are well on their way. I have just pricked out another tray of cabbages in the greenhouse to provide a succession.

I also have seedling little gem lettuces waiting to be planted out, won't be too soon as they are attracting greenfly in the greenhouse.

Lady birds have been appearing with the sunny days and I have transferred a few into the greenhouse salads! The grapevine which I put in the greenhouse last year is now coming into leaf and is covered in flower buds. Last year when I planted it, this vine was just 12 inches high, I am training it across the greenhouse roof to provide summer shading and hopefully, some grapes. 

I have bought the strawberry tower into the greenhouse and its starting to grow away. It has a mix of varieties including Florence, Hapil and Cambridge Favourite. I am planning on digging up the strawberry beds in the fruit cage and making a strawberry table instead using the folding staging and a couple of grow bags. Last year the strawberries growing in containers produced much better fruit and it would help my back to raise them off the ground. I could put brassicas in the strawberry beds for the autumn and they would be kept free from the dreaded cabbage white butterflies which can sniff out the cabbage family wherever I hide them!

Broadbeans are starting to develop flower buds and the crimson flowered broad beans have just starting appearing in the greenhouse. I think its still to cold to start off the tender summer veg such as courgettes and squashes but I have started tomatoes to give them a long growing season and some have started germinating.

Rhubarb, Rhubarb Everywhere

I have Timperley Early in the garden (and also in old dolly tubs) which I have started picking for stewing and crumbles. Mind you, "stewed rhubarb" sounds very institutional - how about "rhubarb compote" instead! I blast it in the microwave for a couple of minutes until it has collapsed and add brown sugar to taste. You can also make a very posh rhubarb & custard flan by baking a rich egg & cream mixture flavoured with marmalade in a short pastry case, on top of which you have artfully arranged rhubarb pieces. If you really want to impress, when cooked, you can brulee the top of the tart with brown sugar and a blow torch (beware: I have discovered to my cost that the blowtorch in Himself's toobox is much fiercer than the kitchen variety!).

My neighbour is the jam & chutney company Sugar & Spice, and they use any rhubarb I can't cope with. The recipe below is yummy, one of my favourites, and something to keep the rhubarb mountain at bay when its no longer a novelty. I'm afraid I use this in cheese sandwiches too as a chutney alternative - sweet tooth - moi?

Rhubarb & Ginger Jam

Ingredients
1kg trimmed rhubarb, chopped , 1kg granulated sugar
Juice of 2 lemons, 25g root ginger, roughly chopped
100g crystallised ginger, finely chopped or experiment with preserved ginger

Instructions
Layer the rhubarb and sugar alternately in a large bowl, adding a sprinkling of lemon juice to each layer. Cover and leave overnight for the sugar to draw out the juices of the rhubarb. Put the rhubarb and sugar in a preserving pan. Tie up the root ginger in a piece of muslin and add to the pan. Bring the mix to the boil, skim off any scum, then boil rapidly for 15 minutes. Remove the muslin, add the crystallised ginger and boil for 5 minutes more or until setting point is reached (to test for this, drop a blob of jam on to a cold saucer, push it with your finger and it should wrinkle). Pour into sterilised jars and seal with jam pot covers or screw lids.

UFO found in Kitchen Garden

Whilst keeping an eye out for bees in the garden over the weekend, I happened across this rather peculiar flying beastie. Furry like a bumblebee but with long spindly legs and with slightly sinister looking bat like markings on the wings. Having a lance like proboscis and drinking nectar like a hoverfly or hawkwing moth. Initially I thought this was a hoverfly but further investigations via the trusty Interweb has identified this UFO as a Greater Beefly (Bombylius major).

Rather alarmingly they are parasitic on solitary bees which we have plenty of in the garden. I hope they don't have a negative effect on the rather healthy population of bumblebees in the garden.

NEW - Book of the Month

Carol Klein - Grow Your Own Vegetables

I have just added a "Book of the Month" to the blog. Not necessarily newly published books, but ones I have been reading or referring to in my quest for knowledge and self improvement - or else just ones with yummy pictures!

As I mentioned previously, my friend Sian designed the book and it has scrummy photography and is really inspiring. She used to work for Gardens Illustrated, so you can imagine how wonderful the book looks. I caught some of the series on telly last year and tt has fired up my enthusiasm for propagation. It turns out not nearly as complicated as you might think, especially following Carol's step by step instructions (and all those free plants - so satisfying).

These are some other books by Carol following the grow your own theme which I have and would recommend. I don't know if the following links will be of use as I can't seem to get this to work on the UK site of Amazon - however the link in the RH column will take you to the right page for the book in my Amazon shop along with a few other suggestions.

More from the Kitchen Garden

I managed to charge up my phone and take some pictures around the kitchen garden today. First project was to plant a perennial sweet pea - a pink one and construct a hazel peastick wigwam as a support. The chickens were happy to help! I have chosen the middle of the comfrey bed for the sweet peas. 

I planted up this bed several years ago when I was short of ideas and now the comfrey is here to stay - it is remarkably vigorous and has even regenerated from cut leaves used as mulch on a potato bed. It puts down very deep, fibrous roots which are very challenging to dig out of clay soil. Still, it is another plant which is full of bees when in flower and can be cut several times a year. It is high in nitrogen and makes a great addition to the compost heap. I keep meaning to make compost tea with it but am too cowardly as it is supposed to stink - perhaps this year.

In the background are some of the galvanised dolly tubs I use as planters. last year they had potatoes in them followed by courgettes.  The bottoms have rusted through but that doesn't matter. I have one still intact which I use for Horseradish as it likes wet conditions. Rhubarb and mytle are both planted in barrels.

I potted up some dog's tooth violet bulbs at christmas and they are nearing flowering now and are in a coldframe waiting to be planted out. Also with them is a frame full of cowslips which I bought cheaply from B&Q (3 plants) and divided up to make 12 plants. Beyond the cowslips are some 5 inch pots of sweet peas. 

Two of the pots are dwarf sweet peas sown from seed I saved from last years plants and three pots have overwintered from seedlings which potted up in the autumn. By the way, these lovely victorian style cloches were presents. The latest one was a Christmas present and came from Crocus - I love browsing the Crocus website see http://www.crocus.co.uk/

I also put some hazel twigs around the broad beans which I planted out last week. I have now sown in the greenhouse (in loo roll tubes) some seeds of the Crimson broad bean to provide a succession. I first came across this variety from the Heritage Seed Library as they were donated to the library by a lady living in Kent, just down the road from here. They have proven so popular they are now available from several seed companies.

I have just harvested some carrots for dinner. I planted these last august in a barrel with some old growbag compost. I like using multicoloured carrots - have a look at the picture of the ones I pulled up today. I just broadcast the seed on the surface of the compost and lightly covered with vermiculite. The carrots then grow to fill the available space - they vary in size but you do get a whole barrel of them and best of all - no carrot fly. The carrot fly flies close to the ground and up in the barrel the plants are out of reach. You do tend to pull more carrots than you need as its a bit like playing lucky dip! 

I have finally given in and bought some organic slug pellets. The slugs have a particular fancy for my pansies and violas and some have found their way into the greenhouse and are having a go at some emerging shoots.

April in the Kitchen Garden

Hooray some sunshine this afternoon and I spent some time in the garden. I lured the hens into the fruit cage where they happily spent a couple of hours turning over the ground and hopefully finding some slugs. I spent some time weeding raised beds and transplanting seedlings into the new bee plant area as well as scattering seeds on bare patches. I put down some crimson clover and tufted vetch seeds in the meadow. I bought some mixed viola plants during the week and have edged the beds with them and also used them to plant up a lovely purple glass container for the house.

The bees were out in force and finding red dead nettle in flower as well as a speedwell and lesser celandine. I walked around the meadow and the violets are out and some self heal. Cuckoo flower and cowslips are on their way. Suddenly all the fruit trees are in bud and the hawthorne is showing green. I saw a couple of ladybirds (of the English variety), the continental ones are still crawling around the window cills in the house.

I planted out little gem lettuces which have been growing on the greenhouse. I have a raised bed (6ft x 4ft) with an integral cold frame made to the Geoff Hamilton plans (gardeners world).  Follow this link to the HDRA Garden Organic website for instructions on how to make one using timber, water pipe and plastic sheeting  click here  Under here from left to right, I have mixed leaves, radiccio, little gem, hispi cabbages and radishes . There are also lots of corncockles appearing under here which I will move. I planted a couple of roses, a Charles de Mills and a David Austin lucky dip from the bargain bin at Notcutts - it didn't have a label so I have no idea of the variety.

My friend Sian has designed Carol Klein's new book - Grow Your Own Garden and it has inspired me to divide perennials and take cuttings for the first time. I potted up a whole tray of hardy geraniums divided up from a small clump and also taken softwood cuttings of sage and garden pinks. Last autumns penstemon cuttings survived the winter - unlike the ones planted in the garden - and are now growing away happily.

I have separated the poorly hen from the flock and she is now in an ark by herself. She has damaged an eye and is not coping well with only one eye working. Today she looked a bit brighter, I am dosing her with Baytril and bathing the eye with aloe vera so fingers crossed.

Here is a picture of the potted up geraniums in the greenhouse. Behind them are lavender Hidcote plugs which I am growing on. They arrived as mini plugs a couple of weeks ago from Thompson & Morgan (84 in total).

More tomorrow as I plan to spend Easter Sunday in the garden if the weather is not too bad.

Growing Plants for Honey Bees

I thought you might like to know about the easy plants you can grow to encourage bees in your garden. Since putting my hive in last year, I have been sowing hardy annuals and perennials to provide them with a rich source of nectar and pollen. As a rule, simple flowers are easier for the bees to access the nectar although early compositae such as dandelions are in important early food source - so leave them to flower if you can.

I am raising crimson clover and sainfoin in modules to plant out and have also been scattering seed on bare soil on an area we have recently cleared by moving the compost heaps. I read in the British Beekeeping magazine that bees are highly attracted to these plants so am trying them. They germinated really easily and are often used as a green manure so the seeds are readily available. visit the bbka website to find out more. http://www.britishbee.org.uk/

Phacelia is an old fashioned garden plant which seeds itself easily and flowers for ages. I have sown lots of seed using last years flower heads and have also transplanted seedings appearing in the vegetable beds. This plant can also be used as a green manure and dug in before flowering - which seems a shame. Borage is also self sown. If you are growing comfrey for making compost or plant food, these flowers are also very attracting to bees. I also have corncockle which seeds itself freely around so have added this to the mix. A traditional wildflower of the cornfields, its is a highly decorative plant, 2-3 foot high with magenta flowers.

Later on in the season, alliums are also popular bee plants and I leave some of last years onions and leeks in the beds to provide some useful food sources. I have included a picture of a bumble bee on a garlic flower taken in the kitchen garden in July. I also have californian poppy seeding around and young echinops everywhere which are popular with the bees.

Even in the smallest of gardens you can dedicate a corner to growing flowers to help the bees.

welcome to my blog

Well this is the brave new world - first Twitter and now my very own blog, welcome one and all. Spent the day in the greenhouse pricking out crimson clover and Sanfoin grown for the bees. The chickens escaped from the run and ran amock in the kitchen garden, mad for the new grass and then discovered the joys of digging for worms in the raised beds. I must be more careful with the gate! I have been creating a new flowering area principally to grow nectar rich flowers for my bees to enjoy. I broadcast seeds last autumn grown elsewhere in the garden and now have corncockle, crimson clover, sanfoin, phacelia, borage, mullein and teasel all coming through. I have emptied packets of poppy seeds in the area too so have my fingers crossed for a good crop.

The new willow "fedge" is coming to life. This is a simple cross weave made with prunings from the willow tunnel and planted through weed surpressing fabric and mulched with bark. The idea is to hide the compost bins, although when the hazel platt grows this should help to. Thanks to the squirrels raiding last years nut crop, there were lots of young hazel trees springing up in the vegetable beds.