Processing the Harvest

That is a lot of allotments Joolz! Last night was Thai wraps with peanut sauce, such a simple dish. I have not even assembled tonights (8 pm now) meal - being too lazy. I have lots of time and mostly do nothing although I should be going wildly.

I would use roundup I think. I do not use it on my raised beds because they have been kept weed free - but I use it on my trails and open places - without it the dreaded torpedo grass would take over. What will you do with so much production from 2 allotments?

The rain has stopped and all is nice out - dusk and the chickens will soon be in bed. Tonight for dessert will be what has become our standard, those cake disks with fruit. Tonight cherries with a bit of apricot in sugar and the blackberry syrup topped with the whipped cream. Salad will have some garden cucumber and tomato on bought lettuce. I do not actually grow that much food because we do not have a need for much with buying rice, pasta, bread, meat (we want to slow that right down) fruit, dairy, sweets, just all manner of stuff, I seem to be buying groceries more than ever - odd......... Oh, and a garden cantaloupe is ripe tonight - they are amazingly sweet and flavorful.

I grow eggs, salad stuff, soup stuff, some fruit, catch fish/crabs/shrimp (but no luck lately) some root veg, some greens, tons of peppers - but it just makes me realize more how I would starve if the trucks stopped running like everyone else would. My production is more to dress up the bulk of my intake, which is bought.

 

how I envy you that Colne. We are off to France(south) in mid September and I'm so looking forward to sunripe melons.
What REALLY winds me up are the mountainous piles of Spanish galia melons in our Supermarkets right now. I pick up and sniff maybe a dozen. All like cannon balls and not the hint of a melon perfume in them. All harvested much too early " to ensure they reach you in prime condition ". Utter RUBBISH. A total waste of money as far as I'm concerned,
Jenny

 

That must be great.

If you remember Tamerlane, the Mongol who conquered the world from China's great wall to Moscow and all India and the ME and built his city capital as Samarkand (which till the Russians finally took those lands were death to any Christian who entered - late 1800's) and would pine for the melons of that place if away. No article is written on Samarkand and the region without mentioning the melons - the high plains with cold nights and blistering days coupled with irrigation produce the sweetest fruit in the world.

Melon farmers across some parts of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Persia and Afghanistan (where they are given huge status - a non drinking society, the melons of those reigons have the status of the Fine wines you will enjoy in France) Would have towers, pretty ornate, of baked clay and straw bricks that would house pigeon flocks to collect the guano for the melons and meat for the market - because pigeons do not eat melons; but would fatten on the grain farmers fields.

The KharBoozeh, the melon of that region which has almost mystical importance, the melon I remember from my childhood.



(picture from web, and those are not KarBoozeh I think, too orange and round; they have all kinds of others too - but still, a wonderful picture of a melon seller of that place.)



KarBoozeh

 

I grow mostly cabbage,chard etc for my hens,collard greens are growing ok still,noone else is familar with them,so bonus if they come good here,thanks

Tried it last yr on another plot i had it grew back after 2 week,its a case of dig it all out to clear the earth,no rotavate,bare hands in there

Is that peanut butter ?

Ive had my first 2 off the vine,yummy (burpless variety)
Cant grow them fast enough for my 9yr old
My ananas melons arnt doing anything so i think il bin them

 

This gladdens my heart today Colne. I have the greatest respect for this humble vegetable. A dinner just 'ain't right without them to me

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodandd...es-are-springing-up-all-over-East-Anglia.html
Jenny

 

I do not use actual roundup - but a Spectracide product: Spectracide® Weed & Grass Killer Concentrate. I get a bottle of concentrate for $10 and it makes 10 gallons - years worth. I make it up in a spray bottle that glass cleaner came in and spray once a week to 3 weeks - just carry it with me ocasionally as I walk through. Given a bit of time it will kill everything. Spray and then when new green comes up from the dead - let it grow so it has tender surface area and spray again. I have controlled the very worst of invasive things with it.

Then I buy the insect concentrate for $10 and it will last me years too:



and have it in another spray bottle (careful - the wrong one used would be disastrous) and carry it on a different walk through and hit any infestations in my non edible plants. Without this I would get zero cannas or dhalias - both these products are fantastic and are affordable because they last for years, just mix in small amounts.

I make Vietnamese spring rolls a lot and make this peanut sauce (I do it all by eye) for dipping - it is boiled for 1 minute and then let cool - I just make a small amount and it is very quick, chunky peanut butter, brown sugar, 4 cloves of garlic chopped, sesame oil, hoisin sauce, and water. You are supposed to add fish sauce but it gets too salty. Then serve with Thai hot pepper sauce, pickled ginger, and wasabi on the side, with small bowls of the peanut sauce.

Jenny, when I spent lots of time in the more remote parts of the Highlands and Islands everyone has a small garden with parsnips, some brassicas, potatoes, and onions. The saying was 'tatties with everything' and it really was potatoes with every meal.

 

That i could try just need ses oil

I have no idea on their spring rolls sorry and i dont have a deep fryer but the mention of vietnamese reminded me of my vietnamese coriander plant i lost last yr do you grow it? its a lot stronger than cilantro great plant i need to replace x

 

Joolz - you do not cook the spring rolls, they are served cold. The stuffing is a small amount of meat, rice or pho noodles, or mung bean threads. then the filling is rolled in a lettuce leaf and then a rice paper disk. (a pan of warm water softens the disks in seconds)



I make the filling with very lean beef, lots of chopped peppers and onion, tomatoes, and seasonings. I then freeze it in small batches and it makes these spring rolls or tacos - we love both. A really easy meal to thaw - make some rice early so it is cool - and it goes quick. These are the rolls made up - 3 for me and 2 for my wife. They are healthy and good. The disks are $2.50 for about thirty.



And then here is the casserole from the hen and Kraft ™ box products. I had wanted to do a fine pie but let things slide and had a box of stuffing and a can of soup. It was dreadful - but not too dreadful.......Kids would like it, I liked it in a guilty sort of way - and it was all crunchy on the top like they said - and in a thick sauce under it.

 

I made some pickled eggs - 2 smallish/medium beets boiled, 12 small eggs boiled, 3/4 cup white vinegar, 3/4 cup beet cooking water (or water if you do not have the cooking water - canned beets work ok) 1 T sugar, 1t pickling spice, touch salt.

Peel everything, cut beets in thick slices/chunks, pack in jar alternating - pack tightly. This should be a 1 L, or 1 quart jar if the eggs are small, 10 eggs if medium eggs.

Boil mixture and after a minute pour over eggs/beets in the jar - put on lid and refrigerate. This is good for weeks in the refrigerator. Cut in quarters and put on salad with a beet piece, we love them - we like busy salads with a bit of peperoni, Greek olives, some Californian olives, bit of feta or similar on lettuce with tomato, cucumber and avocados (can buy avocados 3/$1 here).



And made 4.5 pounds of blackberries into syrup. (one USA gallon bag totally full) The yield is 2 L, or 2 USA quarts with a bit left over. 4 pounds sugar, pour over berries (still frozen or fresh in pot, very slowly heat - 1 1/2 hours till it just is bubbling and let it work a bit longer with lower heat. Skim off berries into strainer in bowl to drain. pour liquid through strainer into larger bowl to drain (tilt the strainers about a bit at first to hurry it up). Do not mash the berries! Put the syrup into sterilized jars and water bath can for 8 minutes in small jars, 10 in bigger.

My wife loves the left pulp and seeds ( a USA pint +, or about a British pint.) She has them over her breakfast granola or cereal with yogurt - so I canned the pulp too. I do not know if it needs refrigerating with all the seeds so I am keeping it in the refrigerator where it should last indefinitely. The syrup needs no refrigeration till opened.



The syrup under the - thin after cooking - layer of berries is clear if not overly stirred.

About 9 - 8oz jars, two liters.



I have taken to using the syrup in all fruit things - and we eat a lot of fruit. I harvested 25 pounds, 11 kg, off 3 Kioa bushes! And I had just planted them the May previous, and sickly plants too. The other blackberry plants I have were too new ( 13 Navaho dug up and planted in January of this year, or 3 prime Jan were very sickly and went in in May last year too) to do much - and especially as the creatures devoured what they did make. The Kioa is super thorny so rats cannot climb them - and the berries too big for birds to carry off.

 

Oh, I made the syrup in small jars ($7 for 12 at the Dollar store, same price as pint jars) so I could give some as gifts. We like to give home made stuff, and we get given things like home grown berries, fruit, nuts, veg, spices. I will can the next batch in pints for us. Also I will be making another batch of blackberry jam - and this time use the small jars instead of the pints I used last batch. I have 3 full (4.5 pound, 2 kg) bags left in the freezer - and 1 half bag for using as berries in desserts - they are sour, having been picked not ripe because the creatures pick apart any that get soft and sugary - even with the thorns - but the flavor is excellent.

 

Colne,
does your Bramble fruit in the jars become a jelly? If so, it's rather nice on a slice of good bread or toast. Even nicer with a layer of thick, decent cream on top!
Jenny

 

No, this is syrup! Only let it boil once to see that the full temp is reached, then heat off and let sit a bit. Do not boil because you do not want that jam taste! You want syrup with its flowery blackberry taste. Heat very slowly, turn off when it boils. Go slow and low - do not let the sugars caramelize as in jam.

 

Colne,
my Bramble Jelly sets like ruby red jewels. If simmered gently , strained and 2 pints of syrup mixed with 1 lb preserving sugar containing pectin. bring to a full rolling boil stir for 5 minutes and test for set on a chilled saucer If then pot up in warmed jars, cover with a wax disc ( I cut up Cornflake packet liners ) and screw a jar lid on it and leave to cool. This will keep in a cool , dark cupboard or a fridge for 2 years,
Jenny

 

Our cool, dark cupboard we call a refrigerator. I use very little air-conditioning except in my bedroom wile sleeping - so cupboards here are about 27C half the year. But we use canning jars which are available at any place which sells kitchen gear of food and then water bath can so it is shelf stable - the jars are reusable and new lids are cheap. We cannot get the sugar with pectin and pectin is $3 a pack - enough for a batch of your size - and I refuse to buy it. I make my jams jellies without it and they always are soft :( but still - I have this mad prejudice against buying it, makes no sense I know.

But this is not jelly and I want it to pour like a liquid - and I will be doing jam later, and it will likely be soft. I think your jelly must be excellent - half the sugar usually called for. This Christmas I will be making some jam cookies - Ukrainian ones where the crust is made with some cream cheese - a dough disk has a teaspoon of the jam on it and four corners are drawn up and pinched together making it a little bag. These open when cooking and it ends up like a deep cup with the jam at the bottom, really good - a way to get rid of old jam.

 

I get really cross if I go to the trouble of making a batch of jam and finding it runny the next morning...
It involves pouring it all back in the pan, washing out the jars to start afresh ( you lose at least 10% + of your precious mix) and boiling it all again. The colour and flavour are spoilt somewhat and I never fancy it quite as much as I would do if it had worked first time. I'm naughty with jams - have too many on the go, all stored in the fridge and my OH moans about the reduced fridge space,
Jenny