Life on The Weald - September 2020

 Life on The Weald (and still "shielding") - September 2020

"season of mists and mellow fruitfulness" (Keats)

locally picked medlars, bletting at home

At the beginning of the month we had a supply of locally picked medlars given to us by a friend and fellow plot-holder.  They cannot be used as they are when picked, but need "bletting" (left to ripen/rot a little).  You can find details of bletting and medlars here

We will probably make Medlar Jelly once they have bletted.

On 3 September we were greeted by a new flowering water lily.

Water lily on our allotment pond

We also had a large supply of plums, so 3 September became baking day with my own version of Pflaumenkuchen (plum cake) 

pflaumenkuchen in preparation

pflaumenkuchen ready to eat!

With a plentiful supply of patty pan squashes there was an opportunity to have them stuffed and roasted.

Stuffed patty pan for roasting - 4 September

At home, the tomatoes have been very productive and we have had daily pickings. they are still looking good and more fruits are setting.  We are hoping for some sunshine to speed up the ripening of these later arrivals.

Tomatoes - 4 September

August is supposed to be the last month for sowing beetroot but with global warming I decided to sow a couple of rows this month together with some perpetual spinach.  Even if we don't get beetroots we should at least get some salad leaves.

Despite the heavy winds there are still a few plums on the tree and on 6 September we picked some as well as rather a lot of cucumbers (Spanish pepino variety) and some very large courgettes!

6 September - more plums!

6 September - a proliferation of cucumbers

6 September - rather large courgettes

We have also been picking kale almost every day.

8 September - a variety of kale

And we picked our lone Blue Ballet squash, similar in colour to a Crown Prince but a different shape.

Blue ballet squash - 8 September

Our rhubarb was prolific, still pink and not stringy, so we thought we would use some to make rhubarb gin.

10 September - rhubarb

In addition to the kale, we had a good supply of chard

11 September - chard and kale

Some of the chillies seemed ready to pick.  The Hungarian yellow wax are mild and suitable for stuffing and the hot wax and purple cayenne, which are medium hot, should turn red when fully ripe can be used whilst still green or purple.  

Hungarian yellow wax, hot wax and purple cayenne peppers - 11 Sept

Stuffed Hungarian yellow wax peppers.

We also harvested a butternut squash - perhaps not yet ready for storage but fine for eating.

Butternut squash - 11 September

Although we fared better than the rest of the country, September has been wetter than usual and very unsettled with temperatures below average. On the night of the 12 -13 September, Storm Aileen arrived hitting Wales and central England hardest with 74 mph winds but, even in the southeast, winds were 50-60mph with most of the fruit left on the trees, finally dropping

After months of wind damage, next door's fence finally came down at the beginning of the month, giving us a great sense of space in the back garden

3 Sept The fence is down

The new fence is now up but needed treating with wood preservative, so I took advantage of a few dry days to treat it.  It reminds me that the workshop in the garden and the shed on the allotment need attention too!

11 September, the new fence is up

Mid-September and the plot is still giving, including some fine beetroots.

Beetroot, patty pan and courgette - 16 September

On 19 September we caught sight of some damsel flies.  Sadly, I didn't catch a picture of their courtship/mating, which is a shame because they make such interesting and beautiful shapes.

Damsel fly

Our wormeries are doing fine.  They produce a regular supply of "worm tea"  which, when diluted, makes an excellent, nitrogen rich, liquid feed. From time to time, the bottom tray can be removed and the contents, which are a rich compost, can be spread on the beds. The wormeries take care of all our vegetable kitchen waste.

Bottom tray of the wormery - 28 September

spreading the compost - 28 September

The compost is rich in worms, most of which get put on the beds with the compost but we reserve some to add to the new trays of kitchen waste in the wormery. 

On 29 September we harvested the unknown squash which should have been a tromboncino (and clearly isn't) and we have another similar one growing elsewhere on the plot so at some stage some seeds or plants must have got mixed up!  I do not know what variety this one is.

The unknown squash - 29 September

In view of the deterioration in the weather and frequent rain I decided it was time to harvest the butternut squashes and the Crown Prince.  We will keep them indoors for a few days for them to dry out and ensure there is no moisture in the stems before storing an a cool place.

The butternut squash harvest - 30 September

My Crown Prince squash was way smaller than my neighbour's but did weigh in at a creditable 2.5kg

Crown Prince squash - 30 September

As September comes to an end, the weather is very autumnal, but also unsettled. We can expect more storms in October so we will really have to prioritise tasks as fine days for working on the plot may be few and far between.

John Austin

Hove, September 2020

Life on the Weald - December 2019

Life on the Weald - December 2019

Very little work was done on the plot in December, partly because of frequent heavy rain, partly because of the General Election campaign - the election had been called for 12 December - and partly because of preparations for Christmas.

The month started with a warning from the allotment federation of the widespread infestation of leek miner across the City.

The leeks which I had planted out earliest looked healthy enough and on my first visit of the month I lifted one to check and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was without disease. 

5 December Leek

My good fortune, however, was not to last long.  A few days later I lifted a few more for our dinner and found that we did indeed have the dreaded disease.

8 December Leek showing damage caused by leaf miner

The leeks that I had planted out later all seemed to be infected.  The Alium leaf miner has two generations a year and can infect leeks, onions and garlic.  When I planted my onions and garlic in November, I covered them with fleece so hope they might escape attack.

Each year the first generation female flies lay eggs on the stems or base of leaves during March and April.  The second generation repeats the process in October to November, and it is this period which is the most damaging.  The maggots bore into the foliage or stems and after a couple of weeks are fully fed and turn into little brown pupae. This takes place in the stems but some pupae may end up in the soil, especially where the plants may have rotted.

The damage leads to leaves splitting and when peeling off the layers, long brown streaks can be seen.  Whilst some of the crop may still be edible it is important to remove all the trimmings from the site and they should not be composted because they may contain the pupae. There are no suitable insecticides that can be used to prevent this attack.  And as there may be some pupae in the ground, crop rotation is essential and leeks, onions, shallots, garlic should not be planted in the same area in successive years.

We had better news with the Medlars.  In the previous month we had put them in trays in the garden shed to blet.  Medlars do not ripen on the tree and have to be bletted - a process of beginning to rot where starch in the fruit is turned to sugars.  A fuller account of medlars and the process of bletting can be found in my blog on medlars from 2018

"A fruit, vulgarly called an open arse; of which it is more truly than delicately said, that it is never ripe till it is as rotten as a turd, and then it is not worth a fart." 18Century Anon

8 December, bletted medlars

8 December - a bletted medlar

We did find time to make some medlar jelly to give as presents for Christmas.

In the post election depression, I was cheered by a visit to the plot to gather large quantities of kalettes and these have been one of the great successes of 2019.

14 December, Kalettes on the stem

14 December, Kalettes ready for the steamer

 We were also able to harvest lots of cavolo nero

14 December - Cavolo nero

We still had a surfeit of apples - we had made lots of apple jelly, had used some to add to the medlars for extra pectin. We cooked and froze some as apple purée, made apple pie and gave loads away - but there were still a lot left over and they were beginning to deteriorate so we decided to try to make apple cider vinegar. We started off the process just before Xmas by covering the chopped apples with cooled boiled water and adding sugar and covering with muslin to keep out flies etc to let the fermentation process start.

apples fermenting for our cider vinegar

They were in the conservatory for three weeks and there was a distinct appley and yeasty smell so we parked the bowls in the garden shed over the Xmas period and will see how things are going in the New Year.

Just before Christmas my daughter, Zoë, and her family arrived and on Xmas Eve she joined me on the plot to harvest the Brussels Sprouts

Zoë comes to help on Christmas Eve

Me

Zoë

We also picked some Kale and Chard for her to take home when she left on Boxing Day. 

We had a couple of days to recover before the arrival of my sons, Damien and Toby and their families.  In between, whilst Sylvia was changing all the beds, I made one last visit to the allotment to pick spinach and chard to make Spanakopita - (spinach and feta cheese filo pie) for their arrival.  That was the last I would see of the allotment for 2019.  

On New Year's Eve I was taken for a hike on the South Downs at Devil's Dyke by my sons, Damien and Toby and their families

31 December Damien and Toby lead the expedition

On the South Downs 31 Dec

And later that evening some of us went down to Hove beach by the lagoon to see out the old year...

Shay, Sharon, Damien, Oisín and Toby

 ...and see in the new

Sharon, Me, Shay, Damien, Toby and Oisín 

Happy New Year

John Austin

Hove, December 2019

MEDLAR JELLY

Medlar Jelly

For more information about Medlars check out my blog from November 2018, Medlars

We received a supply of medlars from our usual source and for the second year made some medlar jelly adapting a recipe from Nigel Slater.  Medlars, as explained in my earlier blog do not ripen on the tree and need to be bletted.

Having received our medlars we placed them on a tray and put them in a fairly dark place in the garden shed

unripe medlars

Afte two to three weeks, most had bletted successfully.  A couple had shown signs of mould and these were discarded.  There were also a few which had not completed the process but to make the jelly a few unripe medlars are helpful as they are rich in pectin which aids setting of the jelly. 

successfully bletted

bletted medlars

We also had a surfeit of apples this year and decided to add a few of the sound windfalls to the mix for added pectin.

windfall apples on the allotment

We used the rest of the sound apples and some still on the tree to make apple jelly using my recipe from 2018

Some recipes suggest chopping the medlars but as ours were so ripe I just pulled them in half, squeezed them and placed them in a pan and covered with water, adding the juice of two lemons and the squeezed lemons (peel and pips). I also added a few of the apples (stalks removed), roughly chopped including cores and pips.

bletted medlars being squished for the pan

With the squished medlars, chopped apples and squeezed lemon covered with water I brought the pan gently to the boil.

medlars being brought to the boil

medlar mixture simmering

I left the pan simmering gently for about 40 minutes. As you can see from the pictures, it does not look particularly appetising - and don't be tempted to taste it, otherwise you might just give up on the whole process.  Indeed I had my doubts that this mixture would ever produce a clear and tasty jelly.  During the simmering process, the fruit mixture can be pressed with a potato masher to ensure all the juice is extracted.

The entire contents are then poured into a jelly bag, suspended over a bowl and left overnight (or for 12-24 hours) for the juice to drip through.

See video

At this point you will be relieved to see a clear amber to pinkish liquid dripping through.

Jelly bags and stands are readily available in cookshops and on-line, but if you don't have one a couple of squares of muslin will do either draped over a colander or large sieve or pinned/tied to the legs of an upside down stool or chair (which is what I used to do when I made jellies with my mother in my youth) with a bowl underneath.  Just make sure the muslin is clean and has been sterilised with boiling water.

Do not prod or squeeze the bag!  Its very tempting as you can always extract more juice and it is thick and sticky and will aid the setting BUT it will make the jelly cloudy. Squeezing won't spoil the taste; it will increase the quantity, but you won't have that beautiful clear jelly.

Measure the juice and put in a stainless steel pan and add sugar in the quantity 750g of sugar for every litre of juice, or a pound to a pint in "old money". Using less sugar will produce a sharper tasting jelly, which I prefer, but reducing too much might make it difficult to get a good set.

Heat gently, stirring all the time until the sugar has dissolved then bring to a rapid boil. Keep a watchful eye as it may suddenly foam up. Take care that it doesn't boil over by lowering the heat..

Boil rapidly until the setting point is reached, probably after 20 minutes - but could be shorter or longer.  The best way to test for setting point is with a thermometer, which should read 220C, but I don't have one (must put it on the Xmas Wish List!), so I rely on the cold plate method.  Drop a little of the jelly on a cold, dry plate and leave in a cool place for a couple of minutes. If it forms a skin which wrinkles when you draw your finger across it then setting point has been reached.  If it doesn't set, boil a little longer and then repeat the test.

When setting point has been reached, remove from heat and skim off any scum that appears on the surface with a metal spoon.

The jelly can now be poured into warm, sterilised jars and the lids screwed on tightly.

You should have a beautifully clear jelly.  

ready for pouring into sterilised jars

The jars should be stored in a cool dark place as the jelly will darken and lose some clarity with age.

the finished product

To prevent this, the best suggestion is eat it as soon as possible and, if you have too much, give it to your friends and neighbours.  You will be very popular!  It is delicious on toast or can be eaten with hard cheeses or meat, especially game (Nigel Slater recommends it with pheasant) but it goes very well with fatty lamb or pork.  You can also add a spoonful to your gravy (or jus!).

Enjoy!

John Austin

Hove, December 2019

OUR ALLOTMENT - Life on The Weald, May 2019

OUR ALLOTMENT - Life on (and off) The Weald, 

May 2019

The allotment suffered a degree of neglect in May. Firstly there was the early May Bank Holiday weekend when we had children and grandchildren staying for the long weekend.
I did get a chance to inspect the broad beans and do a bit of weeding, before disaster struck later that month!  But more of that later.  

The first of the autumn sown broad beans

No sooner had we seen off our visitors and we were off to Spain, where the Nispero season was in full swing

Nisperos in Santa Pola market

It seems that Nispero blossom is popular with the bees, so we brought home some honey.  Whlist we are still members of the EU, we can do that but for how much longer? Who knows!

Honey from Nispero blossom

Oranges were still in plentiful supply, so several kilos were also bound for the UK for marmalade making.

Oranges in Santa Pola market

Back home in the UK, apart from making marmalade, and campaigning out on the doorstep firstly for the local council elections and then the European elections, there was harvesting to be done.  Chard was in plentiful supply and came to the table almost daily in various guises.

Rainbow chard stems with garlic

We also harvested some of our broad beans

The brassicas which we had planted out were doing well - purple kale, cavolo nero,
kalettes and sprouts.  We had also planted out some beet (perpetual) spinach.

purple curly kale

cavolo nero

spinach beet

The brassica patch

We were able to nourish the plants with worm tea, liquid waste produced from our wormery. It is very concentrated, but diluted it provides a nitrogen rich feed.

A new plant appeared on our plot, which a neighbour identified as salsify.   It has a very pretty flower and the roots can be eaten - I am told the taste is a bit like asparagus and oysters. We haven't tried it yet.

Salsify

Salsify

Some weeding was needed around the pond but we had sown some wild flowers on one side, so are just waiting to see what comes up!  The aquatic yellow irises and the land purple ones were both in flower and looking very attractive.  We are just waiting to see if we have any frogs this year.

Irises

We continued to harvest the first early Duke of York potatoes and have been self sufficient since last month.

Duke of York potatoes

They are delicious roasted in their skins.

On the Thursday before the late spring bank holiday, I was wondering whether to harvest the broad beans sown last autumn.  We estimated there were about 5 kilos which would yield up to 3 kgs of beans.  We decided to leave them until Bank Holiday Monday as we were going away for the weekend - what a mistake!

The weekend saw the London 10k and the Westminster Mile and my family had put in a family entry as an early celebration of my 75th birthday.  In all there were 23 in my team,
Go Johnny, go go.  We all finished,  with our youngest and oldest grandsons, 8 year old Jerome and 22 year old Felix crossing the finishing line first, together.  I just managed to pip my daughter, Zoe, at the post but later discovered she crossed the starting line behind me and so finished with a faster time!

Crossing the finish line with my daughter, Zoe 

There were great celebrations that weekend - not only for the Westminster Mile but Charlton Athletic, despite an early own goal, won the League One play-offs to secure promotion back to the Championship League.

Our celebrations were short-lived, however. I returned to the allotment on Monday evening to pick the broad beans and found they had all gone!  The whole crop had been picked.  We haven't had many thefts and this one did not appear to be some random "scrumping", but a professional job.   It was not only the loss of the crop that angered us but the fact that our 8 year old Jerome had helped to plant them last October.

Whilst the Duke of York potatoes will keep us going for a few more weeks, the second early Charlotte and Nicola are doing well and we have earthed them up a little to encourage more tuber growth.  We have planted a few squashes between the rows and once the potatoes are lifted there will be room for them to grow.

Patty pan and Crown Prince squashes between the Nicola potatoes.

Unfortunately not only are the crops doing well, but so are the weeds and there will be much work to do in June to keep them at bay.

John Austin

Hove, May 2019