Our Gardening and Cooking Journal, Sunday, 15 August 2010

A very wet and dismal morning to start off with but the sun is trying to break through 08:34, having a good tidy up today on the balcony harvesting the last cuttings from the salad trays and sowing more, I know I should have done the sowing a couple of weeks ago but, I have not been all that well and Maureen put her foot down.

We have been doing some testing of recipes in the kitchen though, pickling Okra, and making some Lorne sausage (square sliced sausage) as well as some compound (flavoured) butter, in particular a snail butter for one of my indulgences, escargots (snails), for the recipes go to MyDish.

And today we shall be making some blueberry jam as well as cooking a small chicken (Fresh Thyme Roasted Chicken, Spetses Style) the recipe will follow as well as being published on MyDish.

On the Balcony Garden Today, we sowed some Mixed Spicy Salad Leaves and Mixed Rocket, quite easy to do when using Mr. Fothergill’s seed mats. We also sowed some mixed Radish and for their shoots some Pea, Dwarf Sweetgreen (Mangetout), we also transplanted the Lavender plant to a larger pot and replanted our kitchen windowsill basil and got rid of those bothersome herb pots they were too small and with no drainage they were either too dry or too wet. Tidied up the peppers, tomatoes and the other herb-pots.

The Tumbling Tom Red tomatoes have just given us 2 nice cherry size tomatoes and it looks like there are going to be many more, the Black Russian Tomato plant and the 2 Moneymaker plants are showing promise, the Black Russian tomatoes are a very dark shiny green and look very juicy a bit to go though but we are looking forward to them.

News from the food industry is that the British food industry is steeling itself for a massive jump in food inflation in the wake of soaring animal feed prices, a shortage of silage and poor harvest. It is predicted that food prices could be at least 10% higher by early 2011.

Marks and Spencer’s has become the first supermarket to stock British-grown Mangetout. The new crop of British peas, grown in the Cotswolds, will be on sale until the end of August.

Can you imagine eating squirrel I have eaten many weird and wonderful things in my travels including pickled bears paws in Finland but imagine eating squirrel meat, well a Budgens store in North London has started stocking squirrel meat! Squirrel supposedly tastes similar to a rabbit and is high in protein and low in fat, not for me I think.

Here is another case for can we really trust our supermarkets; Tesco has been caught misleading customers with their fresh bread ads. The ad stated ‘fresh bread baked from scratch. Using 100% British flour. So every single loaf is genuinely British…born and bread’. However, it turns out this is subject to availability, in selected stores only and British flour is only used in products baked from scratch in store.

15 food companies have signed up to feature HRH The Prince of Wales’s new Countryside Fund logo on selected packaging to demonstrate their support for Britain’s most vulnerable farmers and rural communities. Look for it on Waitrose and Asda milk, Bird’s Eye frozen peas, Hovis bread, Marks and Spencer beef and Morrisons’ lamb.

Seasonal foods at their best to look out for this month:
Vegetables: Artichoke, Aubergine, Beetroot, Broad Beans, Broccoli, Carrots, Chillies,  Courgettes, Cucumber, Fennel, French Beans, Garlic, Kohlrabi, Lettuces And Salad Leaves, Mangetout, Marrow, Onions, Peas, Peppers, Potatoes (Maincrop), Radishes, Rocket, Runner Beans, Sweetcorn And Watercress.
Fruit: Apricots, Bilberries, Blackberries, Blueberries, Damsons, Figs, Greengages, Loganberries, Peaches, Plums, Raspberries, Redcurrants, Strawberries, Tomatoes, And Whitecurrants.
Herbs: Basil, Chives, Mint, Oregano, Parsley (Curly), Parsley (Flat-Leaf), Rosemary, Sage, Sorrel, Tarragon And Thyme.
Meat: Beef, Chicken, Lamb, Pork, Rabbit, And Wood Pigeon.
Fish: Cod, Crab, Dover Sole, Grey Mullet, Haddock, Halibut, Herring, John Dory, Lemon Sole, Lobster, Mackerel, Monkfish, Pilchard, Plaice, Pollack, Prawns, Salmon, Sardines, Scallops, Sea Bass, Sea Bream, Shrimp, Squid And Turbot.

Fresh Thyme Roasted Chicken, Spetses Style

The down-to-earth flavours of lemon juice, fresh thyme leaves, sea salt, freshly cracked pepper and garlic season this chicken to perfection, perfect on a hot summer’s day with an easy Greek salad.

Serves / Makes: 6 servings

Prep-Time: 10 minutes

Cook-Time: 2 to 2 ½ hours

You Will Need;

2.25 kilo, free range whole chicken, rinsed

2 medium sized lemons cut in half and squeezed, keep the lemon skins

1 good, handful of fresh thyme

2 to 3 pinches sea salt, we use sea salt flakes

Freshly cracked black pepper, a generous pinch or two

6 cloves of garlic

1 medium onion, peeled and quartered

Method;

Carefully rinse the chicken with cold water and dry off with paper towels, rub the lemon juice all over the entire chicken then place the lemon halves inside the cavity of chicken.

Take ¾ of the thyme sprigs and remove the thyme leaves from stems by holding the top of the sprig and stripping the leaves downward sprinkle the thyme leaves all over the bird.

Now sprinkle the sea salt, freshly cracked pepper all over the chicken, to taste. Place the remaining thyme (including stems) inside the cavity of the chicken along with the garlic and onion.

Roast in the centre of a pre-heated oven, 190°C / 375°F / gas mark 5, for 20 minutes per pound (450 grams) plus 10-20 minutes extra, this will be 1 hour and 50 minutes to 2 hours for a 5 pound (2.25 kilo) bird. Baste three times during the cooking time.

For the final 15 minutes of cooking, increase the heat to 220°C / 425°F / gas mark 7, to give the skin that final golden crispiness. When it is cooked, remove it from the oven and cover it with foil and leave to rest for 30 minutes before serving.

Serve and Enjoy!

John & Maureen Glen Tags: Artichoke Aubergine Beetroot Broad Beans Broccoli Carrots Chillies Courgettes Cucumber Fennel French Beans Garlic Kohlrabi Lettuces Salad Leaves Mangetout Marrow Onions Peas Peppers Potatoes (Maincrop) Radishes Rocket Runner Beans Sweetcorn Watercress Fruit Apricots Bilberries Blackberries Blueberries Damsons Figs Greengages Loganberries Peaches Plums Raspberries Redcurrants Strawberries Tomatoes Whitecurrants Herbs Basil Chives Mint Oregano Parsley (Curly) Parsley (Flat-Leaf) Rosemary Sage Sorrel Tarragon And Thyme Tesco Asda Supermarkets squirrel meat Pea Dwarf Sweetgreen Tomato Black Russian

Our Diminutive Balcony Garden 2010

Once again this year we have the same Honeysuckle, which was planted in 2006 along with the variegated Ivy both, are doing very well.

One tub still contains the Geraniums that Maureen planted in 2006 and is one of the biggest geraniums I have seen in one of the large tubs is some mint that we planted in 2006.

Sunday, 07 March 2010

We started from seed this year some Black Eyed Susan (Susie Mixed) and Morning Glory (Heavenly Blue) and if we just had a bit more room we would be trying other things as well, but with the room we have got we are very satisfied with what we have been growing. Again this year we are growing our own salad leaves, radish and tomatoes we have some special toms this year all grown from seed and some peppers; Pepper (sweet) minimix), Pepper (Sweet) Orange Baby and Capsicum Prairie Fire F1.

Sunday, 28 February 2010

In the kitchen we sowed some herbs in a nice little herb planter. The herbs we sowed were Parsley (curled), Oregano, Basil (Genovese), Chives, Chervil (plain), Coriander. Our salad leaves this year will include, Rocket (Arugula) mixed, mixed spicy salad leaves, Lambs Lettuce and Pea Shoot, our radish this year will be a mixture of French Breakfast, Scarlet Globe, Sparkler, White Turnip and Pink Beauty. All these are from Mr. Fothergill’s collection and the salads are all from the collection of Mr. Fothergill’s seed mats a superb way to sow your seeds.

We sowed five each of Morning Glory (Heavenly Blue), Tomato (Moneymaker), Tomato (Tumbling Red), and Tomato (Black Russian). We also sowed the herbs Parsley, Chervil, Coriander, Oregano, Chives, and Basil into the herb planter/pot on the kitchen windowsill.

Sunday, 14 March 2010

We sowed for growing outside Thyme, Parsley (Festival), Capsicum (Prairie Fire F1), Pepper (Sweet) Minimix, Pepper (Sweet) Orange Baby.

Sunday, 11 April 2010

Today we really got on with our planting, we set the grow bag up with three tomato plants one Black Russian and two Moneymaker plants. In two nice little hanging type baskets, we planted two tumbling tom red tomatoes and four black-eyed Susan plants. We also put two tumbling tom red tomatoes in a couple of pots to hang on the trellis.

We then sowed mixed radish (a mix of French Breakfast, Scarlet Globe, Sparkler, White Turnip, and Pink Beauty, lambs lettuce, mixed rocket, and pea shoots which we are really looking forward to harvesting in a few weeks time.

We tidied up the mint as it was taking over the honeysuckle pot and planted a couple of morning glory plants that we had grown from seed. Later this week we shall be sowing our herbs.

Monday, 12 April 2010

Today I got on with planting out the peppers, thyme, parsley and sage we are keeping the Prairie Fire chilli peppers indoors on the window sill along with one each of Pepper (sweet) minimix), Pepper (Sweet) Orange Baby and we have left one Orange Baby out on the balcony in a good size pot hanging on the wall trellis.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

The tomato plants are doing really well I do like these Grow rings that we got some of our herb seeds haven’t germinated yet but we live in hope!

The Black-Eyed Susan's are doing well as are the Tumbling Tom Tomatoes and it looks like we shall be able to pick some rocket at the weekend. We are both really enjoying our little garden and we have decided that next year we are going to try a potato sack or barrel.

Technorati Tags: Garden,Balcony,Pimlico

Our Diminutive Balcony Garden

This year we have the same Honeysuckle which was planted in 2006 along with the variegated Ivy both are doing very well. One tub still contains the Geraniums that Maureen planted in 2006 and in one of the large tubs is some mint. We are now growing our own salad leaves and radish and if we just had a bit more room we would be trying other things as well, but with the room we have got we are very satisfied with what we have been growing.

Japanese Honeysuckle Prolific (Lonicera Japonica Halls Prolific)

As its name suggests, this is an especially vigorous and free-flowering variety with masses of sweetly scented, tubular flowers from April to August, opening pure white and ageing to yellow. The handsome, dark green leaves are retained all year and in hot summers, the flowers may be followed by small purple-black berries. It looks lovely scrambling over an old boundary wall or growing through a robust, mature tree, or in our case up the wall and trellis work

Garden care: Cut back established plants after flowering, removing a third of the flowering shoots. Apply a generous 5-7cm (2-3in) mulch of well-rotted compost or manure around the base of the plant in early spring.

Ivy Common (Hedera Helix Oro Di Bogliasco)

A handsome ivy with lustrous, three-lobed, dark green leaves splashed with golden yellow. It is a self-clinging, evergreen climber suitable for brightening or covering a shady wall or as groundcover, although it will lose its variegation if grown in deep shade. Mature plants bear spherical green flowers in autumn.

Garden care: Keep moist during the winter months. Plants may be pruned at any time of the year to keep within bounds.

Tomato and salad Crop This Year

This year we are using for our large toms a variety called Turbo Elegance which is a grafted stock, they arrived from Dobies in April as plug plants and are doing very well.

A vigorous growing variety, producing good trusses of standard size tomatoes of fine colour and delicious flavour.

As well as Tomato Tumbler F1 Plants

This trailing British bred variety is ideal for hanging baskets and containers on the patio, producing up to 4kg (9 lb) of delicious fruit in a single season. This amazing tomato tumbler can be sown later than most and harvested before others are available. Bred for patio pots and hanging baskets, the plants cascade over the sides. We did start with three plants but I broke one planting out and a gust of wind one day sent the second plant flying onto the balcony floor we couldn’t save it so we only have the one plant up on the trellis we have had 750 grams off of it so far so not too bad really.

Our salad leaves have been marvellous we have been harvesting them on a daily basis for 7 weeks now and they include, Rocket (Arugula) mixed, mixed spicy salad leaves, salad bowl red and green mixed, and radish French breakfast 3. All these are from Mr. Fothergill’s collection and the salads are all from the collection of Mr. Fothergill’s seed mats a superb way to sow your seeds. Today we have just sown some Lambs lettuce, Mizuna, Mustard Oriental red, Lettuce Salad bowl mixed and Watercress Aqua.

The Glens Tags: Astrochef, Lancashire, Molly, Salad Leaves, Lambs Lettuce, Mizuna, Land Cress, Water Cress, Mustard, Oriental, Rocket, Arugula, Radish, Tomatoes, Elegance, Tumbling Tom