somethings fishy...
Preparing the bed for Sweetcorn...
Homegrown sweetcorn has a sweetness that shames store-bought cobs. Each kernel has caught the summer sun and delivers it directly without pause, to be picked, trucked, stored, packed and finally bought. A pot boiling on the stove before harvesting and a big knob of butter makes for the best first course. It's memorable, delicious, divine even.
However, long before that happens, I have to plant the corn, and now is the time.An afternoon fishing left us with some fish frames, so the first thing we did (after ripping up the flowers that were in our sunniest spot) was dug these deep into the soil and covered them over. Then a little compost and manure to sweeten the plot. You don't have to have the fish frames, but we don't like to waste anything and they will add great nutrients to the soil. See my fiance Jonathan's knobbly knees on the right.
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Harvesting New Potatoes
One or two of my new potato plants are starting to die off out of concern we dug a few up - only to discover that, hurray, they are ready. One little bag perfect for supper with organic butter and some homegrown dill are all ready for our dinner tonight. I've used little Natural Waxed Paper Bags by "Natural Value" to store them (with their dirt on) in portion sized packs, although this first bunch wont be lasting long.
When the potatoes are all dug up, it'll be time to re-fill this bed with something else. The potatoes have helped to make a nice friable soil. The weekends fishing has not only given us a lovely meal, but all the heads, guts bones and skin of the fish are saved to be planted in this bed when the potatoes have been harvested. I have been growing corn on in old takeaway coffee cups and these are nearly ready to go in.
Hurrah, the easy, tasty, bounty xx
Planting New Potatoes
Impatience beset me this week to the point of stalking around the garden in the morning frustrated by a lack of growth, especially in my potato bed. Three weeks ago I planted chitted Jersey Benne seed potatoes into compost enriched and rested soil, covered with love and waited. Suspecting failure when nothing had happened I cursed my source of seed potatoes and readied myself to chit again.
Today's mid-day inspection however yielded results! Poking through (although somewhat intermittently) are the dark green leaves of my new-potato plants. As my dill plants are looking strong, new potatoes smothered in dill mayo springs to m ind, the major frustration is that this dish will be three months in the eating, but when it is time...
I had a quick jump about on the web and thought this blog post @ spudooli was really cute about Jersey Benne, I certainly share their enthusiasm, except mine wont come in a box, but be dug from the dirt from my own back lawn.
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Winter is a quiet time outside in the garden, if you don't count a bit of weeding and structural work, but inside it is all go. A friend of mine is saving the coffee cups from her office and I am recycling them by growing this years seedlings! Scattered about the house on plastic trays is a world of herbs and salad seedlings, they get shuffled around into the sunshine, inside and out until ready to brave the real world of the garden.This year having just moved it seems that we need to grow everything! The first set of peas are planted out, the broadbeans in the far bed are up, an asparagus or two is poking through. Oh the joy of growth all around. We have black currants, blueberries and strawberries - just hanging out doing their thing, waiting like the rest of us for a frost free spring. Autumn fruiting raspberry canes still allude me in the shops but I stand ready with a hole dug over with mulch.
Compost rots away under carpet, my compost king continually seems to be turning it, poking it and taking pride in the steam that emits from the heap. This morning I caught my chihuahua looking ashamed next to a nibbled on courgette plant (that will be spending quite sometime inside but will need to be moved to the table out of dingos reach).
What else, a rocket cutting from a friend has finally taken root and looks green and spindly and delicious. I feel as though I could be dangerous if offered a basil leaf -so long have I been deprived. The joy of seasonal eating, every new addition of the season is looked forward to, waited on, longed for.
The kitchen is piled high with grapefruit, a winter jewel, the fridge holds a large knobbled celeriac root and some duck breasts which somehow will be transformed into a delicious recipe for my next book.
