Our new garden

We moved into our  new house three months ago and it's a very different garden from what we've had before: the last one had no lawn, very big flower beds and an enormous patio/terrace, complete with big fish pond (both big pond and big fish) and hot tub.  So we used to have an allotment on which to grow fruit and veg.

Now I'd like to be able to grow the fruit and veg on site - it's much easier as going up to the allotment was fun and it was nice to meet people with whom we had something in common, even if it was only growing stuff.  But sometimes it would have been nice to pop out for five or ten minutes to tend to the growth, rather than plan an hour or so.

We thought we'd start small here, so have dug over part of a flower bed and put three raised beds at the side of the back lawn.   

Note new compost bin!  It's a special one which has an easy-to-remove front for unloading, which is always a sore point.  I'm not sure that it's going to stay there, that was the only suitable space at the time.  

At the back you'll see the old (leaky) water butt which served as a temporary compost bin but wasn't nearly big enough. It's now be put at the back of the garden, under the neighbour's cypress llelandi, which I'm sure nothing will every be able to grow.  It's been filled with leaves which we're regularly watering in the hope that in a year or so they'll turn into useful mulch.  Usually I put the leaves in plastic bags, make holes in them and hide them under a suitable bush or tree but we don't have any of these in this garden.

In front of the 'leaf' bin I've planted some comfrey, a useful plant which is not only great for making compost - either put in the compost bin or water down and make soluble feed (but it stinks! rather like the feed made from old nettles).  It's also useful for putting on strains and bruises. (see '12 reasons to plant comfrey':  http://www.permaculture.co.uk/videos/least-12-reasons-plant-comfrey-symphytum-officinale-your-permaculture-garden)

And you may see in the photo, at the back of the garden, are several bags.  They're horse manure which is sitting happily rotting away, ready to be used eventually.  The manure's not new so it doesn't stink out the neighbours.  Some of it's gone into the compost bin in order to help things rot down.  Horse manure often has a bad press because of weed seeds contained therein but if the manure rots down well the heat should kill off any weeds (http://horsetalk.co.nz/2012/09/28/horse-manure-easy-guide-to-composting/).

Anyway, to return to the veg garden.  In the side bed we've planted potatoes as the ground there's very clay-ey and claggy, and potatoes apparently break up the soil, which should save us some tiresome digging. And potatoes are so easy to grow, so long there's room: plant them, bank them up, harvest them and eat them.   Adding lime to clay soils is supposed to improve the soil, also anything which will bulk it out - leaf mold, bark, compost.  Will look more into that one ... (see also RHS site: http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=620)

In the beds we've planted:

No 1: strawberries - and we've noticed pigeons, so the strawberries will have a net put over them at a suitable height, not too low or the birds will peck their beaks down through the holes.  Like us, they love strawberries.


No 2: broad beans, which as you can see from the photo, are doing well.  They were bought as plants as we're short of time this year.  I'll be putting protective canes and wires/netting round them soon to stop them from falling over.

We've also bought some pea plants, carrots and some Brussels sprouts, which will be moved somewhere more spacious in due course, somewhere with very solid ground as wobbly sprouts give less tight sprouts and that'll never do.  On windy sites people often stake their Brussels as well.  

Question: (1) why are they called Brussels sprouts; ans: because they were first cultivated in Belgium; (2) what do people in Belgium call Brussels sprouts?; ans: I haven't found out yet but in Germany they're called 'rose cabbages', what a pretty name! (For more info on BS: http://www.foodrepublic.com/2013/02/19/11-things-you-probably-did-not-know-about-brussels#!slide=12)

In this bed I've also planted some beetroot, and a couple of spinach plants brought with us.  


No 3: empty at present.
When we return from our holidays I plan to plant some runner beans, also lettuces, spinach or chard.

In the 'holding bed' on the other side of the garden I've 'heeled in' (http://voices.yahoo.com/how-heel-plants-6866462.html) some fruit bushes and some raspberry canes.  Not sure where they're going to end up but they're having a nice rest in there and hopefully growing well and putting down excellent roots, ready to be enjoyed next year.

Many moons ago I worked for Radio Devon, based at Seymour Road in Plymouth.  This also happened to be where there was local BBC Network TV, and one of the series of programmes made from there was with Keith Floyd*, a flamboyant and colourful dedicated Francophile. 

I bought a box of pears this week, they're rather nice, but what to do with them, apart from chopped up with morning cereal?  So here's an idea from Keith himself, from his book Floyd on France:


Pears in Red Wine

1 lb pears, peeled, cored and divided into quarters.
1 pint red wine
1 clove
1/2" cinnamon stick

1. Put all ingredients into a saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer 20 minutes.
2. Discard the clove and cinnamon and enjoy, perhaps with some good-quality ice cream.

*  (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/6206103/Television-chef-Keith-Floyds-favourite-last-recipes-disclosed.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Floyd)

See also my Pear & Gingerbread Pudding (not for those on any sort of slimming diet: http://edvisgardening.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/my-pear-and-gingerbread-pudding-serves.html

Here are more 15 ideas of what do with pears: http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/recipe-collections-favorites/popular-ingredients/pear-recipes-00100000088130/

I bought some strawberries in the market this week - and then couldn't think what to do with them. Then remembered that when the children were small I used to make ice cream.  So here's the recipe:

Fruit Ice Cream

300ml  double cream (shape cream will do)
100ml caster sugar
2 egg whites
10ml lemon juice
3ml vanilla essence
225g strawberries or similar

1. Whip cream
2. Whip egg whites with sugar
3. Add other ingredients
4. Add fruit
5. Put into freezer.  

To make plain ice cream put in more sugar and use the egg yolks as well, here's the method:

1. Mix eggs and sugar
2. Whip cream
3. Mix these two together
4. Whip egg whites, add salt, lemon juice vanilla.
5. Put all ingredients togethr.
6. Freeze

In order to make the ice cream I needed some cream, so despatched other half to buy some on his travels this morning.  I asked for 300ml, but as the cream came in cartons containing 297ml, he bought two!  That's the difference between his cooking and mine - his is very precise, he buys the right ingredients and follows the recipe to the letter, whereas I just wing it.

So now I have a carton of cream going spare - and two egg yolks.  That sounds like the bread and butter pudding recipe is called for, along with the two white bread rolls which were put in the freezer when we were going on holiday and I was clearing out the fridge.

Here's the link to the recipe for my b&b pudding:  http://edvisgardening.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/bread

I've half a pack of puff pastry in the freezer and it's time to make space for more goodies.

So, what to make?

One idea which looks quick and simple is called Puff Pizza Tart and it's from the BBC Good Food website, always a good source of inspiration (http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/679637/puff-pizza-tart).

1. Roll out puff pastry and line a tin, prick.
2. Spread pesto over it.
3. Then put on slices of salami and torn pieces of mozzarella cheese.
4. Dribble a little olive oil on top and cook at 220/200/Gas 7 for about 20 minutes.
5. Serve with some rocket sprinkled on top.

...and here's a similar recipe which includes chicken, spinach, tomato (http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/12171/chicken--spinach-and-pesto-puff-pastry-open-tart.aspx).

Another idea for spare bits of puff pastry is to roll it out thinly, spread with marmite (or pesto) and then roll up. Chill, then cut into slices and cook.  This recipe includes ham and cheese too:  http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1463/pizza-puff-pinwheels

When I was little, I was given any leftover pieces of pastry and made them into jam tarts.  Here's Jamie Oliver's take on this old favourite: http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/fruit-recipes/rainbow-jam-tarts

Cutting down on sugar - eating more fruit and veg

Latest wisdom is that we shouldn't get more than 10% of our calories from sugar.  That's apparently about 70g per day for women (http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/How-to-cut-down-on-sugar-in-your-diet.aspx).  They say on this website 'get used to reading the label' which is quite a good idea but many foods don't come with labels.  For example bananas don't, so here is a table giving the amount of sugar in some fruits, bearing in mind that a teaspoon represents 16g sugar:

• Mangos - 3.2 teaspoons of sugar
• Bananas - 3 teaspoons of sugar
• Apples - 2.6 teaspoons of sugar
• Pineapples - 2.5 teaspoons of sugar
• Grapes - 4 teaspoons of sugar
• Lemons - 0.6 teaspoons of sugar
• Kiwi fruit - 2.3 teaspoons of sugar
• Apricots - 2.3 teaspoons of sugar
• Strawberries - 1.3 teaspoons of sugar
• Raspberries - 1 teaspoon of sugar
• Blueberries - 1.7 teaspoons of sugar
• Cranberries - 1 teaspoons of sugar
• Tomatoes - 0.7 teaspoons of sugar

and here are some other foods (http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/262978.php) 
This week I was in a health food shop, buying a jar of peanut butter and happened to mention that I was buying this to have a peanut butter and banana sandwich for lunch.  Now I should have thought that was quite a healthy snack, but her reposte was that we shouldn't eat bananas as they contain too much sugar.


I could have understood that comment if it had referred to fizzy drinks, ready meals, or even to fruit yogurts. 

But we've always been led to believe that bananas were good for us, especially as they contain lots of potassium.  And the site above actually advocates that porridge for breakfast with low-fat milk and a banana makes an excellent breakfast, whilst from the table above a banana is about 64g sugar, nearly the daily recommended amount, so I can see her point.    So perhaps even the experts don't all agree on what's best for us!

Here two women tell us about the advantages of a no-sugar diet: http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/real-life/no-sugar-diet-two-women-3108204 - not sure if I could manage that one, and here are more ideas: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/01/22/12-ways-to-reduce-the-amount-of-sugar_n_4644205.html


Talking of food, this same week they're now advocating that we eat 10 portions of fruit and vegetables a day, rather than the 5 which have been suggested for the past few years.  I've always tried to aim for 8 and even that hasn't always been easy.  

If we're now not advised to eat much fruit because of the sugar, it means we'll be eating vegetables until they're coming out of our ears. see: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-26818386

Here's an article of 19 ways to get 9 portions of fruit and vegetables a day: http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=55983.  There there are lots of ideas of how to eat fruit and veg but not how we're actually going to manage to eat this much fruit and veg.

Every day I try to have some fruit with breakfast, or a fruit juice (1 portion), then for lunch we generally have a bowl of soup (2 portions).   Then we usually manage 3 or 4 portions with our dinner - I put on the steamer and fill it with small amounts of various vegetables and always cook far more than we're likely to eat - what's left over goes in tomorrow's soup.  So I thought we were doing well having 6 - 7 portions a day, but apparently not so.  


As it's the beginning of April was this an April Fool?  Even the media has wondered about this: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/10736722/Ten-portions-of-fruit-and-veg-a-day-are-they-having-a-laugh.html. 


But perhaps the authorities are right as evidence has shown that eating so much more fruit and veg will contribute towards us living longer. 

We all know the little old lady/man who've never eaten any veg in their life, smoke 60 cigarettes a day and don't believe in exercise but they are after all the exception, and it's not how long we live but the quality of life which matters.