Greater taters and abject neglect

Over the last week I've not been up to much in the garden or up at the plot - I turned my ankle quite hard the weekend before last, and the only tending I have been doing is to a swollen and bruised foot!

Still, I have managed a few notable harvests from the garden:

I'm not sure which variety these potatoes are - they look a little Anya-like, but with a white skin rather than reddy-brown... if anyone has any idea, do please let me know... 

The yield was about the same size in weight as the white round variety I pulled up last month, but the quality and overall size were improved. Harvesting them was a challenge in itself, as there were not one, but two ants nests in the grow bag! Thankfully, they were not able to nip quick or hard enough to leave any bite marks!

I also found some more runner beans on my seemingly evergreen runner plants - the three to the right were particularly pleasing, especially as they had hid from my attention until I spotted them when harvesting - all on the same shoot! I don't go in for shows, but they would be a reasonable effort for a matching trio.

However, with the good comes the bad and the ugly...

After harvesting my only radish from the plot a few weeks ago (and not being overly keen on the smell or flavour), I neglected my radishes in the greenhouse, and they have wilted and run to seed. After all the effort keeping snails away, I've let them go to ruin... shameful.

My cabbage seedlings are looking decidedly anaemic... they have also had some visits from caterpillars/white fly larvae, as you can see. However, before these seedlings completely fade and die, in the next few days I will plant these out at the plot to see if they can kick on and produce anything of a decent size...

Lastly, I have just two or three fennel seedlings that have survived the lack of care and attention - I will get these planted out too. To be honest, with it now being September, it may prove too little effort too late, but again, we'll see... I did have five seedlings, but another snail put pay to two of them.

Hopefully there'll be another update from the plot soon... will be interesting to see what a week or so has done to the plants there...

Sticky bean rice

This recipe is one good way to use up a surplus of any type of bean. I am using runner beans as I have a lot of them this year, but really any beans or pods like mange-tout can be substituted in.

My first harvest this year of runner beans

I have quite a sweet tooth - you may want to avoid the honey part of this recipe if you want to keep the sugar content down... but your rice will also not be as sticky!

You will need the following ingredients (serves 2):

1 tsp olive oil
1 onion
100g pancetta, diced
50g runner beans (roughly 4 or 5 good size pods)
1/2 yellow pepper
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp set honey
250g brown rice, pre-cooked (I cheat and use microwave rice)

Put the oil in the pan or wok, and set to a medium heat. Slice up the onion into half centimetre widths and add to the pan with the pancetta. Let this sear for a while so that the onions start to soften and go brown at the edges.

Add the runner beans - I have topped and tailed them, and then cut them into centimetre diamonds (or rhomboids, if you prefer!). Keep the contents of the pan moving around every so often.

Then add the yellow pepper, again sliced into half centimetre widths. Then add the nutmeg. Once stirred, cook the contents of the pan (stirring every so often) until all all ingredients are cooked/softened. Then add the honey, and stir in until the mixture is coated, giving it a glossy, glazed look.

Now add the rice, and stir into the sticky mixture - cook for a little longer to ensure that the whole dish is hot, and so that the honey has had a chance to coat the rice.

All you then need to do is plate up... and enjoy!

Holiday harvests

It seems like a long time ago since my last post... I am currently on a two week holiday from work, and the first week Em and I spent in a holiday cottage in Somerset, which was amazing. This was the sunset there the first night...

It was wonderfully relaxing, but it has been equally relaxing and rewarding being back home and  returning to some steady seedling progress and some encouraging harvests(!).

Recently we had to move the hen house from the back of the garden to the front, and so I decided to relocate my plants and greenhouse to the space vacated by the chickens. A bijou potter's paradise, if you will...

It's starting to look very promising in the greenhouse, with radish and beetroot front on the top shelf, dwarf beans and kale behind; cabbage at the front on the second shelf, fennel and spring onion behind - all growing well... I had to re-pot the dwarf beans and fennel as they seemed top heavy to me - in other words, needing a little more room to grow down under...

You could see in the left of the wide picture the runner bean plants, which are still producing flowers higher up the canes. I took my first handful of beans from them the other day - perhaps a little undersized, but I prefer them on the tender side. They were delicious in a sticky rice I made - the recipe for which will follow soon...!

I also emptied one of the potato grow bags - the leaves were looking decidedly pale, and they were beginning to droop and go brown, so I decided to cut my losses. I was happy with the result though - about a kilo of white potatoes. Still not sure about the variety, but I used them in a vegetable curry and they were a lovely texture.

It was the first time I have emptied a potato bag, and it was like digging for treasure! I also guess that's the reason that no matter how small, I kept them all (note a few of them that are no bigger than marbles). I'm sure someone could start a business selling the little ones as 'popcorn' potatoes... seems a shame to think that on an industrial scale they may go to waste for not being the correct size...

I also took a chance on what surely must now be the last good rhubarb of the season - I last said that around a month ago... unprecedented growth from the rhubarb patch this year. I have frozen it and I am using it in a number of experimental dessert/baked recipes(!). 

This picture has an unusually soft focus - not sure why...?!

Elsewhere in the garden, the honey bees seem to be enjoying the buddleia - Em was sat nearby watching the chickens and came up with these shots... there are some even better shots  of bees taken by Sue at Green Lane Allotments.

We have two sets of bee traffic in the garden (they have been very kind in pollenating my veg, so it seems rude not to give them a mention!) - the bee top right is one of the ones from under our shed; whereas the other three are clearly a different breed... someone down the road sells honey from their drive, so I think they may have found their way along from hives there.

On the plot front, it won't be long now before I'm over there again, planting out some of these seedlings - the dwarf beans are pretty much ready, and I think the beetroot are almost there too... I'll keep you posted...

Getting stronger...

Just a brief update for you all regarding the progress of what I have growing in the garden...

First of all, a lot of action with the runner beans...! I counted the other day and I have over 50 formed bean pods from four plants, so it won't be long now before I have to think of 101 different ways to use them!

The radishes, that had taken a pounding the other week from Mr Snail, have now grown their second set of leaves, and even the ones that were mostly eaten have staged a mini-revival of sorts.

Some very promising beetroot seedlings too - the leaf count appears to have doubled in the last week. Not too sure when the best time is to plant these out...? Any collective wisdom greatly appreciated.

The fennel is starting to produce it's second set of leaves, which are those feathery tendrils - good to see! Again - not too sure when it is best to plant these out, but they seem too weak at the moment, so I'll leave them until they are a lot stronger and more established.

And finally, back to the beans!:

A grower's dream... pods in abundance!

Seedlings progress

Just a brief update on the current goings on...

I went over to the plot yesterday evening and it's not good I'm afraid. The only things that are really growing are various types of weed; I've identified one carrot seedling, a few measly rocket stems and the very last beetroot seedling which survived a partial devouring, but hasn't done much since.

Still, ever the optimist, I thought I would show you how the seedlings back home are doing, which will replace what I've have sown currently at the plot...

The radishes, having survived the advances of Mr Snail are doing really well now, with the second set of leaves starting to develop.

This is the first time I've see what fennel shoots look like(!), as the packet didn't have a picture (as is usually customary for Johnsons seeds). I've since had a few more poke up through the soil after some recent doses of nettle water.

In fact, all the seedlings have benefitted from the nettle water, which is providing some much needed sustenance - I'm waiting for these cabbage seedlings to harden up a little and develop into the next phase of growth.

The beetroot seedlings are coming on too - these are already looking much healthier than the single half-eaten one I have at the plot.

And finally, a nice angular shot of the runner beans, which are on the home straight now... last time I grew them the flowers were quite sparse - but not so this year... I have five or six clusters of flowers that are developing pods. Looks like I will have to work on a variety of recipes in which to use them, as they are looking like my only bumper crop this season.

Runner or couch potato?

Whilst I am waiting for progress with the new seedlings, I currently have a few other veggies on the go in the back garden... runner beans and potatoes. I have found them both easy to grow and within the next few weeks will surely give me a modest bounty for my efforts, despite the current weather...

The runner bean plants a few weeks ago

I have four runner bean plants (Scarlet Emperor) in a long trough that sits on the garden path. It amazes me every time with any bean plants the tender seedlings punch through the soil and within weeks they are snaking their way up the canes.

The runners are at the flowering stage at the moment - the first flower ably indicated above by Em's finger (her nail polish is a pretty close match too!).

Lots of potential here...!

They have since been popping out all over the place, and pretty soon if I want to see the flowers start growing into the beans, I may need to pinch the top of the plants off once they reach the top of the canes.

I also have two sets of potatoes in grow bags. This is the first time that I have done them, and I have two varieties (neither of which I can remember the name of at the moment!). The bags were fairly cheap, and I just planted five seed potatoes in each... probably a little bit of overkill there, but you're never quite sure how many you should do when you first start!

I like the fact that you can positively mistreat potatoes shoots as they grow by earthing them up and covering them over with soil, and they will still push through. They are very forgiving to the amateur grower. All you have to do is remember to water them regularly, but as we all know, water hasn't been in short supply this season!

Recently the plants have started to flower, and I'm told that once they have done so and the leaves start to wilt, it's time to go digging for the treasure that may lie beneath!

Furthermore, since starting to put this post together, I am already seeing encouraging signs from the radish drills I sowed the other day... it's a joy to actually see something growing!