Harvest Festival

Last night a few friends came over* to help me celebrate the harvest! We ate lots of yummy food including quiches, pumpkin pie, homegrown salad, tasty tomatoes, beetroot, roast veg, bread and cakes (inc experimental hedgerow muffins). We drank some very interesting cocktails too such as vodka with elderflower cordial, beech leaf noyau, rosehip syrup (which smells like tomatoes!), and homebrew wine. All in all a lovely evening, and I think it might just have to become an annual event :)



* Please don't be offended if you weren't invited - my tiny studio flat is seriously only just big enough for parties of a maximum 5 people!

Crab Apples

Today I collected crab apples. What shall I do with them?

Hips 'n' Haws

What a beautiful sunny September day it has been!

This afternoon I decided to go out and collect rosehips. I also found gigantic haws the size of crab apples(!) so I grabbed those too. I'm on the lookout for some savoury recipe ideas - I've never been much of a sweet-tooth, I don't really eat jam, and I have very little space for wine-making. I found a recipe for rosehip soup which looks interesting... any other suggestions?

Very quick update - busy busy busy!

Runner beans, courgettes and cucumbers are really keeping me on my toes; I can't seem to pick, eat, cook or freeze them fast enough!

All the green tomatoes I rescued from blight are actually doing OK! I'm ripening them in batches on my windowsill with the aid of bananas :)

Allotments are hard work (even if I've insisted otherwise during non-summer months)!

Broadening my horizons...

A few weeks ago I visited the RISC roof garden. It's a fascinating place and I can recommend their guided tours if you're in the Reading area (next open 12/13 Sept). From there I bought an intriguing little herb called Stevia. The leaves are extremely (shockingly!) sweet and it can be used in place of sugar - apparently it's much healthier too. However it's controversial (mainly for complicated political reasons) and has historically been banned in many areas...!
Another species they're growing that I'd like to try is Oxalis tuberosa or Oca. It has an edible tuber that won't succumb to the dreaded blight! If the leaves taste like those of its relative Wood Sorrel that's an added bonus :)

100% homegrown lunch :)

Today's harvest

I've been away for a few days and blight has struck! I've rescued my remaining potatoes but I think the tomatoes are doomed :(