Monday, December 5

Harvesting a chicken stew - well almost

We had a couple of plot visits last week. There are quite a few areas that we want to work on over winter if the weather allows.

I also had a couple of fruit plants still to prune. Being thornless, the blackberry is a doddle. The wrestling with long vicious canes that were intent on maiming is just a long forgotten nightmare. I always think I have cut out too much but so far the new growth as been more than enough to exceed our needs in terms of fruit production.
Our whitecurrants have only ever produced very small berries so I decided to see whether reducing the number of stems would encourage it to do better.
I've no idea whether I have pruned this correctly, I just went with my instincts.

We also carried out some major renovation of the redcurrant patch but that will have a post to itself later in the week.

Our visits also gave us chance to harvest a few things. Our first harvest was very small. We didn't need any vegetables but having read about Mark's parsnip canker problem I was keen to check our parsnips. Fortunately I didn't detect any canker when I dug a root for my sister.
I also cut a posy of chrysanthemums from the greenhouse.
I wanted to make a chicken stew and so on our next visit we collected the necessary ingredients.
Some of the leeks are still quite small and thin but still very usable.
On the other hand the parsnips that we have lifted so far are probably the best we have grown. Maybe a lesson to be learned here. Poor germination meant that the seedlings were space further apart. Martyn posted more about our parsnips here.

Not all of the harvest went into the stew so the rest are left outside undercover until required. We find this way they keep better.

 Today I am linking to Harvest Monday over at Dave's blog  Our Happy Acres



Posted by Sue Garrett at 9:05 am

16 comments:

  1. SueDecember 05, 2016

    Nothing beats a stew with ingredients fresh from the garden. YUM!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jo@awholeplotofloveDecember 05, 2016

    I like the idea of keeping your veg outside. My dad and grandfather used to grow chrysanthemums in a particulary large greenhouse, they used to sell the flowers. They ordered a huge numbers of stools? each year. (I think that's the correct term) and I'm pretty sure 1000 too. It stopped when I was very young though. x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sue GarrettDecember 05, 2016

      I'm guessing that they grew the large flowered ones, Jo.

      Delete
  3. Dave @ HappyAcresDecember 05, 2016

    Like you I remember pruning the thorny blackberries, and the thornless ones we have now are so much nicer to harvest and take care of. A wild, thorny one will still pop up in other areas though thanks to the birds. Perhaps I need to prune my white currants too. They're only three years old but they have always been tiny so far. Your chicken stew sounds warming on a cold day!

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    Replies
    1. Sue GarrettDecember 05, 2016

      We also get wild ones popping up, Dave. I don't know whether pruning will help the whitecurrants but it can't do any harm.

      Delete
  4. Mark WillisDecember 05, 2016

    Chickens? I see no chickens! Compared with (some of) my Parsnips, yours are positively beautiful - certainly worthy of their place in a vase alongside the Chrysanthemums!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sue GarrettDecember 05, 2016

      The chicken was almost the only bought ingredient, Mark. We will have to see what the other parsnips are like.

      Delete
  5. Bag End GardenerDecember 05, 2016

    That is an excellent 'harvest' for your stew pot. Hope it was as tasty as it all looks.

    ReplyDelete
  6. MichelleDecember 06, 2016

    I'm surprised you're getting such good looking mums at this time of year. And what amazing fat parsnips those are!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sue GarrettDecember 06, 2016

      The flowers are protected from the weather inside the greenhouse, Michelle and they usually flower at this time.

      Delete
  7. SnowbirdDecember 06, 2016

    How wonderful to be able to harvest veggies for a stew at this time of the year. Those parsnips are super! Love the mums too.xxx

    ReplyDelete
  8. MalarDecember 09, 2016

    It's so good to harvest and cook right from the garden!
    Any photos of the chicken stew?

    ReplyDelete

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