Monday, November 16

A bit of brightness in the midst of the gloom

I'm having some difficulty getting my head round this second lockdown here in England. I understand what I have to do or not do, but the decisions as to what can open and which businesses remain shut seem rather confusing. We can only hope that we achieve some benefits from these latest rulings.

Onto more cheerful topics, we had a couple of rather pleasant days last week. Although it was cold, we were treated to some sunny and dry periods. As these types of day have been in short supply, on Thursday we went for a walk around the grounds of Nostell Priory. Our booking was for two in the afternoon. We were, at first, a bit concerned by the number of parked cars but the grounds are fairly extensive so it was easy to remain socially distanced.
I wanted to try for some better photographs as potential prints for the dining room but the conditions were tricky. There was a great contrast between the brightness of the sky and the dark shadows being cast.

The sun cast really long shadows. Ruby has long legs but not as long as her shadow.
I did manage to take a few photos but still haven't mastered my camera settings and had to rely on post processing to sort out the contrast.
Many of the trees had lost most of their leaves ...
... however, there was still some colour which was reflected in the lake.
By the time we were leaving the sky was darkening and conditions were even trickier and the colours faded.
On Friday we made the most of the second, pleasant day and had an afternoon at the allotment.
Martyn, tidied one of our rhubarb beds, which I forgot to take a photo of, whilst I made a start on the chive border. For those of you who think our plot is tidy, look at this!
At the end of last year when I would have tidied the chive border, the weather kept us away from the allotment and this border was, therefore, neglected. I'm trying to bring the area back under control and made a start.
Unfortunately for me, the border is in a shaded area so I didn't enjoy any benefit from the sun and also after a while my kneeling pad had acted like a sponge and was soaking wet. I need to pop it on a plastic sheet in future.
13 November - Autumn Giant cauliflower, Kalibro cabbages, Sungold tomatoes,  leeks and chrysanthemums
As  usual we managed to gather the vegetables needed for this week's menus. We picked the third of out four Autumn Giant cauliflowers. Hopefully the last one will be OK for next week.

Martyn, cleared the tomato plants from the greenhouse and the few Sungold were those left hanging on the plants.

Although the dahlias still haven't been cut down by a frost, the remaining flowers were very bedraggled so I didn't cut any.
We dug the first leeks of the season. We sowed Below Zero, Musselburgh and Porbella but unfortunately the labels were lost before the young plants were planted out so we have no idea which are which.

There are still plenty to use over winter.

So how did we use some of last week's harvest?

Some of the cauliflower and onions  were cooked with chicken in an Indian Spiced dishThis was cooked in a slow cooker and the recipe was followed exactly, other than I mixed my own curry spices. My version looked nothing like the photo on the internet.

I'm not sure how cauliflower can cook in a slow cooker and keep it's shape - mine didn't, however, the resulting meal tasted fine.

I then used some Crown Prince squash, onion and carrot in a tagine based on this recipe.

Instead of the spices I used ras el hanout and unfortunately had to buy the courgette.

Our third vegetable based meal was Curried Cabbage which used cabbage, carrot, peas and coriander. I added a few cubes of our potatoes to make a more substantial meal and a few cauliflower florets that were left over in the fridge.

I used a tablespoon of tikka masala paste instead of the curry powder. As I felt that the curry was too dry I added a little vegetable stock too. This was served with one of Martyn's homemade naans.

As always stay safe and well

As usual, I'm linking to Harvest Monday on Dave's blog

You don't have to have your own blog in order to join in conversations. It may seem that everyone who comments knows one another but bloggers always welcome new commenters, after all that is how we all started. 

Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

25 comments:

  1. Lovely photos from your day out and so nice to see Ruby, she is looking very smart in her little coat. It's amazing how quickly an allotment border gets out of control isn't it. I remember when someone took over the plot next to me he said to me it must have been abandoned for years. It was actually five months. No dahlias here any more, but a few cosmos are hanging on. I've left the remains of the verbena bonariensis in case there are any insects about looking for nectar. Fairly mild here at the moment, so the pelargoniums are fine and my rose (Madame Alfred Carriere) is still blooming beautifully. That's an amazing cauliflower, quite a feat.

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    1. Ruby’s coat needed washing when we got home, CJ as she decided to roll around on her back. One new allotment holder was shocked after clearing his plot and leaving it a month to find that the weeds had actually dared to grow back! I leave our verbena too and it freely self seeds. We’ll grow more Autumn Giant cauliflowers next year.

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  2. Oh, those landscape shots are lovely. I'd use any of them! I've ordered what I need for the Indian Spiced Dish, what I'll get is a different story. Caraway seed is not the same as celery seed which I wanted last delivery. What brand of curry powder do you buy?

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    1. I usually use various Pataks curry pastes, Jane with the exception of Madras but if I need actual curry powder, I mix my own based on this recipe https://minimalistbaker.com/diy-curry-powder/ Substitutions can be bizarre. I usual opt for no substitutions. We once ordered fresh salmon with mild chilli sauce and ended with smoked salmon (which we don’t eat) in hot chilli sauce. We were refunded the cost and told to throw it away, however our neighbour enjoyed it.

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  3. That's a nice regiment of leeks! Buy a courgette??? Yes it was the same shame for me yesterday as a cous cous wouldn't be right without one.

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    1. It’s shocking isn’t it, Mal? I try to stick to seasonal recipes but use lots of peppers on vegetable based meals and sometimes just need to add a courgette which we have to buy in threes.

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  4. Your photo of a pond and reflection is brilliant Sue. I think it is perfect for your dining room.
    Your meals look delicious, especially the vegetables with chicken.

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  5. What a lovely place Nostell Priory is, Sue, and Ruby seems perfectly happy in her red jacket. I am trying to get as much time in the garden as possible, but in 40+mph winds and plenty of rain, it's not happening as I'd hoped. So, I make my plans for the day based on what the weather is when I get up. Housework and art now take second place!

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    1. It’s been windy here too. Deborah. We arrange our activities on a daily basis too.

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  6. I'm with you being baffled about which shops can stay open during lockdown. We passed The Factory Shop the other day, still trading. I can't see for one minute why that shop would be classed as essential. The same with some others too. Your photos from Nostell Priory are fabulous. It was such a lovely day, I'm sure Ruby enjoyed her day out in the sunshine.

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    1. Thanks, Jo. Ruby loves to be out - she is always impatient to be lifted into the car.

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  7. That photo of the trees reflecting in the lake and blue sky is beautiful!
    And your food photos plus Jamie cooking tea is really getting my tummy rumbling!

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    1. I hope that Jamie cooked something delicious, Belinda

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  8. What an impressive display of lovely leeks Sue! Himself would really enjoy one of your curry recipes. I think that I am missing out as I don't like spicy food try as I might.

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    1. We don’t like our food too spicy, Anna. We like to still be able to taste something other than spice.

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  9. Oh, those photos of the trees and lake are gorgeous. Lockdown and what stays open is a mystery to me too. Loving your leeks and the meals, really enjoying that addition. More as my Littl'urchin would say.xxx

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    1. Glad that you are enjoying the recipes, Dina. Just hope I can keep tracking down the originals. I have screened grabbed them and have them in an electronic database. Some seem to disappear off the internet.

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  10. The beds of leeks sure looks healthy, even if the labels got lost. I don't think I want to get into a "who has a mess in the garden" competition with you are anyone else. Even you untidy beds looks better than a couple of mine at the moment!

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    1. I have area worse than that too, Dave. Bindweed is a major problem 0n the plot. However much we remove it just keeps on coming.

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  11. I giggled at Ruby's long legged shadows. Get out while you can. Cheers.

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    1. We certainly will, Lisa. Ruby has long legs to start with!

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  12. I really enjoyed your photos, some stunning scenery! I agree about this second lockdown, apart from pubs and restaurants being closed it doesn't really feel as though we are in lockdown. I have serious leek envy, yours look great. Mine were hammered by leaf miner and leek moth, amazingly the ones that made it are looking ok but I'll know for sure when I harvest some. I will have to cover leeks from now on. Karen :)

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    1. Welcome, Karen and thanks for commenting. Fortunately allium miner hasn’t reached us yet but I guess that it won’t be long before it arrives. Soon the whole plot will be covered with enviromesh.

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  13. Thanks for the welcome! Fingers crossed for you, it hit our allotment site pretty hard this year, first year of rotten leeks for all of us. Karen :)

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