Getting to the root of the problem

We had a couple of days working on the allotment last week and a couple of days at two of our usual haunts.

The trees now cast a golden glow but it won't be long before they cast off their leaves and become silhouettes. For now, we can enjoy the autumn tints.

Nostell Priory

Temple Newsam

At Temple Newsam, photos had to be taken trying to avoid the metal fencing that had sprung up around the lake area. The fencing isn't at all photogenic. We guessed that the fencing was in preparation for some sort of event so I checked on the internet when we arrived home. Sure enough they are staging a Christmas Lights Trail in a week or two. Video of visit.

Our days on the allotment mainly focused on continuing to clear and tidy beds to prepare them for their winter rest.

However, the first thing we went to check on was the site of the previous week’s bonfire. All that remained was a thin layer of ash which will be dug it later.

The two cardoons, that stand sentinel throughout summer at one edge of the plot, have been cut back. The new growth is already fairly well advanced. Video here

More beds have been cleared, weeded and edged and the grass paths have been strimmed. Hopefully, the growth of the grass and any new weed growth will be slowed down by the onset of colder weather and less hours of daylight. The only crops that remained in the long bed - bottom right photo above - were a few swedes and moolis.

For a few years now, we have failed when it comes to growing swedes. We have had the odd fluke but other than that our swedes never develop a ball like root - or is it a stem? We’ve tried sowing direct and in modules but all we get is a cylinder shape. Any secrets to success that we should know about?

Having been introduced to moolis by Mal on his blog, we decided to give them a go. I only sowed a few seeds in case we didn’t like them. I thinned them out exactly as specified but I dug up a very motley looking group. One - top left photo - looked like a cross between a mooli and one of our deformed swedes. There were also quite a few little tiddlers. I did end up though with three or four that looked as I expected. Video here. Apparently small moolis can be eaten raw but larger ones are better cooked. I didn’t  really know how to cook the moolis so I decided to try them in a stir fry with some chicken that needed using up.  I julienned  a mooli and a carrot. I added one of our onions and some strips of red and green peppers and some sliced mushrooms. It was moistened with sweet chilli sauce and served with noodles. The mooli worked well in this so now I need more ideas on how to use them. Any suggestions?

Another meal that made use of our homegrown vegetables was a vegetable turnover. Into this went a leek, carrot and frozen peas. Green, yellow and red peppers and portobello mushroom were also added and the turnover was served with a mixture of our frozen sweet corn, broad beans and runner beans.

I used some of our carrots and onion in a vegetable orzo dish. Next time I make it I'll cut down on the liquid content.

Most weeks, on one day we have a salad for dinner. I try to make some sort of pastry as part of the salad. I’ve been making little pies in a muffin tin but I had difficulty removing the hot pie from the tin so I was on the lookout for something to make the task easier. 

This takes me on to some 'gadgets' old and new which have certainly helped. I'm sure you will be familiar with most. A great find was a muffin tin with loose bases. This really made it easy to remove the pies from the tin to pop on the cooling tray. It would be even easier if there was an additional piece of kit with the set that would sit under the tin and pop the pies out. Something like that provided with some plant raising modules.

Another difficulty when using a muffin tin for pastries is that it can be tricky to line the cups with pastry without pushing a finger through the pastry. This was made easier when I acquired a pastry tamper.

I never seemed to have a pastry cutter the size that I needed so made do with cups, dishes or glasses that were about the right size. My next useful item is a set of pastry cutters in a wide range of sizes.

Finally, something that I have had for a while now is a set of rubber brushes that I use to give the tops of my pies an egg wash. Before I bought these I used a traditional pastry brush which often left bristles behind that needed picking off before someone ended up eating one.

Last week's pies were chicken tagine pies. The recipe came from the Great British Bake Off. I left out the olives as neither of us like them. My pies aren't as dainty as the ones in the recipe and the judges would probably say that they weren't very neat but Martyn reckons that they are rustic and look homemade so I'll settle for that.

That's all for now so until next time, I hope that you have a good week and stay safe and well.

This week I am once again joining in with Dave’s Harvest Monday collection of posts over at Our Happy Acres

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