The tricky part is peeling the roots because salsify turns brown on contact with the air. It's not a pretty sight. In addition when peeling it weeps lactose - just as lettuce stems do. Prepared roots have to be dropped into acidulated* water, to stop them browning, in readiness for dicing straight into the pot.
Not such a pretty sight
Other ingredients are leek (white only) and a potato and in this case our golf ball sized celeriac too. Green chervil from the garden for garnish.
The good news is that the end result is subtle and unique. A winter warmer.
*Water with a squeeze of lemon or a teaspoon of vinegar.
We couldn't find any pfeffernusse this year in the shops so we had to make some.
Never realised how important it is to ice them!
Of course once these had been baked we spotted some on our next supermarket visit. The freshly made up spice blend made a difference not to mention the freshness of all the other ingredients. The homemade ones were in a class of their own and have all been consumed.
On the savoury front taralli are an addictive Italian snack we make at this time of year. The dough is made with wine, olive oil, flour and salt. Divided into four quarters each gets a different flavour. (fennel seed, cracked pepper, chilli flakes and rosemary) Then each quarter is rolled into a long cylinder. The tricky bit is making them into small rings and dunking them into a pan of simmering water before baking
Dough and the 4 flavourings
It is best to do the fennel flavoured ones first as the more robust flavours leech into the water and carry over to the next. So chilli comes last.
I just have to share crab apple harvest this year. These orange apples, on a now leafless tree, are too small to make jelly from. We leave them for the birds - who devour them when other food becomes scarce in mid winter. I am sure they get drunk on them because once they get started there is no limit to the antics they get up to as they tightrope/softrope their way along the branches. Blackbirds and pigeons are the most enthusiastic, but these house sparrows on the nearest bush seem to be keeping a custodial eye on them.
Just in case you are wondering, yes the blue lines are our washing line.
Days have shortened, temperatures have dropped, rain has been sweeping past and outdoor activities have become less attractive. It is tempting to just forget about the plot on the other side of town. That's not to say that there is nothing cropping at the moment. It's just that as soon as your gloves get wet you have to change them before you lose the use of your hands. So today three pairs of gloves at the ready I harvested The last of the row of fennel
Swiss chard:
and spinach:
Cabbage:
Kohlrabi
Swede:
Carrots from under their cover:
and that's a row of salsify to the left which, like the parsnips, I have yet to explore. Less photogenic but also picked today Jerusalem artichoke and sprouting broccoli. There's plenty beetroot too and Brussel sprouts to come. The leeks I am leaving for when things get really depleted.
Nearly forgot to mention the late brassicas planted after clearing the strawberry patch! There's spring greens, kale and mooli in there.
So all in all I have still got lots of reasons to remember to visit the plot, (just don't ask me to do any weeding).
Here's a surprise. I was testing the new motion sensitive infra red camera and on the very first night captured this unexpected visitor.
The cats and even the foxes were not a surprise, but this definitely was! I should explain that we live on a main road, on the long side of a right angled triangle formed by a back road. So the gardens in the triangle are only accessible by crossing the road and finding an access point between the houses.
Today, at the school garden, I lifted the fleece on the salad bed:
This is where the peas and beans grew this year, but then we planted out plug plants at the beginning of September. The fleece was deployed in the middle of October just before the first frost arrived.
In the foreground the Mizuna is looking nice and frilly. At the other end the Land Cress or American Cress is thriving :
Land Cress
This provides a peppery aftertaste. When the children were sampling the salads last week I warned them off this, and didn't provide any tasting samples for them. The result was that it became the highlight of the session with, I think, every child trying it just to prove me wrong, or to prove they weren't wimps!
There were four sorts of lettuce, with the Marveille de Quatre Saisons stealing the show with its rouged leaves.
Lettuces
The most prolific salad has been Winter Purslane (Claytonia, Miners' Lettuce). Still mild despite starting to flower.
Winter Purslane
I've tucked them all up again under the fleece and it is going to be interesting to see how they do when winter bites. I will leave them to see if we get a new flush come spring. As this is going to be the brassica bed next year there is no rush to clear the ground.
Just while I am on the subject of summer crops I can't resist showing of the solitary chilli from last year. It was an unsuccessful experiment for me spanning some four varieties. I did learn that they really do need to be treated as indoor plants in Scotland. The unheated greenhouse was ok for tomatoes and cucumber but the chillis just refused to grow. Add to this my over enthusiastic watering (in a vain attempt to encourage growth) and you can understand why they protested. It was only when I brought them back indoors that this one fruit eventually ripened.
As you see the leaves are protesting about the cold nights. Despite all this I will try again next year, in a limited indoor windowsill way, to grow chillies.
This picture, for me, encapsulates the case for Weed Suppressant Fabric. The net overhead and the collars around the plants give away that this was my brassica patch (in 2017). The strip to the left: no WSF. The rest to the right WSF applied in early spring. Which would you rather be faced with come the month of June? No contest. This trial evolved as a result of my wish to leave a strip in which to sow later brassicas that will not tolerate transplanting (Swedes, Pak Choi, Mooli) and was not staged to prove a point. None the less as I crouched on hands and knees under the net I thought it was worth taking this picture for the record, ready for that Autumn day when I would be warm indoors mulling over the lessons learned. 16 months later that day has arrived.
I do still have reservations. The fabric is made of woven plastic and is not biodegradable (although it lasts for years and is reused). It allows water through the weave but there are concerns for the effect it has on the soil/air interface. Do insects and worms like or abhor it and how does that affect the soil food web? I see the Garden Organic guidelines approve of it only on a limited basis for clearing weed patches although it is acknowledged as a longstanding tool for growing organic strawberries. A web search has plenty of rants against "landscaping fabric" in vegetable patches which surprises me some as I have not experienced the problems they describe. (Usually someone is renovating a recently acquired garden where the previous occupant has laid down a layer below soil level and weeds have grown on top. ) My piece follows (or rather precedes) the brassicas around the plot and has the bonus of already having the holes spaced out at just the right distance for planting.
For now, I will continue to use it on my brassica patch in order to reap the benefits, but I am now wary of leaving it down in one place for more than one season. I have just recently decided to carry out a worm survey of comparable patches with and without WSF to see if there is any discernible drop in numbers. If you can save me the trouble by pointing to any research on this topic - do please let me know. I don't know about you but I just find weeding a chore.
I have been making an effort to use green manures this year. It is so easy to miss the boat, and I will admit I have been a bit late in sowing.
Where the alliums were (and you can still see the winter leeks) I have sown Winter Tares:
Winter Tares
And where I lifted the potatoes Grazing Rye is recently germinated:
Grazing Rye
Where the peas were I sowed red clover a few weeks ago. As they were slow to germinate the weeds grew up and I have done my best to remove the groundsel, chickweed and speedwell to give it a chance. (The flowers in the foreground were planted out after the broad beans.)
Clover - plus weeds and flowers!
One reason for my renewed efforts with green manures is my concern that weed suppressant fabric, while wonderful for suppressing weeds, is bad for worms and soil health if used for more than the short term. I will continue to use it for the brassica patch from planting out time to harvest, and short term ground preparation elsewhere, but lift it at the end of the season. Step in green manure!
Driving through the highlands this sight can't fail to impress:
Zooming in, the subject of this celestial spotlight is the village of Killin at the end of Loch Tay:
The abandoned railway is now a rather spooky walkway
But it is a singular tree in nearby Fortingall that really impresses (and sends a shiver down my spine). It is reputed to be "the oldest living thing in Europe and possibly the World"
Which is why it is fenced off. In the past it has been vandalised and abused. What you see above ground are the remnants of a much bigger trunk (52ft around in 1769) that after natural hollowing out was hacked back for trophies and burnt to the point that wedding parties could process through the middle of it. It is the root system connecting the various remnants that has been dated as over 3,000 years old and possibly as many as 9,000.
The Fortingall Yew Fenced in
Another remnant that caught my eye was this lichen covered gate.
I don't think anything has been through this gateway for a while. Halloween is approaching, just as well I don't believe in alien abduction...
