Allotmenticity - 03-08-09 Aston FM Sod It Grow Your Own

Gary forgot to press record this morning!!!





"The answer lies in the soil!"






It's annoying that these guys can be so destructive! What an amazing design.





Not a lot to report on this week as I've been suffering from the various symptoms of the dreaded S word!

I did manage to get down over the weekend though and harvest a wonderful selection of fresh goodies.

I used them with this weeks recipe. The Broad Beans are plentiful and were great with the Beef. I didn't have any Chard so substituted Spinach, but I'm going out today to buy some Swiss Chard seed.

Made a Cauliflower Cheese and steamed Brocolli, French Beans, baby Carrots and the Kestrel Potatoes which are new to me this year but very tasty.

Well worth a try, it's from an Egyptian recipe I saw recently on TV.

Enjoy,

The Captain

Broad Beans with Beef & Chard

For 4.

2 Beef steaks (Sirloin for preference)
2 good cups of shelled Broad Beans,
Bunch each of fresh Coriander & Dill
Heaped teaspoon of Ground Coriander
Large bunch of Chard or Spinach.
1 medium Onion
6 cloves of Garlic.
Olive Oil.
Salt & Pepper

Method.

Cut the Beef into 1" cubes, rub with Ground Coriander salt & pepper and brown in the Olive Oil.
Add the chopped fresh herbs and fry for 5 mins
Add the Broad Beans and cover with water.
Bring to the boil and then reduce heat to simmer and cook until Beef is very tender. 30 mins at least.
Crush Garlic Cloves and add to chopped Chard/Spinach.
Mash together in a Pestle & Mortar and add to the Beef mixture.
Add more liquid if necessary.
Cook for further 10 mins.

The original recipe added rice to the mixture, but I served the stew with a mix of fresh seasonal veg; Potatoes, Brocolli, Carrots, Courgette.

Allotmenticity - 29-06-09 Aston FM Sod It Grow Your Own

Well firstly sad news that 2 iconic figures from the world of entertainment passed away recently. As well as Michael Jackson we shouldn't forget Farrah Fawcett who was overshadowed somewhat!

Moving on, what amazing weather, and more to come this week. It was 94 degrees in my potting shed at the weekend. Phew! I grew 2" and lost a couple of pounds erecting the shelves kindly donated by my friend The Earl of Edgbaston.















It's great to be able to start harvesting at last. I've just dug up the first of my Garlic crop that was planted last year. Some of the thick-necked have suffered slightly from being too damp and rotted, but mostly they look and taste wonderful.

I'm blanching some Broad Beans for a Risotto later. Picked young they're really sweet. Also courgettes are flying now. The one problem I get is my Peas. I don't seem to be able to get a decent crop. I kind of think I'm going to have to get some manure down for next year and boost the soil. Strange how the Broad Beans right next to them are fantastic though! Any thoughts?

The fruit is tasting sweet. It's been a good crop of Raspberries so far and the Strawberries in their first year are excellent. How about this for an odd shape?





















If anyone from Birmingham, in particular Great Barr, Erdington, Stockland Green areas are looking for allotments they should either contact The Barn Social Club or come down on a Saturday or Sunday between 10.00 & 12.00, go to the seed shed and ask to speak to the Land Bailiff. The club is on Brookvale Road, Witton B6 7AJ.

Talking of fruit, this weeks recipe is courtesy of The Matron who has a wonderful blog called "Down on the Allotment" a great read with lots of helpful tips.

Until next time,

The Captain

Matron's Summer Pudding.
















Basically you need a whole load of fresh summer fruits. Strawberries, Raspberries, Gooseberries, Blackcurrants, Blueberries etc.
Get a large pudding basin and enough slices of white bread to line it. Grease the inside and fit the slices of bread (without the crusts) to make a mould. Saving one for the lid preferably the end crust as shown.















Quickly soften the fruit in a microwave for about a minute, then pile into the bread mould covering with the crust lid. Put a plate on top and weigh it down to squash the contents and put in the fridge to chill. Overnight if you can wait that long.
Take off the weight and invert over a serving plate.
Serve with fresh cream.
Mmmmmmmm!
















Nice one Matron!

Allotmenticity - 26-05-09

Well there's no Gary James Show this week as he's away in Turkey, but the work still continues apace down on No87.
More maincrop spuds going in and transplanting cabbages, sweetcorn, peas & beans.
The first Broad beans are in flower and looking healthy, although the Black flies are never far away. I've planted French Marigolds as a companion so lets hope they do their job.
I had a trip down to Malvern on Sunday and thanks to the Country Bumpkin, came back laden with cuttings from Cherry and Hazlenut trees so fingers crossed I might get a couple that take.
Then yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure to work with a Midlands Legend, Steve Gibbons, at the Lord Mayor's Show in Birmingham. It even stayed fine while we rocked the Council House!



As can be seen in the photo, Captain Tongo's pee does not help Parsley grow!!!















And finally we seem to have a couple of resident Ducks. They just appear and stroll around quite unfazed by us all working away.















Gary & I will be back next week with more fun so until then,

Enjoy the weather, but don't forget to cover up!

The Captain.