newsletter w/c 26/04/2010
Planting is in full flight now. I’ve nearly filled half the poly-tunnel already, with seed trays, so, it’s going to be bursting at the seams by the time they’ve all been pricked out or transplanted. I finished the potato planting last Wednesday, as planned and also managed to get time to transplant the rest of the garlic. A third row of Jerusalem Artichokes went in as well as a half row of shallots.
I’ve made a start on the onion planting, which is the most time consuming of all the seeds. I just can’t get a machine or gadget to speed up the process, every single onion set has to be individually planted by hand. We do other seeds by hand, but none of them in as high numbers as the onions. If the weather stays fair, I’ll be planting onions all week
We’ve also been trying to get our bee-hives sorted out for the coming season, so if anyone knows any beekeepers out there who could help me out with a couple of starter colonies or swarms, I would be very grateful. Apiculture is a fascinating subject and a great hobby, made far easier if we get some decent summers. Colony numbers have reduced drastically over the past decade due to the varroa mite, so the Scottish Beekeepers Association are desperate for as many people to start-up honey production as possible.
The bags are starting to take on a more summery feel now. We’re probably only about a month away from having our first new season produce in the bags, but through this’hungry gap’ time of year, we’ll be giving you a mixture of the winter veg and some bought-in summer items, like the courgettes this week.
We’ve had a few requests to take stalls at school gala days. These have been ones that we attended last year. If you have a school near you with a gala day in the next couple of months, please let us know and we’ll see if they would like us to take a stall and whether we have room in our diary. It’s good to spread the word about our service to as many people as possible. We are in the process, thanks to our friend Anne, of designing a proper logo for The Whole Shebag, so that we can have eye-catching advertising material and properly sign-written vehicles. Hopefully this should be turned around before too long.
Potatoes Solanum tuberosum. Tatties this week are Remarka a good general purpose potato.. Potatoes are the only commonly available source of B3 and Iodine. Excellent source of Vitamin C and also Vitamin B6, Potassium and fibre.
Onion Allium cepa. Used in stews, pasta dishes, soups. Source of Vitamins A and C, Iron, Calcium and Potassium .
Carrot Daucus carota Carrots are eaten fresh in salads or cooked in just about any way you like. They are an excellent source of Vitamin A and also contain significant amounts of Vitamins B, C, D, E and K. and Potassium.
Kohl-rabi Brassica oleracea Gongylodes Group (1 head) Excellent source of Vitamin C and of potassium. Peel the outer skin off of the swollen bulb then eat either raw or cooked. Here’s a recipe for Sugar-browned kohl-rabi Peel the kohl-rabi and cut into finger-wide strips. Blanch for 5 minutes then refresh in cold water. Return the kohl-rabi to the pan with a small amount of boiling lightly salted water. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Drain and allow to cool slightly. Melt 1oz (25g) sugar in a heavy based frying pan without stirring, until it bubbles and is pale brown. Add 1oz (25g) of butter and stir until blended. Stir in the kohl-rabi strips and shake the pan frequently to coat all the strips evenly with caramel.
Courgette Cucurbita pepo (1 head) Source of Vitamins A and C , calcium, iron and fibre. Prepare by wshing and trimming both ends. Courgettes can be coked whole or in slices, or they can be cut in half lengthways filled with stuffing and baked. Boil courgettes in lightly salted water for 15-20 minutes. Sliced courgettes may be steamed in butter for 10 minutes. Halved courgettes may be parboiled for 5 minutes the finished in the oven, in a well-buttered dish for 25 minutes at 190oC (375oF) Gas Mark 5.
Celery Apium graveolens (1 head) This biennial veg is high in Vitamin C, folic acid, potassium and fibre. The stalks are generally eaten fresh or used in soups and stews. To cook it, boil it in a little salted boiling water for 15-20 minutes or steam it for 25-30 minutes. Serve in cheese or parsley sauce or smothered in butter.
Parsnip. Pastinaca sativa Good for Vitamin C, folic acid, potassium and fibre. Peel, then cut into chunks for boiling or roasting, also can be grated into soups or kept in chunks for soups or stews. Here’s a recipe for: Curried parsnip couscous. Prepare your parsnips and cut them into batons about 7cm (3inches) long, the thicker sections will need to be quartered. Mix together 1 teaspoon each of sea salt, paprika and ground cumin, a tablespoon each of sunflower oil and honey and a dash of tabasco sauce. Pour this over the parsnips and leave to marinate for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200oC/400oF/Gas 6. Cover the parsnips tightly with foil and bake for 1 hour. Turn them regularly, making sure they are tightly wrapped before returning them to the oven. Sprinkle them with water from time to time to stop sticking. Towards the end of the cooking time prepare some couscous. Serve the couscous with the parsnips, sprinkled with coriander leaves. Have mango chutney on hand, just to finish it off.
knob of butter, or coated in a white sauce or cheese sauce.
I’ve made a start on the onion planting, which is the most time consuming of all the seeds. I just can’t get a machine or gadget to speed up the process, every single onion set has to be individually planted by hand. We do other seeds by hand, but none of them in as high numbers as the onions. If the weather stays fair, I’ll be planting onions all week
We’ve also been trying to get our bee-hives sorted out for the coming season, so if anyone knows any beekeepers out there who could help me out with a couple of starter colonies or swarms, I would be very grateful. Apiculture is a fascinating subject and a great hobby, made far easier if we get some decent summers. Colony numbers have reduced drastically over the past decade due to the varroa mite, so the Scottish Beekeepers Association are desperate for as many people to start-up honey production as possible.
The bags are starting to take on a more summery feel now. We’re probably only about a month away from having our first new season produce in the bags, but through this’hungry gap’ time of year, we’ll be giving you a mixture of the winter veg and some bought-in summer items, like the courgettes this week.
We’ve had a few requests to take stalls at school gala days. These have been ones that we attended last year. If you have a school near you with a gala day in the next couple of months, please let us know and we’ll see if they would like us to take a stall and whether we have room in our diary. It’s good to spread the word about our service to as many people as possible. We are in the process, thanks to our friend Anne, of designing a proper logo for The Whole Shebag, so that we can have eye-catching advertising material and properly sign-written vehicles. Hopefully this should be turned around before too long.
Potatoes Solanum tuberosum. Tatties this week are Remarka a good general purpose potato.. Potatoes are the only commonly available source of B3 and Iodine. Excellent source of Vitamin C and also Vitamin B6, Potassium and fibre.
Onion Allium cepa. Used in stews, pasta dishes, soups. Source of Vitamins A and C, Iron, Calcium and Potassium .
Carrot Daucus carota Carrots are eaten fresh in salads or cooked in just about any way you like. They are an excellent source of Vitamin A and also contain significant amounts of Vitamins B, C, D, E and K. and Potassium.
Kohl-rabi Brassica oleracea Gongylodes Group (1 head) Excellent source of Vitamin C and of potassium. Peel the outer skin off of the swollen bulb then eat either raw or cooked. Here’s a recipe for Sugar-browned kohl-rabi Peel the kohl-rabi and cut into finger-wide strips. Blanch for 5 minutes then refresh in cold water. Return the kohl-rabi to the pan with a small amount of boiling lightly salted water. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Drain and allow to cool slightly. Melt 1oz (25g) sugar in a heavy based frying pan without stirring, until it bubbles and is pale brown. Add 1oz (25g) of butter and stir until blended. Stir in the kohl-rabi strips and shake the pan frequently to coat all the strips evenly with caramel.
Courgette Cucurbita pepo (1 head) Source of Vitamins A and C , calcium, iron and fibre. Prepare by wshing and trimming both ends. Courgettes can be coked whole or in slices, or they can be cut in half lengthways filled with stuffing and baked. Boil courgettes in lightly salted water for 15-20 minutes. Sliced courgettes may be steamed in butter for 10 minutes. Halved courgettes may be parboiled for 5 minutes the finished in the oven, in a well-buttered dish for 25 minutes at 190oC (375oF) Gas Mark 5.
Celery Apium graveolens (1 head) This biennial veg is high in Vitamin C, folic acid, potassium and fibre. The stalks are generally eaten fresh or used in soups and stews. To cook it, boil it in a little salted boiling water for 15-20 minutes or steam it for 25-30 minutes. Serve in cheese or parsley sauce or smothered in butter.
Parsnip. Pastinaca sativa Good for Vitamin C, folic acid, potassium and fibre. Peel, then cut into chunks for boiling or roasting, also can be grated into soups or kept in chunks for soups or stews. Here’s a recipe for: Curried parsnip couscous. Prepare your parsnips and cut them into batons about 7cm (3inches) long, the thicker sections will need to be quartered. Mix together 1 teaspoon each of sea salt, paprika and ground cumin, a tablespoon each of sunflower oil and honey and a dash of tabasco sauce. Pour this over the parsnips and leave to marinate for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200oC/400oF/Gas 6. Cover the parsnips tightly with foil and bake for 1 hour. Turn them regularly, making sure they are tightly wrapped before returning them to the oven. Sprinkle them with water from time to time to stop sticking. Towards the end of the cooking time prepare some couscous. Serve the couscous with the parsnips, sprinkled with coriander leaves. Have mango chutney on hand, just to finish it off.
knob of butter, or coated in a white sauce or cheese sauce.
posted by thewholeshebag at 2:24 PM
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