Newsletter w/c 26th July2010
The potatoes, this year, are doing really well. So well, in fact, that I’ve started lifting them for your bags. I think this must be about three to four weeks earlier than usual, and that’s after, what I thought, was a really late start to the growing season. The first variety I’ve picked, Orla, is a good size for the time of year. We’re also getting a good quantity of tubers under each shaw, so we can’t ask for better than that.
Although we’re getting new British carrots just now, I’m not 100% happy with them. They don’t seem to be lasting very long before they start to go a bit bendy. Let me know if you have unuseable carrots and I’ll put something in your next delivery to make up for it. We’re probably only a month away from starting our own carrots anyway.
It’s our carrot crop I’ve been busy with this week, weeding all the carrots that are big enough to be weeded safely. If the carrots are still quite slender, they get pulled out very easily along with the weeds. I like to wait until they are big enough to have a bit of a grip on the soil before we clear around them. The onions have been getting cleaned up at the same time. They’re probably about a month away too. Andy has been busy planting more batches of salad and brassicas. We’ve got less time for planting now as a big part of our time has to be devoted to harvesting.
So, along with harvesting, this week, I’d like to get some more of the carrots and onions weeded, and I want to sow a batch of spinach, rocket and mizuna, to take us further through the year with salads. As usual, the other main job will be weeding. I’ll continue with the carrots and Sky has just finished the huge task of weeding the swedes, so she’ll move onto the other brassicas now. They’re coming on well now and should be ready to start picking within a month, in fact we have a few kohl-rabi ready now.
Here’s a list of what’s in the standard bag this week. As I’ve noted already, substitutions may occur.
Potato Solanum tuberosum. Tatties this week are Orla, 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. They’re our own now, so there’ll be a bigger variety of sizes than usual. All sizes are very tasty though.
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.
Mixed Salad various. Our mixed salad bags are on-stream again. There’s a mixture of lettuce, endive, eraclea and herbs. When you receive your bag, rinse the salad leaves thoroughly to remove any traces of soil that may have attached, then drain in a salad spinner or colandar. Pop back into a sealed bag or box and store in the fridge until ready for use. Will keep for over a week easily. If you’d like more, let us know.
Tomato Lycopersicon esculentum Good for Vitamins A and C, potassium and iron. To cook tomatoes are used for many peoples favourite soup, they are added to casseroles, folded into omelettes and served grilled with a little butter and salt and pepper on top. Obviously, the most common usage at this time of year is fresh in salads.
Radish Raphanus sativus A good source of vitamin C, potassium and fibre. Wash your radish, cut the top and tail off and cut into salads. Give a fine burst of colour and a little kick to the taste buds. They are a bit smaller this week. I’m not too fond of the big ping pong ball sized ones. These little ones are the sweetest and most tasty.. May be in short supply latewr in the week so might be substituted.
Red Cabbage Brassica oleracea Capitata Group (1/2 head) Excellent source of Vitamin C and phytochemicals and also contains Vitamin B6, potassium, fibre and calcium. Here’s a recipe for Braised red cabbage which uses apples rather than the orange based gravy I gave you last time. Braised Red Cabbage: Remove the outer coarse leaves and cut the cabbage into quarters. Remove the tough coresand shred the cabbage finely. Peel core and grate 2 cooking apples and mix with the cabbage. Melt 2oz.(50g) of butter in a pan, add 5fl.oz.(150ml) white wine vinegar and mix in the cabbage; coat thoroughly; then cover with a tight fitting lid and simmer over a gentle heat for 1 hour. Add a little more vinegar or water if the cabbage threatens to stick. Stir in 5fl.oz. (150ml) of red wine or blackcurrant juice, and season to taste with sugar. The cabbage should be fairly sharp in flavour. Cover with a lid and simmer until tender.
Although we’re getting new British carrots just now, I’m not 100% happy with them. They don’t seem to be lasting very long before they start to go a bit bendy. Let me know if you have unuseable carrots and I’ll put something in your next delivery to make up for it. We’re probably only a month away from starting our own carrots anyway.
It’s our carrot crop I’ve been busy with this week, weeding all the carrots that are big enough to be weeded safely. If the carrots are still quite slender, they get pulled out very easily along with the weeds. I like to wait until they are big enough to have a bit of a grip on the soil before we clear around them. The onions have been getting cleaned up at the same time. They’re probably about a month away too. Andy has been busy planting more batches of salad and brassicas. We’ve got less time for planting now as a big part of our time has to be devoted to harvesting.
So, along with harvesting, this week, I’d like to get some more of the carrots and onions weeded, and I want to sow a batch of spinach, rocket and mizuna, to take us further through the year with salads. As usual, the other main job will be weeding. I’ll continue with the carrots and Sky has just finished the huge task of weeding the swedes, so she’ll move onto the other brassicas now. They’re coming on well now and should be ready to start picking within a month, in fact we have a few kohl-rabi ready now.
Here’s a list of what’s in the standard bag this week. As I’ve noted already, substitutions may occur.
Potato Solanum tuberosum. Tatties this week are Orla, 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. They’re our own now, so there’ll be a bigger variety of sizes than usual. All sizes are very tasty though.
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.
Mixed Salad various. Our mixed salad bags are on-stream again. There’s a mixture of lettuce, endive, eraclea and herbs. When you receive your bag, rinse the salad leaves thoroughly to remove any traces of soil that may have attached, then drain in a salad spinner or colandar. Pop back into a sealed bag or box and store in the fridge until ready for use. Will keep for over a week easily. If you’d like more, let us know.
Tomato Lycopersicon esculentum Good for Vitamins A and C, potassium and iron. To cook tomatoes are used for many peoples favourite soup, they are added to casseroles, folded into omelettes and served grilled with a little butter and salt and pepper on top. Obviously, the most common usage at this time of year is fresh in salads.
Radish Raphanus sativus A good source of vitamin C, potassium and fibre. Wash your radish, cut the top and tail off and cut into salads. Give a fine burst of colour and a little kick to the taste buds. They are a bit smaller this week. I’m not too fond of the big ping pong ball sized ones. These little ones are the sweetest and most tasty.. May be in short supply latewr in the week so might be substituted.
Red Cabbage Brassica oleracea Capitata Group (1/2 head) Excellent source of Vitamin C and phytochemicals and also contains Vitamin B6, potassium, fibre and calcium. Here’s a recipe for Braised red cabbage which uses apples rather than the orange based gravy I gave you last time. Braised Red Cabbage: Remove the outer coarse leaves and cut the cabbage into quarters. Remove the tough coresand shred the cabbage finely. Peel core and grate 2 cooking apples and mix with the cabbage. Melt 2oz.(50g) of butter in a pan, add 5fl.oz.(150ml) white wine vinegar and mix in the cabbage; coat thoroughly; then cover with a tight fitting lid and simmer over a gentle heat for 1 hour. Add a little more vinegar or water if the cabbage threatens to stick. Stir in 5fl.oz. (150ml) of red wine or blackcurrant juice, and season to taste with sugar. The cabbage should be fairly sharp in flavour. Cover with a lid and simmer until tender.
posted by thewholeshebag at 11:27 PM
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