Yesterday I pulled up all of the cacti (ravaged purple sprouting broccoli, sprouts and curly kale) in disgust and dug over the soil so there is nothing to remind me of our failure to cover the plants from the dreaded cabbage white butterfly. I don’t know if it’s too late, but I‘ve seen some baby purple sprouting broccoli plants in our local garden centre which I think I’ll buy and pop in the ground while it’s still fairly warm. There’s nothing to lose except a couple of quid!
I came home with a huge bunch of tarragon which was just flowering and I’ve put it in the freezer to use over the winter. In the past, I’ve tried freezing herbs like coriander and tarragon in ice cube trays, finely chopped and suspended in a little water but I found it such a hassle. Instead, I put whole bunches in bags and when I want them I just chop off what I need from then solid block of herb. The leaves are so brittle that it chops really easily while it’s still frozen. When you really need fresh herbs it can’t compete but if it’s going into something where it’s mixed in it’s perfect. There’s no losing money in growing herbs though. I reckon that the herb bed has saved us the most money per square metre when you consider the cost of a single sachet of fresh herbs you get in the supermarket.
I also came home with the first of our winter dumpling squash this weekend. I’ve never tried them before and I had to search the web to find a recipe. First I baked them whole for about 45 minutes before cutting them in half and scooping out the flesh. I then mixed in some crème fraiche and salt and pepper before spooning it back into the skins. I sprinkled over some parmesan and put them back in the oven for about 20 minutes. We had them with lamb chops with a fennel and cream sauce (our fennel, of course!). The lamb was lovely but I wasn’t convinced by the squash. It had quite a strong smell which reminded me of sweetcorn out of a tin and it had a flavour that was much stronger than butternut or crown prince squash. I think I might use stronger spices or herbs next time or put it in something like a thai curry to disguise its taste. Neither of the boys liked it either. Oh well. Being able to try different vegetables is one of the things I like about having an allotment. It really doesn’t matter to me if we grow something, like the winter dumplings, which we then don’t like. At least we’ve tried something new. And as I’m always saying to the boys, you might have to try something you don’t like a hundred times before you discover that you like it!