A great recipe for green tomatoes
It’s beginning to feel quite chilly here so I harvested the remnants of the outdoor tomatoes this afternoon. Gentle warmth on this south west facing windowsill will gradually ripen the green ones that I don’t want to use now. I’ve bottled (canned) masses of tomatoes, pickled some and made passata to last us through the winter. A lot of our harvest has been dehydrated for use throughout the year. I know that I should be developing a green tomato chutney recipe but I’m indulging myself and am going to make Rozanne Hall’s green...
read moreGrowing vegetables all year round: October 2009 kitchen garden update
I thought that you might like to take a peek at our extended kitchen garden. Some of the paths are new and no rain for weeks has taken its toll but over the winter they will perk up. The layout is nine 12’x12’ beds and we are planning an 8’x 8’ asparagus bed. I traded some decorating for the wood (it’s going to be a raised bed with new top soil from the Fens). This means removing the last of the roses and it’s a project earmarked for next Spring. We’ve discovered that the old kitchen garden – the part enclosed by the blue...
read morePeeling apples in heaven
I’ve been trying to use up all the apples from our trees in the garden. Bottling with blueberries and blackberries, making apple chutney and apple sauce. I’m going to make apple butter and dry slices when the dehydrator eventually arrives. I hadn’t realised that peeling, coring and slicing apples could be such a chore and take so long. I began to make excuses to avoid dealing with the windfalls. “The chickens will love these apples and also the Min Pins.” The flock and Min Pins chomped and chomped. But the bounty was so...
read morePear butter recipe
Having pointed you in the direction of Chickens in the Road and Suzanne’s tale of making pear butter with Georgia, I just had to try this delicacy for myself. I bought some American cups at TKMaxx last year and they are handy when trying recipes from North America. We are lucky. We have a young pear tree that is planted over the grave of a very special pug. Titus lived with my sister and was a great companion to my first Min Pin, Fly. In fact he gave solace to many people who offered an ample lap to this small black being. He...
read moreFirst tentative steps with hot water bath processing
I woke up a few nights ago and realised that we had a water bath for processing our garden bounty hanging in the Bee Shed. This is a vast laundry pan with a double base. I have been boning up on hot water bath canning/bottling. I just wanted to process fruit and tomatoes for the winter. Other vegetables are being pickled, frozen or will be when the Food Dehydrator eventually arrives from Germany. Danny was suspicious. “If you put glass jars with lids on into boiling water they will explode. And you will break your precious Kilner...
read moreGrow your own life and loofahs at Down to Earth dot com
“Where do you think loofahs come from?” Danny looked up sensing a trick question. “I don’t know. Probably from the bottom of the sea like natural sponges.” “I thought so to – ‘We haven’t done so well with the fish today but our nets are full of loofahs.’” “Well where do they come from?” “They’re a vegetable. The small ones can be eaten like courgettes.” Danny was as surprised as I was when I saw the loofahs scrambling up a trellis on the Down to Earth blog. I’ve been reading a lot of ‘new to me’ blogs...
read moreGuest spot: Back to the woods! By Huw Woodman from The Bushcraft Magazine
Here’s our February contribution from The Bushcraft Magazine. This great magazine is a brilliant publication, packed with interesting and inspirational articles. We reviewed it here. Each month an article from the magazine will appear on the Cottage Smallholder site. Huw Woodman’s been walking around our woodlands in the early spring. The southeast has some of Britain’s most beautiful woodlands. They may not be the most spectacular, but they have a quiet charm that is unbeatable, especially as the year begins to unfold;...
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