Beetroot and halloumi with Chilli jam on a bed of rocket

We used fresh beetroot, parsley and rocket from the garden  and turned this into delicious beetroot and halloumi sliders  on a bed of rocket leaves.

As a dessert we made  the apple/rose tartlets.

spring salad with flowers

Making the first spring salad with  Goosegrass, White and purple nettle flowers, Speedwell, Lambs lettuce.  Daisies,  Dandelion  leaves.as well as a calendula flower and some rosemary flowers.
We also added some garlic chives and normal chives.

Our dressing was made with olive oil,  blackberry balsamic vinegar, some honey and mustard.
We sprinkled some walnuts pieces and chopped blue cheese. delicous.

Surprise, surprise, NO rain we even went out to transplant the lettuce seedlings that we sowed a few weeks ago.

After that we went inside and transplanted the tomato seedlings. The seeds we planted a month or so ago after harvesting preparing the tomatoes for the lunch. No idea what tomatoes they were other than the fact they were very tasty. May they be tasty for us again later in the summer.

For lunch we had the broccoli kedgeree again. Delicious!

Making the most out of waste

8 surprising ways to use fruit and vegetable peelings and to reduce waste

Raw beetroot and Feta salad with purple sprouting pasta

Today we planted new potatoes in the area where there were still some beetroot  left over from last year.  We harvested the beetroot and turned them into a beetroot and feta salad which we ate as a side dish.

Our main dish was freshly made tagliatelli with steamed  purple sprouting broccoli and parmesan cheese.

From Spade to Plate: Parsnip, Potato and peas

Although we have been trying to plant potatoes for a couple of weeks now, the weather has not been very favourable.  Frost is not good for our new potatoes (Charlottes) so they have been nicely chitting  inside. (we had the first harvest of these Monday 28th May)

sowing peas in the raised beds at home

potatoes chitting

In the previous years I grew a row of Early Onward Peas between the rows of potatoes and this worked very well. The peas don't grow very high and are propped up by the potato leaves. so no need for more support. They should be ready to harvest in June at the same time as the potatoes. I tend to harvest the whole bed in one go at the end of in June so it is ready to transplant the Beetroot and leeks and sow the Fennel in between.

Ingredients for the curry

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As we still have some parsnips in the allotment, we will be making a Parsnip and Chickpea curry with rice to have as our lunch.

Digging up the parsnips with Raymond

Bringing back the harvest to turn into a lovely lunch

As we had a rainy day the Wednesday group did not go  to the allotment to harvest parsnips, I harvested some this morning so we used them for the curry and the  Sweet potato and parsnip soup with some scones.  We also made another batch of parsnip and chick pea curry

As the weather was so horrible, we decided to sow  various types of french beans, mixed lettuce, beetroot and mini cucumbers  in the warmth of our kitchen.

Wednesday's from Spade to Plate: Visit to the allotment and a 3 course meal

Today we set out in the sunshine to sow some onions, beetroot and lettuces in the allotment.

We harvested the first of the Spinach beet for use in our Socca Pizza. (if you use vegan cheese this could be gluten free and vegan main dish)

For topping we used  2 red onions, garlic cloves, spinach, gorgonzola and parmesan cheese.

baked the base in a large frying pan,  when this was done, we topped it with the above vegetables and cheese, put it under the grill for a few minutes and had it with our Carrot and coriander soup

For dessert we made a vegan chocolate mouse we only used 3 ingredients, a can of chickpea water (whipped with a little cream of tartar) and melted dark chocolate.  

Would have been nice topped with grated orange.