Summertime and the growing is easy

We haven't managed to get much done (make that nothing done, to be honest) at the lottie over the past days. The weather was bad then it was too good not to go to the beach after dinner and then we where away all weekend at a Wedding in Donegal. So there, excuses out of the way. I did on the other hand do some weeding in the back garden yesterday and gave the patio a good brushing *grins with pride*.

(N.B. a 'seasonal side salad' in one of Donegal's fancy Spa Hotel restaurants was.... Watercress - what!!!????)

But though we haven't been giving a whole lot of love to the lottie, she sure has been sending it our way. I picked 3 and half pounds of Blackcurrants last week, a pound and a half of Raspberries and about a dozen big, fat, perfect Strawberries (most of them had been partially eaten by birds - ggrrrr; it's bad enough that we lost a load to birds but for them to only eat most and not all, well that is just darned annoying!)

Then last night Andrew had a wee harvest for dinner and bought home a bounty of Broad Beans, Peas, Mint, Sorrel, Green Garlic and mixed Lettuce leaves. Oh and a beautiful bouquet of Sweet Williams, Roses and Carnations for his lovely wife (ie. Me, haha).

We sat outside and podded the beans and peas and then ate a Gault classic - beans and peas on toast (with pancetta, mint, lemon juice and sorrel), it was fabulous all washed down with non-alcoholic beer in the sunshine; happy times. It is nights like that and super fresh meals like that which make the soil improvement in the rain and bitter winds of winter all worth while :)

 

Hope your gardens and lotties are flourishing! xxx

Food, glorious food

I should be having my nap right now whilst Andy is at the lottie. I have a walk later, a trip to Tesco and then a late night taxi service pick up scheduled for my neice and her boyfriend. I am going to be tired and maybe even grumpy - oops...BUT I have to share some more of the delightful harvests we are having at the minute. Oh boy this is good stuff.

Okay we shared a Chinese take-away last night and yes, you may all point your fingers at me and say 'shame, shame on you' and shake your heads, I deserve it. However that badness aside we have been eating like super healthy Kings (erm King and Queen, I mean).

Apart from the delicious strawberries we had that I showed you earlier we have been continuing to eat a lot of fresh lettuces, seriously peppery rocket, lovely new potatoes, mint, super citrusy sorrel, very dill-y dill and lots of sweet and delicious broad beans. Feast your eyes my friends...

Oh we've had some great salads and risottos and tonight we also had our first beetroot. Oh how I love the beetroot, the smell when I walked into the house got me all a flutter. The taste (with the much loved brown sauce on top) was divine - a little bite of heaven. I love Allotments!!!

The potatoes have been eaten boiled, bashed about a bit with dill and rocket and some sea salt - I heartily recommend this. Give a taste, you won't regret it (for legal reasons I must point out that you may find in fact that you do regret it but I can not take the blame - your taste buds are obviously just faulty).

Off for that walk now and the hayfever meds seem to be helping a bit - today saw the highest pollen count in the UK and I didn't die - so, erm, that's good :)

To those of you how may be visiting me via Meredith's recommendation I heartily welcome you. Isn't she the best?? Namaste x

Crappy Flu stills lingers on but...

I haven't been to my lottie in ages. Well I nearly get there today, I was in the car park whilst Andy took down some new seedlings to the coldframes. I'm still too ill to be out and about and couldn't go down with him as it had just started raining and I was shivery as it was. I loved seeing Mary, Dougie and a friend have a typical break from work though - a cup of tea sitting out in the rain refusing to believe it was happening!

So all I have been seeing of the lottie is what is put on my plate at dinner time. I haven't even been in the kitchen to take photos of the things brought home and I've eaten everything before I think of photographing the cooked version- ooops!

But what has made its way home? Well :-
* 2 wonderful asparagus spears (now mine did go in a flash off my plate, no hope of a photo there, hahaha)
* 7 more thick stems of rhubarb (which Andrew stewed down with some sugar and a dash of water to made the most wonderful compote - I eat some every morning, it's so good)
* lots more leeks (I wonder if they'll ever run out?)
* Sorrel (from the verges but we have our own now, ready to plant out, in fact Andrew my well be doing that right now)
* Loads of salad leaves, in particualr my 2 favourites, red salad bowl and mizuna.
* Loads of PSB (forgive all those things I said about you in the past PSB, you are amazing and diffinately worth waiting for!!!)

I also saw that Bobby's memorial bench and apple tree have been put in place and look great, but I hadn't my camera so I'll get that the next time I am able to go down.

Hugs, off to try and sleep again x