Smart...?

I picked up this rather nice rug on a trip to the tip a week or so ago - not quite nice enough to take home but not far off...

Orange Squash - not!!!

The first proper squashes since the autumn of '06 are languishing in their rightful place on the front room window sill. We find they keep well here and they are a traditional feature of our Mothers' day celebrations in May!

There are others behind the curtains and stored in the kitchen...and we have eaten quite a few of the smaller ones already:-) The larger ones you can esee here are I thinK around 7lbs in weight. They have very dense tasty flesh - not watery at all.

Nov update cont....

This pic of the salad patch was taken during the early-ish part of November during a really cold spell...

...it is still giving us loads of produce and a real discovery to make the lottie more productive this year...I have also picked chard, kale, mizuna & florence fennel...

...we have discovered that as well as stir fried and raw in salads the pak choi is delicious steamed as well!

Visitors!!!

I am a bit late with my October visitors but I had a nice cup of tea with Phil this afternoon...

...and Peter and Marcia called in for a look round on their recent visit to stay with Mum.

Mike's Autumn/Winter Soup...

I used one 5lb squash, one cooking apple & three Jerusalem Artichokes, with two stock cubes, water to cover and a bit of milk. (Oh and a good bit of pepper too - ed.) It was a bit thick so needed thinning out with more water and another splash of milk.

Peel and de-seed the squash...

...you get the picture...

Then whiz it up with a hand blender & decant to bowls with pepper and grated mature cheddar or whatever strong cheese you fancy:-)

In the kitchen...

On the way out today i picked some greens and we had a stir-fry for tea...

...lottie ingredients were garlic, shallots, white & purple pak choi, mizuna and curly purple kale - I added ginger, pepper and soy and oyster sauces.

Probably doesn't look as delicious as it actually was...

Tomorrow (1st November) is officially Doyenne de Comice picking day according to Jane Grigson in her Fruit Book so I will try to get the bulk of them picked. We have been using some from the tree for cooked puddings to try and do them justice and waste less than usual - especially as we are not very good at getting them to ripen properly. (But when they do they are totally magical). Anyway I made this little tart for poorly Sue. Had made the case up at the same time sas the last apple pie.

I sautéed the pears in butter then added a little water and put the lid on for a bit then added sugar cooked a bit longer and finally maple syrup and turned the heat up and it kind of toffified. I then put it in quite a hot oven for 10 minutes. Seemed to go down ok and the bit I tasted wasn't a disappointment...The pears are from the garden not the allotment though.

October 31st pics

The Cherry tree I planted earlier in the year and from which we had one delicious pudding is waxing autumnal....

...and the new compost bin is replete with it's load of sweetcorn (at the bottom smashed with the back of an axe first like they tell you in books) and squash plants. I cobbled this together in a hurry lastweek and am very proud of it.

Behind it in Paul's lottie lurks the magnificent apple tree from which I created the pie below a few days ago. Paul is of the opinion it is apple "Charles Ross" but having read up on it I am sure that can't be right as that one is best up 'til Christmas whilst Paul says this one is best late on 'til May. I must find out from somewhere what it is...it is wonderful.

Here is the pie... It was made with one of the afore-mentioned apples & 4 "Lord Derby" also from Paul. The apple on the right made a pie on it's own a day or two ago.

31st October pics

The beautiful cosmos "Candy stripe" are still putting on a good show at the end of October. The hoverflies love them.

These squashes are all over now and have been rounded up and dumped in the new compost bin. Of which more later - in other words above so you probably already know all about it...

The Jerusalem artichokes are gravitating gracefully toward the greenhouse. I concocted my "Autumn/Winter Soup" yesterday - basically pumpkin, apple and Jerusalem artichokes with stock, milk salt and pepper - served with mature cheddar grated over it and home made crusty seeded bread. I madeit from the pumpkin (winter squash) which broke off early in the season and it was very tasty. Quantities were one 5lb squash, one cooking apple & three Jerusalem artichokes.

I left these beans "Rob Roy" from Robinsons to dry as Borlotti beans so they are now in the bathroom with the heater on.