It doesn't always pay to be over tidy in the veg' garden.
At Haddock's I am now harvesting three types of sproutings; The pukka purple sprouting (centre), Cavolo Nero sproutings (left), and Curly Kale sproutings (right).
Many gardeners have already grubbed-up their old plants by this time of year, depriving themselves of these delicious little gifts from otherwise spent plants. Even those old Brussels Sprouts plants will send out sproutings, and they're delicious.
So, don't be too quick to tidy-up before your Spring planting. Let nature take its course, and benefit from her bounty. You'll be pleased you did.
Personally I always cook twice the amount I need for my evening meal, and have the rest as a salad for lunch the following day. Lovely Jubbly.
re Haddock's. Yesterday was a perfect gardening day. I rotovated, raked, and planted. The first to go in were the Red Onions (always an easy crop), a few Red Cabbages, and some Caulis. The 2015 campaign has begun!
I also had the first few sticks of forced Rhubarb. Heaven!
28 comments:
Your whole lifestyle sounds delightful but tell what do you mean by forced rhubarb ?
We put big pots over the Rhubarb crowns in late winter, and the darkness forces it to grow much faster than it would otherwise. It also becomes very sweet and tender.
Ah, a rotovator, so no backbreaking digging this year.
I note the knife is working overtime.
My purple sprouting is just ready as well. I've given up with red onions as I find they always bolt- what variety do you plant and do you grow sets or from seed?
Mr Opinel is probably a penniless Rhubarb forcer by now!
Unfortunately I bought a cheepo job, which means I have to dig the entire plot BEFORE rotovating... i.e. twice as backbreaking!
Mine never bolt. I buy sets, and they are 'Red Barons'. I still have a load from last year; they keep well too.
Forced rhubarb is, Mr Smith, a very British thing and unknown in France except by Brits living there.
I haven't heard you complaining about the digging this year. Did you pay a boy from the village to do it for you?
Oh, it all looks delicious. What a great crop. My veg patch has been a total disaster this summer, what with the lack of rain and the birds eating everything.
No, I suffered in silence. Lady M did help a bit too.
We are just about to start work on our allotment again, very late by neighbouring standards. It saddens me when I see the 'old boys' just pick the usual parts of a plant to eat, when there is so much more to be enjoyed in what most would discard. Some good sprouting bits there Cro.
You have inspired me to plant red onions next spring. And that boorarb looks wonderful!
good gardening! Red onions are probably more suited to where you are, which is why they are more hit-and-miss up here
Our neighbour is going to plough Paul's potager with his big red tractor!
I almost picked some leaves that were sprouting from the compost heap this morning. But I'm not entirely sure what they are - could be beetroot or chard, or hemlock!
We're no where near the stage your garden is...in fact, we had snow the last two days. My rhubarb is buried under the white stuff.
Worth a try, I would say..... Don't tell anyone I said this!
I couldn't get a big red tractor into my garden... it's all fenced. Design fault.
Right now, after the extra long winter we had, I am thrilled to see a weed - but not enough to eat it.
We had snow yesterday. The asparagus bed still has at least six inches of snow on top of it. I found two turnips in the fridge that started to sprouting, so used the bottoms in my stew and put the sprouting tops in a pot I have indoors.
I usually have plenty of greens left from winter but this last fall I was forced to grub out everything to make way for some changes in the kitchen garden. I have planted a row of leeks and a very healthy border of chives. This week if good health prevails I shall plant three trays of Cipollini onions that wintered in the greenhouse. I just love this time of year.
Tell that to Monsieur Opinel junior! He'll send a gunboat.
If I had to choose between asparagus and purple sproutings I would be hard pressed to choose.
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