Tuesday 29 September 2009

September 2009





Welcome!... Croeso!
Just to get me started I thought I'd share the most recent Pumpkin Patch newsletter, sent out a few weeks ago.


Over the summer we've have harvested a constant supply of beans and peas, courgettes and marrows, potatoes, herbs and flowers for the kitchen. Now things are starting to die back and I removed a very tired courgette plant earlier this week!

Time to plant some autumn crops and late summer salads before we
hopefully move into the poly tunnel for the winter! (If the rain stops and we can get on with building it)

Summer Holiday Club

The Summer Holiday Club have had a really busy summer... tending to their gardens, harvesting and cooking some delicious lunches too!

Each day started with a great breakfast... Spanish tostadas, fruity pancakes, crostini - this gets everyone ready for a good day's work!!

We've made pasta (from scratch of course!), meringues,
blackcurrant jam (home grown!) and delicious strawberry scones,
a summer salsa and crunchy oat cookies (wow!)

When the sun came out we lit a camp-fire and cooked our
home made burgers and toasted marshmallows... great fun!

In the Pumpkin Patch shed...we painted pots and planted seeds,
created a new 'pumpkin patch' – a display garden to decorate
the top of the driveway... for all to see!

The Pumpkin Patch Garden

The garden is amazing at the moment. Every day there's something we can use in the kitchen – beautiful purple French beans (now called Magic beans!.. I'll explain later), runner beans, salad potatoes (the delicious Anya and Pink Fir Apple), courgettes, chard, peas, carrots... the list goes on!

Why Magic beans??? The other night.. I pulled some of the really attractive purple beans ready for supper... placed them into a pan of boiling water whilst I attended to the rest of the meal. Only a few minutes later I returned to drain the beans only to discover.... they were GREEN!! My beautiful purple beans are … not purple after all, they turn green when cooked! Magic or what??

We harvested the onions weeks ago – they're now strung up ready for use over the winter months, and the parsley is ready for cutting and freezing – the best way to keep it for winter soups and sauces.

Although the Summer Club is great fun and we have so much time to spend in the garden and out doors … enjoying the countryside.. the autumn is fast approaching – one of my favourite seasons.

Why? . . so much to harvest from the garden and the hedgerows, all the jams and jellies, the chutneys and pickles, the camp fires and bonfires and the nights drawing in... sometimes it's best to forget the summer we never had and to look forward to the next chapter!

Happy gardening and cooking! Lisa x