Summer Harvest

We've not really had all that much of a summer in terms of good weather but, surprisingly, we have had a good harvest in the veggie garden.  Peas-a-plenty; lots of carrots and beetroot; tonnes of courgettes; and more runner beans that you could shake a stick at!  And I managed to keep the kids occupied on many afternoons with a spot of pea shelling...

I have to admit that I grew the runner beans purely because I like the red flowers but, now that I have a glut of them, I'm going to be making some bean chutney - recipe to follow - as well as anything and everything you could possibly make from a courgette.   

Anyway, I wanted to share my summer harvest pics with you as I was delighted that we managed to grow such a fantastic amount in Scotland; in a rubbish summer and in a tiny garden.  This year I grew:

• Strawberries
• Blueberries (a few - more of that later)
• Peas
• Runner Beans
• Broad Beans
• Beetroot
• Parsnips
• Carrots
• Lettuce
• Courgettes
• Potatoes - 1st Early (Charlottes)

And we still have potatoes (late King Edwards); Conference pears and lots more courgettes to harvest - as well as the parsnips which will be overwintered (which basically means my intention is to use some of them for Christmas dinner and the rest for roast Sunday lunches after that).  It just goes to show that you don't need much space to grow a lot. 

Now, the essence of my blog is all about saving money and, while I'm not going to pretend for a minute that I have grown enough - or even have enough space - to feed a family of four all year round, I did manage the following achievements:

1. I didn't buy peas for the whole of June and July
2. I still haven't had to buy any beetroot
3. We had strawberries for the whole of June from the garden
4. I haven't had to buy broad beans, runner beans or courgettes at all (although some of that may be due to the fact that my kids will only eat them in very small amounts.
5. We've had salad leaves from the garden from June until they went to flower (bolted) this week.
6. I have 2 rows of parsnips and 2 grow bags full of potatoes that I'm hoping will feed us at Christmas time!

And all of this from 3 raised beds, 4 potato grow bags and 4 custom-made (by Mr Thrifty) narrow beds that go around the fence - for the beans and peas.  I also grow pear trees and rhubarb in the borders  - and they're about to be joined by the blueberry bush which produced a rather pathetic 6 blueberries this year in it's little pot.  So I think it needs space to flourish.  And my garden is only 13m by 9m with a little bit down the side return - anything is possible.

So, watch this space for my bean chutney and courgette recipes - and please feel free to suggest a few too.  The more the merrier!  But in the meantime, please give it up for my wonderful Summer Harvest!

Jammy So and So!

Well, so far so good.  I decided, having come across a few dishevelled looking berries in the bottom of the fridge, to make my own jam rather than chuck them out.  My decision was also spurred on by the donation of some plums from my friend’s garden which were far too sour to contemplate eating without first encasing in a tonne of sugar!  And how do you do that?  Jam!

So, collecting a few empty jars together, getting jam sugar from Tesco’s and purchasing a pack of jam pot covers (circa £1.50 from a local shop I never knew existed!) I started to trawl through jam recipes.  Talk of setting points and testing blobs on plates was all starting to get a bit too much for me and I could see pots and pots of runny stuff that I would have to pass off as sauce for ice cream taking up space in the fridge for weeks to come.  So, imagine my delight when I came across a jam recipe where you bung the whole lot in the microwave, stir it a few times and hey presto! Jam.  I’ve copied the recipe below for any others who’d prefer to cheat rather than spend hours standing with copper bottomed pots (I don’t even possess one of those) on the stove.  But perhaps everyone knew about this wonderful jam making innovation before me? 

Anyway, please use the recipe below, it works a treat.  And these are my beautiful pots of jam – one mixed berries and two plum (we’ve eaten another two of these already and they were delicious!).  I’ve put the two at the front into my Christmas stash for homemade presents (imagine my sisters delight when they unwrap jam for Christmas rather than Clarins J).

MICROWAVE JAM
Makes around 4 small jars

500g fruit (I used blackberries, raspberries and strawberries for my mixed berry jam and plums for the plum jam!)
500g jam sugar (make sure it's jam sugar and not preserving sugar!)

Blend the fruit and sugar in a large microwave proof bowl (leave it to come up to room temperature once mixed).  Stir again and then place the bowl in the microwave on High for 3 mins (I have an 800 watt microwave so you may need to experiment a bit if yours is different).  Stir well.  Microwave for a further 3 minutes on High, stir again.  Finish off with a final 2 minutes on High in the microwave the pour into warm sterlised jars.  (Sterilise by washing in very hot water or in the dishwasher and then drying them off in the overn at 170 degrees for 10 to 20 minutes). 

Once bottled and cool, the jam is ready to eat but will keep in a cool, dark place for up to 6 months.  Keep in the fridge once opened - and enjoy!

Do you have any other jam, marmalade or other preserve recipes that you'd like to share?  Or any tips for making it perfect?