Runner Bean-tastic!

As the photo in my last blog post hopefully illustrated, I got rather a lot of runner beans off my plants this year.  The vast majority were picked and eaten in the summer but I still ended up with lots and lots last weekend of the, frankly, much tougher variety!  Far too tough to eat!  So, after scouring cookbooks, the internet - and my cupboards - I made some relish.  I have no idea how good it is as you're supposed to leave it for a month before tasting but here goes...

Spiced Pickled Runner Beans- makes around 6 half litre jars

Ingredients:
900g runner beans, trimmed and sliced
700g onions, chopped
40g cornflour
850ml malt vinegar
1 heaped tablespoon of mustard powder (English)
1 rounded tablespoon of turmeric
225g soft brown sugar
450g demerara sugar

1. Put chopped onions into a large saucepan with 275ml of the vinegar.  Bring to a simmer and then continue to simmer gently for 20 minutes.  Meanwhile, cook the sliced runner beans for 5 minutes in boiling salted water, strain, then add to onions.

2. In a small bowl, mix cornflour, mustard and turmeric with a little of the remaining vinegar - enough to make a smooth paste - then add the mixture to the onions and runner beans.  Pour in the rest of the vinegar and simmer the whole lot for 10 minutes.

3. Then, stir in the sugars until they're dissolved and continue to simmer for another 15 minutes.  Pot into warm, sterilised jars (I sterilised mine in the dishwasher but you can sterilise by washing in warm soapy water and then drying out in a low/medium over for 5 minutes).  Seal and label when cold and keep for at least 1 month before serving.

As I said, I've no idea what this will taste like but it did smell a little like picallili while I was making it so I'm hopeful (as I'm quite partial to a spot of picallili).

Get Picking!

Well, it's that time of year when I need to start to harvest the remainder of my summer veg so I spent the weekend picking runner beans (tonnes of them!); broad beans (only a few rogue ones that I'd missed were left) and courgettes (still have a few left on the plants.  And I pulled up my lettuce which had bolted.  I was rather impressed with my harvest - although it's a bit on the green side. 

I've made runner bean relish (recipe to follow) and am about to make a summer veg soup from the rest - will keep you posted.

So, for the first time ever (drum roll) I'm attempting to grow veg over the winter.  Having never done this before - and not really being entirely sure what will grow - I'm cautiously optimistic.  Optimistic because I've had huge amounts of success with my raised beds, cautious because I don't really know what I'm doing!

Anyway, I planted out some leeks and a few (well, 3) brussel sprout plants all of which were generously donated by my Mum from her garden.  I did have 6 sprouts but 3 of them died and I actually have loads and loads of leeks left over but nowhere to put them.  They (the leeks) were remarkably easy to plant.  You just make a biggish hole for them (about the size of a tent pole - which is what I used! - and deep enough to fit all the roots into and then leave them.  Don't pack the earth around them like you'd normally do, just plonk them in the hole!  I was a bit concerned that the wind around here (we're on the top of a hill) would blow them away but, after I'd watered them in they seemed fairly well anchored and still look like they might stay.  I also gave them a wee haircut - apparently, you're supposed to take about 3cms off the top after they're planted.  So I did.

They do look a wee bit like blades of grass, as you can see, but I'm trying to be hopeful (the rogue plant in the middle is one of my sprouts - I'm not really planting aesthetically, I know!!)Suspect I may have left them a bit late in the season but here's hoping.  After all, it's Scotland and they're leeks and, given that my home town has a leek named after it, I'm guessing that it's good leek growing conditions around here.  Time will tell.

So, next weekend, I suspect it will be the turn of the beetroot to come up as it's starting to get a bit cold and I don't think you can over winter them.  I love beetroot but if anyone has any really good beetroot recipes, let me know.

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!

It’s Life, Jim, but not as we know it.

OK, not being a Trekkie, that might not be the exact quote but you get the idea.  Like every other parent on the planet, my life changed beyond recognition after the arrival of Cheeky Boy nearly eight years ago – possibly slightly before.  Lack of sleep was due to endless hours pacing the living room floor rather than spent staying far too late in bars chatting with friends.  Here I was (terrifyingly) responsible for this gorgeous, sweet, little bundle of energy.  

 Three short years later and Stinker Dhu (also known as Toots) came along, making me determined to change my working situation (I’d had to go back full-time for a number of reasons).  I also became the mummy who used and enthused (probably bored people to tears in reality) about real nappies, breast fed her until she was two and insisted that we all move to the countryside (well, in reality, a small town in the countryside) but still a world away from all our favourite restaurants, theatres, cinemas and friends in the city (well, who doesn’t drive these days?!).

After 18 months working four days a week and commuting 60 miles a day, Mr Thrifty and I decided enough was enough (if I’m honest, I think he was exhausted listening to me complain endlessly about the situation) and I handed in my notice (what a fabulous feeling that was!) and went freelance. 

I’m not that different from lots of others who’ve had kids – i.e. my life is chaos, I’m an unpaid taxi service and I have no money.  In the interests of saving money, doing a wee bit for the planet and trying to be a bit more creative, I’ve decided to fully embrace a Make Do and Mend attitude that would make my Granny proud (actually, she was THE original consumer but let’s pretend she was like those grannies the media are always bleating on about). 

So, here’s my diary of my own personal (well, family) experiment.  And my new commandments:

I will grow my own fruit and veg;

It shall be cooked and eaten by the family (Toots is likely to put a spanner in the works there!);

and (time will tell if the next decision is sensible or foolhardy) I will make, rather than buy, certain items for the house. 

To kick it off, we’re having a homemade Hallowe’en – so I thought I’d share the pain – and perhaps get some tips from others who are much better at this than me!