Harvesting New Potatoes in Tyres

I have been harvesting some of my potatoes grown in tyres (tires if you are in the USA).

The amount of spuds you see in the photo came from inside just ONE tyre !!! The top tyre. 

I have placed my trowel beside them to give you some idea of size and scale, and it's not a small trowel.;)

I had some with my beef stew tonight and they were heaven <3

A Recycled Somerset Garden - August 2015

Post author: My daughter Sophie from Somerset, England

"It all started it from a garden of brambles, that is it was full of rampant blackberry bushes and other long term weeds.  

We started clearing it just as I became pregnant with our first child. Home veg was the value we wanted our baby to experience and grow up with, healthy and pure. So it was a real labour of love (excuse the pun).

The first year we lived here, we only just finished the vegetable patch area as we were concentrating on renovating the house itself. Everyone told me it was too late at the end of August to plant veg, but I did it anyway and loads came up !

Our vegetable patch and the recycled greenhouse

This year, 2015, with the new baby on board the garden has become totally green !  

When I began to wean her, her first foods were from our own garden. She started with pureed carrots, and then parsnips, and so on.  

We got other people involved in the garden with the sunflower competition. Once they are finished, we will keep the seeds from the flower heads, to be dried and re used for flowers next year, or for bird seed during the winter and for cooking in the kitchen. Sunflower seeds can be a great snack on their own or in a nice homemade bread. Yummy !

When we initially cleared the old garden we saved some of the plants that were already there when we bought the house. There was a Day Lily for instance, which was beautiful when it came out this summer.

Never waste plants, they cost a lot to replace. We have a grape vine which we recycled from another house. We cut it right back when we got it first. It is now flourishing and is starting to work well in hiding a block wall at the back of the garden.  

In my next Wild Cottage guest post, I will tell you all about the recipes we use for our garden produce, how we preserve things for the winter and the yummy things we cook with it all.

Meanwhile, here are some more photos of this summer's garden (August 2015)."

The beginnings of our herb bed

The bay tree

Mint in a pot to keep it contained !

Runner beans grown up bamboo sticks

Our own chillies from the greenhouse

Red and white onions almost ready to lift

Some of our white onions

Rhubarb patch !

Elephant garlic - this is just one clove !

Normal and elephant garlic

My husband's precious fig tree

Lovely lettuce

Runner beans harvested for freezing and dinner

Sage bush with lots of new growth

An October Day of Gathering Free Food

Blackberries & sloes gathered in my fields.

I freeze the blackberries for adding to crumbles etc during the winter.

I freeze the sloes also, and use many to make Sloe Gin. I will post my personal recipe instructions for this tomorrow.

I also sometimes make Sloe Jelly.

 Moon daisies still flowering in mid October !

 Mushrooms - I'm afraid I don't know what kind these are.

If anyone out there knows please let me know !

A closer photo of the same cute small mushrooms

 These are Shaggy Ink Caps - an edible mushroom that is very prolific around my land and the area in general.

They must be fried/eaten as soon as you pick them, otherwise you will have a pool of black gooey liquid to clear up and totally disappeared mushrooms !

Bacon & Leek Hash

Yesterday I was trying to use up stuff I have in my fridge and kitchen, and decided to make a kind of bacon and leek hash, as I had those bits to use up !

I didn't measure anything - just tossed it in. So I hope I can explain how I made it as it was very tasty.

So...

Bacon and Leek Hash

4 slices unsmoked Back Bacon
Half a medium Leek
2 medium Potatoes (cut into small cubes - 1.5cm across)
Olive Oil
Fresh Chives (chopped)
Salt & Pepper

1. Put the chopped potatoes into a saucepan of cold salted water, and bring to the boil. Simmer them for about 5 minutes, no more. Less if they look like they are cooked.

2. Drain the potatoes and return them to the pan. This will allow them to dry a bit.

3. Next chop about half a medium sized leek - roughly the same as one of the two below. It needs to be chopped thinly, like the next photo.

4. Put 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan and heat. Fry the leeks and chives until they are soft.

5. Add the bacon chopped into pieces. Fry in hot oil until starting to crisp, leaving the leeks and chives in the pan.

6. Put the fried veggies and bacon in a dish for now.

7. Add 3 more tablespoons of olive oil to the hot frying pan.

8. Add the cooked, dried, chopped potatoes to the pan and fry them until they are nicely browned.

9. Add the veggies and bacon back into the pan with the potatoes and heat them back up.

10. Season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

The Foods the Food Safety Experts Won't Eat

I found this article/blog post this evening and though that as it was so clearly written and full of proven accurate information, that I would share it will you all.

I already knew most of it - but I didn't realise about the canned tomatoes.

And don't think it is exaggerated scaremongering - it most definitely isn't. I have drank organic milk for years, and eat organic fruit and veg as much as I can.

I wouldn't touch farmed salmon with a bargepole - I used to see what they were fed... And I have a friend who gets very sick within a few minutes every time she eats farmed salmon.

However, there is an organic salmon farm off the coast of Galway - but I seem to only be able to find the smoked organic salmon in local stores - not fresh organic farmed salmon.

Meat is another biggie - If I can't afford the organic version, then I buy local meat I know has been grass fed and has had an outdoor life. But I try and stick to organic - or simply eat wild caught fish.

Here is the link - The foods the food safety experts won't eat

Colcannon & the Tradition of Halloween

As All Hallows' Eve, Halloween or Hallowe'en is fast approaching, I thought I would find out some suitable recipes and share with you the roots of this very interesting and fun festival.

Halloween's roots are in the Pagan Celtic festival of Samhain, which later the Christian church amalgamated with All Saint's Day. The Christian church did this with many Pagan festivals and traditions, as a means of encouraging the Pagan populous to more easily accept and join the Christian church. Sneaky huh.

The word Samhain comes from the Old Irish for 'summer's end', although this is a very rough translation. Samhain celebrates the end of the lighter half of the year and the start of the darker half. Some people still refer to it as the Celtic new year and the Pagan ancient Britons held a similar festival called Calan Gaeaf.

The festival has always had an element of a festival of the dead. This type of festival is very common around the world, especially in cultures that are still close to their Pagan roots. The ancient Celts and modern day Pagans believe that the dividing line or border between the land of the living and that of the dead, is at its thinest at Samhain, thus the belief that spirits can visit our land of the living on this evening.

It was and still is for many people, a day to remember and commune with their dead ancestors, as well as a time when you try to keep away the more harmful spirits. It is believed that this is where the custom of wearing masks etc came from, in order to scare away evil and uninvited spirits from the house and the celebrations.

I still have a bonfire on Halloween which has been a family tradition I can remember my great grandmother practising, and probably all my ancestors before her.

I also read somewhere that 2 bonfires were common, with the people and their livestock walking between the 2 in order to 'cleanse' them.

So, rather than wondering that Halloween has become more and more colourful and wild in recent years, and blaming commercial interests, think of it this way. We are, in fact, celebrating it more in the spirit that our Pagan ancestors did, albeit most people without the Pagan religious aspect. In my mind this is a good thing, as this is a very important festival and a very important point in the year for anyone who lives close to nature, or is even just a keen gardener.

Another important ancient Pagan tradition, that carried on until extremely recently in Christian times, was that the fire in the house was put out on October the 31st, and lit again from the bonfire used in the festival. At that time (and still in some places in Ireland) you never let your household fire go out, it burned night and day all year, apart from on Halloween, when it was doused.

If anyone would like to share their ancient cultural traditions of Halloween, please just let me know in an email and I will post it here. Alternatively you can add it as a comment, although I think less people read the comments.

And so to Colcannon...

Concannon was once a basic staple food of the less well off classes in Ireland, as potatoes and cabbage were all many people had available at times.

Years ago (and in some houses still today) Colannon was traditionally served on Halloween, and wrapped up gifts of small coins were hidden in it. In more modern times this tradition seems to have been transferred to the Halloween Brack here in Ireland.

Colcannon is traditionally made with kale, although dark leaved cabbage works fine. Kale has a much darker colour and a slightly stronger taste. Colcannon is similar to Champ, but champ doesn't contain the kale or cabbage.

Colcannon

1 lb Kale or dark green leaved Cabbage (finely shredded with no stalks)
1 lb Potatoes (unpeeled)
6 Scallions (also called spring onions outside Ireland) (Chives will also do at a push)
1/4 pint Milk or Cream
4 oz Butter
Salt & Pepper to taste

1. Boil the kale in a pan of salted water until it is very soft and tender, maybe 15 to 20 minutes.

2. At the same time (if you can manage it) boil a pan of the potatoes with their skins on and whole, until they too are tender.

3. Heat the milk and scallions up to a boil in another pan, and then simmer them on low for about 5 minutes

4. Drain the kale and mash it up.

5. Drain the potatoes, peel them and mash them well too.

6. Once the potatoes are mashed, add in the hot milk and scallions. Beat this well until it is really fluffy.

7. Then beat in the kale, adding salt and pepper to taste, and half the butter.

8. Heat the finished dish through well, in an oven or similar, before serving fresh. Use the remaining butter to drop a knob on top of the colcannon as it is served on each plate.

Leek, Potato and Cheese Bake

I have been sat here this evening trying to decide what to make for dinner tomorrow from the bits and bobs I have around the kitchen and want to use up.

I have a love of leeks and today I managed to buy a whole bunch of the most gorgeous baby leeks at the Ballyvaughan Farmer's Market (Saturdays 10am-2pm).

So... something yummy to make with them.

I have concocted this recipe from one that uses tomatoes, and I have substituted leeks and tweaked it a bit to make the best of the tastes.

I am going to serve it with a couple of fresh salmon steaks.

Hence -

Leek, Potato and Cheese Bake

5 medium sized Potatoes
3 Leeks (sliced in rounds)
2.5 ozs Butter
2 ozs plain Flour (all purpose)
350 ml Milk
175 ml Chicken Stock
1.5 teaspoons chopped fresh Thyme
4 ozs Mature Cheddar Cheese

1. Peel the potatoes and cut them into slices, about 1/4 inch thick.

2. Slice the leeks into rings of about the same thickness, 1/4 inch.

3. Steam the potatoes and leeks (or boil them) until tender, being very careful not to cook too much or they will disintegrate.

4. Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour and stir it in. Heat it until it is bubbling then remove the pan from the heat.

5. Very slowly, bit by bit, stir in the milk and the chicken stock. Once it is blended, return the pan to the heat until the sauce boils and thickens.

6. Remove from the heat and stir in the thyme and half of the cheese.

7. In the bottom of a largish greased pie dish, overlap the half the potatoes and half the leeks to cover the bottom of the dish.

8. Pour over 2/3 of the sauce evenly over the potatoes and leeks.

9. Make a second layer of the remaining potatoes and leeks, overlapping them as before.

10. Pour over the remaining sauce and sprinkle the remaining cheese on the top.

11. Cook in an oven at about 180C for 20 to 25 minutes, or until it is lightly browned on the top, no more.

Leek & Potato Soup (My Fav)

I have had a couple of days from hell !

Thomas and Aoife went to play with the pony in the field next door this morning....

Both kittens are now pretty sick and need loads of TLC and touchy feely nursing...

And I'm feeling pretty exhausted physically... so house is a tip and the garden is growing too fast !

So, tomorrow I am going to make my favourite soup... I adore this soup and it always cheers me up. It is also very easy to make.

Leek & Potato Soup

2 large Leeks (washed and sliced)
1 large Potato (diced)
1/2 oz Butter (I often also use extra virgin olive oil)
1/2 pint Chicken Stock (or vegetable stock but make sure its a tasty one with garlic)
1/2 pint Milk (full is best, but skimmed is great too if you want to do the slimming/health thing)
Sea salt
Freshly ground Black Pepper
Fresh Chives (snipped small as the garnish)

1. Fry the sliced leeks in the butter/oil, stirring with a wooden spoon, for about 3 minutes. Just until they are soft, but not brown.

2. Add the diced potato and cook for another minute.

(I often do not peel the potato as a lot of the vitamins are in the skin. If you do this and it isn't organic, make sure that it is very well washed).

3. Add the stock, and then the salt and pepper to taste.

4. Bring it to the boil.

5. Once boiling, cover it partially and reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer like this for 20 minutes.

6. Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool for a few minutes, then blend the soup in a blender, or in the pan with a hand blender (I use a hand blender, much faster and less washing up).

7. Return the soup to the saucepan and add the milk.

8. Reheat without boiling and then serve sprinkled with the chopped chives to taste.

This soup freezes beautifully. But it freezes best if you freeze it as a soup before you add the milk. You can defrost it and add the milk when you use it.

Sausages, Mashed Potato and Onion Gravy

Wow more sunshine and pale blue skies ! Miracles can happen after all...

I am pottering in the garden on and off. I have a wonderful, very light and easy to hold Bosch battery strimmer which is perfect for me and my rheumatoid arthritis, as I can no longer pull start my petrol mower or brush cutter. The only problem is the battery lasts about 20 to 30 minutes and then takes 3 hours to charge ! So on my (very long) wish list are 4 more battery chargers and batteries... However, at least the battery running out means I rest like I am meant to, much to my frustration.

Yesterday I bought some sausages and bacon from The Friendly Farmer at Kinvara farmer's market. He is there every week and rears all his animals the old fashioned way with free range 'strip' grazing. He uses no chemicals and the absolute minimum of medications. He also uses mostly old traditional breeds, which are hardy and have much more taste (more fat yes as this is natural etc and you can always cut it off).

Tonight I am going to cook his sausages (80% pork) and eat them with some mashed potatoes and onion gravy.

Mmmmmmmmmmm.

News Flash

Next week Ronan has promised to 'pose' for me and this blog... so watch this space and be introduced to the 'real' Ronan, The Friendly Farmer, on location at Kinvara farmer's market...

Sophii's Mashed Potato

6 medium Potatoes
2 oz salted Butter
1 Egg
Dribble of Milk
Freshly ground Black Pepper

1. Peel, chop and cook the potatoes until they are cooked fully.

2. Drain the potatoes and return them to the warm saucepan.

3. Add the butter, raw egg, a dash of milk (be very careful not to put too much milk), and a good grinding of black pepper.

4. Mash the potatoes with the other ingredients until it is all totally smooth and creamy.

5. Don't panic about the egg being raw. A. I use only local organic, free range eggs, and I know the farmer, so I know they are ok. B. When in with the hot potatoes and mashed, the egg cooks fast anyway.

I personally am not fond of salt, and never add it to anything apart from on very rare occasions. This mash is perfect without adding salt, especially as you have used salted butter. Try it please, before you add extra salt, you will be very surprised.

Onion Gravy

Gravy
Onions
Olive Oil

1. Peel, slice and fry the onions in the olive oil until clear, browning and starting to go sweet and caramelised.

2. Make your gravy as normal (either from scratch or the instant Bisto kind).

3. Add the onions to the gravy and serve with the sausages and mash !

Disclaimer !
The writer is not responsible for the readers of this blog getting fat...