Grow your own Carrots 2009

• PLANT: ‘Nantes’ carrots
• SOWED SEEDS: 22 May
• SEEDLINGS SPROUTED: 30 May
• TIME THEY TAKE TO GROW: 12 weeks, so expected harvest is mid-August
• USEFUL INFO ON THINNING: http://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/projects/carrots-thin/
• USEFUL VIDEO ON HARVESTING: http://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/projects/carrots-harvesting/

The photo below was taken 1 June:

I sprinkled the seeds straight into a 1cm deep trench and covered lightly with compost, then watered.

 

I was getting a bit worried and impatient as nothing happened for a week, but then we had loads of sun and they finally sprouted so I was happy. But then today I found that something had dug a big hole where my carrots were! It was probably a pesky squirrel as they’re always digging stuff up, so I’ve put some chicken wire over the carrots, beetroots and onions to deter them!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The photo below was taken 13 June:

The carrots are doing pretty good and are starting to develop the fluffy green carrot tops! Since I put down the chicken wire I’ve not had any problems with anything trying to dig them up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The photos below were taken 25 June:

I spoke too soon when I said the chicken wire had deterred whatever was digging holes! I now think it was a cat having a good old dig as there were bird feathers in the hole and Steve’s Mum found a wing next to the raised bed. I could also smell nasty poo all around the bed, so the cat was either burying the bird he’d caught or using the bed as a toilet – or both! So I lost the patch of basil and a few carrots, which was quite annoying. So I had to increase my defences drastically!

First of all I tied string to the dowels on the raised bed (I knew leaving them long would come in handy!) and also tied it to the canes supporting the tomatoes, plus some other canes. So now if the cat wants to get in he’ll have to do some fancy footwork to negotiate all the string!

 

I did some research and read that the smell of eucalyptus confuses cats, so I sprayed some eucalyptus oil that we bought in Cyprus (to deter mozzies) all around the bed and loads on the fleece canopy I’d made. I also sprinkled some chili flakes down on the soil and then covered the patches with some PVC. The chili gets stuck to their fur, so when they lick to clean themselves they will get a nasty surprise! I know it’s cruel but I don’t think it will come to that as the PVC and the bamboo sticks I’ve stuck in the soil will prevent them from getting that far!

 

I’ve had these new defences up for 3 days now and no holes have been dug – I guess the cat hasn’t fancied running the gauntlet! So the carrots have been left undisturbed and are doing quite well, fingers crossed! They are now about 3 inches tall.

 

 

I was worried about carrot fly because they are attracted to the smell of damaged foliage, like when you thin out carrots. Apparently they don’t fly any higher than 2 foot/61cm, but my raised bed is only 30cm high so I will have to keep an eye out for any as I don’t want them to lay eggs which become maggots. The symptoms for carrot fly are reddish leaves that wilt in sunny weather, then the leaves turn yellow.

 

The photo below was taken 25 July:

I’m not sure what’s wrong with the carrots but they’re not looking too healthy. The tops are looking very dry and withered, so perhaps it is lack of water? The tomatoes had really overgrown and cast a shadow over the whole raised bed, so I’m not sure if the carrots suffered due to lack of sunlight. I will need to do some research!

 

 

 

The photo below was taken 5 September:

This photo actually looks quite impressive, but that’s before I tell you that the largest carrot was only 2 inches long! I knew the carrots were really struggling to grow, so I decided to cut my losses and pull them up as they should have been ready in mid-August. With Summer being over, I didn’t have any hope of the carrots growing any bigger. I am disappointed they didn’t do better, but I am convinced it’s because I just planted too much in the raised bed and they couldn’t compete with all the other vegetables. Next year I will try growing them in a large pot on their own.

Jamie Oliver's Sweet Cherry Tomato and Sausage Bake

MUNCH RATING: 3/5

This is a Jamie Oliver recipe and I think it’s the first recipe of his that I’ve actually used! I thought the recipe would be perfect for using up my glut of cherry tomatoes, but I didn’t have enough (even though I halved the recipe, the full recipe is below) so I just made up the quantity with normal tomatoes.

I also got to use the rosemary and thyme that is growing very nicely in my herb pot, which I was very excited about (yes I know I need to get out more!).
The original recipe is incredibly easy to make as you just throw everything into a baking tray and shove it in the oven. My only criticism is I would like more specific quantities for the oil and balsamic vinegar, as it’s quite hard to make an educated guess when you’re drizzling.

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:
I added my own twist to the recipe by blitzing the sauce and then passing it through a sieve to create a silky smooth sauce, because Steve doesn’t like tomato skins. However, this was a waste of time because he didn’t like the sauce anyway! He wasn’t keen on the balsamic vinegar, but I really liked it. I’ve got loads of sauce leftover, which I was going to use as a pasta sauce or to top a pizza, but I’ll have to think of a different way to use it up!

I was going to serve it with mashed potatoes, but I decided that since I had the oven on, I’d cook up some nice rosemary and garlic potatoes instead as they will cook at the same time.

• Serves: 6
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 5/375°F/190°C
• You will need: a large roasting tray (lined with foil to make cleaning up easier)

Ingredients:

• 2kg ripe cherry tomatoes
• 2 each fresh rosemary and thyme sprigs and bay leaves (I used 1 dried bay leaf)
• 1 Tablespoon dried oregano
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 12 good quality Cumberland or coarse Italian sausages
• Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
• Balsamic vinegar for drizzling

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 5/375°F/190°C.
2. Find the largest roasting tray you can – make sure it’s large enough to take the tomatoes in 1 snug-fitting layer.
3. Put in all your tomatoes, the herb sprigs, oregano, garlic and sausages.
4. Drizzle well with the oil and balsamic vinegar. Toss together, then make sure the sausages are on top.
5. Bake for 30 minutes, then give the pan a shake and turn the sausages.
6. Return to the oven for a further 20-30 minutes, depending on how golden you like your sausages (I put the sausages on the top shelf for the second half of cooking).
7. Once it’s cooked, you will have an intense, tomatoey sauce. If it’s a little too thin (mine was quite watery), lift out the sausages and place the tray on the hob for 5 minutes to cook it down to a thicker consistency.*

* I didn’t think my sausages were very brown, so I added them to the pan that my potatoes were cooking in and turned the oven up to Gas 8 and cooked for another 10 minutes. For the sauce, I poured it into a saucepan and cooked on the hob for 5 minutes (only because I didn’t think my roasting tin could take the heat on the hob!). I also added about a teaspoon of sugar to balance out the vinegar. I then used a hand blender to blitz the sauce, then passed it through a sieve. To serve, I ladled some sauce onto a plate, placed the sausages on top and scattered the potatoes around the plate.

For the Rosemary and Garlic Potatoes:
Allow 3-4 new potatoes per person. Wash and dry them, then cut them into roughly 1cm pieces. Place them in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil until nicely coated and add a couple of cloves of chopped garlic and about a tablespoon of chopped fresh rosemary. Put into a roasting tin or ovenproof frying pan and bake in the oven on the top shelf (at the same time and temperature as the sausages), turning occasionally.

Paul Merrett's Chocolate Brownie Cookies

MUNCH RATING: 3/5

This recipe is from the TV show Economy Gastronomy and it’s by Paul Merrett. I don’t really like the TV show as I think it’s incredibly patronising, so I’ve only watched a couple of episodes and this is one of the recipes I saw. I thought they looked good and easy to make, so I thought I’d give them a try.
The mixture was really quite runny and the first batch I made (on the right of the picture) came out really thin. I’d used a tablespoon to dollop the mixture onto the baking trays. Even though I’d used greaseproof paper, the cookies still stuck like mad to the paper!

I got Steve to do the second batch (as I was busy making potato cakes) and he made them a lot bigger than mine (on the left of the picture) because he thought the first batch was too thin. He said the mixture had stiffened a little bit as it had been sitting on the counter for about 20 minutes whilst we waited for the first batch to cook and cool down. The cookies still spread loads and even though he’d spaced them out, they ended up touching each other when I took them out of the oven. His batch stuck to the greaseproof paper as well.

The end result is good as they do taste like brownies. They are nice and chewy, but slighty crispy as brownies should be. However, I don’t really rate the recipe itself and I would rather make proper brownies instead!

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:
I changed the method in Paul’s recipe to make it more logical and quicker to make by melting the chocolate in the microwave. His original recipe can be found here. I also didn’t use the nuts as I don’t like them and I used Lindt Lindor White Chocolates as that’s the only white chocolate I had in the house!

Ingredients:

• 2 free-range eggs
• 130g/4¾oz caster sugar
• ½ tbsp strong black coffee
• 20g/¾oz butter
• 200g/7oz plain chocolate, broken into pieces
• 30g/1oz plain flour, sifted
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• pinch salt
• 50g/2oz macadamia nuts, cut in half
• 50g/2oz white chocolate, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
2. Melt the butter and chocolate in the microwave for 50-60 seconds on Power 8. Set aside to cool for 4-5 minutes.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar and coffee for 7-8 minutes, or until lighter in colour, thick and well combined. Use an electric whisk or hand blender to save your arms from aching!
4. Add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and stir until well combined.
5. Carefully fold the flour, baking powder and salt into the batter mixture until well combined.
6. Carefully fold the nuts (if using) and white chocolate into the batter mixture until well combined.
7. Line 1-2 very shallow baking trays with greaseproof paper. Spoon dollops of the batter mixture onto the greaseproof paper, leaving a generous space between each spoonful of batter (the brownie biscuits will expand during cooking).
8. Transfer the brownie biscuits to the oven and bake for 10 minutes, or until the brownie biscuits have risen but are still soft in the centre and the tops have cracked slightly. Set aside to cool and harden on a wire rack before serving.