Grow your own Beetroot 2009

• PLANT: ‘Boltardy’ Beetroot (Globe variety)
• PLANTED IN COMPOST: 6 May
• PLANTED OUTSIDE: 22 May
• EXPECTED TIME BETWEEN SOWING AND LIFTING: 11 weeks
• WATERING: dryness leads to woodiness and low yields and a sudden return to wet conditions leads to splitting, so water moderately at fortnightly intervals during dry spells.
• HARVESTING: When the roots have reached golf ball size, pull up alternate plants and use these thinnings for cooking. Leave the remainder to reach maturity.

The seeds I got are the Boltardy variety of beetroot, which are apparently really easy to grow on a sunny windowsill.

I planted my beetroot seeds in peat pots on 6 May and did my usual trick of covering with cling film that had holes in it. I put 2 seeds per peat pot just in case they didn’t sprout, but I shouldn’t have worried because they grew without any problems! I suppose I should thin them out so that there’s only one plant per pot, but after what happened with the lettuce I’m a bit scared to touch them!

The photo below was taken on 10 May:

The pots that are covered with cling film in the back of the photo are butternut squash seeds, which aren’t showing any signs of growth just yet!.

The photo below was taken on 18 May:

These are making steady progress and I love how the seedlings are a vibrant purple colour!

The photo below was taken 22 May:

Hopefully the beetroot will like their new home in the raised bed, as they seemed to be suffering in the peat pots and the roots weren’t very strong as they didn’t have much freedom. So I took them out of the peat pots when I planted them in the raised beds.

The photo below was taken on 1 June:

The beetroot are coming on a treat, except for 1 seedling which isn’t growing much at all! I’ve sown some more in compost in a cardboard egg box as I want a regular supply of beetroot!

The photos below were taken 13 June:

These are the new beetroot seeds and they’re growing really well in my home-made mini greenhouse! The plastic cover is just an empty box that had cherry tomatoes in it.

The beetroots in the raised bed are coming along nicely (well 5 of them are, the 1 in the front on the right is the runt of the bunch!) so I’m really pleased.

The photos below were taken 25 June:

The first lot of beetroots are doing OK, although some were disturbed by something digging holes (hence all the string, bamboo skewers, chicken wire and PVC – see ‘Carrots’ for more info on my defences!). The biggest plants are 10 inches tall now, which is good and I suppose it’s good that the plants are at different stages of growth so I don’t have to harvest them all at once.

I’ve treated myself to some pistachio nuts recently and I wanted to use the shells for something. I read that the saltiness on the shells is good for beetroot, so I smashed them up with a hammer (more effort than you’d think, they tough little shells!) and sprinkled around the beetroots. Apparently it also acts as good mulch, so we shall see!

The photo below was taken 2 July:

Well about 3 of the beetroots are nearly ready to be pulled! They’re about 1 inch in diameter at the moment and apparently they’re ready to pull when they’re 1½ inches, so hopefully not too long to wait!

The photo below was taken 25 July:

A couple of the beetroots are now 2 inches in diameter, but I think I'll wait a bit longer before pulling them up. I’m basically not ready to cook them yet as I’m still doing my cooking course.  I had planned to just boil them, but I was watching Something For the Weekend on Sunday and Simon Rimmer roasted some beetroots for a salad and I really liked that idea, so I’m going to try that instead! 

The photo below was taken on 1 August:

I decided to pull the 2 largest beetroots today and I’m going to roast them later!

The photo below was taken on 2 August:

Here is the salad that I had with my roasted beetroots. I wanted to eat them in the simplest way possible so that I could taste them completely unadulterated and they were very nice. In the past I said I didn’t like beetroot, but that’s because I’d only tasted the ones drowned in vinegar, which I hate!

So to roast the beetroots I just cut the leaves about an inch from the beetroot and gave them a good wash. Then I put the beetroots into a tin foil parcel and covered them in olive oil with some salt and black pepper. Then I roasted them in the oven at Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C for about 1 hour, until they were tender. I left them until they were cool enough to handle and then peeled them, which was really easy to do and my fingers didn’t get too stained!

The photo below was taken 5 September:

I’ve still got a couple of beetroots that are growing quite nicely, although I pulled out 3 plants that hadn’t grown properly. My success rate with the beetroot hasn’t been too bad and I think I will try growing them again next year.

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.