12 December 2023

Growing and eating in December 2023

The son and daughter came with me to do a little sheet mulching at the allotment this weekend, for the first time in about two weeks but we didn't stay long.  Too rainy and muddy (and whiney).  I was hoping the final savoy cabbage might have grown a little in my absence, but it's just as tiny as ever.  Nice and firm head though--we'll eat it at Christmas regardless.  There's one leek bigger than a spring onion, so that is also earmarked.  Other than that, it's slim pickings.  

There's more to eat at the kitchen garden, though that too is mostly past it.  I've picked a few more fennel bulbs which don't look so nice after multiple frosts;  once they're all gone I'll start on the radishes--I can't see them getting any bigger at this point.  I've got both Spanish black and white daikon growing and while the fennel has been ok sized--around 4 or 5 oz each--the radishes look more like 1 oz each. 

We are gradually working our way through the pile of squashes, though to be honest, I think they are going to last us till next autumn when we starting picking them again!  The husband chopped open another big one weighing more than 16.5 pounds, and I made most of it into puree for the freezer, though we ate it every day for a week too (either as a side veg or stirred into whatever slow cooker meal I made each day);  the last of it went into yesterday's chicken and vegetable curry.  It makes an acceptable substitute for tomato in a curry or stew:  a bit of squash puree stirred in and a tablespoon of vinegar for acidity, and it's hard to tell it isn't tomato.  I put a couple dozen of its seeds to dry for next year's planting.  I may save seed from a few others as we eat them (the seeds themselves have thick husks and aren't so good for eating).

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