Tomato growing

It's February! The month of love, and seed planning!! I've already researched parsnips, which I have never grown before, but tomatoes I have grown a number of times, with varying degrees of success. This year, I'm focusing my attention on Thompson and Morgan's 'vegetable of the year'; Tomato Rainbow Blend F1 hybrid.
They are described as "stunning colour mix of baby plum fruits", which sounded good to me. I'm all for a little rainbow in the salad bowl.

Last year I was a little too excited and planted my tomato seeds in trays in early February, but this year I am waiting until early March because the weather just wasn't conducive to putting in the greenhouse so early. The second weekend of March I will sow the seeds in trays of seed compost and vermiculite. Seed compost has very little nutrients in it, because seeds don't need much feeding at this time, but you must repot them in richer soil later or your plants will starve! Vermiculite helps to stop the soil from drying out, and helps the roots to grow strong. Both are available from all good garden centres or DIY shops, and aren't too expensive.

Once seeds have been sown, keep at a temperate of 18-21c to allow for germination. I put mine in the dark in the warm airing cupboard for the first few days, and then move to a warm window sill. Don't let the seedlings grow too tall, you can avoid this by allowing them as much light as possible so they aren't growing trying to search for light. When the seedlings are big enough to handle, thin them out leaving the strongest, and plant in bigger pots of good rich compost. Transfer to the green house when all risk of frost has gone, or put outside a few weeks later than this, in a very sunny position.



I will put mine in the ground bed of the greenhouse eventually, making sure they are tied to tall canes and that the little side shoots are pinched off. More detail to come later...with pictures to help!

Growing Parsnips

I love a good roast parsnip! They make a roast dinner for me, so this year they made my short list for the vegetable plot. I chose the 'Albion f1 hybrid', from Alan Tichmarsh's range.


While its easy to just follow the instructions on the back of the packet, I've learned that these sometimes miss out on some vital steps, so I always consult a few gardening books that I have as well.

Parsnip seeds should be sown in the ground where they are to grow, in well drained soil in full sun. It's always advised to have added manure to the plot the year before, and I did do this back in January 2012, but I haven't done it again since. I'll add fertiliser to the soil instead (I've found regular additions of fresh manure cause a lot of extra weeds to grow as well).



Parsnips should be sown in April/May, after the last sign of frosty weather. I plan to sow mine the first weekend of May. A week before sowing, rake over the soil to a fine consistency and add fertiliser and a little sand. Parsnips like a sandy soil apparently. Parsnip seeds are notoriously slow to germinate, and can take a few weeks to show the first signs of life. Sow them in a drill about 1cm deep. Sow three seeds every 15cms, and thin out when the seedlings, leaving the strongest looking shoot. Keep the soil as weed free as possible, and don't over water, parsnips don't need a lot of water.

Start to dig up from September, but they can be harvested throughout the winter when needed.

Every year I find I cling to winter. I love the snow and the cold, warm mulled wine and hearty comforting meals. I've never been a hot weather person; probably something to do with living in Texas for 10 years and fantasising about wearing a jumper for a change! The snow from last weekend has now melted, and been replaced with lots of wet greenness, and while a lot of others rejoice in this, it makes me feel sad! So in an attempt to prepare for a new season, I bought a little piece of spring this morning from my local market. I didn't like the black plastic pots these narcissus were in, so tied some ribbon around the middle and popped in some fresh bay leaves from the garden. A little something to add to my table.

 When living in Edinburgh my husband and I would pop to the farmer's market on a Saturday morning and treat ourselves to a hog-roast roll. Delicious moist shredded pork with a little crackling, stuffing and apple sauce. Tucking in and looking up at the castle was pure joy. We loved this tradition so much that we had a whole hog roast on our wedding day! I recently tried to recreate this at home with fantastic results. The pork shoulder just fell apart in all its yummy goodness, with all the delicious juices soaked up in the crusty white bread that it was served in. To recreate this yourself, you will need:

A medium sized pork shoulder joint
A small bottle of cider, preferably a still kind, like a local scrumpy.
2 Onions
3 cloves of Garlic
Pork Seasoning (I used a pre-made bottle from the supermarket, but any combination of your favourite pork friendly herbs will do)
A slow-cooker (or a lidded casserole dish on a low heat in the over).

I cut the thick fat off the top of the joint and put this to one side ready for grilling later for crackling. Cover the joint in the herbs/seasoning mix, and brown in a pan on a high heat to seal the meat. Whilst the joint is in the pan, add the cider and let the liquid heat a little. In the slow cooker, put the onions (I left mine chunky, cut into quarters) and the garlic cloves (cut in half). Add the joint and the cider into the pot and cover with the lid. Leave the cook slowly, on a low setting, for as long as you can. I left mine for 8 hours. It may look like there isn't enough liquid in there, but don't worry, this helps the meat cook in its own juices instead. Don't be tempted to lift the lid as this sets back the cooking time.

Insert photo

Remove the shoulder joint (in one piece if you can, but I had trouble as it had all fallen apart!) and put into a dish, ready for shredding with a fork. Add the pork to crusty rolls, with some sage stuffing and apple sauce. To die for!

Some Jubilee Yummies

For the Jubilee weekend we went on a camping trip to Cornwall. Although the weather was dismal, I did get to enjoy using a posh new camera and here are some pics of delicious bread in the Chough Bakery (Padstow) and a Jubilee themed cake in a little cafe called 'Cherrytrees' (Padstow).

The weather can never spoil baked goods!