Seville Orange Marmalade.

Posted on January 24, 2014 by clairesallotment

Last Saturday I went to my local town market to find some Seville Oranges. If you want to make proper marmalade, then they’re the only ones to use. You can of course use normal oranges, but the taste isn’t the same. To my great relief I managed to find some, and they were 75p per pound, which I thought was rather good. I asked for 4 lb, but ended up with more but was still only charged £3. So this week I’ve been rather busy making my marmalade. I’ve got to go into town again this saturday and I’ll see if they have any more. The season for Seville Oranges is very short and they’re only available in January. I used a tried and tested Delia Smith recipe (I’ve used it many times before) and I thought I’d show you my results. Once the first lot had set, I tried a little (you got to make sure it’s good). There is nothing that compares to homemade marmalade or jam. What I would say is that when you’ve added the sugar and it’s reached a “rolling boil” (boiling fast) then stir it frequently and wear a long sleeved top, as the marmalade spits a bit. And as we all know that boiling jam is rather hot!! Can’t wait for the strawberries to be ready this season, as I’ll be making loads of jam with them

All my Seville Orange marmalade.

All my Seville Orange marmalade.

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Fox taking a nap and then a snack.

Posted on January 19, 2014 by clairesallotment

After lunch today I popped into the kitchen, and there bathing in the sun was a fox fast a sleep on my lawn. How long it had been dozing there was anyones guess, but as I watch, it stood up, stretched and then ate some of the bread that I’d scattered on the lawn for the birds. It then strolled down the garden and away. I was a little concerned about it being out, especially during the day, so called the RSPCA, but the lady on the phone said that it was ok, and and as the fox had now gone and didn’t appear injured not to worry. It looked fluffy and no sign of mange. We do get them quite a lot where we live, but I’ve never had one in my garden taking a nap before.

After his nap, he stretched at had a snack.

After his nap, he stretched at had a snack.

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Onions and Oranges?

Posted on January 18, 2014 by clairesallotment

Yes I know that it’s a rather strange combination to put together in a blog, but that’s the way things go I suppose. I went into out local town this morning as the Saturday market is on, as I wanted to see if they had any Seville Oranges. If you want to make proper marmalade, then that’s what you need to get. The supermarkets tend not to stock them, and as we don’t have a greengrocers locally, the local market was the place to go. After looking round the 2 fruit and vegetable stalls, I couldn’t see any, so I asked, and they had placed them underneath, hiding them from my view. They were 75p per 1lb, which I though was quite reasonable, so I asked for 4lb, as that should make enough marmalade to last me a year. The lovely chap that served me said it was slightly over, which wasn’t a problem, but still only charged me £3. When I got home I weighed them, and they were quite a bit over 4lb, in fact they weighed 5.5lb to be exact!! I’m not complaining, it just means that I need to get more sugar. So that’s my job for Sunday afternoon is to make my marmalade. I’ll put the recipe up for you when I’m done, but it’s a Delia Smith one, and I’ve used it before, it’s fabulous. Then later I went to the shed and brought in the last of the onions. I’ve only got about 6 left, and they’re rather small, so once my leeks have gone I’m going to have to buy some onions. Oh no!!

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The Allotment Source Book by Caroline Foley.

Posted on January 18, 2014 by clairesallotment

I’ve was sent this book a couple of years ago, but before I recommended it to you I wanted to make sure that it lived up to my expectations. Needless to say after a couple of years of using it thoroughly it does. “The Allotment Source Book” covers all sorts of gardening tips from preparing the ground, planning, growing and harvesting to any problems you may have. It may be a little more expensive than you would normally want to fork out (excuse the pun),  for a gardening book, and it’s not something that you can fit in your pocket. But I find it a good book to read before going to bed as I can then check anything that I plan to do on the allotment the following day. It covers most of the fruits and vegetables that most normal people would grow, maybe not the weird and wonderful ones that I tend to find, you’ve still got me for that.

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Friday 17th January 2014 – Dodging the showers for some leeks.

Posted on January 17, 2014 by clairesallotment

Well, my onions have very nearly run out (clearly I didn’t plant enough again last year. Though they did last us 6 months). So I’m now working my way through my leeks, digging them up as I need them. They’re called “Below Zero”, so they don’t mind a bit of cold weather. To be honest, it’s not been what I’d call really cold so far this winter, very mild in fact. I’m not sure if that’s a good sign for a hot summer this year or what. Anyway, I’ve just got back from a rather squelchy plot, as first thing this morning we had a massive down pour and as I was taking George to school (he usually walks, but he’s broken his ankle), we had to go through 2 areas of flooding over the entire road. Now hopefully the underside of the car may be a little cleaner. I digress….I dug up another 5 leeks, which have done really well this year. I’m very pleased with them all. Usually I tend to get some lovely sized ones, and all the rest are medium, but this this year they’re all lovely sized ones. I think that 5 should be enough for our dinners this weekend, and then I’ll dig up some more next week, as and when I need them. My new purple wellingtons are working brilliantly. I asked Father Christmas for some more as my pink ones had all cracked from over use. I must have been good because he got me some.

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Whopper Parsnips – Claire’s Allotment part 221

Posted on January 11, 2014 by clairesallotment
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What do you want to see me grow? – Claire’s Allotment part 220

Posted on January 11, 2014 by clairesallotment
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Dig up your salsify – Claire’s Allotment part 219

Posted on January 11, 2014 by clairesallotment
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Friday 10th January 2014 – Just went down for some Salsify.

Posted on January 10, 2014 by clairesallotment

Well things never go to plan do they? I was only going to pop down to the allotment this morning just to film about digging up Salsify (you’ll be able to see this film soon). So I left the car out on the road, as I knew I wouldn’t have much to carry, and it would be very muddy on site anyway. But you know me, I get a bit carried away. Once I’d done the filming that I’d planned on doing, I then pottered round the rest of my plot just to see how things were ticking over. They seemed to be doing rather well, and I ended up harvesting 3 rather sizeable Leeks (the rest are growing very well indeed), 1 Carrot that I seemed to have missed, a load of Beetroot which is both yellow and purple (this has usually died off by now, but as the weather has been so warm and we’ve had only 2 minor frosts they’ve still been growing), 3 MASSIVE and 1 normal sized Parsnips, 2 sensible sized white Cabbages, lots of lovely green Brussels Sprouts, some gorgeous Broccoli, and some rather sizeable Jerusalem Artichokes. I just about managed to fit it all in a cardboard box that I had in my shed, and then had to carry it to the car. It was quite heavy, but I’m a strong little lass, so I can cope.

But I cam home with ALL this as well.

But I cam home with ALL this as well.

Salsify was the ONLY thing I planned on bringing home today.

Salsify was the ONLY thing I planned on bringing home today.

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Happy New Year for 2014!!

Posted on January 2, 2014 by clairesallotment

Well, Mark, the kids and I just about made it to midnight. To be honest I didn’t think I would. As we were waiting for the minutes to pass by, we watched “Life of Pi”, which we had on the Sky Planner. It’s a very good film, and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. We never saw it in the cinema, so it was good to sit down as a family and watch it all together. Now the kids are older, we can watch more interesting films with them…not that the kids films are boring. Once midnight struck, we all wished each other a “Happy New Year”, then the fireworks in London started, so I watched the first few minutes, then got the kids a drink to take to bed. When I got back the fireworks were still going, but that was enough for me. I went to bed as I could barely keep my eyes open. The kids soon followed once the fireworks had finished, then Mark a bit later. The next thing I knew it was the morning and the clock said just after 9am!! So after a leisurely cup of tea in bed, we got up for breakfast. We had roast pork for just after 2pm (oh I can do some mean crackling), then a rest before lemon meringue pie for pudding. Later in the afternoon we played “Absolute Balderdash”. This is one of Georges’ favourite games at the moment…that and “Pointless”. We wanted to go out for a walk at some point during the day, but a gale was blowing and the rain was persisting down, so that wasn’t going to happen. So after our game, it was time to sit down and watch some telly before bed time, which was 9pm. Yes we’re light weights, well I am anyway. Don’t tell me what happened on Sherlock, we’ll be watching THAT tonight!! Happy New Year to you all x x x x

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