Plaiting Onions

After leaving the Onions to dry out in the small greenhouse over the last few weeks, last weekend I finally got around to trying out how to plait these, now I've never done this before, as this is my first batch of Onions, but I thought plaiting them would be better than just storing them in a bag.

Having consulted my garden books, it looked like plaiting was the best way to store them, but they didn't explain how, so off I went to the internet, as always this is a great place to find a few videos of people demonstrating this, and I found a great video called HOW TO PLAIT ONIONS which really helped me.

                                                                     Photo: Laura Lunt  Date: August 2012

It took a while and a few attempts at starting the batches off, but I finally managed to plait two batches of Onions, a small and large version. I'm very proud of them and they are currently hang up and waiting to be used.

Harvested: Garlic & Onions

Over the last few weeks I've been harvesting the Radar Onions I've been growing since October last year. I started with pulling up around six for my first batch, then nine in my second batch and the rest I picked today.

                                                   Photo: Laura  Lunt  Date: July 2012

At the same time as planting the Radar Onions, I also planted some Early Purple Wright Garlic and as with the onions, I've been busy harvesting the rest of these today, and hanging them for drying out.

                                         Photo: Laura Lunt  Date: July 2012

The mini-greenhouse has been very handy to use as a dryer, but this wasn't big enough for all of them, so I had to use a metal hanger to hold a few of the smaller onions. Hopefully I can leave all of  these for a week or two and then plait up to keep and save for when I need to use them.

From what I've read Garlic is fine to leave in the house after plaited at room temperature, but Onions are meant to be left in a shed or garage at a cooler temperature which I don't have, so I may have to find an alternative way to keep them.

Onions Almost Ready to Harvest

Last October I planted the Onion sets I bought outside on the balcony, these have been over wintered and growing ever since. I noticed over the last few months that the Onions have been developing just above the soil and they've been getting bigger and bigger every time I've popped out to check.

                                                                                  Photo: Laura Lunt  Date: June 2012

Today I couldn't wait any longer and I harvested the first of the Onions for drying out. I carefully used a trowel to take out the six biggest just to see how they do, leaving the rest to continue to grow. I've left the lifted Onions on top of the mini-greenhouse, to dry out for the next week or so and then I'll hopefully be able to store and eat them soon.

                                                                  Photo: Laura Lunt  Date: June 2012

My Sisters Spicy Tomato Soup

When I told my family about the Cook Book I wanted to create, they started to come up with a few recipes I could use, with ingredients we all grow in our gardens. My twin sister Lisa came up with this Spicy Tomato Soup recipe, which she loves to make and as we all always have a ton of Tomatoes, this is idea for the book.

I did have to tweak the recipe a little, swopping chicken stock for vegetable and chorizo sausage for kosher sausage, as my boyfriend is Jewish and we keep a kosher home, but these were just small changes and I'm sure it'll taste just as good.

                                                       Photo: Laura Lunt  Date: Oct 2011

For the soup I firstly added the olive oil, Onion, Garlic, Ginger & Chili and heated till they became soft, stirring occasionally. The cumin and sausage were then added and cooked for a minute or so, the Tomatoes, stock and salt & pepper were then added and all brought to a boil. The mixture was then simmered for 20 minutes, taken off the heat and left to cool over night. I then blitzed the ingredients to a texture I wanted, poured into sealable bags and put into the freezer for a later date. Alternatively this can be eaten and enjoyed straight away, with a little bit of cream if need be.

                                                       Photo: Laura Lunt  Date: Oct 2011

Spicy Tomato Soup
x12-15 Tomatoes
x1 Large Onion
x2 Garlic Cloves
x2 tsp Ginger
x1 tsp Chili Peppers
half tsp Cumin
2 & half Cups Vegetable Stock or about 450 ml
x3 tbsp Olive Oil
Chorizo Sausage or Kosher Sausage
Salt & Pepper
(could add bell peppers too if want)
Cream if needed

Pour & Store Bags

Garlic & Onion Sets Planted

Last weekend I took the opportunity to get out onto the balcony and started planting the over wintering Garlic and Onion Sets. First I did a little tidying up, mainly getting rid of all the Aubergine plants, which I've given up on, I ended up with a lot of flowers, but no Aubergines themselves. I also potted up the Serrano Chili plant and the Pepper (Sweet) plant that I had in the large tub hanging over the balcony, so once it gets a bit colder I can take these indoors.

                                                                    Photo: Laura Lunt  Date: Oct 2011

This left me with five tubs I could plant into, two tubs hanging over the balcony and three large pots on the balcony floor. I gave the soil in each of the pots a good mix around to loosen it up. I then flattened the soil down to make sure it was tight and compressed and then I used my new Dibber to create shallow drills to place the Early Purple Wright Garlic and Radar Onion Sets in the soil, covering each of them so that their necks are just popping out from the soil, and with a 10cm gap between each bulb.

                                                                    Photo: Laura Lunt  Date: Oct 2011

In total I have planted two tubs of Garlic and three tubs of Onion Sets, all the Garlic was used up, but I still have a few Onion Sets left over. As a little added protection for the bulbs which are in the tubs hanging over the balcony, I've placed several canes into the soil and stretched some of the netting I used to protect the Strawberries over the top of the tubs, just as a deterrent to stop the birds from picking at them. I then gave them all a good watering and now I just have to wait.

Preserves: Easy Tomato Chutney

As I still have a lot of Tomatoes left to eat, I wanted to make some sort of a Chutney and as I've never made this before, I started to do some research into the many different types that can be made, when I came across the below recipe on the 'Good to Know Recipes' website:

Easy Tomato Chutney

1kg (2¼lb) Ripe Tomatoes of any variety or size
3 Red or White Onions, peeled and chopped
2-3 Cloves Garlic, peeled and crushed
200ml (7fl oz) Red Wine Vinegar
175g (6oz) Soft Light Muscovado Sugar
1 level teaspoon Ground Ginger

Sterilised Jars and Waxed Discs

I used both Moneymaker and Gardeners Delight Tomatoes for this, but any ripe tomato will do. The recipe is simple you just add all the ingredients into a large heavy-based pan, bring to a boil slowing, stirring occasionally to help the suger dissolve. Once this is at a boil, the mixture can then be left to simmer for one and a half hours, or more, stirring occasionally until the mixture becomes thick and jam like.

                                                       Photo: Laura Lunt  Date: Oct 2011

I then sterilised several jars, in boiling water for around an hour and then left these to dry out on the drainer. Once the mixtures was ready, this was spooned into the jars, sealed and left to cool down. Labels with the date of when I made these were stuck to the jars, as these then needed to be stored away for a month before eating. Once open they should be consummed within 3-4 months.

Winter Veg - Arrived and Ready to Plant

All the Winter Vegetables I'm going to attempt to grow this year, have now arrived from Mr Fothergil's and as a little added bonus, they also sent me two free packets of seeds, which they do with every seed order, this is what I have:

                                                                       Photo: Laura Lunt  Date: Sept 2011

Early Purple Wright Garlic x2 buds
Radar Onion Sets x250g
Cabbage Advantage F1 Seeds x100

Free Seeds: Pepper (hot) Hotscotch & Mimulus (extra choice mixed)

I'm looking forward to planting these all out in the next couple of months, which will hopefully mean I'll have some great early Vegetables at the beginning of next Spring.

What to Grow over Winter?

Autumn / Winter growing has always been a mystery to me. I normally just leave the balcony bare and wait for February to come before planting seeds for the summer. But this year I have a few ideas about what to grow, normally I'm not a great Winter grower, but I've been researching some vegetables that can be grown over the Winter months, for early harvesting in May / June.

I decided on the selection of vegetables in the table above. For me Onions and Garlic were a must have, I've gone for Onion Radar Sets and Early Purple Wright Garlic Bulbs (soft neck), both easy to grow and won't bolt in the winter months, so I should get a good growth. It was pointed out to me that Onions can be planted in early March and still arrive June / July time, but I'd like to try these over winter and I will save some for planting in March just in case disaster strikes.

During my research I also found that Winter greens were good to plant, such as Spring Cabbage, Pak Choi and Leeks, now I'm a little late with the planting of my Elefant Leeks (this should have been done last month, as the packet states) but as I'm growing from seed in a propagator indoors, I'm hoping this will help give them a good start. The Pak Choi seeds, free from Garden Kitchen, have been planted straight outside and have replaced the earlier pulled carrots from their pot. These were just sprinkled into the pot, covered with a layer of compost and watered well. The Spring Cabbage I've gone for is Cabbage Advantage F1 seeds, these are good for planting all year around, from March to September, so I should be able to keep a very good supply going.

I also had some leftover Onion (Spring) White Lisbon Winter Hardy seeds, which can be planted up till September and will stand over winter so they can be used in Spring. The only thing left to sow in the propagator is of course the Carrots, I've opted for the Carrot Early Nantes 2 another variety that should have been sown in July, but fingers crossed, they should be fine in the propagator and hopefully I'll have some ready for Christmas time.

As I only have a small Balcony, I'm hoping this will be enough to see me through and keep me busy during the Autumn / Winter months and hopefully I'll have plenty to harvest, leading up to the Summer seed planting I'll begin in February.