Swillington CSA

Scarecrow Afternoon

Help Us Build A Scarecrow For The Garden!

Saturday 19th April   2 - 4pm

Every garden should have its' own scarecrow, and we decided it was about time we built ours! Lets hope it puts that pesky Moriaty in his place!

There will be several activities around the scarecrow theme - including stories and songs for the children, building the crowman himself, and if we're very lucky, some scarecrow biscuits!

If you have any donations of old clothes, hats, stuffing materials or anything else you think he should be wearing, please bring them along.

Meet on the garden at 2pm - hope to see you there!

Event organised by "Librarian Environmental Activities"

Ian the Gardeners blog

Hi folks

Its rained!!!!!

We have now officially had rain on the garden - not a lot, but it was wet this morning!

I`ll still be watering today though.

If you`ve had a chance to look into the garden you`ll see that we`ve been busy with two new plots up and running (netted or covered with enviromesh to keep the wee beasties out!) with crops sown and planted.

The latest additions include Cabbages, kohl rabi, Caulis and Turnips in the brassica plot as well as Runner beans, Swede, Carrot, Onion sets,Spring Onions, Peas, Radishes, Leeks elsewhere.

Tomato plants are looking good, the first Sweetcorn have germinated and I`m on with seed sowing tommorow!

I`ve also ordered better irrigation systems and will order a new pump for the well this week which will be housed in a small shed on a platform over the well.

Also the pigs have been eating all the weeds in the polytunnel and have been moved to start on a new area next to the Orchard - I almost forgot, all the Potatoes are now planted! (Including an area outside of the walled garden itself).

I`ve patched up a couple of sections of wall and installed some Rabbit netting too as I caught(not literally) some Bunnies hopping over the wall - they might be able to hop over now but they`ll struggle to get back out! I`m turning into Mr. McGregor! (yes I know you`ll only get that one if you are of a certain age!)(better than being Mr. McHendry!!)

I look forward to seeing you on the 19th if not before - see Scarecrow event elsewhere on the blog!

Oh and thanks to Ken and his tractor - Photos on the left hand margin double click and you can see them all.

Ian

Richards Nettle Soup

Richards' Nettle Soup (with thanks to Roger Phillips!)

Serves Four

1 Large Onion

1 Clove Garlic

2 Potatoes

2 gloved handfuls of nettle heads

Olive oil, salt and pepper

1 1/2 pints stock

1/4 pint single cream

1. Peel and chop onion, garlic and potatoes, and fry for 3 or 4 minutes in a large saucepan in a little olive oil.
2. Trim away stems from nettle tops using gloves and scissors, wash well, and add to the pan.
3. Add stock (using a stock cube, or home made stock), and boil fairly rapidly for 15 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked.
4. Liquidize and return to the pan to keep hot, season with pepper and salt, por into a large serving bowl and stir in the cream.
5. Serve with croutons, if liked.

This recipe was taken from Wild Food, by Roger Phillips (Pan Books). It contains many recipes using ingredients that can be gathered from the wild, along with some superb photography.

We tried this recipe out last week, and it was delicious! It's best made with young nettle tops harvested early in the season. Hope you enjoy it too!