12th October Blog


As the autumn rolls on I am lucky enough to be overwhelmed with produce from the garden and tunnels. Apples, tomatoes, beans and courgettes, these are the basis of the chutneys and preserves that we make and sell. I just can’t make them quickly enough. So I am preparing and freezing as much as I can.
I am nervous about depending too much on the freezer with the possibility of another cold winter and potential electricity cuts, so I am also experimenting with bottling. Apples and tomatoes are the obvious fruits to start with. I already have a few kilner jars and noticed that Thornhills, our local hardware store, are selling replacement rubber rings. So, on Sunday afternoon, with a good play on the radio, I got to work. I have many, too many, cookery books and I read about the process in about three of them. My favourite book on preserving is The River Cottage Handbook No 2 by Pam Corbin. Instructions and recipes are clearly laid out and easy to follow. It’s the book I keep going back to.
What with sterilizing the jars, peeling, coring and slicing the apples, making the syrup and finally packing and sealing, the whole afternoon was taken up to produce three jars of apples. If anyone has any doubts, self sufficiency is a full time job.
Having said that, the warm glow of satisfaction as a result of producing a meal from our wonderful plot is hard to beat. The knowledge that, through most of the year, I can rustle up a lunch with little help from ‘big business’ is very comforting.
So with those thoughts still in my mind I am off to collect seaweed from the strand below the garden. I’m starting to put the garden to bed with its duvet of mulches, which will be turned into fertility over the winter, by the millions of workers that we nurture under the soil. More of this next time.



Green Tomato Curry – based on a recipe from the New Urban Farmer by Celia Brooks Brown – with a little tweaking



1 tsp fresh or dried coriander seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
4 cloves garlic
Pinch of coarse sea salt

4 tbsp rapeseed or sunflower oil
50 grams hazelnuts
1 tsp brown or yellow mustard seeds
2 large onions finely chopped
4 shallots quartered
600 grams green tomatoes roughly chopped
2cm fresh ginger finely chopped or grated
400 ml tin coconut milk
3-4 fresh red chillies

Crush coriander seeds, cumin seeds, garlic and salt with a pestle and mortar or whiz in a food processor. Set aside
Heat a large saucepan over a medium heat, add the oil then the hazelnuts and stir until golden. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.
Return the pan to the heat and add the mustard seeds, as soon as they start to pop, add the onions and shallots, fry until soft and golden.
Add the green tomatoes and fry till soft and lightly coloured. Add ginger, turmeric, coconut milk, chillies, salt and pepper and finally the garlic mixture. Cook for a few more minutes, until it is soft and fragrant.
Serve over rice and decorate with the hazelnuts and coriander leaves if you still have any.