Tag Archives: Food & Drink

  If you’d like a steady supply of homegrown food fast, whatever you do, grow radishes! Now is a great time to plant them because in summer they tend to bolt. You can use radishes to define rows between slower growing vegetables like beetroot and broccoli to remind you where you planted them, and, because they’re the fastest growing vegetable, …

  Winter has arrived! It’s the first of June and today I harvested my kiwi fruit. Kiwis, or Chinese Gooseberries, grow really well in Blackheath. They’re quite amazing as a winter fruit crop because you can keep them for a very very long time without them rotting. They’re low calorie and high in nutrients, and a large crop could see …

  There’s an excitement and a lovely crunch as you run your finger down the side of a dried bean pod and split it open to collect the seed. If you haven’t done so already, now’s the time to collect your bean seeds to ensure a crop for next summer and potentially also meals over this winter. Some dried beans, …

While we have onion seedlings on the way in the Blackheath Community Farm Greenhouse, ever since our first day at the Farm we’ve had green onions or scallions growing in our allium bed. We always cut them off and leave the root in the soil and, without fail, they  just keep coming back and growing more. If you’d like to …

Food, mothers and kindness bring people together – even during a pandemic. Tonight I felt nurtured by my mother’s dearest friend in Blackheath, who sent me home with a brown paper bag filled with small jars of medlar and quince jellies to taste test. She was eager for me to compare the two.   Carole Lee My mother used to …

Almond Biscotti from Margaret at Glenella Guesthouse   This morning a container of what’s turned out to be the most delicious almond biscotti I’ve ever tasted appeared on my doorstep – a trade for a bag of jerusalem artichokes and a raspberry plant. Thank you so much Margaret from Glenella Guesthouse.   Freshly harvested Jerusalem Artichokes   Suddenly jerusalem artichokes …

  It’s late Autumn in Blackheath and this morning I enjoyed figs and raspberries from the garden for breakfast. I’m currently picking both red and apricot raspberries. What’s great about the apricot ones is that so far I still haven’t had to net them … unlike the red ones!     I’m growing two varieties of figs – Brown Turkey …

  Last night we had the most delicious buckwheat pasta with parsley pesto and caramelized pumpkin. While we usually associate pesto with basil and summer, pesto’s lusciousness can be created with many different greens and nuts. You can make pesto with parsley, oregano, mint or many other edible greens … why not experiment with combining a few. I don’t, however, …

  Left alone to do its thing, nature creates the most extraordinarily biodiverse ecosystems. One of the world’s most respected biologists, E O Wilson, said that we needed to set aside half the world for nature so that it could support and regenerate enough biodiversity to support all life on earth.     Check out just what nature is capable …

The Allium Family LOVES winter in Blackheath. While Allium is Latin for garlic, this plant family also contains all the leeks, onions, garlics, chives, scallions and shallots. If you haven’t already done so, now’s the time to plant your seeds or bulbs. Here are some of my onion seedlings emerging now.     It’s also the time to go looking …