Friday 10 April 2009

Yes, we have no potatoes.

Posted by Rosie

Sung to the tune of a slightly more famous banana song!

I have just fed the last of my home-grown potatoes to Pignatius as they really had gone a bit too soft for us. He still thoroughly enjoyed them but we will have to wait a couple months now before we have any more of our own to eat. That said, the earlies planted in buckets in the polytunnel are doing very well and those planted in the garden have just broken through the soil.

I think now, we are officially in "The Hungry Gap" - the period when the winter veg has all but finished, stores are running very low and the spring/summer stuff has yet to reach fruition, even in the polytunnel. Thank goodness for the freezer containing last years excesses and a very good crop of purple sprouting broccoli in the veg patch. This year, to further reduce the need to buy fresh produce I am planning to do more fruit bottling (I bought a lot of kilner jars at a Boot Fair last week) as well as drying in Simon's lovely drying box (which has doubled up beautifully as a seed propagator over the last few weeks).

I have just made this years first batch of dandelion jam and I am adding wild garlic leaves to many a meal at the moment. Wild garlic leaves are also infusing in olive oil for a lovely garlicky oil and, if the rain stops, I might go and pick the first unforced rhubarb today. Sally, Simon's sister, is coming over for Easter with supplies of cheddar so all in all I don't think we'll starve just yet!

5 comments :

  1. Hungry Gapped here too :oS
    I am going to restart the veg box delivery for a month or so until we can start picking stuff here.Its food for thought indeed isnt it when you are always thinking about how sufficient you want to work towards being.If we just ate what we have in teh freezer it would be mash every day &frozen runners,some broads & cauliflower still in there.It wouldnt last until the new stuff started cropping either,argg worrying!
    If I dont *speak* to you later then have a Happy Easter x x
    GTM x x x

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  2. Same here Rosie, GTM. We still have quite a lot of food left ( I did a post on it yesterday) indeed I am *surprised* at how much we have, but it would be a funny old diet if that were *all* we had to eat...

    I expect to eat new spuds, carrots and beans from the PT in the next month or so, and we do have lots of salad and greens now in the PT, and eggs, of course, ...so we wouldn't starve!

    Not going to get the veg box this year, going to try to do without and just use the little organic shop in Ledbury for the odd bits...well thats the plan!

    Must try to defeat the squirrels ao we can have brassicas this season....

    Have a lovely weekend!

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  3. Aaaahhhhh, someone else talking about the hungry gap! We have nothing, not a thing to eat off our Lottie and nothing in storage! We have talked about this and next year WILL be different.
    It's only coming into our 2nd year and god willing we WILL have it under control better this year. I am determined to be a Domestic Goddess if it's the last thing I do!!

    P.S I have that darn Banana song in my head now.

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  4. Don't mention the Domestic Goddess - I tried a chocolate cake recipe of hers yesterday (in fact a double batch) and it failed miserably!! No idea why.

    Happy Easter to all and looking forward to moaning about having too many courgettes;-)

    Rosie x

    PS sorry about the banana song Carrie - here's a link to the lyrics in case you're struggling with the words - http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/lyrics/bananas.htm

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  5. Always good to read what you guys are up to. Hope you're having a Happy Easter :)
    Lu. Xx

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