Uist Wholefoods Co-operative

More on the theme of eating locally. Scots Lovage is a seaside plant, whcih can be found growing wild mostly in Scotland. I have only seen it grown in gardens as a large and ungainly perennial. In fact, it was already in our garden when I moved in. It is incredibly tough, and had stood up to years of neglect and the attentions of sheep. It is described in ‘Food for Free’ (Richard Mabey) as a stocky umbelifer growing wild in Scotland, and useful for treating scurvy.

Garden lovage prefers a fairly good soil, not too dry, and some shade. It copes well with being planted close to the sea in salty soil. It dies right back in winter, only the tops of the roots showing. In spring, reddish green foliage spikes come up in April, and by June, the plant is nearly six feet tall. The leaves are divided, and a clear green,with hollow stems. The flowers are an unappealing cluster of little yellowy green florets, usually beset with flies on still days. The cultivated variety is somewhat larger, with while flowers.

When it comes to eating lovage, I take the leaves and stems, particularly in spring, and use it in place of celery. The seeds can also be used like fennel or caraway, although I have never tried them. The leaves taste curiously of strong celery, but with a twist of lemon and salt. It goes very well indeed with beef in a casserole, and removes the need to add salt to the stew.  It also goes well with chicken, and I use a very small amount chopped finely to add to tomato salad.

Say hello to CELERIAC, the unsung ugly duckling of winter vegetables. Pare off its warty exterior and you’ll uncover the royal vegetable within: a perfect, ivory-fleshed, winter alternative to potatoes and other starchesIt is surprising that a vegetable that is so delicious, wonderfully hearty and eminently storeable, and which makes such a boldly verdant show in the garden, is often overlooked on the supermarket shelves. Above ground is a gorgeously symmetrical crown of green, celery-like growth radiating from the central knob to about 12 inches. However, pull up this pretty green crown and what you unearth looks like a troll’s orb of warts and roots. Do not be dissuaded. When peeled, celeriac  root’s creamy white flesh resembles that of a turnip and tastes like a subtle blend of celery and parsley. Additionally, half a cup contains only 30 calories, no fat and provides an excellent source of dietary fibre.

This time of year, celeriac can be a perfect non-starch substitute for potatoes in a warming meal, and can be prepared in a similar way. Mashed, shaped into batons and boiled, or even French fried, celeriac can provide a winning accompaniment to a fresh green vegetable or salad and anything roasted or grilled.

I find a paring knife, rather than a peeler, works best for peeling the root. Shave downward with the blade in broad strokes to remove the thick skin. Drop the peeled celeriac into a bowl of acidulated water (water into which some lemon juice has been squeezed) immediately after cutting to prevent discoloration. Even if you are planning to fry or bake the celeriac later, parboiling it first for 5 or 10 minutes in acidulated water will soften its raw edge.

When peeled and cooked, this ugly duckling vegetable will become a true culinary swan.

In Europe, celeriac is a historic favorite. The vegetable’s most classic employment is in the cold French salad celerie remoulade, in which the root is peeled, grated, “cooked” in lemon juice (or blanched briefly in acidulated water) to lose a bit of its rawness, then dressed with a mustardy mayonnaise.

Celeriac is cousin to anise, carrots, parsley and parsnips, some of which are bred for their edible stalks and tops, others for their edible roots. Celeriac is a celery variety refined over time to produce an increasingly large, solid, globular root just below the soil surface. Celeriac is derived from wild celery, which has a small, edible root and has been used in Europe since ancient times (it is mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey as ’selinon’). It is unclear when celeriac was first cultivated but there are references to it dating back to the seventeenth century.

Today celeriac is uncommon outside of Europe or W. Asia, and is not widely used in Britain. It does grow very well in the Hebrides, and is a welcome addition to winter soups and stews, especially Scotch Broth.

Blackcurrants grow very well in my garden, and I have a particular fondness for them; the very first plant I bought and planted was a blackcurrant bush. It was planted just before by older daughter was born, so the bush is now 15 years old, and still going strong. I get quite  heavy yield each year, but it is a battle with the blackbirds as to who gets to eat them.

Blackcurrants are nutritionally very high on the list of super-fruit. They have a particularly high vitamin c content; look here for more details.  I also found a good site about blackcurrants, here; absolutely full of detail. I like them because of their tart and sweet flavours, and their amazing colour, both raw and cooked. They are excellent for puddings, pies, jams and jellies, and make a great sorbet.

Blackcurrants are not hard to grow. The first thing is to source healthy plants and to choose a suitable variety. Late-fruiting varieties cope better with our slow spring starts. I think I have Ben Sarek, which do very well for me, with short bushes that are easy to net against birds. Ben Lomond, Ben More, and Ben Nevis are also good choices. I bought mine from a nursery in Inverness, which has since closed. However, I have also bought soft fruit bushes on line, and would recommend Chris Bowers, who sell a good range of plants from ministry certified stocks, which gives you a good chance of getting excellent healthy plants. The Organic Gardening Catalogue can supply organic stock, and also have a good range of varieties. The plants should ideally be 2 years old, with around 3 main shoots.

Blackcurrant bushes need to be planted in reasonably well-drained soil, rich in organic matter, and with shelter from the wind. Mine are behind a wall and a fence. Full sun would be better, but mine are in light shade and doing OK. The best plan is to be well-prepared; dig over your chosen  site about a month before planting. Aim to be ready for planting either in November or February to March. You will need to dig over an area about 2 foot square, and add lots of compost, or manure, or well-rotted seaweed.

When your plants arrive, dig a big hole, big enough to spread the roots out across the bottom, and deep enough that the plants are 2 inches lower in the soil than they were in the pot. The old soil mark should be buried. Leave about four feet between plants, and cut back any long stems to the first bud about an inch above the soil. Water in very well, and spread more compost or other mulch around the base.

The first year, you won;t need to do much apart from keep them watered. In future years, there are three main phases: spring mulching, netting and harvesting, and then pruning. In spring, the plants require a good mulching, and the weeds need to be kept down. They also like to be kept well watered, and like a bit of bone meal.

Once the fruit has set, keep an eye on it, and as it starts to develop a colour, you need to develop your bird scaring skills. The best strategy is efficient netting of the plants. I use a fine light-weight nylon net supported on canes and pinned down with bits of wire but from old coat-hangers. Old DVDs and CDs can be used, suspended on wires, to frighten birds away. The cat has proven particularly ineffective as a bird scarer. This year was not a good year; I had a great crop but a beastly bird got under the net after I had not secured it properly, and most of the fruit has gone.

When the fruit is almost all black, wait for a few days before harvesting; if it looks almost ripe one weekend, pick the following weekend. I use scissors to snip off the strigs. The fruit at the top will be the biggest and best for showing off, and tends to ripen first. They keep OK in the fridge, and freeze well. It is a good idea to wash the fruit and remove the stems before storage.

Pruning and taking cuttings is an autumn task. In November, cut out the weedy-looking stems. Once the bushes are over three years old, remove the oldest wood each Autumn, aiming to reduce the bush by about a quarter, and leaving the stems well spaced. It is easy to raise new plants from cuttings at this stage. Take a ten inch cutting from young wood, about the thickness of a pencil, and bury the lower two thirds in the soil in late autumn. This should root easily, and you have a new plant. I have done this more than a few times, as blackcurrants are one of my favourite fruit.

Rhubarb grows fantastically well in the Uists, and I am about to embark on a trial of all my rhubarb recipes to see which I prefer. I’m looking forward to rhubarb fool, rhubarb crumble, and rhubarb and ginger jam. I grew my rhubarb from seed, but it is more usual to take a crown from a well-established clump.

Rhubarb grows best in deep soil, which is in good sunshine, and which does not get water-logged in winter. Rhubarb also appreciates manure. When planting a new crown of rhubarb, dig in plenty of manure beforehand. If you are planting more than one crown, space these at least 1metre apart, with any buds on the crown just below the surface. The best time to do this is early in the year, around March.

When the first leaves start to appear each year, add a copious amount of seaweed or manure around about, and remove any flowering shoots that appear through the spring. You can continue to feed rhubarb through the year with any liquid manure.

To harvest, start pulling large sticks in May. Hold the stalk near the ground, and tug upwards with a twisting motion. You can continue to harvest through the year, but make sure that you leave at least 4 stems per crown. After July, the stems become tough, hard and stringy, and do not cook well at all. The best stems for making rhubarb jam are pulled in July, when they are firm enough to hold together in the jam-making process, and tasty.

To freeze, slice up the stems and place in shallow trays in the freezer for an hour. Once frozen, pack into polythene bags ready for cooking.

I grow leeks in the same rotation as onions and garlic. I don’t usually manage to grow all three, because of space, and leeks are the only one of the allium family that I am growing this year.  They are about the easiest of the onion family of vegetables to grow, and will stand in the ground into the early winter. Having said that, they still require quite a bit of attention through the year. They need to be kept weed-free, and also need to be planted out when they have reached the correct size.

Nutritionally, leeks are in there with most of the vegetables, being low in cholesterol and fat, and good on fibre contrent. Leeks are also a good source of vitamin B6, folate, iron and magnesium, and a very good source of vitamin C and manganese. Nutrition data website gives a very comprehensive breakdown.

Leeks grow in just about any soil, although they need reasonably good drainage, and will do better if the soil has had compost or manure or seaweed dug in over the winter. They also need sunshine, otherwise they are a bit thin and straggly.

First of all, I sow the seeds sparingly in a drill about 1 cm deep, and in rows at least 15cm apart. I water them in, and then just keep them damp. Once the seedlings are large enough to handle, they need thinning out to 2cm apart. Then, when each one is about the size of a pencil, dig them up. I save the best ones for re-planting, and I use the rest for stir fry. 

When I plant out small leeks, I use a dibber made out of the handle of an old spade. I make a hole about 15cm deep, and drop a leek into it, making sure that I don’t backfill the hole. I continue like this, planting each leek 15cm from the last, with 30cm between rows. Then I water the wee plants in.

During the year, I control the weeds with a hoe, and by hand weeding. The leeks need a regular supply of water too, to help them grow without splitting. Feeding with liquid seaweed or liquid manure will make the leeks thicker, and drawing up dry earth around the thickening stems will help them to stay white. If you hope for the leeks to stand in the garden for a while, you will need to stop feeding them in August, otherwise the leaves will be too fleshy to stand up to the weather.

The Organic Gardening Catalogue lists several good varieties. I am usually rather conservative, and this year I have grown ‘Musselburgh’ again. It is also known as ‘Scotch Flag’, which is an older name. It is reliable, with a good flavour, and can be harvested through the winter from a late April sowing. I am also trying another variety called ‘Atlanta’ which is also sown in April, for a winter crop. It will be interesting to see which performs better.

To ensure a good long season, start harvesting the leeks a few at a time, lifting them with a fork. If you try to pull them up, they frequently snap off and this spoils them. Leeks are good in a hundred different recipes, from leeks in cheese sauce, to the delicate flavour in scotch broth, and with fish.

I grow chard in the same rotation as carrots and other root crops. I only plant one row, as this is more than enough. It is a ‘cut and come again’ vegetable. It does benefit from shelter from the wind, so I sometimes use portable cloches. The plants survive the wind, but it makes the leaves a bit tattered and tough.  

There are several varieties of chard, with varying colours of stems. They are most attractive, and the more colourful varieties can be used decoratively in the garden and in cooking. Sadly, the colour is lost a little as it is fried. The range of stem colours includes white, red, pink, yellow, and orange.

Chard has excellent nutritional value, and is included in many ‘top ten’ lists of healthy foods. It contains very high levels of vitamin K, A and C, and lots of trace elements including magnesium and calcium. Nutrition data website gives a comprehensive breakdown. Note that if you are on warfarin, foods with high levels of vitamin K should not be consumed more than once a week, and in moderation. Vitamin K counteracts the effect of warfarin, and is given as an antidote in some cases.   

Chard grows best in slightly alkaline soils such as the machair, and does not bolt as much as true spinach. It still needs to be kept watered in dry weather, and it is also important to thin it out to give each plant a chance to develop. The seeds are very large and easy to handle so it is possible to start them off in pots in the greenhouse. However, I usually sow it direct into the soil in late spring, when the soil is warm. It grows better in soil that was manured during the previous season, and in the same rotation as beetroot and carrots.

The Organic Gardening Catalogue lists several good varieties. The seeds are sown into drills about 3 cm deep, at least a foot from other crops. The seeds are sown into stations about a hands-width apart. Once germinated, and large enough to handle easily, they can be thinned to 30 cm apart. Keep watered at least once a week in dry spells, and hoe to keep weeds down.

Leaf beet does not store well, so harvest on the day of cooking, and discard what you do not use. The way to harvest it is to take the larger outer leaves with some tender stem. Leave the little leaves in the middle for later pickings. It shrinks a huge amount during cooking, and a co-op carrier bag full will be probably about the right amount for most recipes. In order to keep the leaves from going tough in the wind, I sometimes put cloches over them after harvesting the outer leaves. This also works to help overwinter the best plants, so that you can have chard again in the spring.

Chard can be used in any eastern recipe that calls for greens or spinach. Here are links to three recipes elsewhere on this site: chard risotto, chard and broad beans and also chard and cheese fritata. It combines well with cheese, butter, eggs, and spices. It has a fresh distinctive flavour, similar to spinach, which is to be relished.

I have grown kale in my brassica rotation for the last few years, and it is just coming into its own now, in late February and early March. There are precious few vetables left growing outside, but the fresh new side-shoots of kale are tender and delicious. We have been eating it through the winter, chopped finely into soups, or steamed and served in melted butter as a side dish. It goes well with toasted almonds, and is equally good with paprika sausage and garlic.

Because it is fresh, the nutritioual value is very high compared to shop-bought vegetables. Kale is a great source of lutein, vitamins K, A and C, folic acid as well as significant amounts of manganese, copper, fibre, calcium, iron, the B vitamins and many other elements.

There are several different kinds of kale available, in three main groups. Curly Kale has densly frilled leaves, packed together. This is the type I grow. Plain-leaved varieties stande well through the winter, but the leaves are pretty tough; wait until spring to eat the young shoots. There is an intermediate type called pentland brig, which has slightly more divided leaves. For curly kale and this type, the smaller leaves can be eaten from autumn through the winter, and then the shoots when the appear in spring, looking a little like broccoli spears.

If you are keen, you can grow kale from seed, starting in late spring. The Organic Gardening Catalogue lists several good varieties, as well as supplying brassica collars. The seeds can be sown into modules in a cold greenhouse, and potted on regularly until big enough to plant out. Alternatively, you can sow them outside in drills about six inches apart and 1/2 inch deep. When the plants come up and are growing well, thin them to 3 inches apart. Once they are about 6 inches high, they are probably big enough for transplanting to their final positions. I would suggest only one or two plants per person in the household; these are large prolific plants. Plant the wee plants firmly, and deeply, about 18 inches apart. Use collars around the base of each plant to prevent cabbage root fly, which has been particularly voracious in my garden of late.

I don’t bother with all of that. I buy my plants in from keske nurseries, which saves throwing away perfectly good wee seedlings, which I can’t bear. I just get one box of nine wee plants, which is more than ample. Caring for the crop is easy. After transplanting, fit the brassica collars, and keep them well watered and free of weeds using a sharp hoe. Remove yellow leaves.

As autumn fades and winter approaches, start eating the smaller leaves and the crown of the plants. They can be chopped finely if required. As spring approaches, you will see very pale green sideshoots and new leaves appearing. These are to be relished as a delicacy. Eventually these side shoots will look like small broccoli spears, and can be eaten and cooked in the same way.

I have lots of carrots this year, great bushy things, with the usual addition of a few with extra roots for added humour. Carrots were originally introduced to the UK by the Dutch in the 16th century; they grow well and are very popular. Wild carrots grow on the verges, along with many related plants, each with flat groups of pale flowers. These plants, with their candelabra style florets, are all called umbelifers. The group includes fennel, parsnips, coriander, hogweed, celeriac, parsley, dill and aniseed. Some, like hogweed, can be very poisonous, but the group as a whole has many edible members.

I grow carrots in a rotation, following on from onions and leeks. For every row of another root vegetable I put in a row of carrots, since these are the most popular in the kitchen. The best soil for carrots is deep and sandy, in a sunny spot. The soil surface should be fine and firm, not prone to drying out.

Once the soil has warmed up enough for the weeds to be showing their faces, then it is time to put in the carrots. I put in a row every couple of weeks from Easter onwards. Don’t be fooled by sunshine earlier in the year, unless you are gardening under cover.

To sow carrots, make shallow drills, about 1 cm deep, and about 15cm apart. Sow the seeds thinly along the drill, and cover. Make sure the soil is not too dry. Once the seedlings are up and big enough to handle, thin them out. I usually wait until they are really quite easy to pull up. I thin them out in stages, so that each plant is just out of reach of the next one. I hand-weed as I go, keeping weeds down between rows with a small hoe. Eventually the plants should be about 6cm apart.

It is important to keep the soil around the carrots well watered; during the dry weather earlier this year I had quite a job on my hands, putting on the sprinkler daily. If the soil dries out and then gets wet again, the carrots can split, so they don’t grow or store well.

To keep everyone happy, I start pulling the carrots when they are quite small, and keep going steadily, hoping to have some left for the very end of the year, when they are much bigger. Some varieties are better eaten young, others store better, so I usually grow at least two kinds. The best readily available variety for early eating is Early Nantes. The standard for large carrots later on is Autumn king. Last year, I also grew Rothild, which I bought from the organic gardening catalogue. They were very sweet and juicy, even when pulled late, as a main crop carrot. They have another 26 varieties on offer altogether.

I have few problems with carrots. I had a lot of double roots this year, probably because of too much manure; adding seaweed in the winter would have been better. Carrot root fly are rare, because of the wind, and in sandy soil the carrots can stand and store in the ground well into the winter.

I am currently harvesting broad beans, one of my favourite vegetables. They grow very well on my sandy soil, and follow on well in a rotation after a crop that has needed lots of feeding. I usually grow them on a plot that has had kale or other brassicas grown on it the previous year. The ideal soil is rich, deep and free draining, and dug over the previous autumn.

My favourite variety is ‘The Sutton’ readily available in local shops in the spring. This is a dwarf variety that copes with our fresh summer breezes quite well. Each pod has four or five beans.

The best time to plant broad beans is around March to April. They can be started quite early without too much trouble. I plant them in pairs of rows. In each pair, the rows are about 8 inches (20cm) apart. I have a wee trowel that is about the right length, but I also use the span of my hand as a useful measure. The next pair of rows is about 24 inches (60cm) along. Each bean is planted 8 inches (20cm) from the last one in the row. I plant them the depth of my thumb.

The beans germinate in about two weeks, producing quite sturdy wee plants. You will need to keep the weeds down once the plants are growing away well; a hoe is useful for this. I also hand-weed once the weeds have got big.

About 3-4 months later, the beans are there, ready to pick. Don’t wait until the beans are huge as they will be tough. The little pods can be cooked whole, but I prefer to wait until the pods are as thick as a finger, green and fresh and with the beans visible in the pod. Pick the beans by pulling the pods off with a sharp downward twist. The tender upper shoots can also be cooked like spinach. The plants also make great compost, and the roots help to nourish the plot for the following year.

The basic cooking method is to steam or simmer the beans for about ten minutes, and serve with a little fried bacon and thyme. The beans can also be simmered in olive oil, herbs and tomatoes to make a cooked salad. There are many other recipes out there, many of which I have tried. Personally, I am not wild about the cooked pods.

Life does not always go according to plan. On sandy, poorer soils, broad beans succumb to brown spots. Known as chocolate spot, this is not easy to sort out. In a bad attack, the pods and beans are also affected. To prevent this, make sure the soil is well fertilised the year before, and space the plants out properly. Affected plants should be destroyed, not composted. Broad beans are also a target for aphids, but I have not had much in the way of trouble with black bean aphid. To prevent major attacks, pinch out the top of the plants once the main crop has started to develop.

I refer to this gardening book more than any other. I have shelves of reference books, full of theory, pictures, plans and ideas. However, when it comes down to the bare facts, they are all here, neatly summarised, and organised so well that the index is almost superfluous.

The reason why it is my best used reference book is also due to the fact that I grow as many vegetables as I have time to manage. Why? Because fresh vegetables are better. They always beat frozen, canned or imported vegetables. This is true for taste, texture, for vitamins, for the environment, and in terms of food miles. Home grown vegetables can be harvested when they are truly fresh, small and tender. They can be served within minutes of harvesting, with their nutritional benefits still at a maximum, and flavour without comparison. And you can also grow varieties that are not available in the shops.

Of course, you can also save money. Without having the same overheads of comercial growers, and will less reliance on fertilisers and sprays, the estimated cost is that for each £1 spent in the garden is worth £9 of vegetables. It is also wonderful to pass on the surplus to friends. It is a healthy hobby, one that is a challenge every year, with new varieties to try and new techniques to practice.

The author, Dr D.G. Hessayon is the world’s best-selling author on gardening. Born in Manchester, he was variously a horticulturist research scientist, university lecturer, artist and newspaper editor before launching the Expert series in 1959. In 1999 Dr Hessayon was awarded a Guinness World Record Certificate for being Britain’s best-selling living author of the 1990s. He lives in Essex, and has two daughters and four grandchildren. I can’t work out how many books he has written in the expert series, but he has 190 titles listed on Amazon.

The contents are neatly arranged, with each topic set out over a small number of pages. The book covers the basics of vegetable plot management, and A-Z directory of vegetables suitable for cultivation in the UK, a trouble shooting section, and chapters on herbs, rare vegetables, crop care and an index. All of the terms and symbols used in the book are clearly expained, and are easy to understand.

If you haven’t got a copy, here is the reference to amazon for the latest edition. I recommend it.