Rhubarb Sponge

I think a number of people have visited this site looking for a rhubarb sponge recipe- so here is a lovely one we have used- from Waitrose in the UK.  Below it is my blog post about mushy rhubarb at the allotment!
   http://www.waitrose.com/home/recipes/recipe_directory/r/rhubarb_and_orange_cake_with_flaked_almonds.html

Rhubarb and Orange Cake with Flaked Almonds

Zesty orange intensifies the flavour of English rhubarb in this stunning dessert or teatime treat.

Preparation time:

35 minutes

Cooking time:

50 minutes plus cooling

Total time:

1 hour 25 minutes, plus 10 minutes cooling 

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 400g English rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 2cm pieces
• 200g golden caster sugar
• 150g butter, softened
• 2 medium eggs, lightly beaten
• 75g self-raising flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 100g ground almonds
• Grated zest of 1 small orange, plus 2 tbsp juice
• 25g flaked almonds

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C, gas mark 5. Grease a round 23cm springform cake tin and line its base with baking parchment. Place the rhubarb in a bowl and cover with 50g of the sugar. Leave for 30 minutes while you prepare the rest of the cake.
2. With an electric whisk, beat together the remaining sugar and the butter, then whisk in the eggs. Using a metal spoon, gently fold in the flour, baking powder and ground almonds, then stir in the orange zest and juice.
3. Stir the rhubarb and its sugary juices into the cake mixture and spoon into the prepared tin. Place on a baking tray, sprinkle over the flaked almonds and bake for 25 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 180°C, gas mark 4 and cook for a further 20-25 minutes, or until firm. Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes.
4. Serve warm or cold, with softly whipped cream or custard.

Cook's tips

Any remaining cake can be stored for 3-4 days in an airtight container. You can use canned rhubarb if fresh is unavailable.

The rhubarb on our allotment, planted by previous plotholders, and perhaps productive for years until now, doesn't have roots:  it has a big wet blobby orange spongey mass. There was nothing resembling the rooty roots I think it should have.  And very little in the way of budding stem and leaf.  I think the problem may be crown rot- certainly something rot, more like total-root-rot, but no sign of fungus. It's difficult to tell from the picture but the soggy mass was cuttable like butter with a wooden spoon, and butter that has been out of the fridge for some time at that.  Water could be squeezed out of it. That can't be right can it?

This chunky blob of root was about a foot across

It was planted in the back of the plot, under trees in a very sodden, clayey spot. Last year was just so wet maybe it just finished it off? We tried to salvage it by cutting out the wettest, deadest looking bits and retaining the very top bits (the top of the crown?) with the new buds on it. These I've planted out the front in the sunnier spot, almost just laying them on the surface to see if they can re-root.  I've had some success with other plants that have had their roots totally annihilated by vine weevil, and some re-root successfully by doing this.  Well, we'll find out, if not we'll start again with new stock next year. 

Any rhubarb (or other) advice gratefully received! 

The one proper leaf trying its best

Another Load of Poo!

On Friday L had a day off so he loaded the car with the 15 bags full of 100% proof Epping Forest horse manure.  Two minutes down the road later he unloaded it all at the allotment gates, where we were greeted with........ the most massive mountainous pile of first class steaming poo imaginable. Yes the much awaited manure delivery for all allotment holders finally arrived the same day as we carted our load to the plot. 

Naturally we made the most it, and fifteen barrowloads later we had a double pile- the fresh we brought, and the semi-rotted of the Metropolitan Police Stables.  We've piled them next to each other and covered them to keep off the rain.   Guess which is which?  (Btw I'll be testing both for weedkiller contamination when they've rotted down more.)

Epping Forest or Metropolitan Police horse poo: but which is which?

Today we did more digging, weeding and clearing, and removed 6 bags of rubbish from the plot- mostly old carpet and bedraggled and tangled netting.  One of the really nice old timers asked when we were going to start planting- which made me feel like we should have got more stuff in the ground already, but we've got to get it all straight first!

And since getting the plot in October we have planted garlic, shallots, onions, blackcurrants, redcurrants and a tayberry. And put in some bulbs, and moved around various herbs and the rhubarb at the back of the plot.  And weeded and sorted out the strawberries. There's also the broad beans (all eaten) and the peas (half eaten). And the sweet peas I've just sown. And the potatoes that are a-chitting. 

So I'm not sure why I didn't just say we have started planting! It doesn't look much at the moment. But my plan is to start with small scale experiments this year-  we can't afford to spend loads of money (both of us) and loads of effort (me due to my health!) on planting things on a large scale that fail on a large scale.  

Robinio our plot friend doesn't care what we plant as long as we turn over some worms to nom up.

We can also enjoy nature's plantings: like these on Feb 16th  in Amersham, Bucks, where I grew up. Dad  would have liked the mass effect of snowdrops in the woodland there I reckon.

Wordless Wednesday 20th February 2013

Don't Look Now (Dir. Nicholas Roeg, 1973)

A Load of Poo

I am just slightly worried about how excited I felt when, in snowy weather this week, I stumbled upon this sign in the lovely Epping Forest (just on the outskirts of London)

It was right down the road from here:

Before long I had 15 sacks of manure in my little car destined for the allotment! I needed help  to shift them, but after the effort how satisfying it was knowing that after rotting down they will be excellent food for the soil.  It's fresh poo, mixed with some wood shavings, some straw, mmm.

The allotment holders' may also have a bulk delivery of rotted manure from some police stables in Central London, arriving directly at the site- hope it comes soon! Wonder if it'll be all nice and crumbly and dark and smelling all fresh, and full of worms! Ah how the mind of an allotment holder differs form a non-plottie. Never before have I spent sleepless nights dwelling on the merits of animal ordure.... 

I guess we'll always be on the lookout for free soil improvers from now on, somewhere I read that we should add 2 barrows of manure per square metre, on a third of the plot each year. Is this a realistic amount I wonder? Whatever the case,  no longer will I look a gift horse in the...er....mouth. 

STOP PRESS!
In my excitement I'd completely forgotten about the threat of weedkiller contaminated manure- it has been a big problem in the last few years with hay and other feed containing weedkillers applied to farming land.  This is processed by the animals and isn't broken down in their waste. If then applied to plants it can cause them to curl and distort, rendering them useless.  It is suggested that it may break down if the manure is left to rot for long enough.
You can try testing your stuff by planting something- a broad bean or tomato  say- and see if it is affected.  I'll definitely be doing this.   I'm hoping that, as this muck comes from a small riding school, I might be ok.  But I suppose they still buy in hay etc, that doesn't mean it will be safe.   I'm definitely happy with my supply of well-rotted manure from a nearby stables but at £1.20 a bag that'll have to remain just an occasional treat.   Thanks Sue for drawing my attention to this important issue. 
I wonder what affect  these weedkillers has on the animals? ...... And the wider food chain....
Try the Royal Horticultural Society's advice for more information, or any other sites recommended by readers:

http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?pid=477

101 Ways to Stop a Slug

I've been thinking slugs and snails.  This is the way I've dealt with them in the past: only grow things which they don't eat.  Full stop. Way back I used to set beer slug traps (resulting in huge pits of revoltingly stinky corpses and a really bad feeling) and tried all the recommended barrier techniques (eggs shells, soot, proprietary deterrents)- none of which has had any effect whatsoever.  Copper tape can prevent slugs and snails crawling up containers, which is fine if you don't have any eggs lurking in the soil, and you can stop them po-going over from other plants.   I don't want to kill them out of principal and respect for all creatures. This may be very foolish of me indeed.

"Vegetarian hippy sucker won't kill me! Heh heh heh" 

So, going back to  things the s&s won't eat, as far as veggies are concerned-  the only foolproof veg I've found are tomatoes, and they will even go for those when little, and will certainly eat the fruit if they can get to them.  Perhaps in a heavily urban area like our garden we have had quite a big s&s problem.

Here are my comments on veg that allegedly don't get eaten:  alliums-  all varieties have been eaten in the past, so we grow them on our flat shed roof now which helps a bit; potatoes- I know there is a slug variety that's supposed to eat the tubers, but we have had the whole plants raised to the ground;  courgettes,and other hairy leaved things- they love those; anything with tough leaves- well they eat spiky leaved flowers so I don't see how that works.  We've had success with growing lettuces, radishes and beetroot in hanging baskets.  And we have it down to a 't' with knowing what herbs and flowers survive.  It took a lot of experimentation and wasted money!



Yes, thanks for the suggestion Dino. I appreciate your input.



So in the new allotment is a hands off approach to slugs and snails realistic?  I've studied lists of veggies that should be fine, and in my experience they aren't (see above)  And though I'm fond of the off-the-ground approach this could be harder to achieve on the plot and will need a lot of watering. Will the greenhouse prove a useful partial barrier? I like the moat and upturned flowerpot approach advocated  for trays of seedlings in Sue Garret's excellent allotment blog http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/  (sorry I can't locate the right post now!)  and Bob Flowerdew's floating lettuce rafts in his massive water tanks (shown on Gardener's World about 20 years ago!)  are quite inspirational if impractical!

I recently saw wool pellets advertised so I thought- ah why not collect sheeps wool as a deterrent?  I like to try to find different approaches to problem solving!   Any ideas?

Name That Plant

On a frost-bitingly cold day this week I braved the plot just to poke around really, thinking and planning again, and I saw how many bulbs and other perennials are beginning to push up through the chilly soil.  Now I really must  get in to the habit of labelling what I put in! Sometimes I do, sometimes I just stick a blank label in, or better still use a second hand label that says entirely the wrong thing that for some reason I couldn't be bothered to write over. That, coupled with the fact that there are lots of bulbs and things put in by the previous tenants,  means I'm in for a surprise as things appear.  

So, what are the things below? I think I know some. My suggestions are at the end. Any other ideas welcome!

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

i

Suggested answers:  

a)  Aquilegia aka Colombine aka Granny's bonnet- there are lots of these

b)  Grape Hyacinth?

c)  Fritillaries- I'm hoping it's what I put on the label because I LOVE these and I definitely planted some

d)  Bluebells- I'm hoping they are the native variety if so

e)  Probably a large clump of day lilies?

f)  Daffodils or narcissi of some sort- hope they have got flower buds forming

g)  Really hope these are Dicentra or Bleeding Heart- I've always had these in the garden till our last move, I didn't plant any, but these look like pre-existing Bleeding Heart Babies to me

h)  They should be tulips as it says on the label, but I'm not convinced yet

i)  Absolutely no idea...!

Longer Days, More Work, More Fun

It's so lovely how the lengthening days mean we have more flexibility about working at the plot. I am definitely not a morning person- I fear my aim to get down to the site at dawn will never be realised! So it's great not to have to rush down after lunch to get an hour or so in before dark. Yesterday we got there soon after 2pm and stayed til 5pm- we could have squeezed an extra 30 minutes out of it, but 3 hours was enough. As we left I took these snaps, at the site and in our road on the way home.

 

 

 

What's more the changing seasons and the continuing weeding  and clearing has revealed another discovery: a mini clump of gooseberries! So happy to see them, but they will need moving: there is about 3 inches between them, and they need far more space than that.  They may also need shifting to be with other fruit bushes that require netting.

 

 

L also brought down the height of the apple and pear trees- they are far too tall to reach the tops by a sensible ladder when we pick the fruit, and the trees on the allotment are supposed to be no taller than 6 foot anyway. They are still taller than that but all the advice points to reducing the size over several years. What did both trees a lot of good was to radically prune the rambling rose which was a woody old bushy tangle right in the middle of the apple. The apple is now airy and decongested, and the rose will regenerate strongly I think, but now trained over the arch.  We wait to cut back the two cherries until the summer. I understand they are liable to fungal infection if we do it now. No photos do justice to the amount that was cut back or clearly show what we achieved- but maybe a picture now can be compared to when the leaves come out in a month or so.



 





What we are doing on the allotment

Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb

We've had the allotment since October and this is what we have been doing over the Winter: 

• Clearing a full five beds of weeds, laying covers over some until we are ready to plant.
• Digging in manure and leaf mould
• Planting garlic, onions and shallots
• Sowing peas and broad beans
• Planting out our fruit bushes from their pots in the garden
• Clearing, and re-laying most of the paths
• Making, and putting in, a new greenhouse door
• Meeting some lovely allotment folk
• Researching, observing, planning, learning 
• Discovering! 

We've had a few exciting discoveries, like the kilos of potatoes left in the ground from the previous tenant, the fact we have some unnamed bulbs coming up, a lovely tall rambling rose, an apple tree, a pear tree and two cherries.  And we've meant for ages to get hold of some rhubarb to put in, then today I discovered some on the plot, despite thinking I knew every bit of the ground. See the picture above.

I've also discovered that mice are rife in the greenhouse and love eating peas and broad beans, and bulbs in planters. And learnt that WD 40 helps keep them away. The netting may also be helping a bit.  Here are some of the little pea plants today:

Peas, Peas, Peas