Home Made, Home Grown, Home Crafted

From Soil to Table: March

Posted by Rosemary Jeboo on Saturday, March 28, 2015 Under: Gardening

By Rosemary Jeboo, a regular BCM producer

March is an awakening of the senses and a quickening in pace to sow seeds that will give seasonal produce for tasty meals.  My garden now has perennials such as sorrel, kale and spinach ready to cook.  These are all hardy crops which can withstand the winter and provide produce all year.  Rosemary, thyme, mint and nettle can be grown in containers and a small cutting will produce plants which will enhance any dish or salad.  

I have sown seeds in small pots this month to be planted out in April.
These include beans (French and runner), chilli, coriander, cucumber, lavender, tomatoes, basil, beetroot, purple sprouting broccoli, cabbage, chard, onion and spinach.  I am making do with a small plastic greenhouse to store my pots – using clear plastic to help germination. Pots containing seeds with nasturtiums, cornflowers, marigolds and tomatoes overflow on my windowsills in the house. The rewards are abundant for your health and wellbeing. Flowers and companion plants like marigolds and cornflowers are also essential for diverting the aphids away from the vegetables and attracting the bees.  

Recipe

Sorrel and leafy greens (spinach, nettle, kale, chard) soup

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 finely  chopped  onions,
  • 4-6 cups  of chopped sorrel, nettle, chard or spinach
  • salt
  • black pepper
  • 1 cup chicken stock or vegetable stock
  • natural yogurt
  1. Add 3 tablespoons olive oil and onions. Cover the pot and cook gently for 10 minutes.
  2. While the onions are cooking, pour the stock into another pot and bring to a simmer.
  3. Add the sorrel leaves, nettle and chard and a pinch of salt and stir well. When the greens ­­are mostly wilted, turn the heat up, cover and cook 3 minutes.
  4. Whisk in the hot stock, and simmer
  5. Add yogurt

In : Gardening