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Looking back, thinking forward.
As we approach Christmas, a magical time of year, we can reflect on the last season and dream about the coming one. The enduring memory I have this year is shouting to the slugs and snails ‘I give up, you have won’ on discovering yet another batch of decapitated courgette and bean seedlings in my greenhouse!
What plants have hated this year is 50 days of rain going into 32c in just a few days. What plants love is that gradual warming from wet and cold to sunny and dry with the soil temperature warming up. We used to call it ‘spring’, something we have not seen properly for 2 years now.
In fact I would say that I am a massive fan of proper seasons. I want a harsh, cold, snowy winter to kill all those nasty garden bugs and viruses and cleanse the soil. Then a warming spring, a proper summer that doesn’t end mid-August, but carries on fading into autumn so that our med-veg gets a chance to mature. And then the cycle to begin again. Yes I understand there will always be blips in a given year, one season one year will not be the same the next, but the extremes and frequency of these extremes are now too big to be ignored.
But we can fight back and I live in greater London where it is calculated (BBC) that there are 38,000 hectares of front and back gardens and these gardens account for 24% of greater London space! The importance of our small green spaces, even the smallest yards in Brixton or larger back gardens in outer London where we have more space, cannot be underestimated in helping our insects and improve the environment as well as making them nicer places to live. These small garden sanctuaries are important for our well being and mental health too, as well as the bounties they provide our kitchens seasonally.
So this month I bring you 4 varieties to cover all seasons either in sowing or in harvesting, with an offer of course as always. Happy Christmas to you all, from myself Paolo but also from Giampiero Franchi in Italy, the 7th generation of the Franchi family who wanted me to pass on a heartfelt ‘Buon Natale’ from his family to yours.
Calabrian Stuffing Peppers (Sow Spring / Harvest Summer)
Round Calabrian chillies are probably the most well-known of this style, often spotted stuffed with Tuna, grilled and arranged beautifully in jars of olive oil to be eaten as antipasto or with bruschetta or just rustic homemade bread. You can do this yourself at home or fill with cheese and grill them! Sow Feb-may. A medium chilli, milder when cooked, but meaty and flavoursome.
Perpetual Spinach (Sow Spring to Autumn and harvest Summer to Early Winter) – Use the large leaves like spinach, but it won’t bolt in the summer like spinach and it grows back again after harvest or if overwintered, in the spring. Actually a green Swiss chard, it is also known as colloquially as perpetual spinach. It is a really versatile in the kitchen and I would say underrated vegetable in the UK.
Tropea Onions from Calabria (Sow Spring for the Autumn and Autumn for the Spring)
Featured last year by Stanley Tucci in his excellent BBC Series ‘Searching for Italy’, this Calabrian red onion is said to be so sweet, you can almost eat it like an apple! The Hairy Bikers called it ‘the best red onion in the world’. Red onions actually originated in Italy and are one of the 3 most important vegetables in Italy, part of the ‘holy trinity’ – onions, celery and carrots!
Spanish Garlic Bulbs (2) (Sow in the winter for the spring and in the spring for the Winter)
You will get one red and one white regional bulb for planting in Dec or Jan. Split the cloves but don’t undress them and plant them a fist apart 2 inches down and each clove will produce a head. There isn’t a dish I can think of that wouldn’t benefit from a touch of garlic, and its good for your health too and an aphrodisiac. What is there not to like about it and besides, what else are you growing in your plot over winter?
We offer you these 5 seasonal vegetables, normal price £16.37 for just £12 posted which is a saving of £4.37 and the first time we have ever offered regional garlic.
