The start of the allotmenter’s year is hard to define since a productive plot could really have crops available all year round. Sadly, it is seen as a summer venture for many, with ground left empty for the winter months. However, those who want to benefit from early crops of broad beans, for example, must take action in October and sow the variety ‘Aquadulce Claudia’ the best-known bean for over-wintering. Sown ideally under glass and planted out in November, these will give a good crop of beans in May and June and need little in the way of protection over the winter. This early crop avoids the main pest of broad beans – blackfly which are drawn to the leafy tips of the plants in particular and choke it’s growth. There are pesticides of course – but not for the organic gardener. Soft soap is recommended as a spray treatment but really has limited effect. Rubbing the blackfly off is effective if a little messy! Shelling the beans (photo) is a delight and there’s no need to waste the pods either. Colin Spencer in his cookery book ‘Cordon Vert’ describes a broad bean soup made largely from the pods.
Broad Bean Soup
2oz Butter
4oz Onion chopped
2 cloves garlic
1.75 pints boiling water
Handful young Broad Beans
12 Bean Pods trimmed
1 or more tablespoons chopped fresh Sage
Sea salt and Freshly ground black pepper
pinch of sugar
6 tbs double cream
1 tsp lemon juice
2-3 chopped spring onions or some chives
Saute onion and garlic in butter until soft
Add beans, pods and water and boil for 10 minutes
Blend to a puree and then sieve
Season and add cream, sugar
Taste, adjust seasoning and add lemon juice
Garnish with spring onions to serve
from ‘Cordon Vert’ by Colin Spencer
Kirsten’s recipe for Garlicky broad bean Pasta
Pasta fagiolini
Shell the broad beans, lightly cook in salted boiling water. At the same time gently fry finely sliced garlic in olive oil. Drain the broad beans and use the water to cook the pasta. When the pasta is nicely al dente drain and mix with the broad beans, olive oil, garlic and a dash of cream. Stir & gently warm through then add some grated parmesan and finely chopped parsley.
Swede is a crop which is traditionally one of the later brassica sowings – usually in May. I’ve had little success with this in the past – it used to be said that root vegetable seeds should always be sown direct into the ground where they are to grow but the difficulty of achieving the right seedbed in May on a heavy clay soil for such tiny seeds is an annual problem. This year, encouraged by the example of the no-dig market gardener, Charles Dowding and a little note on the back of the seed packet, I have tried sowing them in modules and transplanting them into the growing site whilst small seedlings. I’ll let you know how this works
The drought continues and thanks to another generous allotment neighbour we now have a mesh net over our fruit bushes – recycled pigeon protection netting from a large building – perfect! In exchange we supplied him with two old patio doors which he has used to make a small greenhouse for growing sweet peppers! I’ll close with a photo of part of our allotment – runner beans now in the ground , sweet corn growing well, our fruit cage and apple trees. “What a mess!” – you will be thinking – but all that cardboard makes both a good weed suppressant and a mulch to stop the soil drying out too much. When it disintegrates, it goes into the compost heaps! Nothing is wasted down at the allotments!
