In the Christmas Kitchen with The Professional Countrywoman.

 "Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

At this time of the year the thoughts of professional countrywomen the world over turn to Christmas and if you haven’t already make your plans now is the time to do so. Make them now and make sure everyone knows what they are! As you will see below, the Sunday before Advent is a traditional Pudding-making day so why not make it our own day where we check where we are with our Christmas planning.  The fifth Sunday before Christmas is a great day to make lists, tick them off, check that bookings have been made, menu decided, turkey ordered, hair dresser booked, everyone given a job etc etc.  Get your journal out and make your own list and have a more tranquil enjoyable festive season. 

Stir Up Sunday

This coming Sunday is the Sunday before the traditional season of Advent and that means it’s Stir Up Sunday. Traditions are those rituals that bring meaning and depth to our lives and for us modern busy human doings it is wise to bring some of that back into our family life. Stir up Sunday is a very old Christian tradition that takes its name from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer where the prayer for the Sunday before Advent starts with the above words.  The cooks or mothers in the congregation would immediately say to themselves “Goodness Gracious – that reminds me – time to stir up the Christmas Pudding!” So off home they would go to get the pudding on.  

It was always the day that the family got together to make the pudding; and was an opportunity to show the children how to prepare it and to take turns at stirring the mix and making a wish.  That’s when coins were added too –which is another tradition you may have heard of. I don’t know how many teeth have been broken over the years by crunching on a thruppence but I think I will give this one a miss. Unless you put a $2 coin in, no modern child is going to be that interested and really if you put those in there would be no room for the actual pudding

I have been the pudding queen of the family since taking over that role from my Grandmother and also made them for the markets for years. They don’t take long to actually put together but it does take a long time to steam – a 2 kg one takes at least 5 hours so you need to be around for that.  You can make smaller size ones for gifts especially for older folk who may be on their own. Pop the pudding into an oven bag (one without holes) and wrap in calico. Add a red bow and it turns into something very special. 

Elderflower Champagne

This week is also the last week that you are going to get a decent brew of bubbles from the beautiful elderflowers blooming in our hedgerows right now if you want some of this special drink for Christmas. Mine is brewing in buckets in the kitchen and it is quick and easy to make. I have republished the recipe below.  I am making extra this year as it is a really refreshing drink and we fought over the 6 month old bottles of it we found recently. Delicious and so the taste of summer.

For this recipe you will need 7 large Elderflower heads –about the size of a lunch plate or saucer, a clean plastic bucket and some bottles. Start with recycled small sized fizzy drink bottles and lids.  (750ml or less).  I have also been valiantly working my way through those small bottles of  Lindaur and saving them  because they are a good size and useful for those drinks that ferment in the bottle.

Dissolve 500g sugar in 2 litres of hot water in your clean plastic bucket.

Add another 2 and a half litres of cold water.

Add 2 tablespoons of white or cider vinegar plus the juice of 2 lemons.

Add flowers

Leave in a covered container for 24 hours. The timing is important – try to be exact.

After the 24 hours is up, strain and bottle.  We strain through a muslin cloth.

Bottle.

Leave in a cool dark place for 6 weeks.

Chill before serving. Enjoy.

Early Potatoes for Christmas.

Got my early pototates in last month - Cliff Kidney's and Jersey Bennes and they are now growing well.  Time to get the rows well weeded and once the plants are 15 cm high, mound up and mulch. If it's dry, water well once a week.  You should have some ready in time for Christmas dinner! 

I am now planting main crop potatoes. If you have the room this is one crop I think you can't have too many of.  Having a home grown supply of potatoes is a staple of the self-sufficient household. 

Garden Notes for the Family Vegetable Garden - September

 A New Garden Year in the Kitchen Garden

September is officially the start of spring although it is still a while before the garden warms up enough to germinate our vegetable crops.  You can get round this by sowing most things into punnets and keeping indoors in a warm spot until ready for planting.  Observation is important as each garden is different depending on climate and where they are sited. Keep your journal handy to note when the signs of spring emerge so you can build up a picture from year to year.  The clue for sowing straight into the ground is when the weeds start germinating! 

Start succession sowing of most vegetables.  Better to sow little and often to account for unforeseen weather events or animal damage (chooks, cows, etc). Sow some now then the next lot 3-4 weeks later. It will also extend your season so you can eat them for a longer period of time.  You may be able to sneak in another row of cool-loving peas early in the month before it gets too warm and if you get a row of early potatoes in now they should be ready for Christmas.  Watch for frosts on any young potato growth though.  The exceptions for planting now are beans such as French or bush, and dwarf beans as they require more warmth. Watch for the emergence of your perennial runner beans to know when the time is right.  All heat loving plants such as tomato, pumpkins, capsicums etc are better to wait until warmer as well but get the beds prepared for them with plenty of compost and manure.  Sow under cover.

There is plenty to keep you busy this month making sure you fertilise and manure your perennial crops such as asparagus, rhubarb and strawberries. Start the year weed free and plan to keep on top of them. 

Jobs for this Month

Sow direct into warm spot: Brussel Sprouts, carrots, parsnips, beetroot, potatoes, onions, lettuce, peas, parsley, turnips,

Sow indoors in trays for planting out later: leeks, celery, corn, beans, pumpkin, courgetters, cucumber, tomatoes,

Plant: Potatoes, cabbages, caulis, lettuces, parsley, silverbeet

Cultivate: keep asparagus plots clear of weeds and start applying liquid  fertilizer once new growth appears. Keep hoeing soil between rows to keep weeds down of mulch between rows. Check you have support for broad beans.

Heritage Camellia

Visited Westport recently and came across this beautiful camellia - apparently a heritage one. Check out the leaves. Has anyone seen this before? I have taken some cuttings so hopefully they will take.  

August in the Family Vegetable Garden.

In the Garden

with the Professional Countrywoman.

Spring is around the corner.

Even though it is still winter there are signs that the miracle of spring is just around the corner. One of the miracles is that despite the ongoing cold weather, the occasional warm day will get the sap rising in the gardener as much as the plants!  However you will need to resist the urge a little as it is a bit early to sow much outside except for peas and broad beans.  Instead you can transfer that energy to getting your potting shed in order and prepared for sowing indoors.

Potatoes.

Seed potatoes are appearing in the shops. Potatoes can be chitted from now on or planted in a warm spot and protected from the frosts that will be expected for the next few months.  Use old egg cartons, sit each potato on end and put on in a warm light space. 

Garlic.

You may find you will need to water the garlic you planted in June and July to get them swelling and moving.  It has been very dry here in Otago and we all need rain.  Once the young shoots are up, liquid fertilise every couple of weeks.  They will respond to plenty of feeding while growing and you will be rewarded with lovely big bulbs in summer.

Garden Beds.

Beds rested over the worst of the winter can be dug over, digging in any mulch, compost or green crops.  Never dig if the ground is too wet as you can damage the structure of the soil.  

If you practice crop rotation then prepare each bed for the family of crops you will plant.  Legume beds (peas and beans) will appreciate lots of compost, wood-ash, blood and bone, lime and carbon from spring mulches dug in.  Same for the next bed of green leafy veges.  Beds destined for root crops such as beetroot and carrots will not like too much bulk or fresh manure so are happy to rely on the leftovers of the previous season.  They appreciate deep well dug soil. The beds set aside for heat loving plants such as capsicums and tomatoes prefer more acidic soil so I don’t add lime to those beds but plenty of compost. 

Early Sowing.

It’s still too early for outdoor sowing but you can start off in seed trays in a warm spot. Lettuce, cauli, cabbage, silverbeet, brussel sprouts, peas, broad beans, Later in the month: onions, beetroot, leeks, parsnips turnips, parsley.  Sow early peas and broad beans direct.

Plant; Cabbage, Cauli, Rhubarb, Asparagus, Shallots, Garlic, Artichokes, Strawberries,

So after starting out saying it was too early to do much in the garden, turns out there is a lot to do after all! 

Getting Ready for Garlic with Two Fat Cows

Next month will be June and the winter solstice – the traditional time to plant garlic. Garlic loves rich well fed soil so it will reward you if you put in the effort and get the ground prepared well in advance.  As it is a slow growing crop and is going to be in the ground for a minimum of 6 months, choose a place where it will be out of the way and can mind it’s own business while all the busyness of spring takes place.

In the crop rotation plan it is the first thing that I move forward to the next year. So I will be coming up to Year 3 myself which means that it is going to be in Bed 4. Garlic is not a “bed-hog” like pumpkins for example but is in the ground for a long time (6-8months) so I will plant mine in the bed 4 border bed where it is out of the way and can happily grow away. I have put put a grain based green crop in the main bed 4 to break up the soil and improve it in time for the other root crops to go there later in the season.

So I have dug a trench about a spade deep and filled the bottom with cow poo. Use whatever manure you have to hand – this was quite fresh but it should be ok  - by the time the roots get down the worms and soil organisms will be working their magic on it. It’s still a month or so before I will plant.  I have also incorporated some blood and bone into the top layer of soil. Add any compost, animal manure etc that you have to hand and then leave for it to work away until planting day. As usual –use what you have available. We have 2 lovely cows who faithfully donate to the cause.  Good wholesome organic cow poo.  Hannah on the left and Ruby on the right. 

How much to plant.

My bed is about 1.5 metres wide and 3 metres long.  That’s quite a good size for a family load of garlic.  If you work out how much garlic you use over the year – it might be one bulb per week.  So I suggest 52 would be a good place to start – that way you will have plenty. Look on line for a good supply of preferably spray free or organic local seed.  Trademe have some good listings.

Planting Time.

You can plant any time from now (late autumn).  The general rule is plant twice the depth of the bulb and about 10 cms apart. So lets say 5 cms deep. Press down firmly as you back fill with soil and then water in well with liquid seaweed if you have it.  Then wait until the shoots are around 15 cm tall before you start a fortnightly liquid fertilizer regime. You can plant your own saved seed but whatever you use you get the best results from using the biggest and fattest ones.

Recipe for Haw Sauce - Made from Hawthorn Berries

As promised here is the recipe for Haw Sauce – a surprisingly delicious asian-style sauce made with the berries from the Hawthorn tree. The ingredients are very simple so the flavour really is in the haw berries. As May is duck shooting month in New Zealand this might be a good recipe to go with dinner.

I should probably have put this up last month when the berries were at their best but there are still some out there on the trees.  If you are lucky enough to live in an area where the old settler-planted hawthorn hedges are still intact then be thankful for them and try to preserve them – they are sources of shelter and food for the birds and other animals.

The Recipe.

For every 500 grams of berries you will need 1 ¼ cups of white wine vinegar or cider vinegar. ¾ cup of sugar. A pinch of salt and some good grinds of black pepper.

Wash and destalk (as much as possible) berries.Use scissors if easier.

Wash and sterilize sauce bottles. Smaller ones are good.

Put berries into a preserving pan and cover with the vinegar plus 1 ¼ cups of water. Cook until soft.

Take off heat. Carefully put mixture into a sieve and press through to remove seeds and skins. (This is a bit tiresome – sorry. Any suggestions how to make this easier would be helpful. I have been making quince paste and you have to do the same thing. My arm is still sore.)

Put the puree back into the pot, add sugar and heat gently stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to boil and cook 5 minutes. Now add the salt and black pepper and pour into sterilized bottles. 

This is really delicious with pork or duck.

Credit for this recipe goes to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Pam Corbin and can be found in the River Cottage Preserves Handbook.