December 2nd 2008
Posted under General Participaction News & weather by jane
November 7th 2008
Posted under General Participaction News & Social Occasions by jane
Well, several of us braved yet another rainy day to visit the garden at Stainsacre, and spent the morning chatting about our plans. Christmas wreaths and table decorations, pots of bulbs (next year), a Christmas night out and next week, a committee meeting.
It’s hard to find anything other than mud to photograph. Almost the whole plot is waterlogged, but these pots of strawberries looked quite cheerful. Last week we sat in the shed and discussed our plans for next spring- which seeds did well this year, (lettuce), which need successional sowing, (lettuce), and which were disappointing. We have been also been talking about winter veg and the idea of creating a special netted brassica bed on the main plot. Seems that most of us like our sprouts.
But in the meantime we’ll have to make do with leeks.
October 30th 2008
Posted under General Participaction News by jane
Well, I think I need another word with Glenn. I keep writing posts, but the pictures seem to have a life of their own and won’t go where I want them. So, just so you know I’m still about, here’s one pretty picture to be going on with
September 26th 2008
Posted under General Participaction News & Jubilee Garden & Pumpkin Competition by jane
The last week of September has turned out to be one of the best spells of weather this summer with warm sunny days and cooler, misty nights. The tomatoes and cucumbers have all been picked, the sweetcorn is doing well, onions are in the poly tunnel for safe keeping. There are still runner beans, raspberries and blackberries to pick, along with the occasional squash, marrow and spinach.
Today there were nearly twenty volunteers on site. The lawn was mown, the Jubilee Garden tidied up and vegetable plots yielded their last few crops. Geranium cuttings have been taken and this years geraniums put in a cold frame to overwinter. The giant pumpkins haven’t come to much, the Potage Garden has been too damp this summer, but they are still producing fruit so we’ll wait and see if any ripen. The side plot is shrouded in black plastic, but I shall say more about that another day.
So, all in all, we’re still keeping busy and hoping for another week or two of fine weather.
September 5th 2008
Posted under General Participaction News & Pumpkin Competition & Recipes & Sunflower Competition by jane
Last week I took home some spinach without really knowing what I wanted to do with it. After a bit of research in books and on the internet I decided to try spinach pesto, and I wasn’t disappointed. I whizzed up washed spinach leaves, grated parmesan cheese, garlic and olive oil in the food processor (no pine nuts as I didn’t have any). The result was delicious and I was able to freeze most of it, spreading it quite flat across a cake tin and breaking it into usable chunks when it was firm. These I just put in a freezer bag till I needed them.
Today I decided to cook a spaghetti squash that’s been lurking in the vegetable rack for a week or two- the beauty of the hard skinned squashes is that they generally store very well. Spaghetti squash can apparently be cooked in almost any way you like- baked, boiled, microwaved etc The aim is to soften the pale flesh sufficiently to be able to scrape out the strands with a fork. It has a mild, buttery taste which goes well with almost anything such as cheese or tomato/bolognaise type sauces. Today I cut my squash in half, removed the seeds and put a small chunk of the still frozen pesto into the middle. I then baked it at 180C for about 50 minutes until the flesh was soft enough to fork out. Lovely. We had sausages, runner beans and new potatoes, but with some crusty bread you could easily turn it into a meal by itself.
Other news from Stainsacre…. Well, the giant pumpkins are struggling a bit in the wet weather, but we are still picking plenty of tomatoes, courgettes and runner beans. The sunflower competion was judged last week and Huw won the prize for the tallest plant, whilst Paul won the prize for the biggest flower. But mostly, it just rains and rains….
Don’t forget- next committee meeting Friday September 12th at 1pm
August 23rd 2008
Posted under General Participaction News & Recipes & Sunflower Competition by jane
According to the Met Office this August is in the Top 10 Wettest Months since the 1920s. As a result, plants that like rain are growing very nicely and we have plenty of spinach, onions, beans and courgettes ready, sweetcorn and celeriac on their way and in the poly tunnel there are still lots of tomatoes, the odd cucumber and peppers still to come. Sunflowers are growing tall and being measured (height and diameter) and the giant pumpkins are beginning to spread out.
The tomato glut has produced one or two new recipes. Pauline has taken some to make chutney (She will be busy because she has also picked blackcurrants and promised to bring jam!) I tried this idea for oven dried tomatoes.
- Cut the tomatoes into quarters or halves, depending on their size
- Roughly remove most of the pips and throw them away (this stops the tomatoes being too wet)
- Drain the tomatoes in a colander, if you have time, for the same reason.
- Toss the tomatoes in a little olive oil and sprinkle with a pinch of sugar and salt, and oregano if you like. I guess a little garlic added here might be nice.
- Place tomatoes skin side down on a baking tray and place in cool oven (Gas mark2, 150C ) for as long as it takes. This could be between two and three hours if the tomatoes are quite big.
- You will know when they are done because they will look and smell scrummy!
These tomatoes would then be delicious added to a tomato sauce, in risotto or any way that you might use sun dried tomatoes.
I used mine in a salad with couscous, mint feta cheese and a little squeeze of lemon, and it was very good
August 15th 2008
Posted under General Participaction News & Wildlife by jane
Well, I thought I ought to have a go at this newsletter thing and find out how it all works before I actually have some news to share.
I’ve managed to insert a picture that I took in the polytunnel in the spring. The photo actually won “Best Photo” at Fylingdales Horticultural Show, so I am quite proud of it, though less proud of what happened to the snail (Moments after this snap was taken he was seen flying through the air towards Stainsacre Hall!)
Of course, the beauty of publishing images of snails is that you don’t have to ask their permission first. My next job is to ask all the volunteers how they feel about seeing their photos in the newsletter and then we can really get started.
Thanks to Glenn for his help in getting started. Now, where is that publish button….?
June 10th 2008
Posted under General Participaction News by admin
Hello and welcome to the new Participaction Newsletter powered by wordpress. Jane has kindly volunteered to take over running of the newsletter and will try to keep you all informed of the happenings at Stainsacre via these pages.
Anyone unfamiliar with wordpress will notice that in the right side bar is a menu containing links to the most recent items of news posted onto these pages. As time goes by the amount of information here will grow, then anyone wanting to look at the archives of past news can do so via the archive menu, also found in the right sidebar.
Hopefully that clears things up for a few of you. I hope you enjoy reading these pages and keeping up with the news from Participaction. Now its over to Jane…..
Best Regards - Glenn
May 13th 2008
Posted under Uncategorized by admin
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