Piri-piri cauliflower with lemon-parsley cous cous
I have an abundance of parsley. When I say an abundance, I could literally have picked about 80 bunches this size! I am planning to freeze alot for use within the winter months, but I thought it was time to start adding large quantities to most meals for the next month! I had planned to serve this with halloumi, but I forgot to get it out of the freezer!
Piri piri cauliflower with lemon-parsley cous cous 
One of 80 possible bunches of parsley!
Growing to avoid Leek Moth
Leek Moth is a pest that has, only quite recently, reached Britain from Europe. Over the last few years the pest has been moving North throughout the UK. Leek moth damage was first seen on our allotments in Manchester 2017 where it devastated crops for many plotholders including ourselves!
In this video I discuss the biology of the Leek moth and how we use environmesh and pheromone traps to avoid leek moth damage.In this video I discuss how we use enviromesh and pheromone traps to avoid Leek Moth. Creamy Garlic Courgette & Cucumber Soup
Courgette and Cucumber may not be your first thought when thinking about making soup, but they have a great texture and absorb other flavours well.
Recycling to make some signs
I recently acquired a trim router as I had been looking at making some signs.
I had two types of wood, both recycled, one was a disassembled pine bread bin recovered from a skip and the other was some oak flooring planks that our neighbours were replacing.
First of all I printed out the text I wanted. 
Then transferred it to the wood using carbon paper. 
Like so. 
This was then routed out. 
The sign was then cut to size. The 24 is on old oak flooring. 
Painted Black. 
Surface sanded… 
and varnished
I realised why I was struggling to see the lines when routing. I now know to keep the “window” of the router facing me so I can see what’s going on at the cutter.
Not bad for a first attempt, maybe a bit rustic, but that gives them a bit of charm. More practice needed.
Online communities to share recipes
We can all pick up a cook book or google a recipe, but there is something nice about finding (and sharing) those prized ideas that work for real people. Groups that share recipes online are everywhere. In many respects there are just too many to choose from!
Here are my top five Facebook groups where you can share your wonderful home cooking recipes.September tour of the plot
After quite a stressful week it was great to get down to the plot! The second crops we started in July are doing well. September is still peak cropping time for us so it is very busy. In this video we give a full tour of all three plots.
We take a tour around our allotment plots at the beginning of September looking at what crops have done well and what hasn’t. Chilli & Garlic Jam
Yesterday I recieved a lovely email from a fellow plotholder who had been sampling one of my preserves.
Obviously I replied with the recipe, but after posting on our Facebook group I had further requests to share the details.
A Cauliflower shortage? Cauliflower ‘steaks’ for dinner it is!
According to the BBC, Britain is experiencing a shortage of cauliflower due to extreme weather. “Heavy rainfall in June destroyed crops in Lincolnshire, and alternative European supplies wilted in July’s heatwave”
I have to say my cauliflowers have been very slow this year. The plants themselves looked well, but not much was happening in the development of the curds themselves. Then this weekend this beauty appeared (no, I mean the cauliflower…)
For dinner we cooked up a roasted cauliflower ‘steak’ with courgette, tomato & garlic cous cous and our fiery hot sauce as a dressing and roasted cashew nuts.a perfect specimen Potato croquettes
Mash potatoes often don’t freeze too well, but these simple croquettes will! Mash potato (allotment grown of course), butter, bit of cheese then shaped, rolled in breadcrumbs and baked. Batch make and cook from frozen!
Garlic storage
This year we had a great crop of garlic. Here I demonstrate how I have prepared my garlic for storage, using tights! Yes, ladies hosiery! Breathable to ensure the crop doesn’t rot, cheap and recycle those tights that have ladders in! Win win!
How to store garlic in tights!