Sunshine Pickle

Just a short post to record this morning's irony. I made a batch of courgette pickle using yellow courgettes and orange peppers which I thought would make a lovely sunshiney pickle redolent of summer. The very moment I got the preserve pan out of the cupboard the heavens cracked and rain commenced bouncing down in stair-rods together with a mighty wind that rattled the fences in a manner which made me fear for the rotting fence posts.

I have to admit it gave me pause, just in case it was a divine opinion on my pickle vision or something. Hopefully, the almighty is a bit too busy to take an interest in the minutiae of my preserve recipes and I haven't damaged my immortal soul by pressing on and making it anyway.

It's very pretty by the way.

(and yes, we did have a good time on holiday. Thanks for asking)

..... is for Cucumber.

Here's Xanthe's cucumber helpfully teaching her the alphabet. I'm not sure that teaching via vegetables is the way to go though, as it appears to have glossed right over A and B.

Did anyone else tell that silly story as a child, you know, the one that goes "It was a dark, dark night, in a dark, dark house ...." I've adapted it slightly for the allotment, "It was a hard, hard plot, with hard, hard soil in a hard, hard year, watered with hard, hard water by a gardener with hard, hard hands and a hard, hard heart" (all true apart from the heart business)

Our woes have been added to with the discovery that our carrots weren't eaten by carrot fly but by wire worm. A neighbouring plot has lost potatoes to the same pest. Apparently they have a three year life cycle so it could be 3 years before we can successfully grow root vegetables.

However, it's not all bleak. Today I harvested the remainder of our broad beans, we've had about 10 kilos in total so I think that can count as a successful crop. The courgettes and rainbow chard are also cropping well at the moment and the pumpkins, borlotti beans and cavolo nero are coming along nicely too. I am a tad concerned that the sweetcorn isn't growing as quickly as I'd like but fingers crossed.

The courgettes are doing so well that I've been able to kick off the 2010 preserving season with my first batch of courgette pickle (below), hopefully there'll be a few more to come. I've got an exhaustive wish list for this year's preserves, more of which anon but suffice to say I've got my eye on the Rowan berries next .......

Courgette Pickle

By which, I don't mean the pickle my courgettes in the garden are in, more courgettes in a literal jar of vinegar! This recipe comes from a little booklet I bought from a WI Market called "Jams and Preserves Old and New", published by Norfolk WI. I've amended it slightly in that the original used volume measurements rather than weight so I've converted it and adjusted the seasoning ever so slightly.




Courgette Pickle.

Approx 1.4 kg courgettes, thinly sliced
2 small onions, thinly sliced
1 red pepper, de-seeded and thinly sliced
2oz salt
16fl oz red wine vinegar
1lb sugar
2 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp turmeric
2 or 3 tsp mustard seed

Layer the vegetables and salt, cover with cold water and leave for 2hrs.
Drain and rinse the veg.
Bring the vinegar, sugar and spices to the boil, add the veg, remove from the heat and leave for 2hrs.
Bring back to the boil and cook for 5 mins. Spoon into hot jars and seal with non reactive lids.

It's hard to say exactly what the yield is (original recipe doesn't give one) as my odd ball collection of recycled jars has hugely varying sizes but I'd guess about 5lbs.

The recipe says it's ready after 2 days, I've tasted a little just now and it gorgeous already. Got a burger relish kind of taste to it. I've still got some courgettes left so may make another batch!

Oh, and one major drawback of a kitchen full of fruit and sugar - wasps! They won't leave us alone!