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Monthly Archives: September 2008

Winner of the ‘Growing Veggies in an Unusual Container Competition’

29 Monday Sep 2008

Posted by gardeningworks in Children & Education

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Tags

competition, growing vegetables, recycleworks

Thank you to every one of our entrants in the Kids under 15 Growing Veggies in an Unusual Container Competition.Debbie was asked to decide the winner and she had a great time looking at all your original ideas.

We feature the winning entry here, which ingenuously uses an old tool box! A red one to boot! It all made a very colourful display & we congratulate Karen on growing some really healthy plants in such a small space. Well done!  You have the makings of a great allotment gardener! Eat your heart out Joe Swift!

 
We hope you love your prize and grow lots of fabulous things with it!
Sylvia x

Older People’s Day – 1st October 2008

29 Monday Sep 2008

Posted by gardeningworks in Sylvia's Thoughts

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Tags

full of life, older peoples day, pension

Full of Life Campaign

Full of Life Campaign

On our very early walk on Sunday morning we were enjoying watching some young deer, watching us, everyone keeping very still, when I noticed some plastic in the hedge. Thinking it was a grain bag that got away from the farmer I went to rescue it to find that it was a spent helium balloon wishing me a Happy 21st Birthday! Thankfully it was wrong. I really don’t want to be 21 again!

 
Do you know that it is ‘Older Peoples’ Day’ on 1st October? I bet you didn’t!! Well I didn’t either until I received a special invitation for the 1st October to a gathering in the name of Older People. I will tell you all about it next week, but it has got me thinking. When is old? It’s easy to grasp a number and say an age ‘and over’, but that must be the worst way to define ‘old’.
 
For me old people are those who drive at 15 miles an hour on winding roads where you cannot overtake, then speed up when the road goes straight again! They are the people who, when they have picked up their pension on pension day go into the supermarket and aggressively push their baskets round so that they conveniently crash everyone else out of the way!! Childish or what? I would love to hear your definition of old, and why you are NOT old so please drop me a line. I will drop you a line next week and tell you what my gathering of old people was like. I like a challenge to my age, so please offer them but please do not challenge me to a game of Rugby! I may not last after half time.
Sylvia x

Gorgeous Blackberry Jam Recipe

24 Wednesday Sep 2008

Posted by gardeningworks in Recipe Ideas

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Tags

blackberry, blackberry jam, blackberry jam recipe, jam recipe

Blackberry Jam (Recipe will make approx 3 jars)

Ingredients
•500g blackberries
•500g jam sugar
•Juice of half a lemon

•Chill a saucer or plate
•Wash all the blackberries and allow to drain
•Put the sugar, lemon juice and blackberries into a large saucepan and stir round a couple of times
•Dissolve the sugar over a low heat
•Bring to the boil and boil gently until the jam reaches setting point
•To test for this recipe, take a teaspoon of jam and place it on the chilled saucer. Leave for a minute and then push it with a teaspoon. If it creases on the surface its ready
•Cool the jam a little before putting into jars.
•Ideally the jars should be warm when the jam is added.
• Seal tightly and look forward to enjoying through the winter months or of course give to friends as presents!

We really do now have our very own ‘Delia’ at The Recycle Works as Charlotte is our cookery queen! We’ll have to keep coaxing her to give us more as it seems as though you love them!

What Can I Put in My Bokashi Composter?

23 Tuesday Sep 2008

Posted by gardeningworks in Composting, EM - Effective Microorganisms

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

bokashi, bokashi bran, kitchen composter, recycleworks

We often get asked by our customers exactly what can and cannot be put into their kitchen Bokashi Bins. With a Bokashi Composter you can compost food and vegetable scraps in the kitchen, without the fear of smells by using EM’s – Effective Microrganisms!

Every time you have scraps to throw, be it meat fish or vegetable, just open the lid and drop them in the Bokashi Bucket along with a ‘sprinkling’ of the Bokashi Bran and re-seal the lid.

When the bucket is full, leave for two weeks with the lid sealed and then either dig the resultant Bokashi into the garden or add to your compost heap. As the Bokashi is ‘composting’ in the Bokashi bucket, a nutrient rich liquor is produced which is collected by using the tap on the bucket every couple of days.

Dilute the liquor with water at 1:100 and use as plant feed throughout the home and garden.

However in answer to the question, basically, you can add any food waste – but not liquids or wet foods!

Apart form veg scraps, meat and fish you can also add bread, however don’t add things that have already started to go moldy. Tea bags are also fine, but let them drain off surplus liquid before adding. The liquid ‘aspect’ is very important, because if the contents of the bokashi bucket becomes too wet, the EM microbes will suffer and the contents will start to rot.

When the bucket is working properly, you will might start to see white mold growing on the contents and will have a distinctive vinegary smell. When you have left the contents to ferment for the 2 weeks when full, they will look very similar to when they went in and not like traditional compost! See below.

Bokashi Compost

Bokashi Compost

The scraps have been in this bucket for at least four months and as you can see, little has changed.  It is this fact that confuses some first time users of the bokashi system.  The contents have been preserved by the action of the lactic acid bacteria in the EM bran and at the same time they are being fermented by the other EMs. In other words, bokashi compost is completely different to traditional compost – it hasn’t heated up like a compost bin and so therefore no ‘energy’ has been lost to the atmosphere, meaning that it will all end up in the soil to be used by both the soil microbes and your plants.

When you dig it into the garden, it will disappear V rapidly, but do note, that as it is acidic, leave it for a few weeks before planting on top. You can also add it to a traditional compost bin, to boost it’s efficiency.

Hope that helps and a huge thank you to Simon for answering that very frequently asked question!

Sweet Runner Bean Chutney

22 Monday Sep 2008

Posted by gardeningworks in Recipe Ideas

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Tags

chutney, receipes, runner bean chutney

Runner beans

If you find yourself with some rather large runner beans, that are past their best for eating, this is a great recipe! You don’t need to use old beans – younger ones will do better, but it means you can make the most of your crop.

This is an excellent recipe that keeps really well and children will love it, I know as I grew up eating it!

It goes well with both hot and cold foods – and curries too!

Sweet Runner Bean Chutney

Ingredients:
2 lb. runner beans (when dry, trimmed and sliced)
1½ lb. onions (when chopped)
1 lb. Demerara sugar
1 lb. Soft brown sugar
2 heaped tablespoon cornflour
1 tablespoon turmeric
1 heaped tablespoon  mustard
1½ pints of vinegar

Method.

Chop the onions and cut the beans into smallish pieces.
Cook chopped onions in a pint of the vinegar until tender.
Meanwhile, cook sliced beans in well-salted water until tender.
Meanwhile, mix all the dry ingredients to smooth paste with the remaining vinegar.
Strain cooked beans, then add to vinegar & onions and cook for ten minutes.
Add sugar and rest of ingredients and simmer for a further fifteen minutes, so that the mixture thickens.
Bottle and cover.

Fried Green Tomatoes Recipe

18 Thursday Sep 2008

Posted by gardeningworks in Recipe Ideas

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

fried green tomatoes, fried green tomatoes recipe

Well Charlotte’s been busy putting together her recipes again so if you have a glut of green tomatoes this year, which is highly likely, why not try this recipe?

Fried Green Tomatoes

3 medium, firm green tomatoes
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs (beaten)
2/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs or cornmeal
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Cut unpeeled tomatoes into 1/2 inch slices. Sprinkle slices with salt and pepper. Let tomato slices stand for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, place flour, milk, eggs, and bread crumbs in separate shallow dishes.

Heat 2 Tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan on medium heat. Dip tomato slices in milk, then flour, then eggs, then bread crumbs. Fry half of the coated tomato slices at a time, for 4-6 minutes on each side or until brown. As you cook the rest of the tomatoes, add olive oil as needed. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

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