Fresh food

I remember one December in about 1949? a parcel arrived in the post. As we lived a long way from relatives we thought it was a Christmas present posted early. It was, but written on it was DO NOT LEAVE UNTIL CHRISTMAS DAY.
Inside was a bunch of bananas! The first I had ever seen.

Callistemon I grow peppers and chillies outside here during the summer, but we are very south in the UK.

I think it's me Jaxjacky

We grow lots of other fruit and veg successfully. This year I sent for seeds and they were not very good, few germinated out of any.
One pepper only germinated so I grew more from seeds from inside a red pepper.
Pathetic plants and measly little peppers which didn't turn red but went soft despite receiving tlc.

We have had mediocre success this year, decent sized peppers and chillies, lovely batch of carrots, complete failure with cauliflowers and more tomatoes than a supermarket along with an abundance of fruit from our small apple tree.

There were so many tomatoes that we treated all the neighbours and the rest were frozen, tomato puree, tomato and apple chutney (ideal for tomato bread) and many packs of sliced green tomatoes, ideal for frying.

Apples again were distributed to about a dozen neighbours who had about a 5lb bag each. Apples also sliced or pureed and frozen along with about 60lbs sent to the local apple juice and cider community project.

Callistemon aren’t you in Wales? I am, and grow a lot myself, but peppers, chili’s and courgettes were really poor this year, I think our rainfall and number of very grey days this summer were to blame, because I haven’t had the same problems in previous years. My Dad is in the East Midlands, and his were fine.

Which comedian was it who made a joke about one household being so posh they had fresh fruit even when no one was ill?!!

I do tend to stick to seasonal fruit and vegetables but I do love blueberries on my porridge.

We ought to form a grow your own group and see what we can get next year.

Those with allotments are gardens big enough are laughing, but others are more limited in the availability of growing space.

I have a couple of garden Trugs and pots of all sizes, plus a greenhouse, and started to grow my own at the end of July

At the moment I am picking, winter lettuce, carrots, spinach, chard, basil, matzuma, mustard. Just finished the beetroot.

Growing I have onions, shallots, winter cabbage, garlic, spring onions and parsley.

I’m getting ready for the new sowing season and have the heated propagator ready for the first week in January, although a warm light warm would be fine.
This week I planted 10:strawberry slips into their pots.

I might start a new thread?

Good for you WWM2. If you have a salad sprouter or make your own from a couple of jars you can sprout all sorts of seeds including beetroot, spinach etc and then use them as micro greens.

If we keep shipping food stuff in from all over the world then it is not environmentally friendly. I’m surprised none of the Green Party and climate change groups have not flagged this up.

Different times in the 50s. I remember the excitement of crumpets arriving in the bakers in Autumn , hot cross buns and Easter eggs only at Easter. I also remember my first yogurt, pepper, artichoke and curry.

So nice now to be able to get what we want, in particular cabbage not boiled to pap and endless suet, which we had at school.

Naturally it is better for us all and the environment to eat seasonal food, but not à la 50s please.

We always had a salad on Christmas day, decorated with slices of hard-boiled egg, to go with the cold meat and chicken in the evening, and as a huge treat, Heinz tinned vegetable salad, my absolute favourite.
Always plenty of bottled fruit, from Kilner jars.

I remember my mother's yummy bottled raspberries, which we ate cold in winter with hot Bird's custard.

We've only got leeks, three parsnips and my unsprouting broccoli left in the ground now.
What was left of the beetroot were pickled last week, the last of the carrots were a bit mangey.

DH wanted to manure the ground.

Micro greens are a good idea. I must investigate.

Casdon

Callistemon aren’t you in Wales? I am, and grow a lot myself, but peppers, chili’s and courgettes were really poor this year, I think our rainfall and number of very grey days this summer were to blame, because I haven’t had the same problems in previous years. My Dad is in the East Midlands, and his were fine.

Yes, I am, Casdon
The courgettes were fine, I think because DH manured the ground, but the peppers were hopeless and the tomatoes suffered too, the stalks died off, perhaps due to the damp. We did get quite a lot then suddenly none.
I've never grown chillies, not being a great fan of chilli.

My tomatoes suffered the same fate, blight got them because there was too much rain.

GagaJo Thank you for suggesting I use my perpetual spinach in a smoothie. I'll have a go after Christmas when I'm sure I'll be in need of a detox!

Rainbow chard is easy to grow (and pretty) and still growing strong here. The frost might get it soon, but it self seeds and is back every year.

I grow spring onions in a window box inside the conservatory.

These days, I mainly just harvest the tops as salad greens. My Turkish friend was surprised to see me digging out some bulbs, as they just cut the tops.

As a very Oldie, I remember wartime (and pre-war) food. It was much more flavoursome and had more nutrients. Successive editions of McCance and Widdowson (the nutritionists' Bible) have shown less vitamin and mineral content. This is because of intense use of the soil. If you have some garden which has not grown vegetables before, dig up your lawn and plant some!