Processing and Storing

Last year was a bit of an experiment on my plot, plus I had to dig it over completely to get anything started. This year I've seen more of a normal turn of the seasons and seen my plan of crop rotation work in practice. Of course not all of being an allotment holder is about working on the plot, it's also about eating and processing everything that we grow! This year I've really had to think more about this as I'm experiencing the gluts of one type of fruit and veg coming thick and fast. From trying to imaginatively come up with ideas for storing courgettes to picking and bagging endless batches of peas, there are means and methods of storing this fresh bounty for the cold winter months. I'm really excited about opening up a bag of tiny fingernail sized broad beans to make pasta with feta when it's cold and bleak outside, or making a raspberry sponge pudding. Making such things seems like a ray of sunshine when the memory of summer has long since passed.

My mother has been nagging me constantly about using up all my tomatoes, and she has a point, I will be kicking myself if I didn't when I use up the last batch of sauce for pasta. Really, I think there is not a more beautiful sight than these plump plum and cherry tomatoes sauteing in garlic!