Food ‘n Drink

We’re currently down at my parents house looking after the house and the garden whilst my parents are away in Canada (lucky sods!). Their vegetable garden is about 4 times the size of our whole garden, and that’s just down the side of the house where my Dad does all his growing. The backgarden that’s more for flowers is probably another 4 times the size! Bearing in mind they have a normal size garden, the side stretch is because they’re on the edge of the ‘close’ they live in, it will give you an idea of how small our garden is!

So I’ve got the task of looking after the whole garden, making sure it’s well watered (not a problem at present with the current daily rainfall!), keeping the plants in order, weeding (well I offered to do that!) etc. However the small work comes with big benefits. The joy of being able to walk outdoors and pick fresh food instantly. In season right now and at my fingertips I have

• Strawberries
• Gooseberries
• Blackcurrants
• Lettuce
• Radish
• Rocket
• Spinach
• Potatoes
• Cabbage
• Red Onions
• Garlic
• Shallots
• Sping Onions

… and Peas! Peas are fantastic when fresh. They don’t need anything doing to them, just eat them raw. I pity anyone who’s never eaten freshly picked peas. The sweetness and the mild crunch in a fresh raw pea is amazing. Plenty of people eat peas but usually boiled from frozen. Which I’m all for too. The Pea is one of those vegetables that will go starchy and mealy within hours of being picked, similar to Asparagus. This is why frozen pea producers such as Birds Eye boast how their peas are frozen within 2 hours of being picked. They have to be. Last year my Dad gave me a bag of peas one day when we were leaving theirs to go home. I didn’t get around to dealing with the peas a day or so later and after podding about half the bag I then decided to try a couple and literally spat them out. They were horrible. The starch had set in and the sweetness had gone.

My Dad’s always grown peas and now I realise I was very lucky as a child to have access to the delights of fresh peas, along with everything else he grew and continues to grow today.

So what else is in his garden? Still growing:

• Pears
• Damsons
• Raspberries
• Nectarines
• Figs
• Carrots
• Sweetcorn
• Broccoli
• Runner Beans
• Tomatoes

I’ll grab some shots when it decides to stop raining so you can see the garden. Gotta say, I’d love a garden of this size!!