Many years ago I was given a salad sprouter and every year I bring it out just after Christmas and sow several tyoes of seed in layers. Almost anything will work ,mustard and cress are the obvious ones of course but over the years I have produced our own bean sprouts ,pea shoots which are wonderfulat this time of uear when there is so little fresh food available. Radish, beetroot, alf alfa, Brussels sptout, cabbage and spinach are all suitable for this and you do not need to but a sprouter to grow them.
Find a large jam jar and cut out a piece of muslin to use as a cover. Sprinkle some of your chosen seed in the jar and half fill with tepid water secure the muslin with a rubber band and leave overnight to soak. Next morning empty out the water rinse the seed well and place in a dimly lit area. Each day half fill the jar with water and empty at once, this prevents the seed from becoming mouldy. I a few days the seed will have sprouted sufficiently to be used in salads or on a sandwich, the fresh taste is wonderful.
Leaving the seeds a little longer and in a well lit area will produce a sprout with a larger leaf and these look very pretty on a salad or as a garnish, they are expensive to buy ,when you can find them but cost so little to produce that it is well worth the little trouble it takes to grow them.
Within the next day or so I shall sow the first of the outdoor salad plants,radish seed is quite robust I find and the sharp taste and juicy crunch make all the difference to a spring salad.
Perpetual spinach is another stalwart, sown in March the first young leaves are a welcome addition to the salad bowl and the later leaves are tasty served as a green vegetable. Leisurely breakfasts are a feature of our off week and Eggs Florentine is a favourite when time allows. Fresh spinach is a must for this dish so I keep us well supplied.
Perpetual spinach is not truly perpetual at all but it is a biennial and tends not to bolt as do most other varueties. Over winter it will die back if there are hard frosts but as soon as the warm weather returns it sprouts again giving an early crop of tasty leaves that should last until the new sowing is ready for use.
Resolved to finish the front garden this week I mean to have at least an hour a day out side it the weather permits and then its on to the strawberry bed with needs a good weeding and plenty of chicken manure pellets before the crowns get too large. Should the strawberry crop ever fail I fear that I should have to flee the country, the boys monitor the stock of strawberry jam during the winter months alike an astronaut monitor the level of oxygen, I kid you not!
Once again the lovely Twiggy spent the day disporting herself about the gardens, chasing bumble bees was today's game;a hazardous occupation which if continued can I fear end only one way! Ow wonderful to drink tea in the garden for the first time this year,I am sure that it tastes quite different drunk out of doors and is more fragrant.
Dinner tonight was a quick meal consisting of twice baked cheese soufflé, fried haloumi
served with crisp panchetta, blackberry sauce a salad of sprouts and of course fresh crusty bread made this morning. Celebrating the beginning of our holiday week with a cheese meal has become a bit of a tradition, it is light and easy to digest when my son is tired from a week of nights.
Now he is taking a bath and soon he will be in bed with a hot drink and with any amount of good fortune so will I,it all depends upon Pa who does tend to dawdle in the evenings. Whatever happens nothing can spoil the first day of the holidays and with the whole week stretching away in front of me anything is possible.
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