The Good Life?…

I visited home this weekend and was pleasantly surprised by my sister’s allotment and the amount she has managed to harvest from it of late.

This got me thinking, why do more people not do this local Council’s often have plots available at a very reasonable price? She gave me baby pak choi, strawberries, shallots, beetroot, round carrots and curly kale but is currently also growing/has recently harvested courgettes, brussel sprouts, broccoli, lettuce, raspberries, rocket, French beans, peas, gooseberries, blackcurrants, cauliflowers, sweet potatoes, celeriac, red cabbage and rhubarb as well as an assortment of fresh herbs.

People think having an allotment is a time consuming exercise but, whilst it can be somewhat addictive, she has 3 young children and still manages to grow and harvest all of the above. In fact, she cites some of the main reasons for having the allotment as drumming up the children’s interest in veg, keeping their intake at least partially organic, getting them even more active and saving money in the process.

So when it comes down ‘brass tax’, unless it’s a large plot, you will not be entirely ‘veg self-sufficient’ off of it but you will get amazing produce all year round to supplement your diet and, flavour wise, there is nothing like it.

An example of the cost of the upkeep of an allotment is, with my sister’s plot for example, £60 to the Council per year, £30 for seeds etc, a small amount for materials (although you can scavenge most/improvise) meaning a total yearly cost of around £100. For the amount of fruit and veg you will get in that year together with the enjoyment of growing your own produce, you can’t say fairer than that.

 

TVL

Rhubarb and almond muffins

You’ve had the savoury muffins, now try these sweet muffin with a sharp bite and a delicious filling!

Ingredients

• 200g fresh rhubarb (chopped)
• 2 tbsp water
• 1 tsp lemon zest (grated)
• 4 tbsp caster sugar
• 375g plain flour
• Salt (just a pinch)
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 125g brown sugar
• 100g unsalted butter (melted)
• 250ml milk
• 100g almonds
• 1 egg (lightly beaten)

Recipe

1. Prepare all of the ingredients and set aside.

2. Preheat your oven to 200C and grease a muffin tin (preferably a 12 cup tin).

3. Combine the fresh rhubarb, water, lemon zest and caster sugar into a pan and cook on a gentle heat for around 5 minutes until the rhubarb is soft. Set this aside. If there is any syrup left at the bottom of the pan after the mixture is used later in cooking, this can be used as a reduction on top of the muffins when they cooled.

4. Combine the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder into a bowl, mix well and set aside.

5. Combine the butter, milk and egg in a separate bowl with an electric whisk then stir in the dry contents of the other bowl until the ingredients are nearly combined then stir in the almonds.

6. Quickly spoon a little mixture into the bottom of the muffin tin then add the cooled rhubarb mixture then add the remainder of the mixture on top of the rhubarb mixture (this will create a rhubarb pocket in the middle of the muffins).

7. Put the muffin tin in the oven for around 20 minutes.

8. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing from the muffin tin and allowing to cool.

9. Top with the reduction (if there is any left over after using the rhubarb mixture!).

10. Serve and enjoy!

 

TVL