Lettuce, Garlic Parsley & Soup

An unexpected way to grow lettuce for the table, planting garlic and a few onions, an observation about parsley and I’ve been making loads of soup.

Lollo Rosso growing in Bustaseed modules in the Polytunnel

A few weeks back I planted out some lettuce in the polytunnel’s centre bed. Quite late, especially for the varieties I had to hand, but what’s to lose by trying? If the winter is mild they’ll be OK and if a very cold spell approaches, the chickens get a treat.

Anyway, I’d sown into Bustaseed modules, thinning to one plant per module. I found myself with some plants over. I could have overcrowded the bed but in a humid, cool polytunnel, overcrowding is bound to give problems with moulds.

One of the benefits of the Bustaseed system is that you can easily take a plant out of a module and pop it back into a different module. Without any root damage, unlike standard modular systems. Don’t forget I’ve currently got a discount code for Bustaseed JHAG10

I put them into a chequerboard pattern with a space by each plant each way. – Imagine just the black squares on the board have a plant. This allowed more leaf space per plant. I thought to plant them out later but as things turned out we’ve just been harvesting from the modules.They’re small plants, of course, but one or two provide enough for the base of a fresh salad. Beginning to wonder if I should have bothered planting any out!

Garlic & Onions

Marshalls pre-rooted garlic sets – photo Marshalls

Marshalls kindly sent me a pack of a dozen each of pre-rooted Rhapsody Wight garlic cloves and pre-rooted Radar onion sets. The advantage of pre-rooting is that the plants establish very quickly.

Rhapsody Wight is an early garlic. Originating from south-west France this garlic produces large bulbs that lift themselves up out of the ground as they swell. The bulbs are mottled with deep purple streaks.

Radar is a top performing, very hardy over-wintering onion. Autumn planted onions harvest earlier than spring planted. It yields well, producing mild tasting onions from late May onwards. Radar has good resistance to bolting and stores well.

I’ve often started garlic in pots to get them off to a good start. Usually in January when I’ve cloves that should have gone into the ground in November. It works well as a method of catching up.

I also bought 50 Solent Wight garlic cloves, 30 of which have gone in the same bed. I’m going to try the remaining in the polytunnel to see if the shelter and extra warmth helps produce earlier and better garlic than outside.

Parsley

Parsley growing in soil under the Bay Tree

Parsley is a powerhouse of nutrients, especially rich in vitamins K, C, and A, and provides beneficial antioxidants and minerals in a low-calorie package. It’s a great addition to the diet for boosting nutrition with minimal calories. Sadly it’s a herb that seems to have dropped out of popularity. Traditional parsley sauce or parsley as a garnish on the plate used to be the norm but no longer.

Parsley can be grown in pots both indoors and outdoors but I’ve noticed how the pot plants don’t last a long time although planted in the ground, parsley grows through until it bolts in its second year.

I’ve come to the conclusion parsley must be a hungry plant and exhausts the nutrients in a pot quite quickly.

Soups

With a reasonable tin of soup costing a pound or more, and that’s on offer, producing your own soup makes financial sense. Another good reason is home-made soup can use up veggies that need to be used quickly. To illustrate, potatoes or tomatoes exposed to blight at risk of rotting make perfectly fine soup. To clarify, that’s before they start, of course!
But above all, your own soup is your soup. Take a recipe and alter it, or not, as you prefer. I guarantee it tastes better than you can buy and it’s probably going to be healthier too.

Finally, being on a bit of a diet, I’m replacing a meal with a bowl of soup most days. Something filling and satisfying, high in nutrients but low in calories. Talking of nutrients, one ingredient I’m adding to my soups is a goodly amount of parsley. Not for the flavour, although I do like parsley, but because of the vitamins and minerals in parsley.

It doesn’t take much longer or much more energy to make a large batch at a time. Once made, the additional portions get put into ex-takeaway containers and frozen.

I’ve been spending the rainy days making three soups.

Potato Soup

I found myself with some potatoes that I wasn’t happy about putting back into store after some had rotted in the sack. They were getting white mould appearing on the skin so I thought it was use them or lose them.
It doesn’t sound the most exciting soup but trust me, it’s good. Basic recipe here: Potato Soup

Tomato & Lentil Soup

The thing about this variant on tomato soup is the lentils add protein. I’m losing weight and don’t want to lose muscle mass, so keeping up on my protein intake. Secondly, it’s more filling and satisfying than an ordinary tomato soup. Basic recipe here: Tomato & Lentil Soup

Leek & Potato Soup with Stilton

This is a soup we love and so does my skinny as a rake grandson. I like that it uses up the top of the leek just above the blanching line where the leaves start to open. Otherwise they’d just go into the compost. With the Stilton, it doesn’t mind the rind. Incidentally, the soup works well with a good sharp cheddar instead of Stilton.

Leek & Potato Soup with Stilton