Plot holders contributions

This recipe is taken from Mrs. Beeton’s “All about Cookery” with the appendage “rich”. The amount of sugar required is determined by the amount of juice obtained from the redcurrants: 1¼ lb of sugar to each pint or very conveniently, 1 Kg to each litre. A mushroom tray of redcurrants produced just over 2 pints of juice making 6 jars of jelly. Jam sugar is available in Waitrose in 1Kg bags.

Ingredients
• Redcurrants
• Jam sugar
Method
Remove the leaves and only the larger stems. Place the cleaned fruit in a preserving pan, without any water, and heat very gently until the currants are softened and well cooked (about 45 minutes). Mash, then strain through a scalded jelly bag, leaving it to drip undisturbed. Measure the juice into the cleaned pan. Add 1¼lb of sugar to each pint of juice. bring to the boil, stirring constantly, and boil, without stirring, for 1 minute. Swiftly skim the jelly and immediately pour it into warmed jars, before it has a chance to set in the pan.
Tip
This recipe produces a firm set jelly, perfect for adding sweetness and flavour to gravies, especially for lamb.

Harvest crops as they are ready, and water in dry weather. A good weekly soak is much better than little and often, except for tomatoes and cucumbers which need to be kept moist at all times. Cucumbers are the one crop that benefit from the leaves being watered over. Finish cutting back summer fruiting raspberries. Cut back blackcurrants after fruiting. Strawberry runners can be planted in pots in situ: once they have rooted they can be cut from the main plant and planted out to form new plants. Strawberry plants need to be renewed every three years to ensure fruit is maximised. Watch out for caterpillars on brassicas from now on.

Keep hoeing and keep harvesting crops as they mature. Shallots and garlic should be lifted and stored. If growing cordon tomatoes, remove side shoots that emerge between the stem and leaf stem. Cut down to ground level summer fruiting raspberries that have finished fruiting. Runner beans should flower this month, water when beans have set. Onions should be starting to die down this month: allow the stems to bend over at the neck and let them die off. Then you can lift the onions, but make sure they dry off before storing them. Sow spring cabbage and turnips, according to vendor’s instructions, for winter use. Finish pulling rhubarb

Keep plot weed free by hoeing or hand weeding. Harvest crops when ready.
Finish planting out from the seed bed. Plant out all the greenhouse grown plants as frosts have now finished. Water as required, avoiding watering over plants in bright sunlight. Do not water over the leaves of courgettes/marrows as this will encourage mildew. Early potatoes are ready as soon as they are in bloom – but not all varieties bloom! Spray against potato blight and repeat at two week intervals.

Introduction

Elderflower cordial mixed with plain or fizzy water makes a very refreshing Summer drink. Alternatively, it can be used to flavour ice cream. The strength and sweetness can always be adjusted when it is used, so the exact mix of ingredients is not important. Those listed here are chosen to match the packs of citric acid available at the Henley Pharmacy, Bell Street. Wax free lemons are available in packs of 4 at Waitrose.
The hedgerows are full of elderflower blossom in June, but pick on a warm sunny afternoon when the flowers are rich in pollen and aroma. Choose heads that are fully open but reject any that have brown flowers. Also better to choose a site away from main road pollution.
The bottles I have are stone-like ex-Brakspear Christmas beer bottles with a corona type stopper (swing top). If you are fussy, sterilize the bottles before using.

Ingredients

• 30 medium elderflower heads
• 1 Kg sugar (granulated or caster)
• 1.5 litres water
• 4 wax free lemons
• 55 grams citric acid

Method

Place the sugar and citric acid in a pan large enough to contain all ingredients. Add some of the water, heat and stir until dissolved. Add the remainder of the water and set aside to cool.
Thinly peel the rind of the lemons using a potato peeler. Slice the remaining parts, discarding the ends.
Check the elderflower heads and remove any insects and the thickest stems. Add the heads to the cooling liquid, then add the lemon rind and slices and push down until covered, Cover the pan and set aside in a cool place for 48 hours.
Filter through a fine muslin bag and bottle the cordial using a funnel.

Storage

The cordial can be kept in sealed bottles in a cool dark place for a month or so, but does not have enough sugar for longer storage. Once opened, the bottle should be kept in a refrigerator. If plastic bottles are used these can be kept in a freezer.

Potatoes will need earthing up when about 9-12 inches tall. Pea support should be put in place. About the middle of the month, direct sowing of runner beans, French beans, and sweetcorn can be made. Successional sowing of peas, beetroot, lettuce and spinach can be made. Keep checking the seed bed, and when sufficiently advanced, plants may be put in their final position. Check strawberries and remove any runners, and put straw or matting in place to keep the fruit off the ground. Net when the fruit has set. Thin out parsnips.

Plant maincrop potatoes, bearing in mind that they are not frost hardy and will benefit from being protected by frost when they have sprouted above ground. Any delayed sowings should be made now, e.g. parsnips, which require a ground temperature of 9 degrees before they will germinate. Keep the seed bed weed free. In the greenhouse, around the middle of the month, sow marrow, courgettes, cucumbers for outdoors and outdoor tomatoes, but in all cases check seed packet notes. Prick out the African marigolds into trays, also the celery. Runner beans and dwarf beans may be sown in pots for planting out later after frosts have finished. Sweetcorn can be sown in pots for planting out. Rhubarb may be ready.

Around the middle of the month, plant first early potatoes, second earlies being planted at the end of the month. The seed bed may be sown around the middle of the month if conditions permit. This includes cabbage, sprouts, broccoli, leeks. Sow in their final growing positions peas, broad beans, onions, radish, parsley, parsnips, spinach, swedes, turnips, beetroots, carrots. Carrots will need protecting from carrot root fly by either a tall barrier around them, or by covering with a mesh tunnel. Both need leaving in position until autumn. In a greenhouse, sow celery and African marigolds for companion planting with brassicas to reduce whitefly in summer. Cut down autumn-fruiting raspberries when new growth appears.

Prepare ground for seed bed. Remove any weeds from autumn-dug ground. Plant shallots and garlic. Early peas may be sown under cloches or fleece. Prune gooseberries, red and white currants. Towards the end of the month, top-dress around spring greens, gooseberries, and rhubarb if not mulched. Plant rhubarb – give it two to three weeks exposure out of the soil if you are moving it.

Continue winter digging if conditions permit. Purchase seed potatoes and set them to chit in trays in a light, frost-free position. Order seeds if not done in the autumn. At the end of the month, plant winter broad beans. If rhubarb has become spindly, dig up and replant next month.