Author Archives: badas

AUTHOR DAVE GOULSON IS SPEAKING AT BRIDLIT ON FRIDAY NOV 12 – OF INTEREST TO ALLOTMENTEERS!

Member Tristan Allsop recommends a book called Silent Earth* by Dave Goulson (who is speaking at BridLit on Friday Nov 12) about the catastrophic decline in insect populations across the globe.  He spends a couple of pages writing about and singing the praises of allotments, and I wondered if members may be interested in what he has to say:

From Silent Earth* by Dave Goulson

I think there are better ways to grow food and I would argue that farming could learn something from allotments. Allotments typically have lots of different crops grown in small patches, and often look quite messy. You might think that an unpromising model for what food production could look like, but let me tell you a little more about them.

First, a recent study from Bristol University, based on data collected from around the UK, found that allotments had the highest insect diversity of any urban habitat – higher than gardens, cemeteries or city parks, higher even than city nature reserves. Allotments teem with life, probably a result of their higgledy-piggledy nature, with a huge diversity of crops and flowers being grown, some fallow and weedy plots, old decaying sheds, fruit trees and currant bushes, compost heaps, occasional ponds and more. This is also helped by the generally low use of pesticides: Beth Nicholls, who was previously involved in the studies of pesticides in bee food described in Chapter 7, has more recently been surveying pesticide use on allotments near Brighton, and found that most use few or no pesticides. When growing food for our personal consumption or to feed our kids, most of us are much more sparing in the use of pesticides than any conventional farm.

Secondly, Beth has also been working with allotmenters to collect information on the productivity of allotments, and the results are astonishing. Many produce the equivalent of 20 tons of food per hectare (a typical allotment is one-fortieth of a hectare), with a few producing the equivalent of 35 tons or more. This compares very favourably to the main arable farm­land crops in the UK, wheat and oilseed rape, which produce about 8 and 3.5 tons per hectare respectively (much of this going to animal feed or to produce the heavily processed foods that help make us fat). Bear in mind also that the allotment produce is negligible food miles, zero packaging, healthy fruit and veg, often produced with minimal chemical inputs.

Thirdly, research has found that allotment soils tend to be healthier than farmland soils, with more worms and higher organic carbon content, helping to tackle climate change.

Fourthly, a study in the Netherlands found that allotmenters tend to be healthier than neighbours without allotments, par­ticularly in old age. The researchers could not discern whether this was due to the consumption of fresh fruit and veg, the exercise gained from allotmenting, or perhaps the social benefits of having an allotment. Given the abundant evidence that being active, outdoors and in green space is good for us both in terms of mental and physical health, this result is not surprising.

To summarise, allotments seem able to produce lots of food, support high biodiversity, have healthy soil, and make people healthier. This seems like a win-win-win-win situation. Clearly there does not have to be a trade-off between food production and looking after nature.

Click here for more information!

*Goulson, D., 2021. Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse. London, United Kingdom: Vintage Publishing.

 

 

PUMPKIN PIE

Pumpkin Pie
Forgive the imperial measurements! I have had this recipe for a long time!
This recipe is different to the traditional American Pumpkin Pie with cream and spices but makes the pumpkin incredibly light and fruity.

8 ounces shortcrust pastry
8 ounces mashed cooked pumpkin (1 pound raw pumpkin, cubed, cook for 15 mins, drain well)
4 ounces soft brown sugar
1 tablespoon honey
Grated rind and juice of lemon
Grated rind and juice of orange
2 eggs (well beaten)

Heat the oven to 190 C
Line a large pie dish with pastry
Stir sugar, honey, fruit juices and rinds into the cooked, drained pumpkin
Add the beaten eggs, mix well and pour mix into pastry case.
Bake for 45 to 55 minutes.
Best eaten luke-warm or cold.

 

Recipe and images courtesy of Mandy Rathbone

Click here to download the recipe Download

 

 

2021 BBQ held at the BADAS Hub Skilling

 

MARCH

  • Lift leeks to make room for new plantings. If you don’t want to eat them all now, heel them in as a bunch at the edge of the bed to keep them fresh for a bit longer.
  • Prepare empty beds, as soon as the soil is dry enough to work, adding well rotted manure, compost, seaweed or blood fish and bone, depending on what you intend to grow.
  • Plant early and salad potatoes from the middle of the month (unless the weather is particularly cold).
  • It’s the last chance to plant bare-rooted fruit trees,canes and bushes-they need to go in before buds start to break. Don’t let the roots dry out before you get them in.
  • Start sowing- from mid-month, weather permitting,peas,broad beans,parsnips and salad into prepared beds.
  • Plant onion sets when ground temperature reaches 7’C
  • Wash pots and trays ready for the season. This ,tho tiresome, is worth doing to prevent disease passing from one year to the next and gets rid of bugs and mould spores lurking in bits of old compost.

CARROT SOUP (courtesy of Lidl)

Cooking time 40mins

INGREDIENTS:-

1kg carrots, peeled and chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
10g butter
1tbsp runny honey
1 onion, chopped
1 leek, chopped
2 sticks celery, chopped
1Ltr chicken stock
500ml water
Olive oil
1/2 lemon, juice only
Salt and black pepper

To serve:-

100ml double cream, creme fraiche or yogurt
100g mixed seeds

 

METHOD:-

1) In a frying pan, sauté the carrots and garlic in the butter and a dash of olive oil for 5-10mins until starting to caramelise.

2) Add the honey and cook for another 5mins until the carrots are glazed and the pan is nearly dry.

3) Sweat the onion, leek and celery until very soft, with a little olive oil in a large saucepan.

4) Add chicken stock, water and glazed carrots to the saucepan and simmer for 20mins

5) Blend until smooth and season to taste with salt, pepper and the lemon juice before reheating.

6) Serve in bowls swirling in some cream, creme fraiche or yogurt and topping with
Seeds

Download the recipe here! Download

BAKED CELERIAC GRATIN


This can be a main dish or side. Cooking time 45mins at 180`C/350`F/Gas mark 4
30/20cm ovenproof dish.

INGREDIENTS:-

500ml double cream
1 shallot, sliced
1 garlic clove, bashed
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
1 large celeriac, peeled, halved and sliced 3mm thick
2 large potatoes (not floury ones) peeled and sliced 3mm thick
Sea salt

METHOD:-

1) Pour cream into a large pan and add the shallot, garlic, bay and spices. Bring the pan just to the boil then remove from the heat, cover and leave to infuse for 30mins. Strain through a fine sieve.

2) Cover the base of the dish with a thin layer of cream followed by a layer of slightly overlapping
celeriac slices.

3) Drizzle over a little cream, season with salt and add a layer of potato slices.

4) Repeat the layers, pressing them down occasionally, until all the veg is used.

5) Pour over any remaining cream, cover with foil and bake for 20mins.

6) Remove foil and bake for 25mins or until tender to a sharp knife and golden brown.

Download the recipe here! Download

APRIL

  • Keep onion beds weeded and don’t let the soil dry out- onions are shallow rooted and weeds compete for  nourishment.
  • Plant main crop potatoes in early April. Varieties with some blight resistance are a good bet as main crop stay in the ground longer and are more likely to get this problem than crops that are lifted earlier.
  • Sow (weather permitting) peas, runner and french beans, carrots, beetroot, parsnips, salad crops (little and often), spinach, sweet corn, swede, brassicas, courgettes and pumpkins.
  • Plant a herb bed allowing plenty of room between plants. If planting mint, you can confine it to a container to stop it spreading or control it ruthlessly by digging up roots that extend too far. Don’t put the roots on the compost heap

MAY

  • Plant out pot grown runner and french beans as soon as the risk of frost has passed
    (Stems twist anti-clockwise as they climb).
  • Protect fruit bushes from birds using netting that allows pollinators to pass through.
  • Earth up potatoes (round hoe) as the plants grow being careful not to bury the whole plant.
  • Thin carrots on a still evening after watering. This helps to keep carrot flies from being attracted by the smell of crushed leaves.
  • Keep on top of weeds with regular hoeing or hand weeding.
  • When planting out brassicas, fitting a collar (bought or home made) snugly around the base of the plant. This helps to prevent root flies laying eggs near that burrow down when hatched and eat the roots.
  • Feed strawberry plants every 7 days and water regularly removing unwanted runners as soon as you see them.

BADAS SHED INSTALLATION

Our new shed was installed at the BADAS Hub site at Skilling North on Wednesday 18th August 2021 by Beaminster Sheds. It only took a couple of hours from start to finish.

The shed is raised by 15″ to comply with Environment Agency advice to allow passage of flood water should the Symene river over-top (the same reason for the open nature of the lowest part of the wire fence at Skilling North)

We will be adding some steps to allow access which is present pretty difficult!

New potato, chard and coconut curry

 

Serves 4 – thanks to Meera Sodha (The Guardian) for this recipe

Ingredients for the coconut sauce:

  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 5 cm piece root ginger, peeled and grated
  • 2 green chillies roughly chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 30g unsweetened dessicated coconut
  • 400 ml tin coconut milk

Other ingredients:

  • 3 tbsps rapeseed oil
  • 1 large onion, peeled, thinly sliced
  • 600g new potatoes, cut into chunky bite-sized pieces
  • 5 tsp garam masala
  • .5 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 200g chard or spinach – stems cut into small pieces, leaves shredded
  • 250g frozen peas or fresh peas if you have them!
  1. Put the sauce ingredients into a blender or food processor and blitz into a smooth(ish) mix
  2. In a large lidded frying pan, heat the oil over a medium heat, fry the onion for 5 mins until translucent. Put in the potatoes and fry for around 10 mins, until they are lightly golden brown and the onions are soft, dark and sticky.
  3. Stir in the garam masala, turmeric and salt, then add the coconut sauce and bring up to a gentle bubble. *
  4. Add the chard stalks (and fresh peas if using them) and cook for 5 mins.
  5. Add the leaves and frozen peas, cover again and simmer for a final 5 mins, until the potatoes are tender and the leaves have wilted.
  6. Serve with basmati rice or chapatis and a fiery pickle on the side.
  7. *My top tip – you can add the “sauce” ingredients at this stage without actually making the sauce – it doesn’t seem to make much difference and saves on a bit of washing up!!

    Download the recipe here!: Download
    Recipe and photos courtesy of Mandy Rathbone

2021 BBQ AT THE NEW BADAS HUB

The 2021 BADAS summer barbecue was held on the 15th July and was a well-attended and most enjoyable evening; members enjoying burgers and sausages (with a vegetarian option) provided by our chefs Fiona, Mandy and Roger with drinks dispensed from the bar by Jeni Edwards our newsletter editor. Thanks also go to Chris Miller who trimmed the grass at the hub (see photo) prior to the event. All in all a great event – held on a beautiful summer evening!

MULTI-VEGETABLE PAELLA


Serves 2 (very) generously) – Don’t be put off by the long ingredient list – it is truly worth it!
1 tbsp olive oil
Med onion, finely chopped
1 small red and 1 small yellow pepper, cut into strips
Half fennel bulb cut into strips
2 garlic cloves crushed
2 bay leaves
Quarter tsp smoked paprika
Half tsp ground turmeric
Quarter tsp cayenne pepper
100 g paella rice
100 ml medium sherry
1 tsp saffron threads (optional)
450 ml boiling vegetable stock
200 g shelled broad beans
12 mini plum tomatoes halved
5 small grilled artichokes in oil, drained and quartered (or can use tinned artichoke hearts or fresh if you have them!)
15 pitted kalamata olives
2 tbsp roughly chopped parsley
4 lemon wedges

Heat the oil in a large lidded frying pan, then gently fry the onion for 5 minutes. Add the peppers and fennel, and fry on a medium heat for 6 minutes, until soft and golden. Add the garlic and cook for a further minute. Add the bay, paprika, turmeric and cayenne, stir, then add the rice and stir thoroughly for 2 minutes before adding the sherry and saffron (if using). Boil down for a minute, then add the stock and pinch of salt (if desired). Turn the heat as low as it will go and simmer very gently for about 20 minutes until most of the liquid has been absorbed by the rice. Do not cover the pan or stir the rice during this time.
Meanwhile put the broad beans in a bowl, cover with plenty of boiling water, leave for a minute, drain and set aside to cool. Once cool enough to handle, squeeze each bean gently to remove its papery skin.
Contributor’s Note – the above process with the broad beans is frankly “a bit of a faff” – if your beans are really big and tough, maybe its worth it. But usually I just put my delicious freshly picked beans into the rice and veg mix for the last 5 minutes of the 20 minute cooking time – faff-free result!
Remove the pan from the heat. Taste, add more salt if needed, but without stirring too much. Scatter the tomatoes, artichokes (and broad beans if not taking the faff-free shortcut) over the rice. Cover the pan with foil and lid and leave to rest for 10 minutes. Take off the foil. Scatter the olives and parsley over the top of the paella and serve with lemon wedges.

Thanks to Ottolenghi for this delicious way of using broad beans – I always cook this dish with my first pick of the season and it feels like summer is really on the way.

Recipe courtesy of Mandy Rathbone

Download the recipe here!

JUNE

  • Keep sowing seeds successively for longer cropping.
  • Prune cherry trees to help reduce the risk of silver leaf
  • Plant out pot-grown plants into their final position as soon as possible. If roots are restricted, growth stops, and plants may be stunted.
  • Keep weeding!!  Weeds grow even faster in June and July and it makes things easier if you can keep on top of this job.
  • Strim and mow your paths, including the communal allotment site paths as per your allotment lease. Not only does this keep the site tidy, but you can also use the grass as mulch and cut down on the hiding places for pests.
  • Keep watering—June can be very dry. Plants that are deprived of water will crop poorly or just die. Water in the evening so that it doesn’t just evaporate before doing some good and use mulches to help to keep the water in the soil.
  • Check under one of your March planted early potatoes to see if the tubers are big enough to eat, if not just put the soil back and wait a week before trying again.
  • Keep an eye on your currants as they start to ripen this month, the clusters ripening from the top down. Picking off individual berries as the first ones ripen will give you a bigger harvest overall and those at the top of the clusters are usually the biggest.

Gooseberry Jam

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 kg young gooseberries
  • Around eight heads of elderflower
  • 1 kg granulated sugar

    METHOD

Top and tail the gooseberries (it’s easiest to just do this with a pair of scissors), and put into a preserving pan with 500 ml of water.

Check the elderflower heads for any insects, then place on top of the gooseberries. Cook gently until the berries are soft but still hold their shape. Remove the elderflowers.

Add the sugar. Stir carefully, so as not to break up the fruit, until the sugar has dissolved then bring to a full rolling boil and boil for 9–10 minutes.

Test for a  setting point.

Remove from the heat and allow to rest for 10 minutes, then pot and seal. Use within 12 months.

VARIATIONS

Use this recipe for later season gooseberries, without the elderflowers. The fruit will be sweeter and the jam will have a soft pink colour.

Use to make a quick and easy piquant gooseberry sauce to go with mackerel; add a little cider or balsamic vinegar to warmed goosberry jam (with or without elderflower). Let the flavours mix and mingle before spooning over the barbecued or grilled fish.

Download

Download the recipe here!

Recipe courtesy of Fiona Dare

JULY

  • Water, water, water! Raised beds need more water than level ground and grow bags, pots and containers can dry out fast in hot weather.
  • Keep an eye out for pests and deal with them before they get out of hand.
  • Lift and dry autumn planted garlic—spring planted can stay in the ground for now. Dry plants by spreading out in the sun or drying under cover if the weather is poor.
  • Net cherries or the birds will have them all!
  • If you haven’t got time to make jams and jellies with your fruit crop, open freeze your berries then bag them and use them when things slow down.
  • Replant beds, as they are cleared, with salad crops or a late crop of mangetout , perpetual spinach or chard. If you don’t replant, mulch the bed to keep it in good condition.
  • Misting flowering runner bean plants in hot , dry weather can help you get a good pod set.
  • Propagate strawberries using runners from the strongest plants. Peg the number needed into small pots of compost and when they have rooted, cut the stalk and grow the plants on for next year.

NEW HOME HUB FOR BADAS!

Photo by Mandy Rathbone

Daryl Chambers of Bridport Town Council has kindly offered us a small patch in the Skilling North allotment site to use as an allotment community hub area.
We have ordered a shed to go there so that we can put on events for members like seed and plant swaps and other social activities.
Unfortunately the waiting time for getting sheds installed is about three months so, in the mean time , once the site is cleared we hope to be able to get the swap events on the go and plan to have our Summer Social event there on Thursday 15th July.
We are excited to have this project started and if members have any ideas for what they would like to see us organising at the site, please get in touch with us via our BADAS email address. [From Fiona Dare (chair)]

BADAS HUB at Skilling North

POLYTUNNEL THEFT!

The theft of a 3m x 2m polytunnel  has been reported from Gundry Road allotments. This occurred on the night of Monday 3rd May 2021. The Police have been informed. If anyone has any information concerning either the whereabouts of the tunnel or who is responsible for taking it, please contact the local Police on 101@dorset.pnn.police.uk or by dialling 101

PLEASE SECURE YOUR PADLOCK!

The expensive padlocks that secure some allotment site gates have a habit of going missing. Please ensure that you do not leave the padlocks open, but either re-lock the gate or secure the padlock if you need the gate to remain unlocked for any time.
Many thanks

MELPLASH AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY GARDEN & ALLOTMENT COMPETITION 2021

This year’s Melplash Agricultural Society’s Garden & Allotment competition has just been announced. This is recognised as the most prestigious amateur garden competition in the area. It is open to everyone who lives within a 12 mile radius of Melplash Village Church. Gardens and allotments of any size can enter. There are prizes for best large, medium and small garden, and best allotment! An overall prize is also given to the garden/allotment considered by the judges to be the best across all categories.

The application form can be downloaded by clicking here.

The closing date for entries is Monday 7th June. Judging takes place on Tuesday and Wednesday 15th and 16th June. Winners of each category win a trophy and vouchers to spend with William James & Co in Bridport who manufacturer and supply garden netting, fruit and veg cages, garden equipment and accessories. Vouchers are awarded for 1st – £40, 2nd – £20 3rd £10 and the overall winner also receives an additional voucher for £20. Each first place winner will also receive a bag of Chedington Compost.

 

 

HELP NEEDED AT BRIDPORT YOUTH CLUB!

We have received a request for someone to help at Bridport Youth Club. They have made use of an outside space, with someone making a pizza oven for them and Bridport Community shed making some raised beds. Last year they tried to plant a pizza garden with limited success. They would appreciate an allotment ambassador to support them setting up their ‘pizza garden’ this year and then occasionally returning to help with advice on up keep and suggest suitable involvement for the children.

If there is anyone prepared to help, please contact Candida Dunford-Wood at bridportfoodmatters@gmail.com

AUGUST

  • Keep on picking!
  • Keep harvesting crops like French and Runner beans and Courgettes to prevent them getting too big and to encourage new growth.
  • Harvest 2nd early potatoes.
  • Harvest main crop potatoes towards the end of the month once the foliage dies down. If blight appears, remove the foliage.
  • Onions, shallots and garlic-pull up when tops are dry and dry fully before storing indoors in the cool.
  • Harvest sweetcorn when a grain exudes a milky juice when tested with a fingernail.
  • Plant out winter brassicas (broccoli, cabbage and kale).
  • Sow perpetual spinach and Swiss chard.
  • Make last sowing of carrots and beetroot early in the month.
  • Sow parsley and divide chives.
  • Harvest early apples and pears.
  • Harvest plums and blackberries as they ripen.
  • Summer prune trained fruit trees (fans, cordons and espaliers).
  • Prune plum and damson trees after fruiting.
  • Water as necessary.

CLIMATE-CONCERNED GARDENERS DEMAND UK BAN ON PEAT COMPOST

Article from The Guardian 2nd April 2021

The UK government must ban the sales of peat compost this year after its goal of a voluntary phaseout by 2020 proved an “abject failure”, according to a group of gardening experts, conservationists and scientists.

Peat bogs store huge amounts of carbon and must be retained to help tackle the climate crisis. In a letter to the environment secretary, George Eustice, seen by the Guardian, the group say the UK as host of the UN climate summit talks this year should show leadership on the issue.

The Easter weekend is traditionally the biggest gardening weekend of the year, and the first coronavirus lockdown in 2020 is estimated to have created 3 million new gardeners. In a survey by the Wildlife Trusts published on Friday, just one of the 20 leading garden retailers – Travis Perkins – said it would end peat compost sales in 2021. The trusts said there was no sign of the government’s long-awaited peat strategy.

“In 2011, the government set voluntary targets to end sales of peat-based compost for domestic use by 2020. This has been an abject failure,” said the letter to Eustice signed by the TV gardeners Alan Titchmarsh, Kate Bradbury and James Wong, the conservationist Isabella Tree and dozens of others. “If the government wants to show global leadership on the climate crisis before it hosts the Cop26 climate conference, this is a vital step.”

Prof Dave Goulson, a scientist at the University of Sussex who drafted the letter, said: “Allowing this precious store of carbon to be pillaged so that we can grow ornamental flowers is a needless environmental travesty, given that there are high-quality peat-free alternatives available.”

UK peatlands hold more than 3bn tonnes of carbon, three times more than UK woodlands, but only about 20% remain in a near natural state. As well as extraction, draining of the bogs and fens for farming and forestry, overgrazing, and burning of heather on grouse shooting estates have damaged peatlands.

Peatlands grow by the slow buildup of plant material in waterlogged landscapes. Their degradation means they are losing more carbon than they are gaining.

Craig Bennett, the chief executive of the Wildlife Trusts, said: “Countless promises have been broken and targets missed, with the result that precious peatland habitats are still being unnecessarily destroyed in the name of gardening. The time for delay and excuses is over. The government can ensure these important carbon stores function as nature intended by banning peat sales now.”

In November the gardener Monty Don called peat in compost “environmental vandalism” and joined the National Trust, the Royal Horticultural Society and other groups in calling for a ban. The government’s voluntary target for the horticulture sector was to end sales to gardeners by 2020 and to end professional use of peat – for example, in plant growing – by 2030.

A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “We are committed to phasing out the use of peat in horticulture in England by 2030 and we urge all gardeners to play their part and only use peat-free products. We will consider further measures to end the use of peat and will be consulting on these measures this year.”

She said there had been a 25% decrease in peat sold from 2011 to 2019. More than 2m cubic metres of peat were used in 2019.

The Wildlife Trusts survey received responses from 11 of the 20 retailers contacted. Only two declared an end-date for peat sales: Travis Perkins in 2021 and Wickes by 2025. B&Q and the Blue Diamond group of garden centres said they were committed to phasing out peat but gave no date.

Asda, Lidl and others said they had targets to reduce peat sales but not yet to end them. Wyvale Garden Centres, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s were among those that had not responded to the survey by the time of publication.

 

SEPTEMBER

  • Harvest main crop potatoes, dry them off before storing and check each tuber for damage and disease. Store only healthy, undamaged potatoes in jute, hessian or paper bags in a cool, dark, frost-free place.
  • Store onions in nets or on slatted trays in a well ventilated place.
  • Keep harvesting!!
  • Leave autumn squashes to ripen on the plant for as long as possible. Place a tile or wooden board under the fruit to keep it clean. They are ready to harvest when richly coloured and sound hollow when tapped.
  • Plant out spring cabbage and over-wintering onion sets.
  • Spinach can be sown until the middle of the month as can parsley, rocket and coriander.
  • Sow green manure crops on any empty beds.
  • Sow kale for spring harvest and sow broad beans late in the month.
  • Protect leafy veg crops with bird netting.
  • Cut herbs for drying.
  • Pot up strawberry runners to make new plants or plant out new strawberries.
  • Prune out the fruited canes of summer raspberries, blackberries, loganberries and Tay berries leaving the new green canes as these will bear next years fruit.
  • Prune blackcurrants, removing damaged, crossing and some old branches down to near ground level.
  • Summer prune trained fruit trees (fans, espaliers and cordons).
  • Apply grease bands to fruit trees at the end of the month to deter winter moth infestation.

WILD GARLIC, NETTLE AND BROCCOLI FRITTATA WITH FETA

Wild Garlic
  • 2 tblsps olive oil or butter
  • 1 handful of wild garlic (or garlic clove peeled and finely chopped)
  • 1 small bunch spring onions
  • Salt and black pepper
  • Large handful of long stemmed broccoli or psb (can also use asparagus when in season)
  • 2 big handfuls springtime greens – nettles, spinach, sorrel, watercress
  • Zest of a lemon
  • 6 – 8 eggs
  • 100g feta (can also use ricotta)

You will need a large ovenproof frying pan (one that can go under the grill).

Heat the oil (or melt the butter) in the frying pan.  When warm add the chopped garlic and spring onions and let them sizzle and soften.  After 2 or 3 minutes, add the broccoli (or asparagus) and cook for a further 3 – 5 minutes, until it is softened but not soggy.

Add the chopped greens (use tongs if you are using nettles), allow everything to wilt for a few minutes, season well, add the lemon zest and keep on a low heat.

Beat the eggs in a bowl and season well.  Pour the eggs into the pan.  Let the eggs cook for a minute to set, then use a spatula to pull them away from the sides of the pan, allowing the raw egg to run into the gaps.  Let it set, then repeat a few times.

Put the grill on high.

Scatter the feta (or ricotta) on top and put the frying pan with the frittata under the grill to brown on top.

Turn the frittata out by loosening the edges and flipping the pan over onto a large plate.  Then turn over onto another plate so that the browned side is on top.  Cut it into slices and eat warm or cold.

Recipe and photographs courtesy of Mandy Rathbone.

To download this recipe click here: Download

BRIDPORT LOCAL FOOD GROUP

Bridport Food Matters stall on Farmers’ Market, December 12 2020

The Bridport Local Food Group was established in 2004. It is a not-for-profit group run by a committee of dedicated volunteers with the aim of promoting and supporting the areas fantastic food and drink industry as well as encouraging and inspiring everyone to eat healthily and to eat local. The showcase event is the annual Bridport Food Festival held in June which celebrates our local producers, food & drink retailers and hospitality businesses. For more information visit www.bridportfoodfestival.co.uk, follow on Facebook @bridportfoodfestival,Twitter @BridportFoodfst, Instagram @Bridportfood.
Their website is a joint initiative between Bridport Local Food Group and Seeding our Future, with financial support from Bridport Town Council’s Climate Emergency Action Fund.

UPDATE – BRIDPORT FOOD MATTERS OPEN VEG AND FRUIT GARDENS – WEDNESDAY 19TH MAY 2.00 – 5.00 P.M. BOOKING NOW!

On Wednesday 19 May, between 2-5 pm, Seeding our Future and Transition Town Bridport will be hosting ‘Open Veg and Fruit Gardens’ – a chance to meet outside to exchange information about what some food growers in Bridport are doing to adapt to climate change.
There will be an opportunity for you to visit several Bridport venues, including allotments and the Edible Garden at St Mary’s Primary School, to talk to the gardeners about the methods and crops they are using to help adapt to climate change, and to share experience and ideas you might have. Please note there will be timed slots with limited numbers of people, and a limit of two visits per person. The event is free, but donations are welcome.

More details may be found by clicking on their website and  to book now click: Eventbrite.

There will be an opportunity for you to visit several Bridport venues, including allotments and the Edible Garden at St Mary’s Primary School, to talk to the gardeners about the methods and crops they are using to help adapt to climate change, and to share experience and ideas you might have. Please note there will be timed slots with limited numbers of people, and a limit of two visits per person. The event is free, but donations are welcome.

BRIDPORT MEDICAL CENTRE – THE COWSHED AT NUMBER 17 PROJECT, MARCH 2021

GIVING BACK TO OUR MEDICAL! CENTRE. Bridport Medical Centre already do a fine job. We are all enormously proud of their hard work over COVID19.  They want to do more…..Working alongside the Bridport Health Champions, they are looking to develop projects that will have a positive impact on our community’s well-being; I think we all agree that will be much needed when we (finally!) get back to normality. Access to these projects will be via the Champions but unfortunately cannot be funded by the NHS.  Let’s show our thanks to the Medical Centre for their hard work in keeping us safe (and now vaccinated) over this challenging time. You can show your thanks by fundraising or by giving time (or by donating your hard-earned money!). The first project is The Cowshed at Number 17; a wheelchair-friendly allotment and garden. This will be extended with a wetland/wildlife area and a “Kindness Garden”, growing flowers and salads for people to take home. We need to raise funds for a 6×4 tool shed, timber for raised beds and workstations, materials for a Social Shelter. We are also looking for community members with skills and time to help realise this project. We will keep you updated through Bridport Facebook Groups. You can also join the allotment Facebook Page “The Cowshed at Number 17”. Look out for collection tins when you get your vaccines!

Thank you!

Mary  – Allotment Champion – ( contact via bridportallotmentsociety@gmail) if you would like to know more)

USING OLD PALLETS

Some people wish to make items from pallets, but there are certain marks which denote treatment stamps on old pallets that you need to be aware of:-
HT. = Heat treated. This pallet has been heat treated to eliminate parasites and insects.
KD = Kiln Dried These pallets have been heated in a kiln to kill off any wood pests. Kiln drying also eliminates fungal growth.
MB. = Methyl Bromide. These pallets have been treated with highly toxic pesticide .You should never use pallets for craftwork and you should never burn these or put into a wood burner.
Lastly do not use pallets stained bright colours as they usually belong to rental companies and you can be fined by that company if you use them for your projects.