Fennel
Two lovely bulbs. These will be eaten tonight in a wild pork loin dish.
The tops of the fennel were huge - it seems such a waste not to use the tops, but I have never used them before, have you? And if so what for?
I cut my fennel bulbs off at ground level leaving the roots in the soil. I find that the roots re-shoot with more baby fennel and that these ones grow on pretty quickly as their roots are big and deep.
Parsley
There has been lots of parsley too, so much so that parsley now features in one of my vases.
Chillies
The frosty mornings have pretty much nipped back my chilli plants and I suspect it wont be long before the plants are knocked out completely. I have been picking chillies - green and red - to make sure I get the most of the produce. Still, when you think about it, it is pretty good to have chillies survive into late June when I live in a frosty mountain area.
Wombok and spring onions
Wombok and spring onions are featuring in many meals, mostly stir-fried and in Asian-style dishes.
What's coming up soon? Purple cauliflower - they are looking so pretty.
How are your pickings?
I am contributing this to Daphne's Harvest Monday. Soon her blog will feature pickings from around the world.
Lovely harvest! I've just done a harvest monday blog post so I won't repeat my pickings. On the fennel fronds, my grandmother makes a breakfast dish of the fennel fronds cooked in olive oil, then cracks eggs over and fries the eggs into the fronds. I think she only uses the very tender fronds. But I have no idea if its good as I've never tried it myself.
ReplyDeleteI might have to try that recipe. With loads of fronds and 4 eggs a day being laid it might be just the recipe I need!
DeleteHow lovely to have a wombok where the snails haven't eaten it. Hmm I think the fluffy bit at the top is not that different to dill. Perhaps with fish or anything tomatoey? As for the stalky bits finely sliced they aren't bad in a salad. Hope it doesn't get too chilly for you
ReplyDeleteHmm, lack of snails is the ONE advantage of a dryer climate! You are right - it looks like dill, but the flavour is quite different. But fennel does go well with tomato.
DeleteThat's fantastically impressive fennel - I've never had any success with it. Nice to get a second crop of baby ones from the root too. Good work with the pigs by the way - I think as a meat eater it's really important to connect with the reality of it. That's pretty full on though! My experience is confined to participating in the dispatch of a few chickens and a bit of plucking.
ReplyDeleteI find fennel pretty easy - no pests ever seem to attack it. They seem to raise easily from seed as well.
DeleteI agree with you on the meat eating thing. I do certainly 'get it' more now that I have had to deal with some of the realities. But I also do get great satisfaction from eating from the land - just like the satisfaction of eating our own veg.
Wow, that's an impressive wombok. And so are your fennel. I've used the fronds in soup with great success (my husband ate it, he doesn't always like fennel). And your inquiry got me searching for a recipe I saw long ago for pasta with fennel tops and sardines. I didn't find the pasta recipe but I came across one for fennel top pesto. I like the sound of Bek's grandmother's dish too. This is great, I've got fennel on the verge of bolting right now and it's nice to get some ideas for using it!
ReplyDeleteOooohhh...that purple cauliflower is going to be gorgeous! Congrats on some great harvests!
ReplyDelete