As spring is just around the corner we are very excited about the Big Dig this year: in March, over 100 gardens accross the UK will welcome volunteers to get ready for the growing seasons from seed sowing to mulching and building raised beds.
The Allotment garden is part of the day, and we will welcome people to work on Saturday March 22nd- if you would like to join us, sign up here: http://www.bigdig.org.uk/london/.
We will be moving some material, clearing up an area, sowing seeds, planting seedlings and give the garden a head start for the coming season. Oh, and there will be biscuits, tea and coffee of course! See you there!!
Tuesday, 11 March 2014
Friday, 3 May 2013
And spring is there (eventually)!
Lots of lovely things growing at the Allotment: the asparagus, the globe artichoke and the french sorrel are the first one to make our mouth water, closely followed by strawberries and sprouting broccoli. Come and check us out sometimes!
Our new event calendar is online http://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/the-regents-park/regents-park-attractions/allotment-garden, and lots of new training sessions with Capital Growth are taking place at the Allotment. for more details check the website capitalgrowth.org
Happy growing!
Friday, 4 May 2012
The asparagus are out!
After two year caring for our asparagus, they are out!! And very tasty!
If you are bored of the steam asparagus-dressing combo, try this easy and delicious Parmesan and Asparagus tart from BBC GoodFood website. I tried it the other day with the allotment's asparagus, yummy!
Spring is here!
The wet weather may not be great for BBQ’s but for those of you who know how precious water is we are hoping your fruit and veg are feeling some benefit! They are definitely at the Allotment Garden where everything is out - our chive is already flowering!
As spring has sprung it’s time to get your hands dirty and plan your little (or big) food growing corner, come and visit us for ideas and what to plant and how to do it, we are open weekdays from 8:30am to 4:30pm.
Wednesday, 19 October 2011
Allotment garden features in the Marylebone Journal!
Thank you to Jean-Paul for his entertaining piece about Capital Growth, the allotment garden, and Paul Richens' training session!
You can download the October issue here (the feature on us begins on page 12):
http://www.themarylebonejournal.com/
You can download the October issue here (the feature on us begins on page 12):
http://www.themarylebonejournal.com/
Harvest Festival Pumpkin Salad Recipe
This recipe comes courtesy of Nick Baylis, our fantastic volunteer chef, who ran the kitchen at our Harvest Festival. This dish was a particular favourite of the visitors.
Pumpkin Salad:
The day before you plan to make it soak some butter beans overnight.
After soaking, cook until tender. Using a pressure cooker for this dramatically reduces cooking time and hence saves energy!
Leave to cool. (Alternatively just buy a can of butter beans.)
Chop a pumpkin into about 1cm cubes. If fairly young, keep the skin on, otherwise peel it first. Roast the pumpkin in a little oil, salt, pepper and whole fennel seeds until nicely coloured and tender. Set aside to cool. You could also fry the pumpkin with similar results.
Fry the butter beans in a little oil for a few minutes either side. Be careful not to put too many beans in the frying pan, otherwise they won't brown - fry in batches if necessary. You're aiming for a slightly crunchy, golden brown crust on the beans. Season with salt and pepper.
Finely chop plenty of sorrel (and/or lettuce, spinach, beat leaves etc etc) and mix carefully with the warm pumpkin and beans. Be gentle at this stage, otherwise you'll end up with a dense mush.
Serve the salad on a plate with some chopped feta, and a dressing of lemon, yoghurt and garlic. The dressing should be mostly lemon, a small amount of garlic and a bit of yoghurt to bind. This salad would also work nicely with curd cheese.
Pumpkin Salad:
The day before you plan to make it soak some butter beans overnight.
After soaking, cook until tender. Using a pressure cooker for this dramatically reduces cooking time and hence saves energy!
Leave to cool. (Alternatively just buy a can of butter beans.)
Chop a pumpkin into about 1cm cubes. If fairly young, keep the skin on, otherwise peel it first. Roast the pumpkin in a little oil, salt, pepper and whole fennel seeds until nicely coloured and tender. Set aside to cool. You could also fry the pumpkin with similar results.
Fry the butter beans in a little oil for a few minutes either side. Be careful not to put too many beans in the frying pan, otherwise they won't brown - fry in batches if necessary. You're aiming for a slightly crunchy, golden brown crust on the beans. Season with salt and pepper.
Finely chop plenty of sorrel (and/or lettuce, spinach, beat leaves etc etc) and mix carefully with the warm pumpkin and beans. Be gentle at this stage, otherwise you'll end up with a dense mush.
Serve the salad on a plate with some chopped feta, and a dressing of lemon, yoghurt and garlic. The dressing should be mostly lemon, a small amount of garlic and a bit of yoghurt to bind. This salad would also work nicely with curd cheese.
Capital Growth Food-Growing Training Sessions @ The Allotment Garden
Coming up we have.....
Permaculture Design Taster with Stefan Geyer of the London Permaculture Association
On:
Saturday 12th November 2011 10.30am to 1pm
or
Saturday 3rd December 2011 10.30am to 1pm
Soft Fruits, Fruit Tree Pruning and Care with Tom Moggach of City Leaf
On:
Saturday 26th November 2011 10.30am to 1pm
All sessions are £20 for individuals and £10 for Capital Growth members. Booking is essential, so to avoid disappointment book now by emailing training@capitalgrowth.org
Permaculture Design Taster with Stefan Geyer of the London Permaculture Association
On:
Saturday 12th November 2011 10.30am to 1pm
or
Saturday 3rd December 2011 10.30am to 1pm
Soft Fruits, Fruit Tree Pruning and Care with Tom Moggach of City Leaf
On:
Saturday 26th November 2011 10.30am to 1pm
All sessions are £20 for individuals and £10 for Capital Growth members. Booking is essential, so to avoid disappointment book now by emailing training@capitalgrowth.org
The wonderful world of bees
The allotment garden attracts lots of wildlife. It's location in the heart of Regent's park certainly helps, but we also try and encourage it along with bug hotels, hedgehog boxes, and plenty of flowers. The bees love them!
Harvest Festival 2011 Part 4 (the best of the rest)
Other activities at the Harvest Festival included Ask the Experts, pizza making and apple pressing (mmmm, delicious!), tombola and the Big Raffle.....
Harvest Festival 2011 Part 3 (the volunteers)
A big THANK YOU goes to all of the volunteers that made the Harvest Festival possible! A few of them can be seen here, enjoying the day....
Harvest Festival 2011 Part 2 (Scarecrows)
Many visitors to this year's Harvest Festival cam especially for our scarecrow-making workshop, run by Joyce Warrren or Scarecrowland (www.scarecrowland.co.uk). Over 60 happy children (and their parents!) made their own plant-pot scarecrows to take home with them.
Tuesday, 4 October 2011
Harvest Festival 2011 Part 1
This year's harvest festival
was a great success, with over 500 people coming to enjoy the garden, the weather and, of course, the wonderful food!
Friday, 23 September 2011
park piccallili
I've never been much of a pickler, but when Carmen from Capel asked back in July if anyone could take care of a cauliflower or two, I knew I'd have to give it a go.
Cauliflowers aren't an easy thing to grow, but she and the Capel team had done a great job. Obviously it would be awful if the effort and enthusiasm that went into producing them fell at the pickling post, but I am a die hard laissez-faire cook, so I took my regular approach surfing the net for the least effort to best perceived reward. I appreciate recipes that aren't to restrictive on ingredients!
I plumped for this one, but in retrospect this looks pretty appropriate too, but we were months ahead of the nasturtium seed pods.
It was pretty straightforward - a fair bit of chopping to get the veg diced ready for brining/salting, then a bit of mixing & jarring, and a healthy pause...
Well, now it's been two months, and I have to say it's a thumbs up from me - I had a big dollop of it with some buttery kale from the allotment. Tasty!
Just verified that is also an excellent accompaniment to cheese.
It was pretty straightforward - a fair bit of chopping to get the veg diced ready for brining/salting, then a bit of mixing & jarring, and a healthy pause...
Well, now it's been two months, and I have to say it's a thumbs up from me - I had a big dollop of it with some buttery kale from the allotment. Tasty!
Just verified that is also an excellent accompaniment to cheese.
Thursday, 1 September 2011
Some July pictures
Beautiful edible Lillies
Mark from Vertical Veg talking us through compost
Phacelia
August pictures from the allotment Garden
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