Sharing What You Grow

‘So, what are you going to do with all this food?’ asks a neighbour whilst eyeing up the large carrier bags in my hands which are literally bursting with produce from the allotment.

‘We eat it, freeze some and give some to friends and family’ I reply watching his eyes calculate the amount and what all the different produce is in the bags. ‘Would you like some courgettes and beans?’

‘Well I’ve never seen courgettes like those, how do you cook them?’ he says quickly accepting four large yellow courgettes and a handful of French beans.

After some cooking hints and tips he leaves with some tomatoes and potatoes and I have somewhat lighter bags.

‘Better come home at a different time and by a different route tomorrow,’ says Lottie with a broad grin.

‘I don’t mind sharing some stuff’ I reply.

‘Mugged, and you know I eat those beans,’ says Lottie under her breath.

Lottie puts her nose to the ground and I can hear her chuckling under her breath all the way home.

Dogs only share inside the pack.

‘Not so much today?’ was Annie’s greeting as she examined the bags and started to take out the vegetables for their wash and brush up. I didn’t say anything but caught Lottie smiling in the corner of the kitchen.

At this time of year we all have gluts and famine at the allotments as everything tends to mature and ripen at the same time. You sow every few weeks but it still keeps coming at the same time. It is impossible to eat it all and you find a mountain of salad alongside another mountain of vegetables and then there is the fruit. We certainly eat well and fresh and buy little from the shops from early Spring to late Autumn and then during Winter the freezer supplies us with all those bags of goodies that we squirrelled away during Summer.

We wash chop and freeze in lots of small bags of tomatoes, courgettes, spinach, kale, cabbage, French beans, beetroot etc. The lettuce doesn’t take kindly to anything but being eaten fresh.

The last couple of years my Vice Chair has come into her own with her community programmes and has been brilliant at collecting excess produce donations off plot holders and supplying a local community kitchen but as simple as this sounds, it is often far from easy. All the produce from our community allotment at Crossrail roof garden is donated. However just collecting the produce from plot holders and getting it to the kitchen at the right time and in the right state can prove hard.

Donations can often be that overgrown courgette that resembles a marrow, or other vegetables which maybe are past their prime. Also kitchens want certain produce that they are familiar with and the sight of even a patti pan may not be greeted with the expected enthusiasm.

It was great to see my neighbour’s reaction when she came back to her plot last week after 16 weeks of lockdown. They have been getting special food parcels every week as well as home deliveries but a bag full of fresh produce off our plots plus a large bunch of sunflowers put a broad smile on her face. But she did ask what to do with the patti pans!

My daughter is Chair or a women’s shelter and a Director of a large homeless charity and I asked if they wanted excess produce. The response was interesting and was dependent on what produce, when, and if the cooks knew what to do with it to make dinners the clients wanted to eat it. Fresh was also an issue and I realised that convenience often could trump fresh.

We set out this year to donate more excess and learn from previous experience as to where, who and how to make a difference and to step up the internal awareness on the plots. Folk like to give but want to know where its going and who is benefiting. We had several discussions with community groups and one really was interested in not only taking the donations but also into using them to help training their clients into cooking with them. We also spoke to Cross-London organisations with a view to potentially widening a relationship to other sites which obviously meant dealing with the associated logistics, communication, and supply. If a pilot was successful, then it could be potentially roll.

Then came the pandemic and lockdown. This effectively scuppered this year’s ideas as the focus shifted to maintaining the allotments and looking after those unable to work their plots. We also weren’t allowed access the Canary Wharf plot during lockdown and our big plant giveaway and seeds swaps were impacted. Also, my appointment as London Representative for the National Allotment Society was deferred so effectively scuppering those discussions this year.  As lockdown eases we are just starting to look at some localised donation opportunities again but the one we used last year is still not back up and we may have to be more ad hoc in any donations until a new normality starts to take shape.

Meanwhile Lottie tucks into her doggy biscuits, meat and French beans. Her favourite vegetable is broccoli, even the chopped-up stems!

Getting the Right Amount of Produce at the Right Time

Kneeling down even with my little cushion can be hard, but the weeding must be done and I love to see the plot looking tidy and free of weeds. I look over to the bench and because it’s a windy cold snap Lottie is snuggled down, curled up and having a nap.

I return to the weeds between the rocket and the lettuce. There’s not many weeds so it is easy and a gentle hand fork down the space between the rows is all that is needed.

‘Are you going to do round the mange tout?’ I hear in my ear.

I look around and there perched of the end of the scaffold board walkway stands Robin my red-breasted friend.

‘I’ll do it next,’ I offer with my head down focused on my current area.

‘You’ve grown far too much of that stuff,’ declares Robin pointing his right wing towards the lettuce.

‘I know what I’m doing.’

‘Of course you do. Mind, you could feed an army on what you have grown there.’ Robin offers with a sarcastic smirk across his beak.

I look at the tight tidy rows of lettuce, red and green salad bowl and lolla rossa grown from seeds I bought back from Spain, wild rocket and more. I better not admit it to Robin, but I did sow a bit too much. However, the recent weather has been hot and we were eating salad on our balcony every day. Now the weather has once again changed and we are back to the vegetables and inside. The lettuce is disappointed to be left waiting to mix it with the others in the salad spin washer and the cucumbers are starting too mount up to but they can always be used in drinks. Lottie will not eat salad and will peck it out and spit it onto the floor.

Judging how much to grow is an art form. It’s not just about getting the sowing right, bringing them on, judging the weather and hoping it all comes together correctly. The right amount of anything is probably the biggest challenge and then there is succession sowing to ensure that you don’t have salad for just a couple of weeks in summer when it’s raining and cold.

Storing, bottling and freezing excess can be a challenge not just of how but with space. We have only just finished last year’s tomatoes and beans out the freezer. I like squash best. They can just sit there doing nothing and waiting literally months for you to decide to cook them. If only others could follow their example.

We as an allotment have started to collect any excess produce and donate it to a local community kitchen run by the farm. It can be difficult to even donate food this way as those receiving it need to understand how to cook or prepare it and even want it. It must be fresh and used fresh. I would think in today’s climate and with the demand on food banks, charity kitchens etc that donating it would be easy, but it is far from it. WE are not allowed to sell or give it to commercial organisations such as restaurants and it is primarily for family only.

‘Have you finished yet only I’ve a family to feed?’ Robin asks impatiently.

‘In a minute.’

I get up stretch, pick up my bucket half full of weeds, fork and kneeling cushion and move over to the mange tout.

I can almost hear Robin salivating at the thought of fresh grubs.

‘Can’t you put mulch around all the plants? It encourages my food.’ Robin says as he starts to follow me along the rows. He stops, cocks his head to listen and then with the precision of a heron fishing, swoops his beak into the ground and then pulls out a grub. Next minute he is gone and moments later returns to repeat the process. It’s like a drive-through food bar for him.

I look at the Mange Tout and think at least these can go with salad, be steamed or thrown in a stir-fry or curry. Why can’t more be like that?

Perhaps I need to grow less of more and not get sucked into mass sowing and potting on exercises. Mind you this year I am looking after my neighbour Anna’s plot whilst she is in isolation and guess what, I know there are too many spuds, courgettes, and squash. I can only hope she comes back soon as I don’t have space for this harvest.

‘Stop daydreaming and lets get over to that bean area now,’ demands a hungry Robin.