Farming Friends

Last week I planted some tomato seeds.

The TopVeg website was able to provide me with excellent seed sowing information. 

Farming Friends & TopVeg have now collaborated to create a How To Grow Tomatoes growing card.

Click on the image to enlarge and if you wish to print off this growing card, right click on the enlarged image and then click print picture to print out a copy. If you would like this document as a pdf, just contact farmingfriends and I will email you the document. 

I intend to print off copies and then laminate the sheet so that I can use the growing card in the future.

Teachers, children, vegetable growers and anyone interested in growing tomatoes are welcome to print off this growing card for their own use.

Other growing cards we have already created;

• How To Grow Garlic.
• How To Grow Lettuce.
• How To Grow Summer Radish.
• How To Grow Beetroot.
• How To Grow Broad Beans.
• How To Grow Parsley.
• How To Grow Sage.
• How To Grow Onions.

If you have any other growing cards that you would like Farming Friends & TopVeg to create then please leave a comment and we will be happy to create it for you.

I have harvested my first radish this week and I have to say that it was delicious. Thanks to the excellent growing advice from Topveg I have now been growing radish for the last two years successfully.

Farming Friends & TopVeg have collaborated to create a How To Grow Summer Radish growing card.

Click on the image to enlarge and if you wish to print off this growing card, right click on the enlarged image and then click print picture to print out a copy.

If you would like this document as a pdf, just contact farmingfriends and I will email you the document.

I find that radish tastes better when it is harvested young and has not had time to get woody and have a bitter taste.

If you have any recipes using radish then I would like to hear them, so please leave a comment - thanks.

Parsnips are a Winter vegetable but parsnips are generally planted in March and April.

Farming Friends & TopVeg have now collaborated to create a How To Grow Parsnips growing card.

Click on the image to enlarge and if you wish to print off this growing card, right click on the enlarged image and then click print picture to print out a copy.

If you would like this document as a pdf, just contact farmingfriends and I will email you the document.

I intend to print off copies and then laminate the sheet so that I can use the growing card with my school gardening club in the future.

Teachers, children, vegetable growers and anyone interested in growing parsnips are welcome to print off this growing card for their own use.

Other growing cards we have already created;

If you have any other growing cards that you would like Farming Friends & TopVeg to create then please leave a comment and we will be happy to create it for you.

Crack the eggs into a bowl and mix a table spoon of salt or sugar with every five eggs.

If you are going to use the eggs for a sweet dish or for baking cakes, buns or merginues etc then add a tablespoon of sugar for every five eggs.

If you are going to use the eggs for a savoury dish, or as an omelette, scrambled eggs then add a tablespoon of salt for every five eggs.

Put the eggs in a plastic container with a lid and freeze. The eggs can be frozen for up to 12 months.

Thaw the eggs in a refridgerator and use immediately once thawed.

Click on the image below to visit Amazon.co.uk to find out more about this book or visit one of the Farming Friends Bookshops.

Last week I made pork brawn and was unsure of the results but I have to say that I was very pleasantly surprised. 

Ingredients

• 1 pig’s head
• a couple of trotters - preferably back trotters as they have a little more meat on them.
• 1 bay leaf
• mixed herbs
• mixed spices
• 1 onion
• lemon juice

Method

Here is my method which I have adapted after reading Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s recipe.

1. Cut the head and trotters into smaller pieces so that they fit in a large pan.
2. Cover with water (salt can be added but I decided not to add any to my brawn).
3. Add bay leaf, herbs, spices and pealed/chopped onion.
4. Simmer the content and for the first half an hour remove any scum that floats to the top of the pan.
5. Simmer the contents for about 4 hours.
6. Remove the head and trotters - at this point I decided to just use the meat on the head and trotters and not the ears, skin, eyes or nostrils. I did use the brains which require you to remove the outer skin.
7. Mix the meat and brains together and place in a dish.
8. Add a dash of lemon juice and some parsley.
9. Strain the stock and then boil up until the stock has reduced.
10. Spoon a couple of spoonfuls of the stock over the meat and then refrigerate until set.

Eat the brawn cold with mustard or chutney.

My husband and I ate the brawn with toast and damson chutney and English mustard.

The brawn had a strong pork flavour and the sweetness of the damson chutney mixed with the strong mustard taste made the meal very enjoyable.

In future I am going to cook a belly pork joint and add that meat to the brawn to increase the quantity of meat.

• Pork brawn is a type of meat jelly.
• The meat jelly is made from pieces of pork from the head and trotters of the pig.
• The trotters also help to give the stock gelatin to help the brawn to set.
• All parts of the head can be used to make prok brawn.
• The head and trotters are simmered in water (often salted and can have extra herbs, spices and onions added for extra flavour) until the meat falls from the bone.
• The meat is stripped from the bone and skull and the jelly stock is strained and then reduced down further on the heat.
• The meat and stock are mixed and then added to a contain and refridgerated until set.
• Pork brawn is usually served cold and not reheated.
• The brawn can be served as a cold luncheon meat and is particularly good with mustard or pickle.

I have been busy trying to keep on top of sowing seeds at the correct time of year.

Currently I have the following seeds germinating in the greenhouse:

• Sweetpeas.
• Broad beans.
• Summer radish.
• Marigolds.
• Spinach.
• Spinach beet.
• Lilium regale.
• Purple sprouting broccoli.

In the next few days I will be sowing the following seeds:

• Rudbeckia.
• Mesembryanthemums.
• Cosmos.
• Parsnips.
• Dwarf French Beans.
• Italian Flat Leaf Parsley.
• Borage.

I will post some photos later.

What seeds have you sown in your greenhouse or garden?

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