JULY NEWSLETTER
My favourite summer recipes; how to holiday from your veg patch without killing everything; events I'll be cooking at over the summer; and, introducing Humphrey the Spaniel Puppy.
Hello you lovely lot.
As you can see, things look about different around here. I’ve moved my monthly newsletter to Substack and will be adding to it with weekly recipes and tales, all inspired by the veg patch. If you missed the email about how it’s going to work, catch up here.
Since this is Launch Week, I’ll be sharing much more content than usual to show you what to expect from now on. This is the first - my monthly newsletter. And stay tuned for examples of a weekly recipe, a monthly video chat and an as-and-when story from the garden. All free as a cabbage white butterfly this week. Some elements (but not all) will be for paid subscribers from next week so do take a look at subscription options if you’re interested.
I’d love to know what you think, so do email me or drop a comment below. In the meantime, grab a cuppa and let’s get going with all the July news…
Come see me this summer…
… at these live talks, signings and demos - my favourite thing. There’s nothing like a good chat with fellow growers and veg-lovers. I hope you can pop along to one of these for a natter and a taster:
Rock Oyster Festival - 27th-30th July, Cornwall - I’ll be hosting ‘The Pearl’ chef demo stage and trying not to fan girl the likes of Hugh F-W, Andi Oliver, Olia Hercules, Emily Scott and many more. I’ll also be taking a ‘Grow Your Own Kitchen Garden’ cookery class (pictured) but that’s sold out I’m afraid. Booking signing and fire pit demo too, obvs.
Peterley Manor Farm - Sat 12th August, Great Missenden, Bucks - first up, a table full of tasters from my cookbook, From the Veg Patch, and time to chat. I’ll be signing copies too.
Stay tuned for more collaborations with this gorgeous farm shop later (or see here), plus events in September with the RHS, Ludlow Food Festival and more.
You’re right, I’m not doing as many festivals this summer as usual. But there’s a good reason…
Humphrey
I’m delighted and a bit teary to introduce you to Humf’. Our darling spaniel, Hadleigh, died in May, unexpectedly and with much spanielling still to do, and we’ve been utterly bereft. So I’m very happy to have, equally unexpectedly, found this little tinker to fill the house with spanielosity again much sooner than we imagined. Needless to say you’ll be seeing a LOT of him. Any tips on how to teach him not to walk on the veg beds?
Recipes I’ve been enjoying lately…
… some of my own and some from fellow Substacking cooks:
Broad Bean and Ricotta Bruschetta
From my cookbook. I made this at a recent Garden Museum masterclass and for tasters at the Todelli Deli pop-up demo I did last weekend.
An easy roast from my regular column in The Simple Things magazine. If you’re going to do meat, then make it the best, in this case lamb, you can afford and nestle it amongst the finest broccoli, peas and herbs from the patch.
Use any leafy greens you have - spinach, nettles, chard (there’s always chard) for this recipe adapted from my cookbook.
And further afield, I’ve been cooking….
Courgette Leaf Pesto - genius from the kitchen of Will Cooper.
Peach and Fig Leaf Sorbet - inspired flavour combo from Sue Quinn.
Tomato Recipe Round Up - all the ways to manage your tomato glut thanks to Melissa Hemsley.
And stay tuned for my first weekly Mostly Veggie Recipe landing on my substack this week.
In the veg patch…
I’ve been away for a week. Now, many will scoff and say July is a dreadful time for a veg grower to leave their harvest. And admittedly I have returned to a jungle. A jungle. But I took some precautions before I left so, whilst they missed me, the veg is just fine. Here are my top tips for how to leave your patch without returning to chaos:
Water. Water. Water. For very thirsty plants like courgettes, I sink an upended 2ltr plastic bottle, from which I have removed the base, into the soil around the roots. I then fill that with water on the day I leave so it can gradually soak into the roots in my absence.
Weed. I’m certain weeds grow faster when you aren’t looking at them, and I guarantee that a tiny single-leafed weed will turn into a triffid during the week you are away, shading your newly germinated carrots to the point they die from lack of sunlight. So have a really thorough weed before you go.
Feed. sprinkle a few handfuls of chicken manure pellets over the beds so the plants are freshly fed before you go. I also feed hungry veg like tomatoes with Maxicrop seaweed liquid feed the day before I go too. Like a nervous cyclist sucking an energy gel before a long stint alone on the open road. Which, I like to imagine, is how the tomatoes feel without me.
Tie, stake and generally tuck in. Don’t leave tendrals or new growth of green beans, sweet peas, climbing squash etc flailing about - it’s likely to damage them. Also, I think they like the attention and are more likely to behave when you leave them if they feel loved now.
Enlist help. If you have a greenfingered neighbour ask them to pop by to water and offer them harvests in return. Though take care: I know someone who asked a pal to drop in to check on their dahlia pots and perhaps water them, only to return and find their lawn had been scalped. On questioning, the overenthusiastic friend said they ‘thought it was looking a bit long, so they got the mower out and hadn’t it saved them a job now that they were home?’ If that’s not a lesson to us all about our choice of friends then I don’t know what is.
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Nice to find your newsletter and that broad bean recipe. Fond memories of a supperclub you did near Guiting Power years ago!
💛