The Windowbox Allotment
Useful tips on how to grow & enjoy fruit & veg. from your windowsill !
Recipe ideas
You really can make delicious meals, YEAR ROUND, made in part or entirely from the harvests of your windowbox. Remember, for leaf crops it's always best to pick little and often to get the most of them - choosing the youngest and tenderest leaves where possible, but ensuring that you don't damage the tip or heart of the plant.
AUTUMN
SUMMER
Winter Salad
We normally associate salads with Summer, but even in the depths of Winter it's possible to make a delicious salad from whatever leaf crops you have available. The one featured here used young leaves of Endive, Bloody dock, Celery, Kale, Fennel and Oregano - drizzled with a bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar (Eat your heart out Jamie Oliver!) - All the leaves were harvested from my windowbox on New Year's Eve!
You can always add some grated cheese, chopped up bacon or croutons to add some extra protein and crunch.
Delicious Kale
Kale leaves can sometimes be a bit tough, unless you're using the youngest of leaves. Rather than discarding older leaves, strip the leaf part off from the midrib and steam these parts for about 15-20 minutes before cooking them in butter with chopped garlic, stirring regularly, for a further five minutes.
An Aristocratic Winter Warmer
This delicious and hearty meal is great for cold winter days - A bit like a stew, but with added rice. I've used carrots, swede & potatoes (cut up into rough chunks), a couple of rashers of bacon (cut up), all boiled up with water and a teaspoon of Swiss Bouillon. Dunk in slices of welsh rarebit - yum! yum! And why aristocratic? - Well the added magic ingredient I used was chopped up celery leaves from a celery plant brought back from the Chateau of Villandry, in France - famous for it's vegetable parterres!
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