h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi Zarquon and everyone.

I saw a program on one of the cable/satelitte documentary programmes on I should thought of that. It was about a woman who had a history of health problems who overcame them by diet (organic fruit and vegetables) called naturopathy. She started a business making baby organic food but instead of making the meals bland she made them interesting as she said that babies have sensitive taste buds than previous thought.

My favourite vegetable would have to be pumpkin/squash, the one with bluey/grey skin. Steamming or microwaving the fleshing not adding any water and mashing it and then adding unsalted butter. I could eat whole plate of it pupkin.

Kat

Hi, Gaz,

Your Mum clearly knows what's what! I do that too. Farmers Markets are also a good place to get fresh organic stuff. A bit more expensive, but harvested a few hours earlier, not days, like supermarkets.

Websailor

Or grow your own rather than go out and buy veggies.

Then you can pick them the moment before you cook/eat them and get the very best flavours

I feel like an broken old record

You'll be impressed to hear that not only have I been asked to write an article on how to make proper simple bread for an Aussie magazine, but I'm running a workshop for outback women next week on the same topic

Food is the stuff of life... or is that the staff of life?

Hi Gazongola,

Yes, I buy my vegetables from a supermarket. There's only one organic market stall - it operates on a Saturday and it's five miles away, which means taking the car (or the bus) and using up a great deal of my Saturday. Putting stuff in the freezer sounds a good idea, except that I have a very small one and I don't like using the microwave as I think the process does something to the cells in whatever's cooked, so the food value isn't as good. I could think of getting an organic box delivered once a week, though. i stopped doing it as the veg were left outside all day in the summer and by the time I got back from work, they were a bit the worse for being out in the sun.

What's my job? I manage a home and road safety team (information, education, training and publicity). There's an awful lot going on at the moment.

Hi Kat,

I fully believe that eating properly can turn lives round. I'm good in theory but not in practice. In practice, I take sandwiches into work and also do them for little for his after school. Both of us shouldn't be eating wheat and I think that yeast is also bad for me at present. That rules out dishes with pasta, although i suspect that it would be better for me than sandwiches. If I did things for little that aren't sandwiches, I don't think he would eat them. He's more interested in playing than eating his food most days. I've rarely ate pumpkin and have never eaten one with a blue/grey skin. Little is beginning to be more fussy about food he hasn't eaten before - when he was younger, he was really good and would try most things.

Hi Websailor .

There's not much room in my freezer - it's too small. What sorts of things do you freeze?

Hi Fb ,

Grow my own? I like the idea in theory, however, I wouldn't know where to start and I suspect the local wildlife would have much more of them than I would. There's also the time factor - I don't think growing veg is a once a week activity, is it? I do need to spend a bit more time in the garden, though as I have brambles along one hedge and at the bottom of the garden to deal with. I've tried to get them out before, but haven't done much over the winter and I believe the roots can go very deep. The majority of the garden is lawn, although I do have some decent plants, roses, peonies, lavender and rosemary (which I do use to flavour food).

Sounds like an interesting job

Yes, interesting, and at the moment - challenging!

Just seen number three - the key for him to winning over the kids who were most resistant at Kidbrooke school (as with the ones in Durham) was getting them to help with the cooking - giving them ownership of it. I'm seriously thinking of setting time aside with little and doing some cooking with him. I've done a little with him before and he really likes it. Seeing Jamie quietening his tiny daughter by asking her if she wanted to cook just about did it. I don't like the mess and I get impatient. I think this has to change.

Hi,

We eat fresh whenever possible but I always make sure I freeze as much as I can for when I am busy or too tired.

I freeze anything and everything, but especially carrots, broccoli, sprouts, beans(runner, french and broad) peppers, onions(white and red): cabbage(chopped and blanched) leeks, parsnips, swede, beetroot,spinach. Celery and spring onions chopped are good in stir fries. The only things that don't freeze well are strawberries, pears, cucumbers and bananas,though they survive well in light syrup.

Potatoes, fish, meat leftovers, rice - I cook a double quantity each time, surplus pasta or noodles, grated cheese, bread - in case I have visitors or run out. Garlic, chives, sage, mint.

Orange juice, lemon juice, blackberries, apples, rhubarb. Any other fruit gets eaten too quickly to freeze I do a double size rice pudding and freeze half. I have all of the above in my freezers now.

When the children were little I made bread, cake, puddings, Steak and kidney pies/pudding, apple pies, Xmas cake, Xmas pudding, mincemeat, mince pies, jams, marmalade, chutney/pickle, pickled onions etc. I don't do it now as there are only two of us and we like our food so we tend to eat too much
I have just watched Jamie Oliver again tonight, and he is something else! And the dinner lady Norah deserves a medal. She is wonderful.

He is training other dinner ladies, and I was horrified to find most of them cannot cook, and like the children don't seem to eat vegetables. He has completely turned the one school around, and I really hope he will succeed with the rest.

The programme has been a real eye opener for me, and my husband. He is looking at me with new eyes as we have always eaten "proper food". We noticed a difference in the children's behaviour too which is a bonus.

We used to grow our own veg. but when diesel trains started running at the bottom of the garden we went off the idea as they leave an oily residue on plants.



Websailor

Yes, wasn't Nora wonderful! Yes, it came as a surprise that the other dinner ladies didn't eat the vegetables! The fact that they weren't that good as cooks was less surprising, although it was a bit worrying.

You sound to be a much better cook than I am, Websailor. I am OK, but I've never tried doing anything like jam, marmalade, chutney or pickled onions, and it's a while since I did bread, although yeasted bread isn't good for me and neither really is wheat. The last I did was yoghurt soda bread. It's a nice recipe A694640.

Zarquon I have a similar wheat allergy but it is only a mild allergy. I have never been a big of bread and I seldom eat cakes or biscuits. I have got some crispies (10 of them) last Sunday and 6 or 7 are still left uneaten.

I have not got much experience in gardening but I would like to grow Ayrshire potatoes as they have a completely different taste to English potatoes and you do not have much choic in potatoes from shops. I find that the fruit and vegetables that are sold in shops are old and if you buy fruit if they are unripe and when you wait for them to go ripe they go bad instead.

I used to grow chives and they are very nice and I used the flowers as well.

I also try and eat raw vegetables and even in winter I sometimes have salads or have pickled vegetables.

Kat

Kat,

Aryshire potatoes sounds a great thing to grow. I wonder how much space you would need to feed two and a half people and when you would need to plant. Presumably you would need to plant stuff a week apart to lengthen the time you can harvest them. Advice, Fb? ?

Thinking about the programmes, ones of the most interesting parts of them has been the habits of the children (and the dinner ladies) - the resistance to change and the process of changing these behaviours.

Not a better cook than you, just that necessity is the mother of invention. We were very hard up, and were fortunate enough to be able to grow our own, plus my hubbie used to be given an awful lot of produce, in lieu of tips, in his job I can't abide waste so I had to buckle down to it. To be honest I am quite unable to understand how I managed to do so much with two small children, a part time job and a sick father in residence

To be honest it is not at all difficult with a few good recipes and I am sure Frenchbean will tell you the same. I don't seem to have the time these days, or the energy. Mind having hubbie home all the time makes it very difficult as he wants attention all the time. Little boys are all the same, whatever their age aren't they? but it just shows what you can do when you have no option.


Websailor

Zarquon When I was living in Scotland with my Mam, Dad and sister we did not need much land to grow pototates about 3-4 feet. Once planted, you do not have to do much to them, which is ideal for me.

I don't like waste either, Websailor, and it greaves me if I have to throw vegetables away when they've gone off. It must be a fairly common thing, as I know other people who do the same. I have made an effort to use what I buy and lately not as much as been wasted.

Kat - when is the right time for planting potatoes?

Good news! I've just heard from little 's school that they're going over to Jamie Oliver's healthy eating menu next week. I spoke to him about it and he asked if they would still get chips. I said 'no' and he said, 'Naughty Jamie!' The headteacher says that his head cook is one who was trained on real cooking - fresh stuff - not like some of the ones on the programme and that her vegetable curry and chicken pie are particular favourites of his. It will be interesting to see how little gets on with the menu. Watch this space ...

Oh, that is such good news I am sure they will see a big difference in children's behaviour once the new menus have settled in.

I think congratulations are required for your little 's school, and for Jamie. Support for him seems to be growing by the day.

Do, please, let us know how they get on. If little adores his chips, an *occasional* meal at home, as a treat, might do the trick A little of what you fancy does you good, but not on a daily basis is the key I think.

to you, little and his school. Please pass on our if you get the opportunity.

Websailor

Zarqoun

How to grow potatoes without digging


Growing potatoes without digging really is as great as it sounds! It's a lot less effort than the usual way, and you can use it as a method to clear ground of weeds. If your land is infected with potato eelworm you can use this method to grow a better crop.

It's worth growing a range of potato varieties to see what suits your soil and your tastes. A wide range of different colours, shapes, textures and eating qualities is available. Whatever you choose, grow them organically and they'll taste even better. Some have better resistance to the common potato pests and diseases than others. Always plant good quality certified seed potatoes to avoid introducing pests and diseases.


For a flying start, 'chit' seed potatoes before planting. This means placing them in a clean box or tray - old egg trays are ideal - and keeping them in a cool (8-10°C), light place, where they will produce strong sturdy shoots to give an earlier crop. Tubers can stay safely in their trays until planting conditions are right.

Planting

If the ground is weedy, either clear off the weeds or cut them down to ground level, using a mower or shears. If the ground is very dry, water it well.

Spread well rotted manure or garden compost on the ground at the rate of a barrowload of manure, or two of compost, per 10 sq m (11sq yd). If you have neither manure nor compost, use a proprietary brand of bagged manure or an organic fertiliser instead.

You can 'plant' your seed potatoes in April - early April in warmer areas, late April where late frosts are common. No Dig potatoes do tend to be more prone to frost damage as the mulch used keeps the soil cold. Plant a bit later than usual, and protect the shoots overnight with fleece, newspapers, straw or hay if frost is forecast.

Place seed potatoes on the soil surface at the usual spacing - in rows 20cm x 75cm (8in x 30in) for earlies, and a little further apart for main crop. If you're growing in a bed system space evenly at 30cm (12in) apart for earlies and 35cm (14in) for maincrop. Cover each row with a few inches of hay or old straw. Mark the rows or leave a bare path between them so that you don't tread on the tubers before they come through.

As the potatoes start to emerge, some of them will push the mulch up instead of growing through it - give them a helping hand! Continue to top up the mulch as the shoots grow. Cover the whole area, including the paths.

When the mulch is about 15cm(6in) thick and the plants are growing strongly, cover the mulch with a thick layer of grass mowings. This excludes light - stopping the potatoes from turning green - and helps to hold the mulch down. You can top this up as needed, provided you allow the first layer of mowings to dry off before applying a second.

Slugs are no more of a problem with this method than any other. Blackbirds can be a bit of a nuisance as they pull the mulch about.

To harvest the crop, pull back the mulch and just pick what you need for the night's meal - what could be easier? Make sure that you replace the mulch carefully afterwards. Early potatoes can be ready in as little as eight weeks from planting. When most of the plants are flowering it's usually a good indication that the tubers are big enough to eat, and with the No Dig method it's easy to check.

For maincrop varieties, wait until the foliage has died down before harvesting. If you want to harvest the whole crop it's easier to remove the mulch, collect the tubers and then replace it.

Maincrop varieties should be picked on a sunny day, if possible, and allowed to dry out on the surface for a few hours before putting into bags.

Traveller in Time
"You could make it an Entry ? "

Websailor I'll certainly let you know how he gets on. I've seen a two week menu for Greenwich schools and it looks really good, although there are a couple of spicy things he probably won't eat - the children at Kidbrooke were reluctant to eat anything slightly spicy too. I'll write to the school to say how much I appreciate what they're doing.

Kat,

As the only access to the back garden is through the house (and it's quite a trek), it would have to be bagged manure/fertilizer and it will have to wait until I have my car on the road. The back garden needs quite a lot of work - the borders are overgrown, although the lawn is in a reasonable state and there is a flower rectancle at the bottom which again is overgrown - unfortunately, the brambles got in there while I couldn't get out of the back door, which is now fixed.

TiT

"You could make it an Entry ?" - I'll think about it. I've another project bubbling at the moment.