If you were listening to BBC Radio Leicester’s Ben Jackson on Tuesday at 3.10pm, here’s the recipe I mention, using windfall apples, autumn raspberries and blackberries foraged from the hedgerows around my garden. It’s this week’s recipe for Garden News Magazine.
It’s lovely to use fresh fruit from the garden which has cost nothing. I’m also trying to save energy by using the microwave more often. This sponge pudding only takes about 5-6 minutes to cook. You can brown the top by adding flaked almonds and briefly placing the pudding under a hot grill.
Autumn raspberries have produced a bumper crop this year. I have Autumn Bliss and Polka growing in the shade next to my compost bins. They appreciate rich soil, so must get some good liquid feed from the compost bins along side.
I’ve never known a year when the blackberries were so plump and juicy. The cooler, wet weather in July suited them. There’s a good reason my plot is called Bramble Garden; the boundary hedges are full of high, arching blackberry stems. Berries were exceptionally sweet and tasty this year. I’m going to weave some culinary varieties in amongst them to extend the season. You can grow early, mid-season and late blackberries and this summer has whetted my appetite for more!
Apples have been more of a problem this autumn. The high winds caused them to fall from the trees before I had a chance to pick them. I have a huge amount of windfalls which need to be processed quite quickly as bruises cause rotting. The ‘good’ apples are not keeping as long as they usually do because we had a heatwave for the whole of October. Climate change is causing all sorts of challenges in growing, harvesting and storing fruit and vegetables. We will probably all have to have a re-think how we manage home food production.
I’ll leave you with the peaceful image of bantam hens Daphne and Daisy foraging for windfall apples in the small orchard. They don’t mind the bonanza of apples available for them to peck at! And on a positive note, their egg production went up in October due to the hot weather. So we’ve had a lot of cakes, pancakes and home-made custard to accompany all that fruit!
Bramble Garden 