01825 790888
Reservations

The Garden
& Kitchen

Autumn, 2024

Our ethos is very much about sustainable produce and supporting local Sussex farms. Why not try some family activities at home and grow some veg this year and use it in family meals!

Autumn is here…

The autumn is here, prepare the veg garden for winter and enjoy the produce this season brings in the family recipe for the kitchen.

 

    • Take cuttings of shrubby herbs such as thyme and rosemary
    • Bed down the veg plots with green manure
    • Keep sowing batches of hardy broad beans and peas outdoors for early crops next year.
    • Plant garlic cloves in a sunny well drained spot 15cm apart with there tip 5cm below the surface.
    • Clear away old crops so they cant harbour pests and diseases on the veg patch through winter.
    • Finish picking runner beans and French beans but leave a few pods to ripen fully so you can save the seeds.
  • Put the last green tomatoes in a bowl with a banana to ripen
  • Pick the last peppers and put the old plants on the compost heap.
  • Have a clear-out of end-of-season detritus: old plant labels, module trays that have cracked, empty seed packets.
  • Remove any shading that went up during sunnier months.
  • Get ahead and sow sweet peas during mid to late October with these autumn-sowing instructions.
  • Flowers – Autumn is the time to plant bulbs such as ‘Paperwhite’ narcissus in pots for Christmas displays. You could also start forced hyacinths for festive flowers. 
  • Early October is not too late to sow a few winter salads under glass. These crops are naturally hardy so don’t need heat to grow, just protection from the worst of winter’s cold and wet for a good harvest of unblemished leaves. Try American cress, lamb’s lettuce, winter lettuces such as ‘All The Year Round’ or ‘Arctic King’, mizuna and pak choi.

Butternut squash and sage risotto

Serves 4, vegetarian

1kg butternut squash, peeled and cut into bite sized chunks

3 tbsp olive oil

Bunch of fresh sage, leaves picked, roughly chopped

1.5litres vegetable stock

50g butter

1 onion finely chopped

300g arborio risotto rice

175ml white wine

50g parmesan finely grated

Heat the oven to 220C. Toss the squash in 1tbsp oil with half of the chopped sage and roast in a shallow roasting tin for 30 minutes

Bring the stock to a boil and keep on a low simmer

In a separate pan, melt half the butter and stir in the onions, cook for 10 minutes until soft. Stir the rice into the onions and coat in the butter.

Pour in the wine and simmer until evaporated, then add the stock in increments a ladle at a time, stirring the rice over a low heat for 25-30 minutes. The risotto should be creamy.

Fry the remaining sage.

Mash half the cooked squash into a puree and stir this through the risotto, then add the cheese and butter, whole pieces of squash and the sage.