I thought I would talk about the ‘hungry gap’ today. This usually falls between April and May and it’s the time when there isn’t too much to harvest from our plots.
I took a slow walk around my allotment site this weekend and took a mental note of what was growing. There wasn’t really a lot growing on individual plots that I could see, however there were a few cabbages, parsnips and leeks scattered over the site and a few allotments had spring broccoli. This made me think about my allotment plots and what we eat at this time of year.
I try really hard to make sure there are vegetables to harvest all year round from my allotment, though this is obviously easier during the summer and autumn months. I also make sure I actually use the vegetables that I have available to make meals for my family, as this not only saves us money, but I also know my vegetables are grown organically and not sprayed with chemicals.
Unfortunately, at this time of the year I have usually run out of the three vegetables that we eat the most, potatoes, onions and garlic and so I do have to buy them. However, the things I can harvest at my allotment at the moment are spring broccoli, curly kale, cabbages, chives, lettuce, mizuna, corn salad, spring onions, spinach and rhubarb. It takes time to plan ahead to grow these things, but I think it is worth it.
Freezers are also a great help to bridge the ‘hungry gap’. I still have a good supply of homegrown vegetables in my three freezers, which help to spread the seasons over the year.
I have French beans, runner beans, mange tout, leeks, parsnips, Jerusalem artichokes, turnips, courgettes, broad beans, parsley, strawberries, crab-apples, red currants, white currants, blackcurrants, raspberries, gooseberries, blackberries and I even found a bag of sweetcorn that I had missed. These will all be used up before I am able to harvest them again at the allotment.
So I think it is possible to still have a good supply of fruit and vegetables to use during the ‘hungry gap’, if you just take a little bit of time to plan ahead to this time next year.
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I thought it would be nice to post a recipe that uses a vegetable that is in season at the moment. I love purple sprouting broccoli and look forward to the first harvest. It is nice to use it in different ways too, so yesterday I made a quiche with it:
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Cheese and Spring Broccoli Quiche:
One pre-cooked pastry case – (you can see how to make one here)
350ml semi-skimmed milk
5 small eggs
50g small broccoli florets
1 onion
100g grated cheese
Pinch of pepper
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Boil the onion and broccoli in a saucepan of water for four minutes and then drain.
Spread the onion and broccoli over the base of the pastry case.
Sprinkle half the cheese over the onion and broccoli.
Whisk the eggs, milk and pepper together and pour over the cheese, onion and broccoli.
Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top.
Bake for 30-40 minutes until the eggs are set (but not too solid) and the top is golden.
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Thank you for reading my blog today.
I will be back on Friday at approximately 4pm.
Mmm, the quiche looks absolutely delicious!
Hi Nikki, next time you are round for tea I’ll make it for you. (Nikki is my daughter’s best friend)
We freeze too and our hungry gap is hungrier than it should be thanks to pigeon devastation.
The pigeons have been so hungry this year, probably due to the cold spring, as it’s reduced the amount they have around. I hope you haven’t lost too much to them?
Great post, the “Hungry gap ” worries me trying to get enough veg to last through, busy digging yesterday, getting it all tidy, having great success with the seeds all popping up.
Sue
Well done Sue. Even after all these years, when a seed pops up I still find it amazing.
I love your recipe, it’s simple and enough cheap. will try to cook on weekend.
Lol, I cook simple, realistic things as people (including me) just don’t have time to spend hours on a meal. I also want everyone who reads my blog to have a go at cooking from scratch, as it’s so much cheaper, tastes so much nicer and has no chemicals or preservatives in.
The quiche looks lovely. I have some spinach and purple sprouting brocolli left in the garden so I’ll have to try it with those.
Spinach and broccoli sound lovely Hannah. Let me know how you get on.
Your freezer is well stocked! They always do, though. Do they ever get low?
The quiche looks awesome, but I tell ya, I SUCK at them. Or rather, my oven does. So I have to eat other peoples.
Bless you, I’m sure you can make one…try my recipe and tell me if it works. I try to get to the stage where I only use two freezers instead of three, this time of year, so I can defrost them, but no I keep adding to them all the time so they don’t seem to get low lol
Hi-it’s Emma from karate here…Sorry this is not quiche related-although it does look delicious and I have broccoli in stick so hope to try!
Just catching up with some reading for pleasure. After all the heavy stuff for uni it’s really lovely to read your blog. Its a mine full if fascinating and useful information and ideas. i will be sharing it with my friends who are less lazy and more green-fingered than me! And I am hoping that maybe in the summer when I have time, to put an area of the garden to some practical use… I have been having rhubarb jam on toast with my coffee in the morning as a special treat. I love it! My friend has tried baking your crumble cake and loved it. I’m hoping to have a go this weekend…Anyway, see you soon at karate! Xx
Hi Emma, lovely to hear from you and it’s great to know you like the rhubarb jam. The jar you are eating is from the same batch that they were all tasting when I last went into radio Leicester last month. I had some on toast this morning too as it’s my favourite jam.
I’m really glad your friend liked the rhubarb cake, I love feedback (especially when it’s good lol). Let me know how you get on with the cake too.
See you at karate.
Lovely to have your freezers packed with healthy food from your allotment. Even though my allotment is small I still had to buy a small chest freezer for the garage to take my surplus veggies so there are always organic vegetables for dinner.
There is nothing as good as eating your homegrown fruit and veg is there. Your allotment is looking good Jean. I especially like the sweet potatoes that you grow and I wish I could grow them here in the midlands. I wonder if anyone else in the UK has any luck growing them?