How nice it is of the neighbours’ trees to give me mulch for the winter. I raked the fallen leaves off the lawn (which doesn’t need additional fertilization) and then heaped them deep on all the growing beds. I figure that mulching and fertilizing with fallen leaves is how nature does it, so it must be okay.
I’d already spread last year’s completed compost on the beds, but I’m not going to waste free mulch. And the fallen leaves will also provide warm homes for over-wintering insects.
One of my two yakon plants is still flowering and looking reasonably healthy, so I’ve left it. But I’ve brought in the crown of the second one to hibernate away from the full rigour of an English winter.
All the Jerusalem Artichoke foliage had gone brown, so I’ve composted the foliage and harvested the tubers. There’s a pot of Jerusalem Artichoke soup on the stove:
- 500g Artichokes,
- 1 chopped onion
- 800ml vegetable stock
- tablespoon olive oil
Peel & thinly slice the artichokes. Fry the chopped onion in the olive oil. Add the artichoke and stock, simmer for 20 minutes, then blitz with a hand blender.
Not the prettiest of soups, but a tasty one! This is my first time of making it and it’s way nicer than you’d think, creamy, nutty, lovely! It needs a bit of black pepper and then it’ll be perfect.
I’m never going to feed myself all year round from this garden, but it’s nice to occasionally get a free soup.
