A Recycled Somerset Garden - August 2015

Post author: My daughter Sophie from Somerset, England

"It all started it from a garden of brambles, that is it was full of rampant blackberry bushes and other long term weeds.  

We started clearing it just as I became pregnant with our first child. Home veg was the value we wanted our baby to experience and grow up with, healthy and pure. So it was a real labour of love (excuse the pun).

The first year we lived here, we only just finished the vegetable patch area as we were concentrating on renovating the house itself. Everyone told me it was too late at the end of August to plant veg, but I did it anyway and loads came up !

Our vegetable patch and the recycled greenhouse

This year, 2015, with the new baby on board the garden has become totally green !  

When I began to wean her, her first foods were from our own garden. She started with pureed carrots, and then parsnips, and so on.  

We got other people involved in the garden with the sunflower competition. Once they are finished, we will keep the seeds from the flower heads, to be dried and re used for flowers next year, or for bird seed during the winter and for cooking in the kitchen. Sunflower seeds can be a great snack on their own or in a nice homemade bread. Yummy !

When we initially cleared the old garden we saved some of the plants that were already there when we bought the house. There was a Day Lily for instance, which was beautiful when it came out this summer.

Never waste plants, they cost a lot to replace. We have a grape vine which we recycled from another house. We cut it right back when we got it first. It is now flourishing and is starting to work well in hiding a block wall at the back of the garden.  

In my next Wild Cottage guest post, I will tell you all about the recipes we use for our garden produce, how we preserve things for the winter and the yummy things we cook with it all.

Meanwhile, here are some more photos of this summer's garden (August 2015)."

The beginnings of our herb bed

The bay tree

Mint in a pot to keep it contained !

Runner beans grown up bamboo sticks

Our own chillies from the greenhouse

Red and white onions almost ready to lift

Some of our white onions

Rhubarb patch !

Elephant garlic - this is just one clove !

Normal and elephant garlic

My husband's precious fig tree

Lovely lettuce

Runner beans harvested for freezing and dinner

Sage bush with lots of new growth

Carrot and Parsnip Soup Recipe

Carrot and Parsnip Soup

1 lb Carrots
1 lb Parsnips
1.5 Onions
4 Garlic Cloves
2 teaspoons Fresh Ginger
2 teaspoons ground Cumin
1.5 teaspoons ground Coriander
10 cups Chicken Stock (Vegetable stock if you are vegetarian)
4 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sea Salt
Freshly ground Black Pepper

1. Finely chop the onions.

2. Place them in a large saucepan with the olive oil. Fry for 3 minutes until they are soft.

3. Mince or very finely chop the garlic and the ginger.

4. Add the garlic and ginger to the saucepan. Cook for another 1 minute.

5. Add the carrots (chopped), parsnips (chopped), cumin, coriander,
salt and pepper.

6. Cook for another minute, stirring the ingredients well.

7. Add the stock to the saucepan. Bring the pan to a steady simmer and cook for about 30 minutes partially covered, or until the veg is soft.

8. Remove it from the heat and blend the soup with a hand blender or a bigger one.

9. Serve with a swirl of cream if you are feeling decadent !

Curried Parsnip Soup

Loads of parsnips left after Christmas ?

Here is an easy and tasty recipe for using them up. It doesn't matter if they are raw or cooked (steamed, boiled or roasted), you can throw them into this soup.

Adjust the quantities to use what ever amount you have left over...

Curried Parsnip Soup

4 Parsnips (chopped or sliced)
2 Onions (chopped)
8 tablespoons of Butter
2 tablespoons of Plain Flour
2 teaspoons Curry Powder (use a mild to medium one)
1 teaspoon Turmeric
4 pints (UK pints not US) Vegetable Stock
1/2 pint Cream
Sea Salt
Freshly ground Black Pepper

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan.

2. Add the chopped onions and the chopped parsnips. Cook gently with the lid on for about 10 minutes.

3. Next add the flour, curry powder and turmeric, and stir it in well to coat the veggies.

4. Cook this for 1 or 2 minutes.

5. Next pour in the prepared stock and simmer on a low heat for 30 minutes, (or until the parsnips are nice and soft if they are already cooked).

6. Allow the soup to cool for 10 minutes and then blend it to a smooth texture with a hand blender.

7. Taste and add the appropriate salt and pepper.

8. If you are going to use the soup straight away, add the cream at this stage and gently re-heat the soup until it's ready to eat.

9. If you want to freeze the soup, it's best to not add the cream. Add it when you use it at a later date.