Months 11 and 12

The last two food months of this diary of produce I have used from my garden ends here.

They have been two months of purple sprouting broccoli – so much so that I have been giving it away by the pound (in weight). Last year, I sowed what grew into approx 25 plants, most of which I donated to my daughter’s school. That left me with nine…. in other words, more than enough for my household’s needs.

It’s interesting that seeds from the same packet produced the following variations in broccoli florets:

It has felt very good being able to give friends and family stuff that I have grown, especially since my garden is quite small. I estimate that I’ve been growing fruit and vegetables in an area 10 foot by 10 at most.

It has been very interesting to catalogue what has come out of this space over the last year. It would have been great to have achieved my original aim of eating or otherwise using something from it every single day but this record gives an indication of what can be done.

In addition to the broccoli, I have been eating chutney that I made last autumn and it looks like this will see us through to next autumn without any difficulty. Because of my challenge, I have forced myself to be more creative around food as well. For example, I would never have made chutney from the insides of a Jack-o’-lantern which came our of one of my own pumpkins in the past. I had never made pumpkin soup before, either.

Undoubtedly, if I were to do a food diary again this year the list of what I consumed would be different. For one thing, I started my sowing of many things too late last year – and the weather was most unkind. For another, I am attempting to grow some untried vegetables this year: aubergine and okra. However, only time will tell what actually happens over the next twelve months!