Eat Vegetables at their Seasonal Best – Try our Cauliflower Cheese Bake

If you have been growing a crop of  cauliflower this year, you’ll hopefully be enjoying the harvest round about now.  vegetables taste so much better when they are eaten in season, and nothing beats harvesting your own tea!  The taste and sense of satisfaction is beyond compare.

If you want to grow your own vegetables visit www.recycleworks.co.uk for all your gardening needs.

This is a great heart warming family recipe, and is one easy way I manage to get my kids eating one of their 5  a day.

Recipe

1 large, creamy-white cauliflower, trimmed and broken into florets
25g butter
25g plain flour
550 ml milk
150g cheddar Cheddar, grated
2 tbsp crème fraîche or double cream
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
25g fine fresh white breadcrumbs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

Method

1. Cook the cauliflower in boiling water until it is tender but not over-cooked
2. Grease an oven proof dish and then add the cauliflower
3. Make the cheese sauce by melting the butter in a sauce-pan.  Add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon to make a paste, but do not allow to go brown or burn
4. Add the milk a little at a time and keep stirring the mixture
5. When all the milk is added simmer for a few minutes until the sauce thickens and is creamy.  Stir regularly to avoid the sauce sticking to the bottom of the pan
6. Remove from the heat and add the cheese, crème friache and mustard
7. Pour the sauce over the cauliflower
8. Mix the breadcrumbs and a handful of cheddar then sprinkle over the top
9. Bake at 200 C for around half an hour or until browned
10. Serve with crusty bread and enjoy!

Raised beds are the perfect way to grow vegetables, and The Recycleworks Ltd  specialises in the manufacture of a large selection.  The soil in raised beds is easier to maintain and is generally lighter, better drained and warmer.  Gardening in a raised bed can also reduce pest damage and all in all crops often do better.  It’s also easier  for the gardener with no more heavy digging.  The Raised Beds from www.recycleworks.co.uk are made from FSC wood and with no screws, no nails and no holes to dig, they can be assembled in minutes.  

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Enjoy Peas at their Seasonal Best with this Delicious Pea & Mint Soup

Peas are at their seasonal best round about now and if you grow your own why not enjoy them in delicious, refreshing and healthy pea and mint soup. 

Ingredients
1 leek
1 onion
teaspoon of butter
1.5litres vegetable stock
450g frozen peas
Small bunch of mint
Salt and black pepper to taste

Method

1. Saute the leek and onion gently in the butter until soft
2. Add the vegetable stock, season with salt and pepper and simmer for 20 minutes
3. Add the peas and mint, bring back to the boil and simmer for 6-7 minutes
4. Blend the soup until smooth
5. Serve with
6. You can also add a couple of teaspoons crème fraîche to taste, just before serving

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Take Part in the Summer Holiday Quiz – You Could Win a Prize!

If you have a spare five minutes over the summer holidays why not have a go at our Summer Holiday Quiz… Its free to enter, fun to do and the first correct entry out of the hat will win a great bundle of bird feeding goodies to use during the autumn. Get your entry to us by 5th September 2011 for a chance to win!

The prizes will include a Ground Feeding Bird Table, some high quality Bird Table Feed Mix, the brilliantly illustrated Laminated Field Guide to Garden Birds and a Bird Window Feeder which is brilliant for observing birds at close quarters.

Click here for all the details of how to take part – good luck!

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Could you be the BBC 3 Young Gardener of the Year?

Young Talent of the Year is back and BBC 3 are on the look out for the UK’s top young talent.

If you are aged 16-25 and are a talented gardener, or if you know someone who is,  BBC 3 want to hear from you.

If you think that you are a true ambassador for your trade and want to showcase your skills then contact the BBC for an application form.  The closing date is 5th August 2011.  Click here for all the details on how to apply …and good luck! 

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If You Own A Tortoise Take A Look At this Fabulous Tortoise Pen

Made from hard wearing, long lasting FSC wood this Tortoise Pen comes in two sizes and will also pack away into a very small space when not in use.

Easy to assemble with no nails and no screws it just slots together to form a strong pen.  The lid can be half opened or completely removed when conditions demand.  Prices start at £62.50

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Top Tip for Tomatoes – Support them with these Cane Growbag Frames

If your tomato plants look like mine, they will be getting nice and tall, if not a bit unstable in their growbags.  But this year I have the perfect solution with these Cane Growbag Frames.

So simple yet so sturdy, they will provide all the additional support needed to keep the plants nice and stable as they begin to produce fruit.  The perfect solution to a perennial problem!

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Make the Most of Home-Grown Veg with Healthy Snacks for Children

With lots of tasty produce due for harvesting in July, why not make some healthy finger food for the children.  Served straight from the garden alongside some yummy home-made dips, they are a great alternative to convenience snacks.

Ingredients

cucumber
carrots
celery
fresh peas
handful fresh mint
handful fresh chives
low-fat plain yoghurt
cream cheese

Method

1. Shell the peas
2. Wash all the vegetables
3. Peel the carrots
4. Chop the cucumber, celery and carrots into sticks
5. Chop the fresh mint and mix with the plain yoghurt
6. Chop the chives and mix with the cream cheese
7. Create a platter of healthy finger food

You can also include bread sticks, crackers and chunks of cheese.

 

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The School Garden – Planning for the Summer Holidays

 

The School holidays are almost here – time to take time out, relax, eat ice cream, maybe go on holiday… But this can often be a tricky time for the school garden.  After the industrious activity during the summer term, crops can be left unpicked and unwatered as the weeds take hold and everything can get quite wild by the time the autumn term starts.

So to avoid garden chaos take a look at our Top Tips for Planning for the Summer Holidays. 

From practical gardening tips to planning advice there is checklist of all the things you need to be thinking about.

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