Diary of Covid-19 confinement, day fifty-one

A cartful of courgettes

Day fifty-one, 6^th May 2020

Project potager 

Today was a good day, spent in the garden. The wind that had plagued me yesterday was replaced with a calm, warm day, with clear blue skies and a temperature that reached 24º, perfect weather for planting out my vegetable seedlings.

While Adrian raked over the plot and dug out the holes, I counted up how many plants I had, then worked out who would be planted, and where. The idea had been to pass on any extras we couldn’t fit in to local friends, but sadly (for them), there was space for 62 and I only had 59 (assorted courgette, butternut squash, white patisson, pumpkin and pink grapefruit squash). I think this means I can go shopping for more, yippee. 

We are still a few days away from the feast days of the Ice Saints, St Mamert on 11^th, St Pancrace on 12^th and St Servais on 13^th May, who legend says often bring with them the last nightly frosts of spring. The cautious among our French neighbours will always wait for these dates to pass before planting out anything tender. However, our next door neighbour has already planted out his tomatoes and he’s never got it wrong yet, and I’ve been watching from over the garden wall, for fifteen summers now. Our thirty-one tomato seedlings are still a bit small, so we will wait a week or so before they go out.

My champette of courgettes, squash and pumpkins

I followed behind Adrian and his shovel, and gently nestled each precious plant into its own specially prepared hole, full of our homemade organic compost. Once they had been watered in and had their photos taken for the family album, the only thing left to do was to wish them a happy growing season and hope they bear lots of fruits. They will get another water tonight and lots of love and attention from me over the coming weeks and I’ll be sure to let you know when I pick the first courgette.

Bye bye pool

Project pool

The next big project in the garden is to take down our above ground pool that has been on the terrace since the spring of 2006. The liner perished last year, and we have come to the sad decision that we really don’t use it enough anymore to replace it. With Ed in Poitiers and Adrian working away a lot, I don’t use it when I am home alone, so its only use is as somewhere cool and refreshing to dip into after a spot of gardening or at the end of a bike ride. A hot-tub would work just as well.

Ed in the pool

We had great fun with it when Ed was little but gone are the days spent watching him jump from the steps, splash, shriek, climb out and repeat, until he turned all wrinkly. 

A new home for the pots

Today we moved the pots from around the edge, creating a pretty area by the banana and Adrian set about cleaning the structure before we take it down and advertise it for sale. Everything else is in good working order, with a brand-new summer cover and quality sand filtering pump. All that will be needed is a new liner and someone will have a pool that should last them another fifteen years.

The monster of Niort

May memory

On this day last year, the car had a service in Niort, our closest main town that is also home to our departmental council. With the bikes onboard, we left the car in the safe hands of the garage and set off on a pootle around the town centre, where we stopped to treat ourselves to a coffee and a croissant. Here I am with one of the four bronze snake/dragon monsters that mark the gateway to the town centre.  Local legend describes an enormous amphibious snake-like monster that appeared from the Sèvre Niortais river, killed by a local soldier who stabbed it in the throat. Sadly, by removing his helmet too soon, the beast poisoned and killed him with its last breath. The ones found around town today are thankfully harmless, although if you walked into them or tripped over them, I bet they could still do some damage. 

Diary of Covid-19 confinement, day thirty-three

Courgette seedlings, one month old

Day thirty-three, 18^th April 2020

Staying alive

It was one month ago today when Ed and I sowed our courgette, butternut squash, pumpkin and pattisson seeds and they are looking great. They have certainly benefited from the extra time we have with life in lockdown as they have been well and truly pampered, from warming the soil in the sun before sowing, to using the radiators to give a gentle boost of heat to encourage germination. Then the new seedlings got their daily dose of sunshine in the garden but were tucked up warm and cosy indoors at night, with just enough, but not too much, watering. They are growing so well in their own pots that we are now keeping them in the shade during the day, just so they don’t get too big before it’s safe to plant them outside in the potager once the frost risk has passed. I can almost taste that first courgette.

Yesterday a friend in the village left me a gift of some sourdough starter, alive and bubbling in a jam jar. She had had the patience that I didn’t and had followed local baker Keith, from Jambon de Printemps’s six-day video guide (see here) to create her own starter. The fact that it’s alive and I now have to regularly do things with it, so as not to kill it; you have no idea how terrified I am of it! There are days when I wonder how I manage to keep a husband, a son, a twelve-year-old dog, an odd assortment of ancient chickens, a duck and a goose alive, in addition to the homemade natural yoghurt that I keep going by using a few teaspoons to start a new batch off every four or five days. 

It was time to be brave. I took a deep breath, opened the jar and split the starter. 20g was fed, watered and left to grow and the remainder is now (hopefully) a tasty pizza dough proving in a bowl for dinner tonight. I’ll let you know how successful it was tomorrow.

18th April 2016 cycling in La Sarthe

April holiday memory 

18^th April 2016 and we had just set off on our first ever cycle tour, in the Sarthe department, near Le Mans. Our 74km day started following the river Sarthe, passing a Benedictine Abbey, pretty medieval villages and a bluebell wood, before visiting the Faïence museum in Malicorne. Leaving behind the river Sarthe, we found the river Loir in La Fléche, where we enjoyed a sunny beer before following an old railway line, now La Vallée du Loir cycle path, to Le Lude. Ever the gentleman, Adrian was not only head navigator and route planner, he was also carrying pretty much all of our luggage. If you look closely in the picture above you will see he thought of everything, including a cycle specific wine bottle carrier, and wine.

Stay indoors, stay safe.

Lockdown library

My reading selection today is the fun and inspiring cycle travel memoirs from Australian author Steven Herrick. Over the years, Steven and his wife Cathie have cycled a number of epic rides in France, as well as many long-distance routes that have crossed Europe. If armchair travel is your thing, you’ll love them, if you can’t wait to get back out and travel for real, these will prove great planning tools for your next adventure.

Courgette crisis

Courgettes a plenty

It would seem Brexit is old news and the real crisis in the UK (according to the social media ‘news’) is a shortage of courgettes (zucchini) in the supermarkets #courgettecrisis. The Home Counties, it would seem have been particularly badly hit. I was even approached this morning by a family member who seemed to think I could magic up a stash of this green gold and make my millions trading them with Tesco or Asda. This is quite a turn around as our family are normally to be heard muttering “oh no, not another bloody courgette” when they come out to visit and get served courgette quiche for starters, spiralised courgette for lunch, courgette curry or risotto for dinner and courgette and chocolate brownie for dessert.

Frosty morning

When I think of courgettes I think summer, sunshine and seasonal produce; when my car windscreen looks like this, my washing freezes on the line and my potager is as solid as a block of ice, funnily enough my courgettes aren’t growing either. In fact I haven’t even started sowing my seeds yet as it’s too cold. Courgettes are wimps. They might grow rapidly from a tiny seed to a huge-leafed plant that does all it can to take over the vegetable plot, but show it even the tiniest hint of a frost on a cool September night and that’s it, finished. It curls it’s leaves up and slinks off, muttering about seeing you in late spring, if the weather is warm enough.

 

Spiralised courgette salad

The New Year, it would seem, is a time for a New You; a fresh start on healthy eating and spiralised courgettes are in big demand. I love my spiraliser too and the vibrant colours of my spiralised courgette salads eaten with freshly picked, sun-ripened tomatoes and served on a sunny terrace can’t fail to bring a smile to my face. However it was -5 this morning, I needed two pairs of gloves on my dog walk and long johns have become the norm; a spiralised salad for lunch is even less palatable at the moment than Theresa May. I need soup, steaming hot, spicy soup, packed with winter vegetables and made with bone broth stock. Just as healthy as a spiralised courgette, but seasonal, so in my opinion, better.

Jerusalem artichokes and winter squash

At this time of year there are so many great winter vegetables to choose from, whether it’s Jerusalem artichokes freshly dug from the garden, winter squash stored from last autumns harvest, or leeks from the village market, you don’t need courgettes and their excess air miles. I do admit to having a sizable stash of frozen courgette purée, but sorry, I’m not sharing no matter how much you are willing to pay, it's mine and mine alone. I am happy to share some courgette pictures, just in case any of you are missing these green and yellow beauties – enjoy!

Courgette seedlings

Flowering courgette plants

Courgettes on the BBQ

Courgettes in the kitchen

Thank you, 578 times

Fund raising for Epilepsy Action

Thank You!

With a week to go until Adrian’s Ride London Surrey 100 challenge, our target of raising £500 for EpilepsyAction has been smashed, thanks to you. 

Some of you are family, some of you friends who live nearby, some of you we have know for years and some of you we might never meet because we live thousands of miles away, but thank you all. We are over the moon and when you add in the UK Gift Aid contribution the total raised of £578.78 becomes almost £650.

This was a real boost as it’s been a tough week for us that started with a swollen foot for me, following a nasty sting. The beastie left it’s weapon concealed in the liner of my gardening boot, so I never found out what type of sting it was, but it was bad enough to make wearing shoes difficult and wearing tight cycling shoes impossible. 

Last Sunday should have been my big summer challenge, cycling the Rapha Women’s 100, a 100 kilometres in a day on the bike, but temperatures of over 34 degrees that left the road surface melted and my swollen foot, meant a change of plan. We thought an early evening, gentle 25kms would be OK, until my bike had other ideas and my back wheel popped a spoke. We taped it up and bravely carried on, but soon discovered that just one spoke out is enough to make a wobbly wheel that rubs and catches on the frame. After 6.5kms we limped home and my Rapha Women’s 100 became a disappointing 13km.

My bed for the day

My painkillers

If this wasn’t enough, last Wednesday I experienced my first taste of hospital à la Française. It was a routine gynaecology procedure, in and out in a day, but still rather uncomfortable and I’ve spent a lot of my time in an armchair, surrounded by boxes of painkillers that have done a good job of keeping my mind off my bruises. The team of doctors and nurses at the hospital in Niort were fun, friendly and efficient and I’m grateful to them all. Tomorrow my stitches are coming out and then it's onwards and upwards, but no cycling for a week or so yet.

Cycling at sunrise

Adrian has clocked up over 430kms in training rides in just over a week, despite the weather being a big challenge. Three rides, including a 120km final push, had to be very early morning starts as temperatures soared to 38 degrees and one ride had to be aborted after a few kilometres when rain reduced visibility to zero. He has now serviced his bike and given it a clean and a polish, so it’s all ready for next week in London. We will be signing in on Saturday and on Sunday morning after waving him off, I’ll be spending my day volunteering in Piccadilly with the Epilepsy Action team where I’ll be helping to set up the venue for the finish celebration and looking forward to welcoming in the riders. Until then I’m taking it easy, but no one told the courgettes that.

A couple of days of pickings

Reaching the fundraising target certainly gave Adrian the encouragement needed to keep the training up this week as it all had to be fitted in around my hospital trip, and with me out of action Ed and Adrian have also found themselves performing odd tasks, like hanging out washing, ironing, cooking, floor sweeping and spiralising courgettes.

A healthy spiralled courgette salad

The Just Giving page is still open, so if you would like to donate please see here. You can read my story about living with epilepsy here. 

Garden produce show

Ready for the garden show

Yesterday, with a little trepidation, I took part in my first ever garden produce show, organised by the local gardening club I joined last year. As I am now on the committee I found myself taking an active part in organising it, despite my lack of experience, which was a little daunting. My main role was to drum up enthusiasm and ensure as many members as possible felt comfortable entering something. We are only a small club and our show was very much run for a fun afternoon, (we are a long way off being an RHS event like Chelsea) and as there were plenty of entries and lots of laughter, I think we succeeded.

Despite the fun, relaxed atmosphere I was promoting I don’t mind admitting that in the days leading up to it I was a little nervous. I was really hoping my vegetable garden wouldn’t let me down at the last minute as having a set of three identical sized, not too big, not too small, of each fruit or vegetable to be entered, that are ready to pick on the day isn’t as easy as it sounds. I was a little disappointed with the courgettes and beetroots, but entered them anyway, however the plums, chillies, yellow patissons and onions were looking tip top, or so I thought until I added them to the groaning vegetable produce table. The judges were kind enough to give my pretty patissons the second prize (there were some very nice and shiny red onions that won), which I was very pleased with.

Second place patissons

I had saved a couple of jars of 2014 chutney and one of relish to enter and here I was very nervous. I know my family; especially my mother and father-in-law love my chutneys, but what if the judges didn’t? I’ve a bit of a reputation for chutney making, especially courgette chutney so this category was a real test. Alas, the winner of this category wasn’t one of mine, but again I was awarded the second place for my courgette and windfall apple and pear chutney with piment d’Espelette, phew!

Second place chutney

I also baked a cake, a recipe I have used many times, but still found myself checking and rechecking my measurements and method, as well as fretting while it cooked. Would it sink? Would the almond flavour come out? Would the windfall pears cook enough, but not too much? Yet again I was piped to the first post (by a delicious lemon drizzle cake) but I was very happy to be awarded (another) second place prize.

Second place pear cake

The final category I entered was the handicrafts with a bit of a blast from the past, a cross-stitch sampler I completed in 1991 and has been hung on various different walls since then. This time there was no first or second place for me here, but I did get third place and I think three seconds and one third for my eleven entries in five categories, in my first show was respectable enough and gives me room for improvement next year.

Third place cross-stitch sampler

A simple and delicious recipe for courgettes

Courgette (zucchini) cream

It is that time of year when those of us who are growing courgettes (zucchini) are struggling to keep up with the supply, not that you will hear me complaining. I have spent many happy hours in the kitchen (hence the lack of blog posts) slicing, dicing and grating courgettes into quiches and soups for lunches, caviar for aperos, risotto and curries for dinners, cakes for desserts and chutneys and relish to store. This week, however, I have found the most simple and tasty way to cook them ever. I give you courgette cream.

Roasted and ready to freeze

Wash and dice your courgettes.

Add to a roasting tin, season with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil.

Roast until soft, but don’t over do it. I find about thirty minutes in a moderate oven is perfect.

Leave to cool.

Purée with a hand blender.

Your courgette cream is now ready to use or to freeze for winter use. I freeze in ice cube trays and then bag up the cubes. Until you try it you will not believe how creamy it is, honestly.

This recipe works just as well with green or yellow courgettes and any type of squash. For a spicy alternative, add ground curry spices or chilli powder to the oiled courgettes before roasting.

For a delicious dip I mixed a couple of teaspoons of pesto with a couple of tablespoons of courgette cream and natural yoghurt. A perfect dip to enhance our current glut of cucumbers from the garden. I am also just a little bit too excited at the thought of adding a handful of cubes to my pasta sauces, casseroles and stews this winter. Vivre le courgette!

In the spotlight

Guest Speaker

Sometimes my life can be rather routine, sometimes things get exciting, and at the moment I seem to be going through an exciting phase. I was recently contacted by a local gardening club, who incidentally happen to be the longest running English language gardening association in the whole of France, to see if I would give a short talk to the members at their Annual General Meeting. As I read the email, I could feel my heart rate increase as my eyes widened and that tingle of panic mixed with excitement took hold in my stomach. I am quite a shy person, happy to share my French village life via my blog and regular column in the Deux Sèvres Monthly magazine, but not really used to speaking in front of an audience. However, I feel it is a good thing to step out of your comfort zone every now and then and if I’m honest, I do like a challenge.

Yesterday afternoon saw me ‘preaching’ the benefits of growing and eating courgettes (zucchini) to twenty enthusiastic gardeners with happy, smiley faces. They welcomed me into their meeting, they listened and they even had a few questions that I hope I was able to answer for them. They were so friendly I have decided to become a member and am looking forward to taking part in their monthly meetings, horticultural days out, summer bbqs and Christmas meal. I’m also hoping that over time I will be able to convert any non-courgette growers to become fans even if it means giving away seedlings. Yesterday, as well as coffee and chocolate biscuits, I was also lucky enough to win a new trowel in the monthly raffle, which I promise wasn’t fixed even though I managed to draw my own ticket.

Thank you to the members of Les Jardiniers du Sud-Ouest à Chives for being so welcoming. If any of my local gardening friends would like to join in the fun I can let you have the membership details.

Farewell to the summer garden

The weather has turned and the season has changed, so we have taken the first steps towards putting the potager to bed for the winter. There are still the Brussels sprouts for Christmas, some lettuces, the Jerusalem artichokes and a few beetroots, but the tomatoes were struggling and so were the courgettes and squash. This is the earliest we have ever had to give up and just thinking that doesn’t do much to improve my mood on a dark, damp day. We have harvested all the green tomatoes, most of which were turned into tomato and apple chutney (there are still a few apples to harvest too) and the baby squash were roasted for a soup. I am hoping the larger squash will store for a little while longer, they do make a delicious soup but I like the idea of using them as a fresh vegetable for as long as possible. I am really pleased with my Longue de Nice squash and with three of them weighing a combined ten kilos of firm orange flesh (similar to a Butternut squash) I predict lots of curries this autumn.

Longue de Nice squash

As usual the weeds have taken over in the potager, possibly more so this year - an unfortunate side effect of too much time spent cycling and not enough time spent gardening. However it was such a fantastic summer I’m not really complaining. Getting the plot ready for next spring will be hard work and we really could do with some good old-fashioned muck to improve the soil. We both felt that although we have harvested quite a bit from the garden the yields could have been better. We have a compost heap that provides some goodness for the plot and all the plants from the potager we have pulled up have been added to it, with grass cuttings, leaves and kitchen scraps, but there is never enough. It is at this time of year that I think a piglet would be the perfect answer. Fenced into the potager he or she could spend the winter weeding, rotivating and adding muck with very little effort on my part. Just thinking about the size and quantity of courgettes next year that would go so well with a pork chop is making me hungry. Enough of my dreaming, I have a huge vase full of parsley from my neighbour that is destined to become the star ingredient in a batch of pesto that will also use up some of last year’s walnuts. It is just a shame it hasn't stopped raining for long enough to pick and dry many of this years walnuts – I am not a fan of cold, wet autumns. 

At least wet days mean reading days and this weekend, as well as celebrating Ed’s 13^th birthday, I will be indulging in some book therapy at the Hope Association Book Sale – thousands of second hand books on sale all at 1euro with proceeds going to local animal charities. I will be there on Friday, so only two sleeps to go.

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Tomato and Chilli Jam

Early autumn is one of my favourite times of year to be in the kitchen, cooking away the end of summer blues and knowing there will be lots of homemade goodies to indulge in over winter. Here is another great tomato recipe, a sweet and hot tomato and chilli jam that makes a great marinade for meats, zings up a stir-fry as well as spicing up the Christmas day cheese platter.

Tomato and Chilli Jam

1kg ripe tomatoes, skins removed

Fresh chilli peppers (to your taste, I use at least 8)

8 cloves of garlic

600g Demerera sugar

2tbsp Soy sauce or Worchester Sauce

235ml red wine vinegar

Chop the tomatoes and add to a food processor with the peeled garlic, the Soy sauce and the chillies (chopped but with seeds). Blend to a mush. Pour this and the vinegar into a large heavy bottomed saucepan and add the sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring continuously to dissolve the sugar. Once boiled, turn the heat to low and leave to simmer, stirring every 10 minutes to keep from sticking. It is ready to pour into sterilised jars when a channel remains on the bottom of the pan after stirring with a wooden spoon.

For an alternative version with courgette (zucchini) rather than tomatoes, blend the chillies, garlic and soy sauce and add to 1kg grated courgette and the vinegar in the pan, then add the sugar and continue as above. This obviously doesn’t have the deep red colour of the tomato version, it is more of a murky brown, but the flavour and texture are superb and it is another way of using up courgettes.

Courgette Risotto

Risotto is one of my top comfort foods and for us is usually made with courgettes (zucchini) or oven-roasted squash/pumpkin (and if you read yesterday’s post you’ll know squash is going to feature regularly on our autumn menus). I have to confess that I’d rather eat a good risotto than a deep fried courgette flower – I am a foodie, but I’m a comfort foodie. The bacon, courgette, garlic and basil flavours in this recipe are fantastic and the rich, creaminess of the risotto makes me salivate every time I cook it. If you would like to give it a go here is the recipe;

Roasted squash

Courgette (Zucchini) and Basil Risotto

Ingredients:

4 tbsp basil olive oil or a knob of butter

3 courgettes, diced

1 pack of lardons or streaky bacon

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 onion, finely chopped

200g Arborio (risotto) rice

1 small glass of dry white wine

1.5l chicken stock, simmering

1 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Handful of fresh basil

Heat half the oil or butter over a high heat. Add the courgettes and bacon and cook until lightly golden. Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds longer. Transfer to a plate. If using squash, oven roast with the garlic and cook the bacon in a pan then combine.

Heat the remaining buter/oil over a medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook for about 2 mins until softened. Add the rice and stir for 2 mins until it is translucent and well coated with oil.

Pour in white wine; it will bubble and steam rapidly and evaporate. Add a ladleful of stock and cook, stirring occassionally until the stock is absorbed.

Continue adding the stock, about half a ladleful at a time, allowing each to be absorbed before adding the next. This should take about 20-25 mins. The risotto should have a creamy consistency and the rice should be tender, but still firm to the bite.

Stir in the courgette/squash mixture with any juices, the butter, the fresh basil and the Parmesan. Serve and enjoy