CARROTS...FREEZING

It has been a busy couple of days in the garden and the kitchen. Most of the summer produce is coming to an end and as we have a lot of committments over the next month we decided just to clear the garden of everything except the parsnips (which of course are not yet ready). We will go down only to water them and the fruit bushes if we do not have any rain......for once I am hoping for lots of rain but at the minute its still 22 degrees and no sign of rain.

CARROTS   ..are one of those veg that I sometime wonder if its worth growing. Were it not for the fact that they taste so good fresh from the ground I probably wouldnt bother. For planting, the ground needs well prepared..making sure all the stones are removed or you will end up with some wierd shape carrots!! Thinning is essential...done too late and the carrots will still not grow to their full potential. We have never had any problem with carrot fly as we always plant next to the onions and take away any thinnings instead of putting them on the compost heap. Other than these things and pleny of water you can happily let your carrots just grow...when they are ready you can leave them in the ground and just lift what you need to use that day. You just need to watch that the tops dont lift out of the ground and turn green!!

Freezing carrots.......blanche for 2 mins, plunge in freezing water, dry then freeze.There are many sites where you can get all the technical details for freezing so I will not bore you with it here!! The only thing I do differently is....where most people use ice cubes in the cold water I use freezer blocks. You dont then have to make more ice cubes and you can put in as many as you like without creating too much water!!

Carrots are one of the veg that I really dont like frozen....the others being celery, leeks, and onions. In fact the only veg I tend to use from frozen are green beans, soya beans and peas. The rest are just not the same after freezing to eat just as a veg.

WHEN IT COMES TO VEGETABLES I TEND TO DO AS THE FRENCH...EAT SEASONALLY AND LOCALLY.

Menus can be planned around what is available...and the veg is much better quality and much better priced!

Back to CARROTS...yes I do freeze them...but bag them up in portion sizes to use in casseroles. The same applies to celery. These are the only ones I freeze in this way.

So now the carrots, celery, tomatoes, peppers, butternut squash and sweet potatoes have all been lifted.  Yes...in one day...and all prepared, stored or eaten!!!
First I did my good neighbourly bit and spread around a little love with my gifts of produce!!!THEN...
I froze the carrots
I made celery soup.
Stuffed peppers and froze them
Wrapped up the sweet potatoes and the butternut squash in newspaper and stored in cool dry place.
NOTE...do not store your butternut squash with the potatoes...they give off ethanyl ( I think thats what you call it)...anyway it gives off a gas that will make your squash go off!!!
The tomatoes....I used 3kg and made some fantastic tomato ketchup. It was a toss up between the recipe of Jamie Oliver or from Jonathan Wallace.....Jonathan won as hes a bit of a hero to me at the minute..just love his blog(SELFSUFFICENT IN SUBURBIA) and what he has achieved in his suburban allotment.....and he's from the North East like me... so what else can I say!!

So thats it for another busy day...perhaps almost the last of the season....till my next venture!!!!
Off for an aperitif...
Bon Soiree