How are you for planning ahead?
When do you start thinking about the
Christmas dinner? I generally only think
about it the day before when I have a bucket load of spuds to peel. If you are organized and want to produce a
lot of the vegetables yourself there will need to be a bit of forward planning.
I should say there will be LOADS of forward planning as some vegetables you
will need to plant in February to April to have them on the festive table.
One of my favourite accompaniments for the meal is bread sauce.
It’s one of those simple things we can make and like pancakes for example, we
only think about it once a year- which is a pity as they too are
delicious. (You can get Dairy, wheat and
gluten free products too)
Most vegetables in a traditional meal are readily available
in the shops all year but what make them special for me are those small
accompaniments. Cranberry sauce, 4 different types of meat, a vegetarian option
is added to the plate too. Instead of the regular brussel sprouts we’ll add
sunflower seeds and breadcrumbs (at least I think that’s what they are as my
mother in law puts those together.
Grow Your Christmas
Dinner
A lot of the home grown veggies don’t need any special
embellishment (apart from gravy of course) Here’s a list of the main types we
can grow ourselves.
New potatoes.
These are usually suggested first on the list of grow your own for Christmas
but I have found them quite difficult to produce. I find they aren’t really new
potatoes as such, just very small old potatoes. But that might be the type I
grow. I have been known to put some tubers in a tub in late summer and dig them
up later.
Brussels. These
are in the ground a long time and can get loose looking (like a baby open
cabbage) depending on the variety. They are one of the most popular veggies to
grow for winter.
Kale and broccoli.
My two favourites. I’ll happily eat these all year. The cold has sweetened up
the leaves and as the cabbage whites weren’t around this summer we have an
abundance of fresh leaves to boil up. I’ll leave them alone after the new year
for the plants to produce the lovely side shoots and spears.
Onions and shallots.
These can be dug up and stored in nets for when you want them. They will be a
very useful multipurpose bulb for the meal.
Celery. If you
are making a soup for a starter, home grown celery will make a great addition
along with the onions.
Red cabbage. I’ve
never had red cabbage at Christmas and would normally pickl it but it does make
a pretty addition to the plate.
Carrots. These
can be dug up fresh or you can get early mature ones and store them if you want
them to hand on the day.
Parsnips. Like
carrots these can be dug up and put in the fridge ready for the day. If the
cold didn’t get to them outside to sweeten them up then the bottom tray of the
fridge will do the job nicely.
Cauliflower. I
have never grown one successfully but if you do these small fluffy clouds can
be used in small amounts and placed under the bread sauce… yummy.
You might have some squash or pumpkin left over in the
fridge too and can be used in a soup as well as roasting.
Peas. These will
probably be picked and frozen earlier and do freeze really. Runner beans freeze
well to if you blanch them too and it’s handy to have a bag or two in the
freezer.
My mother in law also makes Pavlova for Boxing Day which
includes a lot of home grown fruit such as raspberries, strawberries and red
currants. I don’t tend to eat that as the meringue sticks to my teeth but I
will scoop off the fruit and put a huge dollop of cream on top. I’m sure we can
add apple sauce to the list too.
There are probably a lot more vegetables to add to this
list. Garlic, winter lettuce for the base of prawn cocktails or smoked salmon,
swede or turnips as well but there’s only a limit to what we can get on the
plate.
Remember to give the winter vegetables consideration when
looking through the seed catalogues in January.
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