I finished tidying the All Gold autumn raspberries.
Some of the plants have started to shoot but the redness on some of the young leaves is an indication that they are not enjoying the cold temperatures.
Martyn, finished tidying the path behind the gooseberries so one of the next jobs will be to prune the gooseberries that are growing up the mesh ‘fence’.
Some of the fruit bushes and more rhubarb plants have been mulched with manure.
The Timperley Early rhubarb is now growing quickly.
Before we headed for home we harvested a few things,
There was a small amount of purple sprouting broccoli.
Martyn, also dug up a root of horseradish. The idea was more to curb the spread of the plants. In all the years that it has been growing we have never harvested any. To be honest, we have heard all sorts of warnings about it so we are very wary of using it. Traditionally horseradish sauce is served with beef but as we don’t eat red meat, we’re not sure how to use it. Any suggestions?
We also dug more leeks.
Unfortunately, the harvest wasn’t all we returned home with. My leg suddenly started hurting, no idea what I did to bring that on but I came home with a limp so I was hobbling about for a day and a half. I thought that I would be like this for a while but everything seems to have sorted itself out and I am back to normal.
At home, our seed potatoes are chitting under a blanket of fleece. Martyn posted a video here.
Pre-limp we had our usual visit to Nostell armed with food for the waterbirds.
The food mix states it is for ducks and geese but the crows and black-headed gulls seem to enjoy it too.
I managed a better photo of a tufted duck. They are tricky to photograph as, unlike the mallards, they are diving ducks and keep disappearing beneath the surface. I thought that there were only males on the lake, but in Martyn’s video, I spotted a brown female. She’s going to be popular.
There were also a couple of Canada geese which is unusual as more often they travel in flocks. 
A few times we heard a whistling sound from the far side of the lake but we have been unable to spot the vocalist. Finally, we managed a good enough photo to identify the callers as wigeon. The photos were taken from a distance using a phone so not as clear as I would have liked. It looks as though I will have to take my ‘proper’ camera on our next visit.
There was a huge flock of black headed gulls on a lake in one of the fields neighbouring Nostell,
In the woods I spotted the plant below that looks like a variegated nettle. Any ideas what it is? Martyn posted a video here.
Finally last week’s meals that made use of homegrown vegetables.
Martyn made a pizza that used some of our peppers and onion.
I made a turkey curry into which went more peppers and onions. It was served with homemade bhajis that were made with our onions and courgettes and vegetable pakoras that used our potato, carrot and garlic.
Some of our leeks and garlic went into a chicken and leek pasta bake. I omitted the mozzarella and used low fat cheddar instead.
I also made a vegetable bake that used our onion, garlic, peppers and potatoes. I used tinned tomatoes rather than fresh.
Finally I’ll finish with some cheery crocuses flowering in a local park.
Until next time as always stay safe, stay well and stay warm.
This week I am linking to Harvest Monday on Dave’s Our Happy Acres blog
Your pizza looks delicious, Sue. There are so many birds , they all feel spring.
If only the weather was springlike Nadezda
I too grow horseradish but don’t eat red meat. I use it to make roasted carrots. Absolutely delicious.
THank you Amanda – soMething to try if I dare. Do you just roast it with the carrots?
Good to here your leg is better, I pulled a muscle in mine recently and hobbled around for three weeks. Loving all the water birds at Nostell, especially the tufted duck. Those delicious looking meals are making me hungry.xxx
I wonder whether I trapped a nerve and it just untrapped itself, Dina. I was ready for a long stint.
“Yellow archangel” (the flowers are yellow) grows in our local woods – at light levels where nothing else thrives. Described as a garden escapee it has bee listed a non native invasive species by Plantlife who also state “This species is listed on Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act in England and Wales therefore, it is also an offence to plant or otherwise cause to grow these species in the wild.” (That doesn’t stop the RHS listing 5 suppliers.)
Horseradish is another thug. Grate* it into soups (particularly beetroot) or into mashed potato. It looses its pungency as soon as it is heated through, but still imparts some flavour.
*Watch out the volatile oils are released as the cells are damaged through maceration. That is why it should always be freshly grated, and shop bought ‘sauces’ are invariably disappointing. You might guess that I am a fan.
I’ll look out for flowers if I can find it again, Mal. I try horseradish in soup Mal and grate it wearing googles and a mask.
I’m glad the pain in your leg is disappeared. I’m afraid as we get older, aches and pains come on more frequently, but not only that, they tend to cause more worry as to what could they possibly be.
I wish I could find the recipe I’ve got for the cold cure using horseradish. I’ve done a few Google searches but failed to find it. However, there are lots of recipes out there using horseradish. What have you got to lose by trying one or two of them? Other than the top of your head when it’s too hot, of course. LOL.
I guess we don’t realise that we can’t push ourselves as hard, Debbie.
That pizza looks lovely. I really like homegrown veggies on a pizza. I make a horseradish sauce mixed with mayo and plain yogurt, but we usually serve it on the rare occasion we eat beef. Other than that, I don’t have any suggestions.
Martyn is the pizza chef, Dave. Once I gve him some red chillies out of the freezer instead od sweet red peppers. A happy accident as we like the kick,
I’m glad to hear that the mysterious pain in your leg disappeared quickly Sue. Sometimes I think that just the way we have bent down or stood can bring these things on. That pizza looks most yummy indeed. The variegated nettle looks very much like my yellow dead nettle or to give it it’s proper name lamium galeobdolon variegatum. If it is it has pretty yellow flowers in the spring. It’s an absolute thug and I wish that I had never planted it!
I was glad too Anna, Martyn makes a delicious pizza. Apparently the pant is a listed thug but at the present it looks so benign.
How lovely to be in easy distance of so many waterbirds. The plant looks like Lamium or Deadnettle. It has pink or white flowers. Its a useful plant for groundcover in a shady spot.
That was my initial thought, too, Margaret, but what’s thrown me is that it was growing wild in the woodland.