30/07/2015
Pennie Latin visits Kellie Castle in Fife, home to the cucamelon, a vegetable/fruit hybrid, as well as 75 varieties of apple and 25 varieties of rhubarb.
Pennie Latin visits Kellie Castle in Fife. Guide Margaret Hunter shows Pennie round the castle, now owned by the National Trust for Scotland. This castle once played home to Robert the Bruce's daughter but now it's home to the...Cucamelon? As well as this vegetable/fruit hybrid they also have 75 varieties of apples here and 25 varieties of rhubarb. Gardener's Diane Barrie and Mark Armour, very bravely asks Pennie to sample one of the more palatable varieties, known as the 'champagne rhubarb.' Not a good idea! Dan Holland visits local chef, Craig Millar, who uses produce from Kellie castle in his restaurant. Craig's rose panacotta and deep-fried seaweed kale are being delivered to the castle for lunch, that's if Dan doesn't eat it all en route! Also gardening expert Richard Crawford tells us to keep on top of our weeding in 'jobs for the fortnight'.
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Kellie Castle film trailer
Duration: 00:57
Kitchen Garden Plot Blog - The diary of a ‘grow your own’ enthusiast.
Now that I have emptied one compost bin and another is getting full, I needed to do some repairs on the third bin or things would have started to get messy. ÌýAs you will see in the blog gallery, one of my pallets that I use as one side had given up – a combination of the excellent rotting conditions from our weather and a testament to composting working as it should – as I have said previously, a good compost heap can rot just about anything, and here’s the proof.Ìý Anyway, the new pallet is in place and the new pile begins. ÌýI am aiming to replace all of the pallets with old scaffolding planks, and line them with something to prevent them from rotting too.
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Speaking of rotting, I hate waste in allotments. ÌýIt is a shame to see how much stuff that is grown goes to waste. ÌýI am almost guilty of that myself; a couple of my cabbages had started to go off on the outside (too much of a glut as sometimes happens). ÌýRather than throw them on the compost, I have stripped off any offending leaves and I am freezing the rest. ÌýI don’t do anything special, just shred and freeze. These can readily be used in things like soups or stews during the winter months when a lot of folk will be buying from the supermarkets.
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Everything is doing well, including my beetroot, finally! ÌýI seem to be behind most others with them, but I am content with what I am seeing elsewhere. ÌýAfter having to re-sow my cucumbers, it is good to see them just about ready for picking; they taste so good when picked and eaten straight away. The salad season is well upon us, only waiting to be topped off with some nice juicy tomatoes. Please can we have a little sun….? ÌýIs that too much to ask?
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Broadcast
- Thu 30 Jul 2015 13:30Â鶹Éç Radio Scotland