August 12, 2010
Most of this week’s veg box contents come from Jeremy Brown at St Kew Harvest.
Small boxes will have:
potatoes – Estima (Benbole Farm)
* carrots (Camel CSA)
* salad bag (Jeremy)
* french beans (Jeremy)
* red cabbage (Jeremy)
* parsley (Jeremy)
Standard boxes will have extra potatoes as well as:
* mixed summer squash (Jeremy)
* leeks (Jeremy)
* marrow (Jeremy)
And next week we can look forward to sweetcorn and the first of the cauliflowers.
* = grown to organic principles
August 9, 2010
The battle of the supermarkets in the nearby town of Wadebridge, north Cornwall has developed an unexpected twist in the tale.
The possible presence of dormice, a European Protected Species, could put a stop to one of the three proposed out-of-town superstores.
Morrison’s wants to build its supermarket on the site of Wadebridge Town Football Club. It’s offering to provide a replacement ground, practice pitches, changing rooms, floodlights and car park in open countryside at Bodieve.
Sainsbury’s has applied to develop a superstore next to the council offices, while Tesco wants to expand its store on the west side of the town.
Unfortunately for Morrison’s, Cornwall Council planning officer Gavin Smith is recommending that permission for the football club plan be refused.
Interestingly, the fact that no dormice have been seen on the proposed new football club site is not the issue. Cornwall Wildlife Trust has recorded them nearby and it’s illegal to disturb this shy and delightful animal.
As a BBC blog post on the supermarket issue points out: “Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.”
Significantly, Cornwall Council and the wildlife trust are partners in the Camel Valley Dormouse Project which has been calling for people to become “dormouse detectives” in the Wadebridge area. It’s encouraging local residents to hunt for nibbled hazelnut shells that have tell-tale toothmarks and a neat round hole on one side.
Dormouse picture: courtesy of David Chapman Wildlife Photography
Update: A decision on the planning application has been deferred to await the results of the dormice survey and to investigate “serious” concerns about noise from the football ground.
August 6, 2010
A different way with runner beans from Sarah Raven’s Garden Cookbook. She calls it ‘a delicious soft, creamy dish that is good with roast chicken. It also makes a tasty quick pasta sauce.’ If you don’t have savory, you can use thyme instead.
Serves 4
Preparation/cooking: 20 minutes
Ingredients
450g runner beans
salt and black pepper
150ml double cream
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 tbsp chopped summer savory or thyme, plus more to serve
grated parmesan cheese, to serve
Method
String and slice the beans and cook them uncovered in rapidly boiling salted water for 3 minutes until they are just tender. Plunge into cold water and drain.
Put the cream, garlic clove and savory or thyme in a saucepan. Add salt and pepper. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave for 10 minutes for the flavours to merge. Take out the garlic.
Add the beans, put back on the heat and stir to heat them through. Scatter more savory or thyme and plenty of parmesan over the top.
August 5, 2010
The contents of our Cornish vegetable boxes this week are provided by Mark Norman, Jeremy Brown of St Kew Harvest and Camel CSA’s own plot, all of it grown to organic principles.
Small boxes will have:
potatoes – Estima (Mark)
courgettes (Mark)
runner beans (Mark)
carrots (Camel CSA)
salad bag (Jeremy)
savoy cabbage (Jeremy)
Standard boxes will have all the above plus extra potatoes and:
garlic (CSA)
chard (CSA)
beetroot (Jeremy)
swede (Jeremy)
Large boxes will have double the amount in the standard box plus red cabbage (Jeremy) instead of two savoys.
