Jane reports that this week’s small boxes will be ‘full to the brim’ to make up for last week’s being a little light! Once again it’s all our own produce – with contributions from expert grower Mark Norman and CSA member Mark Malcolmson – and all grown to organic principles. The french beans are coming to an end while the peas are just beginning, so you might get one or t’other.

Everyone will get:cucumber-trish.jpg
*potatoes (Mark Norman)
*lettuce (Camel CSA)
*cucumber (Camel CSA)
*cabbage (Camel CSA)
*radishes (Camel CSA)
*garlic (Camel CSA)
*beans/peas (Camel CSA)
*blackcurrants (Mark N)

Standard boxes will have extra potatoes plus
*rocket (Camel CSA)
*courgettes (Mark N)
*shitake mushrooms (Mark Malcolmson)

* = grown to organic principles

This is a delicious alternative to the traditional gooseberry crumble and takes only a little longer to make. Try it with Mark Norman’s organically-grown gooseberries in this week’s veg boxes, also available for sale at St Kew Harvest Farm Shop.

The ground almonds make all the difference. And if you’ve got any elderflower cordial, add a few drops of that. As Nigel Slater says, it’s very much a “cut-and-come-again cake” so it’s popular with children and teenagers. My daughters love it.

Serves 8

Preparation and cooking: 75 – 90 minutes (mostly cooking time)

Ingredients
For the cake:
butter, softened 180g
golden caster sugar 90g
light muscovado sugar 90g
eggs 2
ground almonds 80g
self-raising flour 150g
vanilla extract 2–3 drops
gooseberries 350g

For the crumble:
plain flour 110g
butter 80g
caster sugar 2 tbsp

Method
Preheat the oven to 175C/gas mark 3. Line the base of a 20cm round tin with baking parchment. To make the crumble topping, blitz the flour and the butter to crumbs in a food processor. Add the caster sugar and mix lightly. Remove the mixer bowl from the stand and add a few drops of water. Shake the bowl a little so that some of the crumbs stick together like small pebbles.  

To make the cake, beat the butter and sugars in a food mixer for 8-10 minutes until pale and fluffy. Beat the eggs gently then gradually introduce them to the mixture with the beater on slow.

Fold in the ground almonds and flour then add the drops of vanilla extract. Transfer the mixture to the tin and smooth it flat. Scatter the gooseberries on top, pressing them down a little. Then scatter the crumble mixture loosely over the gooseberries.

Bake for 60-75 minutes, checking for doneness with a skewer. The skewer should come out damp from the gooseberries but without any raw cake mixture attached. Leave to cool in the tin, then remove and set aside.

Try these recipes for gooseberry sauce

All “home” grown once again – plus all grown to organic principles. And next week, says expert grower Jane Mellowship: “We will definitely have Treworder strawberries, promise!” For now, everyone will get:

* lettuce (Camel CSA)
* french beans (Camel CSA)
* purple kale (Camel CSA)
* basil (Camel CSA)
* green onions (Mark Norman)
* gooseberries (Mark)

Standard boxes will also have:
* cucumber (Camel CSA)
* calabrese (Mark)
* turnips (Camel CSA/Mark)

* = grown to organic principles

UPDATE: If you want more of Mark Norman’s organically-grown gooseberries they’ve got plenty more for sale at St Kew Harvest Farm Shop, next door to our vegetable plot at St Kew Highway.

Camel CSA’s contribution in Cornwall to Making Local Food Work is featured in a new YouTube video commissioned by the Plunkett Foundation, made by eclips film.

We turned our grow-your-own dream into reality with the support and guidance of the Soil Association via Making Local Food Work. We have £60,000 funding from the Big Lottery’s Local  Food programme and the East Cornwall Local Action Group (part of the South West Regional Development Agency).

Two recipes for a sauce to accompany grilled mackerel or roast pork, both from Nigel Slater’s Tender Vol. II. The second one makes use of elderflower cordial and ginger – an idea taken from Yotam Ottolenghi.

1. A gooseberry sauce
Makes enough to accompany grills mackerel or roast pork for six.
Ingredients
500g gooseberries
50g sugar
3-4 tbsp water
Method
Top and tail the gooseberries, tip them into a stainless steel pan, then add the sugar and water. Bring to the boil, lower the heat and simmer for ten minutes. Use warm or at room temperature.

2. A hot gooseberry and ginger sauce
Enough for 6
Ingredients
400g gooseberries
100g caster sugar
4 tbsp elderflower cordial
large lump of fresh ginger, about the size of your thumb
Method
Top and tail the gooseberries and tip them into a pan with the sugar and cordial. Peel and coarsely grate the ginger and add to the pot. Bring to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer for ten minutes. Serve with pork or oily fish.

The contents of this week’s boxes come from Camel CSA’s own plot at St Kew Highway and from our own expert grower Mark Norman’s smallholding on the outskirts of Bodmin.

We’ve all sharing a bumper French bean harvest. This early crop is growing really well in our first polytunnel.

Everyone will have:
* French beans (Camel CSA)
* round cabbage (Camel CSA)
* salad bags (Camel CSA)
* new potatoes (Mark Norman)
* carrots (Mark)
* gooseberries (Mark)

Standard boxes will have extra potatoes as well as:
* turnips (Camel CSA)
* kale (Camel CSA)
* calabrese (Mark)

* = grown to organic principles

Isn’t it cute?! This is the new little red tractor bought at the Royal Cornwall Show for our community veg plot at St Kew Highway.

We sent a small team to the show to look for one, led by expert grower Mark Norman. They had such fun choosing it – a TAFE 35 DI classic, built in India.

Now we can’t wait for the tractor to be delivered.

It was paid for out of our £49,000 grant funding pot from the Big Lottery Fund’s Local Food Programme.

Thank you Big Lottery!

What a difference the new polytunnels are making! 

The contents of this week’s seasonal veg boxes came almost exclusively from Camel CSA’s own plot.

Expert grower Mark Norman supplied us with broad beans and green onions from his smallholding in Bodmin. Richard Hore provided Cornish new potatoes grown in his fields above the Camel estuary.

When it comes to making local food work, you can’t get much more local than that.

The volunteer growing team have a variety of  jobs to get through this Sunday morning. We need to: –

• Mark out and form the third lasagne bed in the new polytunnel and plant two rows of tomatoes
• Weed the second brassica bed
• Prepare the second sweetcorn bed and move the sweetcorn seedlings to the cold frame
• Dig the remaining holes in the squash beds and fill each one with two shovelfuls of compost (the rest of the pumpkins and squashes will get planted later in the week)
• Plant the dahlias beside the squashes
• Sow a tray of cabbage, half a tray each of calabrese and turnips (six turnip seeds per module)

As we get our first taste of French beans from Camel CSA’s own polytunnel in this week’s veg boxes, this recipe from Sarah Raven’s Garden Cookbook seems ideal. “The squeaky texture of fresh French beans combines beautifully with the softness of potatoes,” she says, “and there are many ways of using these two in a salad.”

You can toss them both in a little truffle oil and add a few rocket leaves, or serve them like this with nut oil, toasted almonds and lots of dill.’ Parsley or chives could be substituted for the dill.

Serves 6

Preparation and cooking: 25 minutes

Ingredients
450g new potatoes
450g French beans
1 tbs walnut or hazelnut oil
4 tbsp chopped dill (or parsley, or chives)
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
230ml sour cream
1 tsp caster sugar
salt and black pepper
2 tbsp flaked or halved almonds, toasted

Method
Cook the new potatoes in boiling salted water, then cut them in half and peel if you want to. Next, cook the beans for 4 minutes (they must be crisp).

Drain the beans and potatoes, plunge the beans into cold water and drain again. Pour the oil over both while they are still warm. Toss to coat.

Combine the chopped dill and garlic with the sour cream, sugar and seasoning, and carefully fold into the potatoes and beans. Scatter over the almonds.

Also try Sarah Raven’s Spaghetti with beans and tomatoes

Another good harvest from Camel CSA’s own plot this week – including the first of the french beans and sweet-scented basil from the polytunnel. Everyone will be getting:
* spring cabbage (Camel CSA)
* salad leaves (Camel CSA)
* radish (Camel CSA)
* french beans (Camel CSA)
* broad beans (Mark Norman)
* green onions (Mark)
new potatoes (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)

Standard boxes will also have:
* beetroot (Camel CSA)
* carrots (Camel CSA)
* basil (Camel CSA)

* = grown to organic principles

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