Oranges and Apples

Seville oranges are only available in the UK for a couple of weeks at this time of year. These are a very bitter, very acid type of orange that is used for making marmalade. If you think you know what marmalade tastes like, then try making some for yourself and you will see the difference. Seville oranges have so many pips it is unbelievable! Don't throw them away if you are making marmalade because they are a very rich source of pectin that helps set the jam. Jam making is reliant on a good set which is obtained from pectin rich fruits like apples and plums. In order to extract the pectin from the fruit, I soaked all the prepared oranges in water overnight. This allows the acid in the oranges to disolve the pectin into the water. I also added a teaspoon of citric acid to help this happen. I find I get a better set if I soak them overnight first.

Orange peel is quite tough so it needs to be boiled first to soften it before adding the sugar. My tried and tested method of seeing whether the jam is set involves a plate which you place in the freezer. Just keep putting a small spoonful of the jam on this freezing plate and let it rest in the freezer for 5 minutes to set.

You might have to do this quite a few times until your jam is thick enough. Keep testing the jam on a freezing plate like this until your finger can crease the jam...

Like this. You will begin to see the consistency of the set jam. Turn the heat off immediately because it will continue to cook for a few minutes more. This is the time to cool the marmalade slightly then pour into sterilized jars.

There just happened to be a little bowl ful extra... which I will try for breakfast tomorrow morning.

Now on to the apples. My Bramley apple tree had a bumper crop last year. These are stored in a dark, cold garage. They need to be checked for bruising and decay about every month or so.

Just two or three apples were taken out today. Still plenty more to go. I think an apple pie will be on the menu in the next couple of days...

Bishop's Kiss Chilli

I am amazed that this Bishop's Kiss chilli has survived on a light windowsill all this time. This is an odd shaped chilli which may be closely related to a variety known as Friars Hat, or Bishop's Hat. Given the right climate a chilli plant and its relatives are perennial, but I was thrilled that these made such a different addition to my Christmas decorations this year. I kept them going as long as I could, but it was my intention to save seed to grow this year.

The secret when saving your own seed from any plant is to get the fruit as ripe as possible, even to the point of slightly going over. These ripe chilli have just turned the corner and I can see that the skin is starting to get a bit wrinkly. This is the best time to save seed which is as ripe as it can possibly be.

In our British climate they need such a long growing season that it is usually best to plant chilli and pepper seed in a heated propagator as early as January or February. Well this will certainly be fresh seed! I hope it germinates.

I have just spread the seed out on a plate for a few days to completely dry off. I might plant a few straight away, and I think I will put the rest in a dry, cool, airtight tin for a few weeks to plant a second batch in February. Just a little germination experiment really. I do have a few spare seeds if you want to try some, send me an email.

Bedfordshire Champion

There is new life sprouting in the greenhouse at last! I sowed these hardy Winter lettuce seed at the end of last Summer and I have been meaning to plant them into growbags but just didn't get around to it. Maybe in the next couple of days I will be spending some time out there if it ever stops raining!

Fantastic results with my Bedfordshire Champion onion seed which I sowed on Boxing day. I gave them warmth from a heated propagator in the greenhouse for a couple of weeks.

Then last week when they had germinated I took the top of the propagator, and today they looked quite a bit bigger so I turned off the heat on the propagator. I want to begin the process of hardening them off very slowly. I don't want them to get pale and spindly with all that protection. In the next couple of days I will pot them up into individual modules to give them some more root growth. I've never grown onion from seed before, always from sets. This is the way it is done for the show bench!

Also sitting happily on an open bench in the greenhouse is my Isle of Wight Early purple garlic plants. I'll plant these outside in a couple of weeks too!