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Catch-up on our social media takeover with Karen Baron (aka Wellies and Waffles) here!
For #takeoverthursday, we handed our social media channels over to Karen Baron, aka Wellies and Waffles, a passionate fruit and vegetable grower from Lancashire, England, who shares harvests, recipes and gardening hacks from her veggie plot, orchard and polytunnel. We loved discovering Karen’s favourite fruit and veg to grow, a delicious cake perfect for courgette gluts, and an upcyling project we can’t wait to try! You can find Karen’s takeover below or check out Grow Your Own’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Jumbo Pink Banana Squash
How exciting to be taking over this page throughout the day. I’m ready and waiting to draw you into a world of unusual fruit and veg, recipes and gardening ideas. First off, here’s a different variety of squash I’ve grown: the Jumbo Pink Banana Squash. Sweeter than a pumpkin and packed full of flavour, it’s definitely one to try!
Japanese Wineberry
One of my favourite fruits to grow has to be the Japanese Wineberry. It’s a vine that is great intertwined along a trellis or just left to fend for itself. If you have enough of them they keep each other upright which is a great excuse to have lots of them. They’re like a raspberry but firmer and have a real punch of flavour: sweet with a little tang. It’s actually classed as a weed in some countries. Well, this is one weed I don’t mind in the garden. Yum!
Courgette and lime cake
When we have a courgette glut it’s all hands on deck to scour the internet for recipes. One idea is this cake I’ve made a few times. It’s a courgette and lime cake with a cream cheese and lime filling and a pistachio and lemon zest topping. Tasty and “healthy”. It’s got veg in it so it must be, right?
Upcycle fruit punnets
I’m all for reusing items to use in the garden. These old fruit punnets make great propagators. Put one on top of the other and you have a lid as well! Another bonus is that you can see the roots growing which is fascinating and great for kids to watch. You can start a range of produce in them and re-pot on when they’re ready or you could also use them like I do and grow pea shoots.
Plant some peas seeds, lightly cover with compost and watch them grow. Snip them off to use and they will grow back a couple of times. These are great for making pea
pesto or even as a garnish to a meal.
Crystal Apple and Crystal Lemon cucumbers
How about something a bit different from the cucumber world? Crystal Apple and Crystal Lemon cucumbers. These oval cucumbers have been good growers for me. They’re sweet, crisp and full of flavour. The only difference between them both really is the colour and I’ve found the apple variety is a little heavier on the seeds inside. They make a lovely addition to a salad or a pickle, I enjoy making cucumber and ginger pickle or even a couple of cooling cucumber slices for the eyes. We all especially need a bit of pampering at the moment
Wow, what a wonderful takeover - a big thanks to Karen for sharing with us a snippet of her gardening activities. You can also find Wellies and Waffles on Facebook, and Twitter.
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