Foraging Is the New Harvesting, My First Recipe & What to Sow | Huw's Garden Journal #2
Plus sharing a simple gardening skill that has made a huge impact to my growing this season!
Hello and a very warm welcome to Huw’s Garden Journal #2.
After the introduction to the journal last week, you will notice a lot more happening in this edition. I have really enjoyed writing this over a few sessions, taking full advantage that writing is weatherproof and can be returned to at any moment - unlike filming in the garden!
This week’s journal includes:
Visiting one of the most inspirational gardens I know
A few garden snippets
Adopting a change of mentality when it comes to harvesting
My nettle seed chimichurri recipe (as promised)
How potting-on has transformed my gardening this year
And of course, what to sow this week
Visiting Swn Y Coed ‘One Planet Development’
On Saturday I ventured down to Carmarthenshire for one of my regular visits to Swn Y Coed, the incredible One Planet Development created by Peni Ediker. Swn Y Coed in Welsh means ‘Sound of the woods’, aptly named after the incredible ancient woodland carpeting the valley beneath their smallholding.
What is a One Planet Development I hear you ask? It is a scheme set up by the Welsh Government that provides more opportunities for people to essentially find a field and build a life, as long as their land provides 80% of their basic needs.
It is becoming increasingly popular, and whilst there is a lot of paper work that comes with it and you need to track your progress, it is worth a consideration if you have a dream of living off the land and building your own home from natural materials.
The image above is of one of Peni’s growing areas. Note the beans in the foreground and the flowering lettuce in front of the shed. These are both seed crops that Peni is growing for the Wales Seed Hub, amongst others including Gladstone Pea (a drying pea) and the Lulu Tomato (incredible beefsteak that can be over a kilo (2.2lbs) per fruit)!
Back in July, Peni and I co-ran an introduction to self-sufficiency weekend course, one of many events and courses she runs through the year. Her garden inspires anyone who visits, and that is clear to see from the participant WhatsApp group chat following that course.
I am excited to share that I have been filming with Peni over the last year to work on a collaborative online course about creating healthy soil and all things composting - so stay tuned for when that is released, and I will be announcing it in my journal!
The next photo is of Peni’s undercover jungle, one of the most beautiful polytunnels I have seen for a while! I love her addition of flowers within the tunnel, including sunflowers, dahlias, nasturtiums, and zinnias, all of which are visible in the image.
Garden updates
With exception to a hefty onion harvest, field bean harvest, plugging some gaps with seedlings and almost too many Oregon sugar pod peas to know what to deal with, the last week at the kitchen garden has been a calm one of letting things flourish.
The growth of the plants is noticeable daily. Is it always this fast? I feel like perhaps this year everything is trying to catch up to where it should be, but I am not complaining. Even this morning, when I walked into the garden, I could see the growth difference compared to yesterday.
The fact that I am following a dense polyculture approach to planting this year may help show the growth more; the squash has trailed further along the path, the first nigella opened up overnight, and the late-planted runner beans amongst the brassicas are even closer to the trellis top.
The goal for having a ‘polyculture of abundance’ from this space has certainly been met. I am eating fresh garden produce every day, and whilst this approach isn’t as productive as the self-sufficiency garden (and I am not intending it to be), it is still more than enough produce for a household of one.
Fortunately I have Sam to share the surplus with, and he has also just launched his own Substack - so go say hello, and you can look forward to a lot of collaborative projects we will be doing together here.
When Sam and I were filming earlier in the week, Sam shared a thought about polyculture planting which made me have a bit of a lightbulb moment.
And for context, what I mean by polyculture planting is many different crops growing in a small space. An example is that some of the raised beds have over 12 crops growing in only 3 square metres.
Sam’s thought was along the lines of how harvesting produce in a polyculture-rich garden is a more of a form of foraging, and I love that!
Why do I love that?
Because foraging for food to me is akin to searching for treasure. Delicious treasure. And that can either be treasure in the garden, or the wild offerings growing in the hedgerows and woodlands nearby.
Forage first, create later
This simple phrase, I believe originally coined by chef, and author of The Third Plate, Dan Barber, encapsulates my attitude to growing food. When it come to deciding what I want for supper, I see what is available in the garden, in its peak stage of ripeness, and will design my meal around that ‘hero’ ingredient.
Having a garden so diverse means I need to take a bit more time foraging, seeking, the flavours for my supper. Whilst the cynic would say that polyculture planting decreases efficiency, the optimist in me sees it as an increase of joy.
Stepping though the garden, looking underneath the triffid-like squash, between the rows of staple crops, I come across a goldmine of other flavours. Dwarf peas and beans, leafy greens, radish, herbs, and spring onions are a few examples I have enjoyed this week.
This form of harvesting creates a whole different mindset, where you are in exploration mode, not to mention the surprise of finding a whole patch of carrots you forgot existed!
I have been thoroughly enjoying this ‘foraging’ approach to harvesting, and as a side-effect, I believe I am getting to know my garden much better than if everything was in blocks, and the creativity when it comes to using the produce has increased noticeably this year, much to the delight of my tastebuds.
With all that chat about food, I think time for a recipe!
Nettle Seed & Carrot Top Chimichurri
What is it? It is a perfect ‘green sauce’ for drizzling over any roast veg and meat.
Here marks a new first; my first ever recipe I have shared in writing. This is a recipe that I make on repeat over much of summer and autumn. I decided to share my go-to ingredients, but have provided alternatives where possible to make it accessible to anyone.
Ingredients (enough for 2 people to have a generous helping over a main meal)
Nettle seeds (3-4tbsp)
Carrot tops (5-6 medium leaves)
Fresh herbs (Parsley, coriander, or a mix of both, same quantity as the carrot tops)
Wasabi mustard (2-3 leaves)
Red nasturtium (5-6 flowers worth of petals)
Clove of garlic
Smoked salt (a generous pinch)
White wine vinegar (2tbsp)
Olive oil (Enough to just cover the prepared ingredients)
Alternatives
Swap parsley or coriander with Huacatay Black Mint or Sisho
Swap red nasturtium flowers for red runner bean flowers for the addition of colour (if you and not using a red chili, see below)
Swap white wine vinegar for red wine or cider vinegar
Swap wasabi mustard for a small red chili
Swap smoked salt for normal salt plus a pinch of smoked paprika for the smoky flavour
Harvest the nettle seeds. I don’t mind the stings, but do wear a glove if you get a bad reaction. To prepare the seeds, rub the strings of seeds between your hands over a bowl to catch the individual seeds (again, you may want to wear gloves, but the seeds themselves do not sting so you are safe after this step). The image is a macro shot of prepared nettle seeds.
Finely chop the leaves and nasturtium flowers. The finer you can chop them, the better the texture. Crush and then finely chop the garlic, and add all these ingredients including the prepared nettle seeds into a bowl.
Finally, add the vinegar, salt, and oil, and mix thoroughly.
Done.
You now have a delicious sauce to elevate your homegrown veg. Simple, easy, and delicious - right up my street! Pictured is dressing some campfire-roasted carrots, onion, and mangetout. If you happen to have any left, it can be stored in an airtight container in a fridge for up to 2 days.
Skill of the week: Potting on
Yep, this simple gardening technique has completed changed my approach to growing this season for two main reasons.
Firstly is about slugs. A tiny seedling with two little leaves has no hope against a slug overnight, however a stronger semi-mature plant with many mature leaves may get damaged, but it won’t be killed in an instant, providing a window of opportunity for the gardener to take action.
The second reason is a little more exciting, and what has made a big difference this year.
What I’ve done differently is that I have made an active effort to oversow. Too many seedlings are always better than too few. Too many seedlings helps me get creative with polyculture planting, or I can pot them on to use to fill spaces at a later date.
And, if there is no space for the oversowed seedlings, and I have enough potted on, the remaining go on the compost heap. This is not wasteful, waste is just a human construct, and the seedlings will decompose into compost that will help me grow a bumper tomato crop next year.
The method I have now settled with when it comes to potting on seedlings involves 2 core phases.
Phase 1 is potting up a seedling from a module cell, such as my HR10 trays, to a 7cm or 9cm pot. This provides an additional 4 week window for the plant to continue growing before it really must be planted out.
Phase 2 is potting on a seedling from a 7cm or 9cm pot to a 1 to 1.5 litre pot. Once in a 1 lite pot, you again have another 4, sometimes up to 6 week window of growth. The image below is of a cavolo nero kale in a 1.5 litre pot, which will replace one of the dwarf sunflowers once they’ve been cleared.
Both phases consist of a potting mix of 1-part topsoil to 1-part peat-free multipurpose compost. For some, I will also mix in 5% volume of activated biochar, which I have observed a great benefit, but will investigate this more next year and run A/B comparisons.
The key to potting on is that the seedlings do not get stressed, which leads to bolting. Ample water, nutrients, and root space reduces this. There is no real end to potting on; you are only limited by the lifespan of the plant and the area where you can keep plants growing on. There is nothing stopping you moving a 1 litre plant into a 3 litre pot if you want - in fact I reckon I will be doing this for some purple sprouting broccoli I have growing.
This part of August is such a good opportunity to get sowing as much as possible (what to sow list coming next) and you can pot on many of these crops to fill gaps as and when they emerge in the coming weeks. You can even pot them on into 1/1.5 litre (and subsequently 3, 5, 10 litre) pots to then plant out when your polytunnel starts to get cleared, providing you with healthy plants that crop for you throughout winter.
What to sow this week
The following is a comprehensive list of what can be sown this week to continue growing outdoors, considering a first average frost date of mid-October. Asterisk means best results sown directly, and clicking here takes you to my staple variety choices for reliability, yield, and flavour.
Note: Get 10% off any Kings Seeds order with code HUWR10. Premier Seed Direct links are affiliate at no extra cost to you.
Leafy Greens
Chopsuey greens (these will have to be included in an upcoming recipe!)
Rocket (I am also trying out wasabi rocket)
Larger brassicas
Roots
Winter radish* (Mooli and Spanish Black Round in particular)
Carrots* (Last opportunity for outdoor growing with no protection/hoop bed at a later date)
Beetroot (Last opportunity for outdoor growing with no protection/hoop bed at a later date)
Others
Blight resistant maincrop potatoes in tubs
As you can see, there is just so many great things to sow, and keep your garden in full production for as long as possible!
I look forward to seeing you again next week where I will be revealing some of the gardens I will be visiting to film for my inspiring gardens playlist on YouTube, diving deeper into why permaculture is my biggest influence and how that will play a part of my Substack, and more information on what has been happening at my permaculture experimental site this year.
Happy growing!
Huw
PS - If you are a paid subscriber I have now opened up the chat feature on my Substack where you can ask any questions, share pictures of your garden, and just chat to likeminded folk about all things plants and permaculture.
What a wonderful read Huw. Thanks for being so generous. There’s so much I didn’t know.
I loved Sam's comment about polyculture being a version of foraging. It's so true! You're right about polyculture gardening being a treasure hunt. That is exactly why I love it so much, even if it isn't as efficient. I often joke that I have a "boutique garden" because there is just a little of everything, but it is all thoughtfully curated, and nature and the ecosystem that is present add their own touches. It is truly a source of joy in my life. I'm looking forward to trying the nettle chimichurri. What a great use of herbs and greens in the garden. Thank you for sharing in written as well as video form. So much great gardening advice and inspiration!