PLANT GREENS FOR WINTER SMOOTHIES

EASY DRIED APPLES

I love autumn, with its fruit and produce aplenty. I hate autumn with its overwhelming number of kitchen duties. Thankfully, a hint from a lady reduced my apple drying process immensely a couple of years back. I used to core and peel and slice and salt and lay each piece of apple on the dehydrator to dry, which was a lot of work since I use a lot of dried apple in cooking and make a year’s worth of muesli. I don’t peel my apples any more – most of the nutrients are in the skin so why throw it away? I wash, core and slice my apples, skin and all, with a mandolin to get nice even thin slices. I dip them in lightly salted water to stop them browning, then slide them onto a stick, space them out and either put them in a low oven (if it is raining and humid) or, preferably, outside to dry with a fly cloth over them. Depending on the weather they can take maybe two days to dry outside. I don’t dry them until they’re hard, preferring them a little bit chewy. Then I bag them and keep them in the chiller or freezer until needed. They certainly last well enough in the pack or pantry, but when I want dried apple six months later, I don’t want to find it has gone mouldy or musty.

FRUIT TREE PERFORMANCE REVIEW

Trees can improve with age – but like us, they do have a set lifespan. Peaches and nectarines in particular have short lives – 15–25 years. Take stock of anything that hasn’t performed this autumn and consider what you need to do improve it.

First, I always recommend compost as it solves most problems. Whether you’re using in situ compost with weeds and It seems weird to be thinking of salads as the days start to shorten but I like my daily green fix in winter (to be honest, by winter my liver needs a break and a good cleanse). It is time to start planting up for it now.

Seedlings of rocket and mizuna mix and a punnet of mixed lettuce are a fast food (in gardening terms) but I am now also planting up for my winter smoothies. Spinach is one of my favourite greens but you need a lot of it, and it doesn’t matter how much I plant, I never seem to have enough. Pasta and quiche and cannelloni and green smoothies all require their share so spinach, kale, lettuce, rocket and mizuna are given a lot of space in the garden and a whole bed is dedicated to miner’s lettuce. I saw this growing beside the Otago Rail Trail where bridge builders had once lived. It is hardy enough to survive the deepest winters and complete neglect, which makes it a winter mainstay in my garden. Each autumn it regrows en masse, and as long as I don’t get tidy and weed it out I soon have a lovely soft and subtle green leaf which I can cut again and again for everything from smoothies to salads. Just remember to let it go to seed again in spring and you