A couple of interloping potato plants sprung up on the untidied end of our legume patch, probably germinating from a bit of left over spud from a previous crop. As tempting as it was to let them grow on and see what happened, they would be much more prone to potato blight and would cause havoc with our crop rotation. So out they came. To each plant’s roots were attached half a dozen tiny tatties which got rubbed down and dropped into a plastic bag.
Elsewhere on the plot I finished off dibbing in the leeks with the spindly rejects joining the spuds in my bag.
I then spied a tray of beetroot seedlings which I had lazily left in the grass after transplanting the best specimens into the plot several weeks ago. Although useless for a root harvest their leaves had continued to grow and seeing as they’re also edible they joined the reject harvest.
Back at home I parboiled the potatoes before adding them to a pan of thinly sliced bacon, frying them up in oil until crispy, then introducing some garlic with the leeks and beetroot leaves. Half a cup of water, a good glug of vinegar and seasoning were added and heated to the maximum until the liquid had disappeared. A fine bonus supper washed down, of course, with Rich’s nettle beer.
