Hodgepodge Helper

Hodgepodge is an easy dish to make and an excellent way to enjoy the “fruits of your labours” after a season of pulling weeds and hauling water. Snap a few handfuls of green or yellow beans, scrub and quarter five or six new potatoes, a bunch of baby carrot thinnings, a young onion and anything else you want to toss in that looks ready, into a pot with just enough water to cook. Salt the water and bring to a boil. Cook for about half an hour or until tender. Stir in a tablespoon of butter and a cup of heavy cream. Thicken with flour/water mixture if desired. Serve hot with fresh biscuits.

Did you have trouble growing any of the mainstays for this dish this year? A common problem with growing beans is dark spots appearing on the skin. This can be avoided by staying away from the plants when leaves are wet.

On the other hand green patches on the skin of potatoes are caused by exposure to sunlight. They should be cut out when preparing potatoes for cooking as they can make you sick. Fluctuations in the moisture of the soil can cause knobby potatoes or large potatoes with hollow centers.

Sometimes excessive top growth at the top of carrots but little below is the result of using a fertilizer too high in nitrogen. Sowing seed too close and/or not thinning can also cause this.

Finally, do you know the right time to harvest your onions for winter storage? Pulling a green one for hodgepodge is one matter, but gathering all your onions at the right time for winter storage is an important step. Do this when 50 to 80 per cent of the onion tops have keeled over.

It’s time to think about where you want to plant another wonderful staple in so many recipes: garlic. Choose a sunny, well-drained area and enrich soil with compost. Separate cloves and plant six inches apart with a handful of bone meal sprinkled beneath each. Cover with about two inches of soil.

Don’t forget to cut off the twisty seed heads with they form next summer so energy will be directed into bigger cloves. You can use them as you would green onions.