I went to my plot today to pick some kale.
I also found this huge parsnip.
It was pretty quiet at the allotments with practically no one there on what is a beautifully warm and sunny spring Sunday. Everything is starting to come to life including the rhubarb. We’ll be eating rhubarb crumble before too long.
The supermarkets have all sold out of yeast. What is it about armageddon that makes people suddenly want to bake their own bread? I could understand if the supermarkets had sold out of bread but there’s been lots of bread on the occasions I’ve gone. I thought I’d try making sourdough again. The last time I tried I baked a brick. This time I’m extra motivated and must succeed! I’m now at day four of making the starter. At this rate, I may have a loaf of sourdough by the end of next week 🙂
There are other breads that don’t require yeast and are very easy to make. To accompany the leek and potato soup I made bannocks. Bannocks are a traditional Scottish bread made with flour and oats – no yeast required. They’re very tasty and go well with soup. Here are my bannocks before baking.
And after baking …
And our soup with one freshly plucked parsnip and home-baked bannocks. Delicious!
I’ll share the recipe for bannocks in case anyone else is struggling to get yeast and wants to give them a try.
It’s from the Scottish Vegan Cookbook by Jackie Jones.
rachel.blog 
Rhubarb is my absolute favorite. I can’t believe it’s growing so early for you!!!!
It has been really warm here this winter/spring. The rhubarb in my backyard is ready now for picking!
Have you ever made rhubarb butter? I wrote about it on https://chrissie.blog/2016/06/25/rhubarb-butter/
No I’ve never heard of rhubarb butter but I have heard of rhubarb jam and I suspect they’re the same thing. It looks delicious!
🙂
Why don’t you grow vegetables in your back yard, instead of a plot?
I do grow some in the backyard too but the backyard is already planted with established shrubs and trees. I’d need to pull things out or rip up the lawn (I have considered it!) to have the same amount of space as at the plot. Plus at the allotments, you have access to shared resources like wood chippings and leaf mulch. It’s also a nice community there.
Ah, makes sense. You could do a 5pm ‘beer at the plot’ gathering, like the 5pm driveway beers that men are doing here during lockdown. They get out their folding chairs and sit at the end of their driveways and have a beer. I guess instead of talking the usual BS, they shout it out to each other now – lol! Of course, the women don’t do it, because guess what they’re doing at 5pm?
That’s an impressive parsnip – I’ve never grown them, but my failure with carrots a few years back suggests they might not be successful.
I saw some discarded cardboard packaging outside a local house recently. It was just after the big wave of panic buying and it was packaging for a Bread maker! It seemed a very middle-class Cambridge-like response to the panic buying. (I say that somewhat tongue in cheek, because I have a bread maker too, but mine is – golly – over 20 years old now and I use it at least once a week)