June

LITTLE GREEN SPACE

Originally published in the Peak Advertiser on 12 June 2008

Summer is here, and what better way to spend a lazy sunny Sunday than a wander through a hay meadow. When conjuring up an image of the perfect English landscape, many people will imagine a meadow brimful of long grass and wild flowers, with butterflies flitting here and there and the gentle hum of bumble bees.

The hay meadows at Hackney Leys are just coming into flower - ox-eye daisies, clover and buttercups provide a colourful feast for the senses, as well as a feast of nectar for various minibeasts. Maintaining the meadows helps wildlife but also retains part of our cultural heritage – hay meadows have been a common part of farming since the 11th century, and Domesday Book records show that they were present in most settlements.

Visit a Meadow

June and July are perfect months for visiting a hay meadow. But unfortunately this is becoming increasingly difficult, as England’s traditional meadows are lost to intensive farming methods and development. In fact 97% of meadows nationwide have disappeared since the 1930s. Flowering meadows were once common in the Peak District, but despite protection from the area’s National Park status, they are also becoming rare here.

But there are several places in the Peak where you can still walk through a hay meadow. There are some excellent flowering meadows around Bradwell, and in Wolfscote Dale, near Hartington, you might spot orchids amongst the ox-eye daisies.

For more information on Peakland hay meadows, and other ideas for walks, visit www.peakdistrict-nationalpark.info/place/hayMeadows/index.html

Create your own meadow

It is also possible to experience the joys of a hay meadow in your own back garden. Just leave a small area of grass uncut. Before long wild flowers should appear, and will soon attract all sorts of bees and butterflies.

This is good for you too. One and half square metres of uncut grass can provide enough oxygen for one adult for one year. And your lawn will take less time to mow: you only need to cut your meadow area once a year, in late summer. This means more time to sit back, breathe deeply, and enjoy your little patch of meadow.

Growing Success

It’s great to laze around amongst the flowers in the meadow but there is a lot of work to be done at this time of year, especially in the vegetable garden.

It is the first time I have grown vegetables, but the veggie patch is looking quite good. Peas and runner beans are scrambling over bamboo canes, the potatoes seem to be shooting up a few more inches every day, and the onions, leeks and garlic are standing to attention in reasonably straight rows.

We have already harvested purple sprouting broccoli, mixed lettuce and spring cabbages. The hispi cabbages were a great success. The kids used to hate cabbage, but having cut and cooked them straight from the garden, they have now declared cabbage to be their favourite vegetable.

Pumpkin Pit

My next job is to plant out the pumpkins. Back in March, with our compost bin overflowing, we dug a pumpkin pit - an easy way of keeping kitchen waste out of landfill, where it can’t break down and produces the greenhouse gas methane.

Just dig a one-metre square pit to a spade’s depth, tip in kitchen scraps and some torn up cardboard, and cover with a layer of soil. Repeat until the hole is full, then top with a mound of soil.

Our pumpkin pit has been left for a couple of months and is now ready to have the pumpkin plants, raised from seed in pots, planted into it.

The pit creates perfect conditions for pumpkins, because as the compost breaks down it releases the heat that they need to grow. Pumpkins are hungry plants too, and benefit from the rich nutrients that the compost releases into the soil. We will have to wait until October to see if it works.

Meanwhile, we’ll be able to harvest more of the vegetables soon, including the potatoes and onions. I am particularly looking forward to lifting the red onions so that I can make this tasty quiche - using free range eggs from our hens, of course!

Caramelised Red Onion and Feta Cheese Quiche

For the pastry:

170g (6oz) plain flour 85g (3oz) butter or margarine 3 tbsp cold water

For the filling:

2 red onions, sliced 1 tbsp olive oil 140g (5oz) Feta cheese, cubed 2 eggs 150ml (1/4 pint) milk salt and pepper

Put the pastry ingredients into a food processor and whizz together until the mixture begins to form into a ball. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead lightly until smooth. Wrap in clingfilm and put in the fridge for half an hour. Meanwhile toss the onion slices in the olive oil, spread onto a baking tray and place in the oven at 180°C/Gas Mark 4 for about 15 minutes until the onions are beginning to brown. Remove from oven and leave to cool.

Roll out the pastry and put into a greased flan tin. Bake the pastry case "blind" - put a layer of baking paper on top of the pastry, weigh down with pie weights or baking beans and bake at 180°C/Gas Mark 4 for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, take out paper and pie weights. Put the cooked onions into the pastry case, cover with the cubed feta, crumbling it slightly. Whisk together the eggs and milk, season with salt and pepper and carefully pour over the onions and cheese. Bake in the oven at 190°C/Gas Mark 5 for 35-40 minutes, or until the filling is set and lightly browned on top. Serve with a fresh crusty loaf and a green salad.

Penny at Little Green Space