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Michael Kelly

From the Garden Midwinter is the time to grow veg in containers and to make root veg pie

This is a delicious, warming and healthy pie that utilises those vegetables that are still available in early January, writes Michael Kelly.

APART FROM OCCASIONAL trips to grab some food for the table, I am not spending much time in the veg patch at the moment – the garden is generally speaking a cold and uninviting place at this time of the year and this January is no exception.

Luckily my absence won’t do much harm. The work I did getting beds cleared and covered down with compost or seaweed in November and December means that the veg patch is pretty much in lockdown, enjoying its winter slumber.

Later in the month, I will sow some seeds for early polytunnel crops – carrots direct in the soil, and beetroot in the potting shed for later planting out.  I have some fruit tree and bush pruning to do, and a bit of repair work on the veg patch gates. There are also still some crops to be cleared from the veg patch that I really should have done by now.  

But there’s nothing madly urgent or pressing – so I am relaxing (sort of), ignoring the monkey mind that tells me to get up and do some work.

Thankfully there’s still an abundance of food to be had from the garden and in stores. We’ve plenty of squashes, pumpkins and chutneys in the kitchen; carrots, leeks, sprouts and parsnips in the ground outside; kale, spinach, chard and oriental leaves in the polytunnel; and some swedes and beetroot in a box of sand in the garage.  

Really it is only spuds and onions that let me down badly this year – I am out of stock of both and having to buy them. Booo! Apart from that little hiccup, life is good.

The Basics: Container Growing

Using containers, GIYers can grow great vegetables on decks, patios, terraces, flat roofs, balconies, conservatories, or even on a kitchen shelf or windowsill.  Pretty much any container can be used to grow vegetables in – pots, trays, troughs, window boxes, grow bags, wheelbarrows, old watering cans, tyres etc. 

They should be a minimum of 6-10 inches deep and there must be drainage holes in the base. Put in a 1cm layer of small stones to aid drainage.

Most vegetables will grow well in containers – try lettuce, carrots, radishes, spring onions, cucumbers, swiss chard, courgettes, beetroot, chillies, aubergines, strawberries and tomatoes.

Recipe of the Week: Root Vegetable Pie

This is a delicious, warming and healthy pie that will utilise vegetables that are still available in the early January vegetable patch like carrots, celeriac and squash.  You don’t need to stick too slavishly to the recipe – use whatever root crops you have and experiment.

 Ingredients:

  • 1 quantity shortcrust pastry – 350g

  • 300g potatoes

  • 300g celeriac

  • 300g squash or pumpkin

  • 4 medium mushrooms

  • 1 red pepper

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

  • 2 tablespoons chopped rosemary

  • 300g fresh ricotta (I’ve used feta too and it’s lovely)

  • ¾ cup grated cheddar or goats cheese

  • ½ cup grated parmesan

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.  To the make the filling place the potato, celeriac, pumpkin, mushrooms and pepper in a baking dish and toss with the oil and rosemary – season well.  

Bake for 30 minutes until golden. Leave to cool. Roll out the pastry and use it to line a pie dish, trimming away the excess. Mix the vegetables with the ricotta and cheddar, and then fill the pie dish. Sprinkle the parmesan over it.  

Bake for 35 minutes until the pie is golden. Serves 4.

Michael Kelly is an author, broadcaster and founder of GIY.

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    Apr 12th 2020, 2:01 PM

    Bernie…Bernie come back ..we’re sorry don’t leave us with this muppit….

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    Apr 12th 2020, 2:10 PM

    @David cotter: if it was Bernie v Trump…then Trump would definitely win…. he’ll probably win anyway but Bernie would make it a certainty.

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    Mute Corporate capitalism is killing us
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    Apr 12th 2020, 2:17 PM

    @SFAnkleTapper: Trump would disagree with you. He’s on tape as saying Sanders would have beat him in 2016 and a lot of Trump voters would have voted for Sanders also.

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    Apr 12th 2020, 2:23 PM

    @SFAnkleTapper: What on earth are you talking about? Every single recent poll has Bernie Sanders and Biden both beating Trump in a general election. Not even Fox News has Trump winning.

    https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/president-general/

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    Apr 12th 2020, 2:52 PM

    @Benedict XVI: would they be the same polls that had Hillary as a shoe in? Btw I’m no Trump supporter.

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    Apr 12th 2020, 2:54 PM

    @Corporate capitalism is killing us: your actually using Trump as a basis for a credible story….

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    Apr 12th 2020, 3:00 PM

    @SFAnkleTapper: Biden is a bumbling clown who needs to retire, check his gaffes on YouTube. Bernie would be far stronger them sleepy Joe.

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    Apr 12th 2020, 3:01 PM

    @SFAnkleTapper: Biden’s greatest strength is that it is Trump he is going to be running against. Trump makes Biden’s weaknesses less blatant and Biden is a clear contrast to the type of president Trump is. If it was Biden competing against any other candidate, then I wouldn’t bet on Biden. But with Trump anything is possible (both for Trump and against Trump).

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    Apr 12th 2020, 4:14 PM

    @Benedict XVI: Don’t believe those polls and don’t be taking it too serious. You are most likely going to be disappointed when the results come in.

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    Apr 12th 2020, 5:00 PM

    @SFAnkleTapper: Even though it hurts me to say this,i agree with you in saying that Biden has a much better chance than Bernie.Where I won’t agree with you is dissing the polls that Benedict put up,Trump is not up against Hillary this time.Also,he’ll struggle in the Rust Belt..

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    Apr 12th 2020, 6:47 PM

    @Corporate capitalism is killing us: brilliant, Trump saying that was to try to further divide a very fractured democrat party not an actual acknowledgement that he could have lost.

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    Apr 13th 2020, 7:09 AM

    @David cotter: Bernie is from Ireland? Or do you watch the West wing too much

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    Apr 12th 2020, 3:15 PM

    I thought Democrats where bad when they selected Hillary Clinton as there presidential candidate 4 years but they’ve really outdone themselves this time round

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    Apr 12th 2020, 2:05 PM

    America always gets the politicians it deserves.

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    Apr 12th 2020, 2:17 PM

    @David Shiels: This is a recurring theme for you, am I right? For the record, I like Joe Biden. I would have preferred Bernie.

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    Apr 12th 2020, 2:17 PM

    @David Shiels: Like us? Haughy, Cowan, Ahern, Adams etc.

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    Apr 12th 2020, 3:06 PM

    @Kevin O’ Brienhttps://youtu.be/-rUvUxynOgk

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    Apr 12th 2020, 5:46 PM

    @Macus Mc Mahon: ok

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    Sanders making a habit of giving up. His voters must be p*ssed off at this.

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    Apr 12th 2020, 11:14 PM

    The only way Biden will win is if he has a decent vice president nomination or if the trump brigade give up on their chosen one. Biden has completely lost the left and continues to put his foot in it further.

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    Apr 13th 2020, 1:22 AM

    @Gerald OBrien the left have lost themselves

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