spinach frozen or fresh ?

jackyann

Glad the eggs florentine will go well.

But for reference - do you have a market near you? When I need extra I usually buy very fresh at the market.
Another tip (no good for immediate lunch!) is to grow your own in a grow bag / small deep bed or similar. I grow plenty of spinach for 1 all year round, and it is delicious.

At the moment I also have a lot of 'mache' ie: lambs' lettuce. I ask friends going to France (or when I go myself) to buy large packets of seeds at the supermarket. As it is a staple, it is much cheaper than the expensive little packs of lambs' lettuce leaves we buy here. Makes a lovely winter salad.

I am no gardener, but growing these, and herbs, saves me £££

[Deleted User]

Sadly there is no longer a market near to me anymore I think the nearest is about 10 miles away We used to have one every Thursday but with the coming of Wilko's and then moving it to an out of the way place it went down hill very quickly and eventually stopped about 10 years ago ,

One of the things I like when on holiday is sourcing a street market locally. I know the fashion is for 'farmers' markets or german or french themed ones,but the ones I have visited have all been vastly overpriced.I would love to see the return of the old street markets they were so good for bargains.

Now and again I will go into Canterbury but only when I am staying at my sis-in-laws in Faversham and then we bus in as the parking is very hard to find there, and expensive.

Just waiting for the pair of them to arrive, their move to NYC has been brought forward to the 22nd of this month so I must make the most of them while they are here.

Re growing I used to years ago when I was mor agile but now I have a gardener who comes once a fornight to keep the lawn and shrubs tidy so no longer can I grow stuff as bending with my ancient bones would cause a problem.I am thinking of getting a hanging basket this year to grow those tumbling tomato's though :):)

jackyann

JackieO -I find that markets can be very variable.
We are so fortunate here. I agree that the 'themed' markets are very over-priced (and I think often very poor quality as well).
However, our farmers' markets are excellent, not at all over-priced - possibly because there are a number of them and the producers wouldn't get away with it!
Our ordinary markets are nowhere near as good as they were, but we have 2 where you can still get good quality & value fruit and veg.

Regarding growing: you need very little space for a few greens/ lettuce. I too am not agile enough to garden. My DH used left-over wood to build up a small,raised 'deep bed' and we filled it with a mix of soil & compost. I reach it easily and also grow the tumbling tomatoes in it. I reckon the initial outlay was more than recouped in the first year. I realise you would need to ask someone to build it, but it is not a huge job.

Enjoy your time with your family

[Deleted User]

Spinach was delicious along with the eggs and DGS also brought some smoked salmon as his wife likes that as well so we had a very nice brunch.used all the baby spinach though as it does reduce down quite a bit wilted it in some butter and we all enjoyed it . pretty healthy as well :)Thanks everyone for all you help.

I may ask my gardener chap when he returns in March for the summer season if he could cobble something together for me ,although just thinking about it I have an old 'butler sink' halfway down the garden that I usually plant up with sweet peas and grow them up a bit of netting attached to the fence As its about a foot deep I dresay it could accomodate a few lettuces instead and a lot cheaper than paying out for them in the shops any thoughts on a good variety chums ??

caronc

JackieO wrote: »

I may ask my gardener chap when he returns in March for the summer season if he could cobble something together for me ,although just thinking about it I have an old 'butler sink' halfway down the garden that I usually plant up with sweet peas and grow them up a bit of netting attached to the fence As its about a foot deep I dresay it could accomodate a few lettuces instead and a lot cheaper than paying out for them in the shops any thoughts on a good variety chums ??

You could probably manage both - if you buy the babyleaf seeds a few sprinkled around the edge every couple of weeks would give you enough salad leaves to keep you going and you'd still have your sweet peas to admire. I usually pop a runner bean or two in the big pot with my sweet peas - the flowers are pretty so it doesn't spoil it.:)

joedenise

JackieO wrote: »

Sadly there is no longer a market near to me anymore I think the nearest is about 10 miles away We used to have one every Thursday but with the coming of Wilko's and then moving it to an out of the way place it went down hill very quickly and eventually stopped about 10 years ago ,

One of the things I like when on holiday is sourcing a street market locally. I know the fashion is for 'farmers' markets or german or french themed ones,but the ones I have visited have all been vastly overpriced.I would love to see the return of the old street markets they were so good for bargains.

Now and again I will go into Canterbury but only when I am staying at my sis-in-laws in Faversham and then we bus in as the parking is very hard to find there, and expensive.

Just waiting for the pair of them to arrive, their move to NYC has been brought forward to the 22nd of this month so I must make the most of them while they are here.

Re growing I used to years ago when I was mor agile but now I have a gardener who comes once a fornight to keep the lawn and shrubs tidy so no longer can I grow stuff as bending with my ancient bones would cause a problem.I am thinking of getting a hanging basket this year to grow those tumbling tomato's though :):)

Jackie - it isn't expensive to park in Canterbury if you use one of the park and rides. It's only £3 for the day and up to 6 people can use the bus into Canterbury city centre included in the price.

Denise

karcher

Lettuce is easy enough to grow from seed after the last chance of frost.

I'd personally go for the cut and grow again varieties which will keep you going for ages and can also be planted closer together.

Just google cut and grow again lettuce and you'll find loads of info about which varieties are best and choose which type you prefer to eat.

Good luck

jackyann

I also find it useful in spring to buy one of those 'fresh lettuce' things you get in supermarkets, and plant that out.

I plant 'arctic king' and lambs' lettuce (mache) at the end of autumn -the lambs' lettuce keeps going all winter, and arctic king comes through in early spring.
I just keep the spinach going - it struggles at this time of year, but I don't need much.

I think a butler sink would do very well - I use mine for herbs (came from the 'scullery' when my dad renovated our house in 1968!). You do have to remember to feed deep bed well - but as I don't have a big garden, I just use all of my compost on it.

I found the lambs' lettuce seeds quite expensive in my local garden shop - I wanted to try them as I remembered them from my youth. Then a couple of years ago, saw them in a French supermarket and remembered that thy are a staple item through winter there, so they were actually quite cheap!

My standard salad at present is a thinly sliced and marinated cole-slaw type, with the green leaves adding some colour & difference.

[Deleted User]

Thank you so much for the info jackyann I shall start to have a shufti at a few things I think.My neighbour gave me this Butler sink a few years ago when she moved and I have used it to grow mainly flowers in every year as I can bend to its level.With the price of food shooting up I think it may well come in more useful for growing stuff in. Dobbies do a sort of waist hight thing which looks good but is quite pricy ae moment I amy take a photo and ask my lovely gardener if he can make something simialr as he is also a good handy man and did a superb ramp which eliminated my stairs down to the garden pario brilliantly, even putting stips in so I couldn't slip when it got wet.
JackieO xx

jackyann

I would also keep an eye on Freecycle, or whatever you have locally. We used left-over wood to make the deep bed, but if you buy new, or buy something specific (I think I know the Dobbies one) it is very expensive.
My dad had some old tables he had made from left-over metal years previously, and got someone to sling grow-bags on them every spring! But he had a biggish garden with a 'vegetable' part. In my small garden, I think my deep bed looks nicer than a lurid growbag!
I think if you chat to your gardener, he may know of some off-cuts or something useful.
We have wondered about using our old tin baths (for some reason both DH & I have our old baths from childhood!) but they are very useful at family gatherings for keeping drinks cool!