What is Good to Eat in November
What you should be putting on your plate this month
November is a strange month to me, not one thing or the other really. It’s not yet winter but it’s too dark to be called autumn. The clocks have gone back and we are all supposed to get depressed because of it. I actually enjoy the change of seasons, each month brings a new challenge and I would find a constant summer as monotonous as a permanent winter.
As I write this post November is still remarkably mild, I have picked the last of the cherry tomatoes this week and harvested the fruits of a random chilli plant I had all but forgotten about. Despite the shorter daylight hours my polytunnel salads continue to thrive, mustard leaves stand out from the lollo rosso and crisp winter cos and a dill plant grown for photographic purposes has been left to harvest the amazing seed heads.
Mushrooms have been a disaster this autumn, poor weather conditions in Scotland and France has meant high prices for my girolles, chantrelles, cepes and trompettes and that’s if there have been any at all.
Game is in full swing now, partridge, pheasant, teal, woodcock, grouse are all in good supply and the price is more reasonable than the previous months. If the mushrooms are unpredictable then the choice of vegetables to pair with game isn’t. I love to roast and/or puree parsnips, salsify, butternut, pumpkin, celeriac, swede, carrots etc as they all make a wonderful addition to the meat and its natural gravy.
November is the month for the last of the lobsters, squid, scallops and prawns. Sea Bass is still good as is whiting and crab. Make the most of late raspberries, quince, apples and pears, for vegetables it means the start of red and white cabbage, chicory and winter greens.
Lastly, and most annoyingly, November is the month when people tell you ‘It’ll soon be christmas!’-Oh, go away!
Red Mustard Leaves.
Miles,
constant summer as monotonous as a permanent winter … I agree. It’s the idea of summer that is so attractive but the reality is lots of flies and either drought or floods! In all honesty the winter fashions interest me more on the whole and cool, sunny days. My garden is like a jewel in all seasons but alas there’s not much room for vegetable growing let alone a polytunnel, must be nice to have both. Your enthusiasm for growing such a variety of fruit and veg is admirable and all fitted around your working week… there’s a lesson in that for us all.
Cid
November 4, 2007 @ 12:11 pm
Cid,
Thanks! Spent an enjoyable day tidying, digging and winter pruning the fruit trees today, even managed to sow some winter lettuce before close of play. Off to work now!
Miles
November 4, 2007 @ 3:58 pm
Miles,
It seems strange that you talk of a shortage of mushrooms when my garden seems to have produced no ends of toadstools this year. They are quite varied and seem to add extra interest to the autumnal garden.
I echo Cid’s sentiments about your enthusiasm which I feel could be quite catching.
November 4, 2007 @ 5:50 pm
Elsie,
You should see the ones my wood chippings produce!
Miles
November 4, 2007 @ 9:24 pm
Miles,
“You should see the ones my wood chippings produce”
Any Black Numbers yet?
Cid, could be an idea for the small garden: impregnated wood chippings!
November 6, 2007 @ 1:37 pm
Elsie,
Strange you should mention the wood chippings … a couple of years back a new consignment of chippings were laid here and a short time afterwards a number of morels sprang up. Sadly despite further mulching, no more fungi. For a moment there I thought I would be able to supply Miles fine eating establishment with expensive wild mushrooms … damn another plot foiled again
What we need Elsie is to ‘borrow’ a spade full of Miles own chippings and must be prepared to meet with some opposition so come armed….
Cid
November 6, 2007 @ 2:28 pm
Cid,
My fork and spade are ready and shining.
However, if you end up with a bog garden you might get some snipe in!
November 6, 2007 @ 9:29 pm
Cid,
Morels? Bloody hell!!!
Miles
November 6, 2007 @ 10:07 pm
Elsie,
A double wammy eh, sounds like we’ll strike gold! I calculate that by the time we put our tagines on to cook, it should allow us at least an hour to ‘thin-out’ Miles orchard and countless polytunnels. Wouldn’t put it past him to set traps for the unsuspecting so we must be vigilant …. night goggles and shopping trolleys (mine’s been fitted with a silencer!) at the ready
Cid
p.s. bet he’s got a freezer full of snipe…
November 6, 2007 @ 10:27 pm
Miles,
Yes, I couldn’t believe it myself but there they were …. alas but a flash in the pan, this year nothing.
I was fascinated to see a cauliflower fungus growing on a tree on a tv programme recently. That’s what we need to find, something the size of a football. Interesting things fungus, I heard that if it weren’t for them we’d all die. The planet needs them to break down organic matter …. a profound thought.
Cid
November 6, 2007 @ 10:38 pm
Cid,
You need to get yourself a truffle tree-they’re all the rage apparently.
Miles
November 7, 2007 @ 8:31 am
Cid,
I am visualizing your Christmas Tree full of truffles - whatever the sort:)
Surprised to hear of the need for fungi, a bit like underestimating the need for bees and our dependance on them.
November 7, 2007 @ 1:58 pm
Miles,
I had no idea truffle trees were available but you can bet I’ve already got one and have been sat on a fortune for years unknowingly! Anyway I’ve ordered one from Waitrose online…. they said they’d strap it to the van
Cid
November 7, 2007 @ 4:04 pm
Elsie,
Hold on to that delightful thought for the festive season … I would have to replace them daily!
Cid
p.s. I’m now bored with the usual robin, I shall be wanting a tin snipe which I understand are about as common as the real thing
November 7, 2007 @ 4:17 pm
Cid,
You can buy trees which have been injected with truffle spores, they take around ten years to produce anything worth bothering with and cost a fortune.
I shall not be bothering!
Miles
November 7, 2007 @ 4:34 pm