Download Summer Seasonal Fruit

KITTY’S VEGETABLE TIPS
Kitty delights in some of our finest summer seasonal fruits!
RHUBARB (technically a vegetable, but in the kitchen we treat it more like
a fruit!!)
Rhubarb and your Garden!
Rhubarb is a perennial and once you have planted it, you should have it for good. It grows on
any good garden soil, in full sun or light shade.
It loves plenty of dung and once established, it will give a bumper crop.
It even tolerates a little bit of neglect!
The easiest way to grow rhubarb is from a root cutting, otherwise known as a rhubarb stool or
crown. Ask around and you might find a genial gardener dividing their rhubarb and happy to
give you a starter!
Best time to plant this stool is November/December and if you can resist temptation, it is best
not to harvest in the first year to allow it establish!
The Rhubarb Season!
Rhubarb crops from mid March through to September. However, it is advised not to harvest it
until after July based on the theory that it’s oxalic acid content rises and may cause joint
problems! However, it makes sense not to keep pulling rhubarb in order to allow the plant to
build up strength again for the next season and usually by July, stalks have become coarser
and you’re sick of rhubarb and excited about the first of the new season apples for your
crumbles, pies etc!
Rhubarb and Your Kitchen!
Being renowned for its tart taste, rhubarb fuses fabulously with sugar and honey. Ginger,
orange and strawberries are considered its greatest allies! It far transcends the traditional
stewed rhubarb and custard combo, making sublimely zesty crumbles, tarts, pies, puddings,
fools, cakes, mousses, jam, relish, wine, chutney, compotes, sauces, sorbets, ice cream and
even champagne!
Rhubarb and Your Health!
Rhubarb is noted for being a rich source of dietary fibre, vitamin C, calcium and potassium and
known to be an effective laxative. It’s low sugar content could also be considered a health
benefit but I think the lashings of sugar that often accompany it, could negate that particular
plus!
Something you mightn’t have known about Rhubarb!
Rhubarb leaves are poisonous but are safe to compost. If boiled in water, the resultant
concoction could be used as a foliage spray to deter mites and aphids. It could also be used to
clean tough grime on pots or pans.
An old wives tale suggests that a piece of rhubarb placed under a brassica seedling, frightens
off club-root. Or perhaps you could water your brassica seedlings with rhubarb water!
Rhubarb Champagne/ (Non Alcoholic)
This slightly fizzy, delicious, non-alcoholic drink is super easy to make and it’s lovely rose pink
colour is sure to impress children and adults alike.
750 grammes rhubarb (cut fine)
1 lemon, preferably organic and unwaxed (sliced fine)
750 grammes sugar
150ml white vinegar
4.5 litres cold water
Mix all ingredients together. Let stand in a bucket for 48 hours (4 days is better) covered with a
clean cloth. Stir daily. Strain and bottle. DO NOT try to keep this champagne for too long. It
tends to become very gassy, and you may have some exploding bottles. It’s best to use plastic
bottles and do not fill to the top. However, these have also been known to explode! Best leave
Rhubarb Fizz to mature for 2 weeks before enjoying chilled and being uplifted!
STRAWBERRIES (the quintessential summer fruit!)
Strawberries and your Garden!
Strawberries are one of those fantastic fruits that anyone can grow, whether you have a huge
garden with space for a dedicated strawberry patch or no garden at all! If you have a sunny
porch or balcony, it is possible to grow a good number of berries in a strawberry pot, a recycled
gutter or in a hanging basket!
Strawberries need three things to grow well: lots of sunlight, rich soil, and good drainage. They
are not grown from seed, but from ‘runners’ which are young plants that grew off the parent
plant in the previous season. Strawberry plants can be purchased from garden centres but often
you might find a friend with an abundance of runners going a begging!
Runners can be planted in autumn or in early spring. Strawberries are best grown under a
mulch to prevent competition from weeds and to keep the fruits clean and guess what, the
traditional mulching material for strawberries is straw!
The Strawberry Season!
You can be picking and eating fresh Irish strawberries from mid-May (grown in tunnels) to July,
but June is really the month when they are in the peak of their season! **check this!
Strawberries and Your Kitchen!
Traditionally served fresh with a splash of cream, home grown strawberries are an ideal treat at
any time of the day! They are delicious sprinkled over breakfast cereals, in fruit salads,
smoothies, muffins or indeed they can be savored straight from the plant! Yoghurt could
substitue cream for a healthier bite and their colour and texture lends them to fusing with a host
of ingredients and appearing in both sweet and savoury dishes. Their fabulous natural colour
makes them the ideal garnishing material, from meringues to champgane, they never fail to
delight!
Strawberries and Your Health!
Strawberries are an ideal healthy treat, low in calories, fat free and delicious on the lips! A
nutrient packed fruit; they are filled with antioxidants giving the body a natural wellness boost.
Strawberries are naturally high in fibre, vitamin C and potassium; help maintain a healthy heart
and can aid memory function. And would you believe, to get the same amount of Vitamin C as 8
to 10 strawberries, you would need to eat 7 bananas!
Something you mightn’t have known about Strawberries!
Strawberries have extremely soft skin and grow at ground level making them very susceptible to
mould. This makes them one of the most heavily chemically treated fruits in the country, so bear
this in mind if buying strawberries and make sure to go organic to avoid the nasty residues!
Strawberries are the only fruit to have their seeds on their outside!
Borage with it’s pretty blue flowers is a good companion plant to strawberries.
Strawberries have been used as a poultice to treat skin problems such as acne and eczema.
They also clean and whiten the teeth and are said to relieve sting of sunburn!
There’s a lot more to this delicious summer fruit than meets the taste buds!