Bean and gone

I have a great recipe for broad (fava) beans (or rather Rose Elliot does), which is why I decided to grow them this summer. When buying seeds I’m always tempted by the packets with those little veggie cartoons on the front: if kids can grow them, surely I can! I had moderate success with the broad beans. The beans I picked were of a decent size, color, and shape, and tasted good; however, some pods were soft and misshapen and their beans weren’t good. I’m not too sure if the beans were blighted by a disease or if I just didn’t give them enough room in which to grow (I have a modest sized veg patch in my back garden). I also think they may have suffered from a lack of water when I was away for a week or so.

Anyway, they take a good photo!

Rose Elliot's Penne with Minto Pesto, Peans, and Beans (or a variation thereon):

Boil up a pan of penne. While the pasta is boiling, finely chop some mint leaves, crush a garlic clove and stir these into some olive oil. When the pasta is almost ready, add peas and broad beans. Once the pasta’s cooked, drain it (taking care not to lose any of the small peas during the process!), then stir in the mint pesto and season. Serve with parmesan cheese.

Note: If the broad beans are particularly tough, you may need to boil them first, remove their skins, and then add them to the pasta once it's cooked. Frozen peas and beans work just as well, and if you can’t get broad beans, use lima beans.

You say beet, I say beetroot

When I told people that I was relocating to Canada, most, at some stage, commented, "At least you won't have to learn a new language." In most respects they were right; but not all.

Beetroot is called plain beet over here. Rutabaga is a turnip; mangetout is called snow peas. My neighbour asked me the other day why I don't call a carrot a carrotroot, if I call a beet a beetroot. There is no answer to that. Or not one that I could give if I still want to be on the receiving end of the tomato plants he so generously donates to me every summer.

Having taken a leaf out of my neighbor's book, I attempted to grow my own veg this year. The growing season is relatively short here in Western Canada. Unfortunately, I couldn't start sowing indoors this spring as I was away for the month of April, so I had to sow straight into the ground - once I could see it that was (for six months of the year, it's mostly covered in snow).

Growing your own vegetables is a pretty satisfying process. Pulling the first beets up out of the ground, or gently picking off the first tomatoes from your plant, can induce a feeling of real self-sufficiency and capability. However, my vegetable patch isn't particularly big, and, as my neighbor had earlier pointed out, I only have enough veg for one or two meals. Which means that not only will I be eating the beets, but I'll need to find out what I can do with the leaves so I don't go hungry...