carl legge .com

Category: Permaculture

  • Blackberry Apple & Chilli Chutney Recipe

    This produces a chutney that has a rich, intense and complex flavour: blackberry plus. And the colour is a deep vermilion that is striking on the plate. I first used it as a condiment with a cheese platter and the sweet-sour-chilli flavours complemented the cheese and sourdough bread spectacularly. I next used it to deglaze…

  • Nettle & Hazlenut Tart Recipe

    I’m developing a bit of a ‘thing’ about using nettles. I love it that I’m not putting money in the supermarket bosses’ pockets. I love it that they effectively cultivate themselves. I love it that they are so nutritious: high in vitamins A & C, contain essential minerals and have one of the highest protein…

  • Nettle Gnocchi Recipe

    I’ve been looking for more ways to use this freely available and nutritious vegetable. This recipe makes a vibrant green gnocchi that’s as tasty as it is inexpensive. If the preparation takes a while, it’s more than paid off with the short cooking time. One of the keys to success with this recipe is to…

  • Wild garlic and smoked salmon carbonara

    This recipe is a delight. It’s stunningly quick & simple to cook and moreishly gorgeous to eat. It will provide a quick supper for two or a fantastic dish for entertaining friends. The wild garlic is seasonal, of course. Out of season, you could use garlic chives or chives. Other members of the onion family…

  • Wild garlic and homemade ricotta pasta

    We’re really lucky here because the wild garlic a friend gave us has taken and produces masses of wonderful tasting leaves & flowers. It’s also called ‘Ramsons’ and its latin name is Allium Ursinum. As you latin scholars will know, ursinum refers to bears who like the bulbs. Wild garlic and ricotta give a twist…

  • Rhubarb cake recipe with polenta, ginger, spices, almonds

    When I posted this picture on Twitter, I really wasn’t ready for the reaction. It seemed that the idea and view of such a creation was quite attractive to many people. This made me laugh: …god that cake looks good. I just licked the laptop screen… I also had a fair few requests to post…

  • Nettle and Bacon Risotto Recipe

    Don’t we all just love things that don’t cost a penny? Foraging for wild food is a way to do this. March is the ideal time to pick nutritious nettles which are jam packed with iron and Vitamin C. You’ve no doubt seen loads of recipes for the ubiquitous ‘Nettle Soup’, which is, of course,…

  • Harvesting & Propagating Willow

    The bad weather had prevented the planned pruning of trees so far.  It’s important to wait till the winter when the trees are in their dormant phase and the sap is down.  However, we didn’t want to start making cuts in trees when things were still freezing.  However, we’ve got a lot of pruning to…

  • Chitting – not just for potatoes

    According to my Shorter Oxford English Dictionary ‘Chit’ comes from Middle English chithe, to shoot or sprout, corresponding to the Old Saxon kith.  So the word has roots (sorry) that go back 1200 years or so.  Certainly, it wasn’t a new concept even then. Chitting is a form of ‘pre-sprouting’ of seeds before you plant…