COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP PROJECTS
Rogerstone Community Council would like to hear from any residents groups within the community who may have an idea for small projects, which will improve facilities in the area. For example: public benches, defibrillators, etc.
The Community Council will consider funding up to 50% of the cost of the project, subject to the group raising 50% also.
If you have any proposals for small projects and would like the Community Council to consider working in partnership with you to achieve your idea, please submit your proposal to:
Colin Atyeo
Clerk to the Council
Tydu Community Hall
Welfare Grounds
Tregwilym Road
Rogerstone
Newport
NP10 9EQ
COMMEMORATIVE TO THE FORMER WORKERS OF ROGERSTONE
HELLO ROGERSTONE
COMMUNITY GARDEN UPDATE - THE GLADE - NOVEMBER 2021
November / Tachwedd
This month, the first frosts will chill the air and mistle thrushes can be seen flocking to berry clusters on rowan trees.
At the Glade, food production is slowing down with the season, although there are still leaf crops and salads to be had. The lamb’s lettuce is ready to harvest and can be resown throughout the winter for a continuous supply of fresh greens. You can still plant garlic and onions if you haven’t done so yet. We will be planting elephant garlic at the Glade, a milder relative of true garlic with enormous cloves. As we grow in raised beds, the light, well-drained soil makes for very good growth of root vegetable, as our impressive parsnip harvest has demonstrated.
Talking of parsnips, if your soil is not too wet, they are the kind of vegetable which you don’t have to harvest at a specific point, but which you can leave in the soil – even over winter – until you are intending to eat them. Other vegetables which you can ‘store’ by just not harvesting them until you want to cook with them are leek, celeriac, salsify, scorzonera, swedes, turnips, radishes and winter cabbages. Carrots and beetroot can also be left in the ground until Christmas.
As for what to cook with all those vegetables, another immensely useful general technique to use up garden produce – especially at this time of year – is the cawl, or soup.
The basic approach couldn’t be simpler: chop off and clean the edible parts of whatever vegetables you happen to have to hand and divide them into bite-sized chunks. Put the chunks in a saucepan, just about cover with water and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and let the water simmer gently until the vegetables are soft enough to eat – twenty-five minutes is a good time to check. Salt & pepper to taste. If you have a hand blender, try turning your cawl into a smooth puree, or go with tradition and serve as it is.
To this basic recipe, you may want to add chopped onions, garlic, herbs such as parsley, celery leaf, chives or oregano. If you’ve got a lot of carrot, potato and parsnip in your cawl, that goes beautifully with a pinch of ginger or chilli. To bulk up the soup, you could add lentils, peas or oat grains or add some tomato puree and pasta for the Italian version – minestrone. Many soups also take very well to a little bit of olive oil, cream or to having cheese grated on top, or blue cheese melted into them.
For meat eaters, there is a very attractive continuity to pot roasts here: Many cuts of meat which are less expensive because they contain a lot of bone or have tough fibres make excellent bases for cawl. Think lamb neck or beef brisket. Put the meat into the saucepan first, ideally covering at least to half its height in left-over wine, cider or similar. Cook this very gently for three hours or so, then add the vegetable chunks and top up with water to cover for the final hour.
Sow outside now / Hau allan nawr:
• broad beans / ffa
• peas / pys
• lettuce / letysen
Plant now / Plannu nawr
• onion sets / setiau nionod
• garlic / garlleg
Harvest now / Cynaeafu nawr:
• parsnips / panasen
• welsh onions / nionyn Cymraeg
• kale / cêl
Written by a volunteer
