Flood water receeded somewhatat but Oh my the caulis

[Jeannine]

We went for a looksee at our flooded plot today, the water was certainly going down, the caulis that were under water on Friday were now above the water line,some were so huge we had no alternatative but to pick them,same for the broccolli. It meany slurping through ankle deep mud  but we managed it.

I would have been picking the big ones anyway  for the freezer this weekend but...

I now have 6 huge caulis at home that are dirty,ditto the broc which easily 9 inches accross,I think every flooded worm in the lottie crawled in them to escape the flood.

Problem is ,John spread loads of manure the week of  the rains and of course all that was under water too and I am worried that the flood water had picked up ??? whatever from the fairly fresh manure and the caulis may have somehow absorbed something??

Anybody got any comments or suggestions please.

XX Jeannine

[Jeannine]

[Melbourne12]

Oh dear.  What a disaster, but at least you've salvaged something.  I suggest that if you break the caulis and broccoli up and wash them well in salted water, then blanch them in boiling salted water before freezing them, they'll be fine.  It's prtobably what you do anyway, just perhaps rinse them a bit more than you normally would.

[Jeannine]

Picture, they have been rinsed whole so far

[Jeannine]

Cauli looks pretty grungy although the broc seems not as bad as I thought,I am bit nervous though

[sarah]

what super looking cauli. i reckon the head is tight enough for it to be ok if you follow Melbournes advice. wish i could get a cauli like that.  hope the rest of your plot can be salvaged from the flood it sounds like quite a lot of folk have had a real time of it this week. here in the south it has been cloudy but apart from one or two sharp showers not much. cant win can you . good luck anyway.x

[Jeannine]

Thank you Sarah, it is usually a reall good cauli, but they were snow white on Thursday,now despite several washings they are have gone a yellow colour.

Since posting the picture,I have soaked and soaked again through several changes of water.I have blanched in boiling water and they have come out looking better than I thought so I think they will be OK. Brief rest then I'll have a go at the broc.

XX Jeannine

[tim]

More Piccalilli?

[sarah]

what was i saying? it is, of course, now chucking it down in the south.  ::)

[Jeannine]

oh oh,  I hope you get just enough for your needs. XX Jeannine

[real food]

What a difficult situation you have had! While we have had very cold east winds for the last few days in Glasgow, we have only had 6mm of rain. Thank goodness, all my sweetcorn, winter squash, peppers and aubergines are under cloches to protect them.