A polytunnel can be far more than just a space to grow your own food. A polytunnel can also be a great venue for socialising and perhaps even a place to eat with family and friends. This June, next weekend, why not enjoy a Midsummer’s Eve polytunnel party to celebrate the longest day of the year with your loved ones? This could be a great opportunity to show off all the wonderful produce that you have grown in your polytunnel or elsewhere in your garden. To help you celebrate in style, here are some recipe ideas for your Midsummer Eve’s polytunnel party:
A Home-Grown Barbecue
There are plenty of home-grown produce that are perfect for a barbecue. So why not rustle up some veggie barbecue recipes to show everyone what you have been able to grow in your polytunnel? By this time of year you may have the first courgettes, the first climbing French beans, the first aubergines, perhaps even the first tomatoes fresh from the vine. It certainly is an exciting time in the polytunnel and there is food almost everywhere that you look. Much of the early summer harvest will be in full flow. You might have carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, garlic… the list goes on. Stick some veg on skewers or make into simple veggie burgers to cook over the coals.
Midsummer Salads
Of course this is also the season of salads. So whether or not you are having a barbecue, you will have plenty of midsummer salad crops to choose from. As well as the first tomatoes and cucumbers, you may well have spring onions, chard, lettuce crops, spinach, rocket, peas, mange tout, beetroot to grate, and the other crops already mentioned above. Serve salads with a simple mayonnaise or vinaigrette dressing. Or choose a herby dressing and use some of the polytunnel herbs that are also abundant at this time of the year such as parsley, chervil, coriander, dill, fennel and many more.
Elderflower Cordial & Other Home-Grown Drinks
As well as serving a number of veggie recipes using polytunnel produce, you might also be able to think about creating a range of drinks for your Midsummer’s Eve polytunnel party. There are plenty of drinks that you can make using produce from your polytunnel and from elsewhere in your garden, such as a deliciously delicate elderflower cordial or fruit and vegetable smoothies. Or, if you are feeling adventurous, you could even consider serving some home-made alcoholic beverages.
There are plenty of ways to serve polytunnel produce at the party this month. This could be a wonderful way to show those close to you how much they mean to you. All while making the most of your growing areas to enjoy leisure activities. No matter what the weather is like this midsummer’s eve, you can use your polytunnel to get together with your family and friends and enjoy fresh produce from your garden.
Check out our grow guides to learn more to help you get a bountiful harvest at midsummer.
Elizabeth Waddington is a writer and green living consultant living in Scotland. Permaculture and sustainability are at the heart of everything she does, from designing gardens and farms around the world, to inspiring and facilitating positive change for small companies and individuals.
She also works on her own property, where she grows fruit and vegetables, keeps chickens and is working on the eco-renovation of an old stone barn.