A Crab Apple Urban Harvest

Sometimes we’re lucky enough to be asked to assist a client with the design of garden space and we’ve just completed one for a small mews house garden. The brief was precise - a productive garden as a cooking aid and a space for entertaining too. Positioned just outside the kitchen/living space of a couple who love to cook we designed a small fruit and herb productive garden. To celebrate we took some of the garden’s harvest - the crab apple which is perfectly ripe every September and made some delicious crabapple jelly.

Biting into a crabapple is a bit like biting into a lemon - the taste is intensely sour, but crabapples come into their own when when used as a cooking ingredient added to other dishes. Crabapples can also be pickled to make chutneys  which go particularly well with pork.

Because the crab apple is high in pectin, a natural fruit based gelatin, when they are cooked with a good helping of sugar, they develop a rich, ruby, red jelly. It’s a domestic delight when paired with scones or toast.

For a Crab Apple Jelly Recipe similar to our clients’ - follow this link:

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/7661/crab-apple-jelly

Herbs like the grapefruit mint, thyme, rosemary and bay available from the garden we designed make excellent accompaniments to crab apple jelly and are delicious served with meat dishes or used to enrich sauces and gravies.