IF THERE’S a shortcut I can take in the veg patch, then I will generally take it.

It’s not that I am particularly lazy, it’s just that sometimes it’s hard to find time for all the jobs I should be doing in the garden, with so many other things to do.

So as with most people, my GIYing, though life-affirmingly important to me, always has to find its place amidst a crowded schedule of ‘things to do’.

I am pretty good at sticking to the broad outline of the growing year schedule and getting the ‘must-do’ things done each season: among other things, returning fertility to the soil in the winter, sowing in the spring, watering and weeding in the summer and harvesting in autumn.

But beyond that, when things get a little more, ahem.. discretionary, things get tricky.

I can comfort myself to a degree with the thought that there’s nothing madly urgent to be done at this time of the year. There’s nothing major being missed, no major milestones being ignored.

Most of the work that needs doing could be broadly grouped under the phrase “clean up”, and that’s a discretionary category if ever there was one.

Still, it means that when I take a trip down to the patch these days to grab some carrots, or pick some salad leaves, I have to avert my eyes from the many jobs that need doing.

Over here, a green manure seems to have self-seeded rather alarmingly on the gravel path. Over there, a courgette plant is looking bedraggled and should be removed.

The fact that there are a couple of small courgettes still on the plant, provides a handy excuse for leaving it there till next weekend, just to see what will happen them in a heavy frost you understand (so it’s practically a science experiment).

I don’t even have to go in to the polytunnel to know that there are tomato and cucumber plants that should have been removed and composted weeks ago.

Occasionally, however, you take a shortcut and something magical happens – you realise that the shortcut might in fact be the best way of doing things.

I didn’t thin my carrots this year, because I simply didn’t get around to it. Normally, I would go up and down the row, thinning out the carrots to leave about 5cm between each one.

But this year I didn’t find the time, and so the carrots were left to sort the whole spacing thing out for themselves. And you know what? They did a splendid job of it.

The bigger ones grew bigger and sort of crowded out the smaller ones. Survival of the fittest. Each bunch eased from the soil has a nice mix of big and small carrots and for once, I can congratulate myself on a lazy job well done.

Things to do this week: 

• Prune apple trees – you are aiming for a goblet-shaped open tree. Prune any crossed and damaged branches, and those that are growing in towards the centre of the tree.

Shutterstock / Zhukov Shutterstock / Zhukov / Zhukov

• Mulch raspberries, loganberry and tayberry plants if you haven’t already done so.
• Take cuttings of currant bushes from current season’s wood. Cutting should be 25cm long.

Recipe of the week – Spiced lentil and carrot soup 

This recipe from Jane Hornby is packed full of iron. You can use a can of coconut milk instead of milk if you want to keep it dairy free. For a warming and nutritious supper, add some cooked strips of chicken at the end of cooking. It serves four.

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• pinch chilli flakes
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 600g carrots , washed and coarsely grated (no need to peel)
• 140g split red lentils
• 1l hot vegetable stock
• 125ml milk
• plain yogurt and naan bread, to serve

Shutterstock / HLPhoto Shutterstock / HLPhoto / HLPhoto

Directions:

• Heat a large saucepan and dry-fry the cumin seeds and chilli flakes for a minute, or until they start to jump around the pan and release their aromas.
• Scoop out about half of the seeds with a spoon and set aside.
• Add the oil, carrot, lentils, stock and milk to the pan and bring to the boil.
• Simmer for 15 mins until the lentils have swollen and softened.
• Whizz the soup with a stick blender or in a food processor until smooth (or leave it chunky if you prefer).
• Season to taste and finish with a dollop of yogurt and a sprinkling of the reserved toasted spices. Serve with warmed naan breads.

Tip of the week – Picking Brussels sprouts

Early maturing sprout varieties are now cropping.  Pick sprouts as soon as they are ready to eat (while still hard and firm and before they open out).

Shutterstock / Crepesoles Shutterstock / Crepesoles / Crepesoles

To harvest a sprout, simply snap off by pulling downwards. The leaves at the top of the stems can be cooked like spring greens – very tasty they are too.

Do not “Irish mammy” the sprouts by boiling the divil out of them for 20 minutes. Blanch them in boiling water for just one minute and then fry them in some oil with a sliced clove of garlic and some almond flakes.

Season well and add some olive oil before serving.

Michael Kelly is a freelance journalist, author and founder of GIY.