Buttoning down the hatches…and it’s true, never work with children!

As I wrote in my last post, I have started to tidy through the garden.  I intend to do small bits every day in the hope of getting through the work, I find otherwise there are lots of things I would prefer to do, I am a fair weather gardener it seems!  A while back the two Kales that were growing in the greenhouse were munched entirely by caterpillars, but I left their remains in hope that there would maybe be a recovery, I also planted seeds direct in my huge containers (free after lifting the Squash).  The container ones are growing, slowly, but the greenhouse grown ones have made a good recovery so today I planted them out (one Cavalo Nero and Red Bor).

I then decided to cover them in the largest of my cloches, to make sure they settle in OK .

The cloches have been very useful since I bought them two years ago to protect emerging plants from the rabbits.  Sadly I only have 3 left as the boys spent last summer using them as Buzz Lightyear helmets.  I had to wash and disinfect them as even though they had been stored clean, they were a bit green looking.  I also put one of the longer cloches over some of my tender Salvia’s after cutting them back to ground and applying a mulch, they are not supposed to survive the winter, but with a little help I find they do.

As I had the warm soapy water out, I made myself wash half the glass in the greehouse.  There is very little in there this year, but we are having one of our coldest days today and I suddenly realised if I don’t get some of my pots (such as the verbena sissinghurst pink as above) inside they wont last much longer.  The Broad Bean (Super Aquadulche) as planted in early Autumn are growing well, I usually put them outdoors at this point but this year as the greenhouse is so empty I am going to leave them inside.

The only other things in there are my sweet peas and a handful of Hardy Annuals for the cutting patch.

As part of the greenhouse clear out I brought the Amaryllis indoors and gave them a soak so they can ‘hopefully’ start growing.  This will be their third year so I am not entirely sure I will get new flowers, they have been in the greenhouse over summer with regular feeds and in about August I left them to dry out.  I usually then move them into the dark after cutting the dead leaves back, but this year they remained outside, I had also intended to remove them and re-pot in new soil before starting their growing cycle but I also forgot this, oops.  Hopefully with a bit of TLC and some plant food they might do OK.  The three bulbs together are Hippeastrum papillo, which has a number of smaller flowers on shorter stems.  The larger one is a regular white Amaryllis, sadly I can’t remember the name but it always looks suitably fabulous as in this shot from my work space last February.

Lastly, as referenced in the title, Charlie ‘helped’ me in the garden by pretty much sitting in the bucket of water so I had to abandon my work to get  him indoors and dry.  I left him for a moment whilst I turned off the water and closed the greenhouse door only to hear him running outside looking like this.

He had helped himself to the gloves I was using and was running around being a scary monster.  Oh well, it was a good excuse to abandon work and come inside to write this post!

 

 

Oops!…

That was a bit of a blogging break then.  As you can imagine, the garden has slowed right down, there is need of a big tidy up which I started this week and the greenhouse needs a good clean but I have been busy over at The Linen Cat, blogging and trying to get Christmas products on-line.

We have also just spent half term in Yorkshire, staying in my sisters newly re-furbished cottage and visiting family.  There has been some walking

some watching the salmon try to jump upstream

and rather a bit too much eating.  I have a bad habit of eating my way through memories, if that makes sense, especially as we have the boys with us and I kept buying them the sweets of my youth to try.  They loved these lollies which we always ate as children, shown here with Yorkshire Mixture boiled sweets.

They have become rather partial to Whitaker’s (of Skipton) mint wafers.

And no trip to Yorkshire would be complete without a trip to Bettys for some Fat Rascals

which are a sort of mix of scone and rock cake (they freeze really well BTW).  If you have ever been to the Dales you may have heard of Bettys, it’s a famous small chain (Harrogate, Ilkley, Northallerton and York) of cafes that serve a mix of traditional English (with a Continental influence, especially in the chocolates) food in a Victorian style.  They are big on cakes and afternoon tea, the prize being the Fat Rascal as above.  They sell on-line at Bettys by Post, if I could recommend one thing to order online it would be their Italian Ricciarelli Biscuit Tray which aren’t cheap but are oh so amazing.  Oh, should mention, there is nearly always a wait for a table at busy times so come early or take out.

I have also been making a head start on Christmas food after treating myself to Delia’s new book.

I will admit to abandoning D’s last TV series, it annoyed me but she does do great traditional food and I like this side of her cooking.  On first glance there are a lot of re-worked recipes but I am OK with that as there are also a number of new ones and the book is beautifully presented.

I have made mincemeat, last year I made ‘Pear and Ginger suet free mincemeat’ from the River Cottage Preserves Handbook (No 2) which was great but I was inspired by my new book to go back to Delia this year.

I have also returned to her classic Christmas Cake recipe.  Last year I tried Christmas Plum Cake from the Duchy Originals Cookbook, with a nut glaze topping (from D’s old Christmas book).  It was nice, but I fancied a more traditional cake this year.

It is getting it’s weekly brandy feed at the moment and I intend to go for a marzipan and icing finish.  On the right of this shot you can just see the last of the early Christmas food in the form of Spiced Pickled Prunes in Armagnac (also Delia) and still waiting to be transfered my Sloe Gin from this earlier post.

Whilst we all about food, my final photo is from a 1974 Women’s Weekly magazine that I brought back from Yorkshire (as part of my Gran’s knitting pattern collection).  I couldn’t help but notice this page of recipes, the middle one being curried Eggs and Pineapple! What were they thinking?

OK, I am hoping the mass of photos might get me off the hook for such a slow post rate recently, I guess in the rather quiet gardening time the blog will be more about cooking, but as I wrote at the beginning, I love the memories and traditions of food and especially at this time of year so I have plenty to share.  There is still a good deal of work to do in the garden so there will be gardening posts and I need to take the time to update all the links on the RHS.

Enough, time for wine and X-Factor, on which note WHO KEEPS VOTING JEDWARD IN!!!

Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain…

Well, thank goodness for that, some rain at last and after the builders had roofed our old extension so perfect timing.  What a difference it makes, the garden has sprung into life and turned a rather spritely green which is a nice change from brittle yellow.  Last week I planted out the final seeds for the flower garden, which were the sweet peas.  I have used toilet rolls as I figure they act as a sort of root trainer, I did this last year and felt rather smug with my invention only to find it wasn’t very original and everyone does it.  Anyhow they are in, two per roll pushed about 1 inch down, a mix of Midnight, Painted Lady and the seeds I saved from this years Matucana.

Also starting in the greenhouse are the flowers Antirrhinum/Snapdragon (Crimson Classic, I think), Centaurea Cyanus/Cornflower (Blue Boy) and Scabiosa (Black Cat) all of which will stay there for the Winter after which I will plant them out, under cloches as early as I dare next Spring so they get a good head start.

The 3 buckets with Broad Bean (Super Aquadulche) are on their way. I still have to decide whether to put them outside for the Winter or leave them in the greenhouse.  They did OK last year outside in a sheltered spot but they were a big scraggy and wind worn by Spring.

As mentioned in my last post, here are The Purple Sprouting Broccoli (Red Arrow x 2, Rudolph x 2 & Late Purple x 2) looking rather splendid, oops, some weeding required around the bottom; on which note, here is what happens when you go overboard scattering seed heads

just a few extra nigella seedlings to remove then!

Last, and by no means least is a photo of the wonderful book ‘Vegetable Growing Month by Month’ by John Harrison.  John contacted me asking to use one of my photos a while back and in return he sent me a copy of his book and some seeds, I know who got the better deal!  Great book, it’s get every detail you need to grow veg month by month (does what is says on the tin) and I am very pleased he sent 100s and 1000s Tomato seeds as I have been looking for these mini tomatoes to add to my seed collection.  I should also mention John has a super fantastic site Allotment Vegetable Growing which is well worth a visit and has every piece of advice, including recipes you could possible need.

Hope the rain keeps up for a while!

Final Autumn Vegetable Planting…oh and garlic…

The final seeds have gone in over the past few weeks to provide some needed winter eating.  In the pots that had contained the squash I have planted seeds for Pak Choi (Tatsoi – an Autumn planting Pak Choi, about 5 per pot) and Kale (Cavalo Nero and Red Bor, one of each per pot as they need a lot of space) which are sprouting now.  They are  a little later than planned but the originals, which were started in the greenhouse, were munched by caterpillars.  Also in the garden I have seedlings (started in the greenhouse) of Chard (White Silver) now planted out (6 altogether) and finally last week I planted up my apple crates with a mix of salad seeds for the winter:

• Mizuna
• Mustard – Green in the Snow
• Lettuce Cos – Green Oak Leaf
• Lettuce – Cocarde
• Lettuce – Marveille De Quatre Saison
• Lettuce – Red Sails

I think I put in some Winter Purslane as well but to be honest can’t be sure.  I was in a hurry and rather stupidly though I would write down what I had planted where and then didn’t, however I do have 5 apple crates now sprouting a mix of seeds (usually 2 types per crate spaced as instructed on the packet).  This is why I should REMEMBER TO LABEL WHAT I PLANT!!!

My garlic arrived, as ordered a while ago from the Isle of Wight Garlic Farm.  As in this post, I have decided on only planting Albigensian and Solent Wight this year, the bulbs were massive so I planted all the cloves (I sometimes discard/eat the smaller ones in the centre) and they have taken up the best part of two of the raised beds.  This is not ideal but I got annoyed this summer with the garlic being spread over the garden, including in the flower borders so I decided to sacrifice another raised bed in the veg patch.  For the full garlic ‘how to’ post read here.  There is still plenty of time to still order and plant garlic, some can go in as late as Spring but I prefer to give them an Autumn start.

Still growing nicely in the garden are the Alpine Strawberries (Mignonette) which Charlie strips every day.  I am slightly amazed that 5 small plants are providing so many fruit over such a long period, they are a definite favourite and the extra 5 plants I have planned for next year are in place and growing well.  The Purple Sprouting Broccoli (Red Arrow x 2, Rudolph x 2 & Late Purple x 2) planted in the greenhouse in April and then in the bed after the garlic are an amazing size, I had to abandon the Enviromesh as it was rather crushing the leaves so I do a regular caterpillar patrol and the pick them off.  The late purple is rather lagging behind but is still doing well.  Also still in there are my Parsnips (Gladiator) which I will leave until after the first frosts, ideally not too long as last year they ended up rather large!

Today I planted my final seeds (I think, unless I try and dash in some Spinach or some new herbs), Broad Bean (Super Aquadulche) which can be planted now and left over winter in a sheltered spot for an early crop.  Last year I planted 2 per bucket with John Innes No 2, this year I am going for 3, I had hoped to add a scarlet broad bean but have failed to find one and I saved quite a few beans for planting from the S. Aquadulche so want to make sure I use them.

All I have to do now is try and remember to water them!

September Flowers…

OK, so I know it’s technically October, but I photographed this vase a week or so ago.

Not very elegantly displayed I’m afraid, they are rather dumped in a vase but they perfectly sum up what’s going on in the flower garden.  We have:

• Helianthus Annus/Sunflower – Red Sun
• Tithonia Rotundiflora – Torch (bright orange)
• Dahlia – No idea to be honest, they are from a dark collection I bought from Sarah Raven
• Cosmos – Dazzler (the green leaves only ussed as foliage)
• Cotinus Coggygria/Smoke Bush (Leaves used as foliage)

It’s typical of the orange and dark reds of my late summer garden.

In the cutting patch we also have Cosmos Purity and Dazzler still very much doing their thing, even now in October.

I am loving the white ‘Purity’ on my kitchen window (sorry about the rather dark photo), where I am pathetically trying to disguise this

not sure how clear this is but the window has a permanent splatter from our building work on the back of the house.

Despite my lack attention to the garden a lot of the regulars have self seeded even with the total lack of rain we have had, here in Kent.  Honeywort has self-seeded as have the Salvias (Varidis, Blue Clary and Pink) and the grass Briza.  In fact the Briza goes rather crazy and self seeds all over the place so I spend a lot of time pulling it out but I do love it with it’s pretty bobbing heads and it makes a great foliage for cut flowers both fresh and dried. There is also evidence of some Spring flowers coming through such as the Cornonas (Mr Fokker and Sylphide), I will give these a mulch to make sure they survive the winter, not that it usually gets very cold here.

Ok, more posts on the way, I am rather focusing on the house at the moment but the garden is still getting some attention.

I’m late, for a VERY important date…

Or very nearly anyway.  We have great luck to be surrounded by old apple trees and the like, there have been houses on this site for a number of years, on the old maps there were quite a few and since 1850-ish just ours, when I say ‘ours’ we are end-of-terrace in the sense that it looks like one very big house but is in fact split into 4 along it’s length.  Beyond our garden, via the shoulder high nettles there is a bank of sloe bushes and although all the recipes I have say to ideally pick your sloes at the end of September, after the first frosts I know to pick ours by end of August.  I forgot.  Last week I climbed over the fence and braved being stung to collect enough sloes to make a batch of sloe gin, I was nearly too late, most of the sloes had started to shrivel but I got enough firm ones to make up a batch.

To make approx 900ml you will need:

• 450g sloes
• 350g sugar (I use caster, unrefined)
• 700ml gin

Ideally you are supposed to pick the sloes after a frost (no chance in August!), but I put mine in the freezer for a couple of days as it helps to break them down, alternatively you can prick all over with a fork, then simply put all the ingredients in a jar, stir and seal.  You should then shake or turn the jar regularly to keep the sugar moving (I turn mine most days, or when I remember) for between 8-12 weeks, tasting every few weeks to see if the flavour is to your liking.  Again, I am likely to forget and just go for the full 12 weeks, also I leave my jar on the kitchen window but most recipes advise a dark corner.

After 8-12 weeks, strain through a fine sieve into sterilised bottles and ideally leave for a few months to mellow before drinking, if you can wait that long!

HFW suggests stoning the discarded fruit at the the sieving stage and eating with ice cream, I’m guessing it’s not a good idea to let the kids have any.

Squash, the conclusion…

I couldn’t help but notice it was a bit nippy this morning when we set of on the school run (F started ‘big school’ last week) and I decided to remove all my squash/pumpkins to the greenhouse for their final drying period.  I am pretty sure we wont get any frost but I fear there is so much going on around here I may forget them and it only takes one frost for all the hard work to be ruined.

So, to re-cap, last April I started Squash ‘Turk’s Turban’, ‘Butternut Harrier F1′, ‘Sweet Dumpling’, ‘Buttercup’, ‘Crown Prince’ & ‘Gem/Rolet’ in Greenhouse.  To be honest I struggled to germinate some of them and when it warmed up planted some direct outside.  All my squash were planted in 125 litre (I think!) plastic buckets bought from The Garden Superstore and were filled with the contents of my compost piles (to be honest not fully matured), some bought manure and topped off with a bag or two of John Innes No 2.  The containers are big and heavy and wont be moved unless I empty them first.  They worked really well, I had healthy plants and I’m very happy with this method as it saves the raised beds for other things.

A while ago I did photograph the growing squash but I think we will skip this and go straight to the ‘ta-da’ shot:

so this is what I’ve got:

Buttercup (top left) x 2 – not bad, might have liked another one but they are a decent size

Crown Prince (middle back) x 1 – love the colour of this and it’s the biggest, as expected.

Gem/Rolet (right) x bucket loads – this is the only summer squash so needs eating pretty swiftly but the quantity and lovely 1 person portion makes it a winner.  I have eaten loads already, pricked with a fork, boiled for 45 mins then cut open seeds removed and eaten direct with a blog of butter and some seasoning.

Sweet Dumling (bottom left) x 4 – I grew this as it’s described as a ‘Shreck’ squash and I thought the kids would like that.  It was very late to get started so I am happy with my 4, they are meant to be that size, like the Gem, you get lots of small squash.

Butternut (bottom middle) x 6 – I should have removed some of these earlier, I took off about 6 forming fruit but I think a little late, I think I should have aimed for 5 if I wanted decent sized squash, as it is I have 6 small but edible ones.  They could have done with a bit longer to grow, they started late.

Oh, did I forget one?  Oh, yes, that would be my ‘comedy’ squash, the petite but perfectly formed Turk’s Turban.

This was part of the three (or two in my case) sisters planting and as you can see, it didn’t flourish.  I watered the container planted squash every day, a lot, and it’s been a dry summer here, I tended to rather neglect my raised beds so I think this was the problem, it’s a shame as I was growing this partly for decoration, as you can see it’s very pretty (and tastes good too apparently) there were 2 but one got eaten by slugs early on and this mini version was the only surviver.

Next year I think I will add ‘Marina di Chioggia’ which is an Heirloom variety that’s has fantastic warty skin and I will definitely shift the ‘Turk’s Turban‘ into a container to get a better crop.

Sowing Hardy Annuals…

A Hardy Annual pretty much lives up to it’s name, it can withstand cold weather, as opposed to a Half-Hardy Annual, which MAY survive the cold (some of mine do if I mulch them but more about that another time) and it grows, flowers and sets seed all in one year, unlike a Biennial which grows foliage one year and flowers the next or a Perennial which comes back year after year.

As Autumn has arrived, it’s time to sow hardy annuals (HA) so they can form a small plant before the weather gets too cold.  You can sow them in Spring but they will not flower as early, Autumn sowing gives them a head start and in my experience works well for my cutting patch, you can then sow replacements in Spring in the greenhouse that take over after the Autumn sown plants are past their best.  I used to start mine in small pots in the greenhouse but I mostly sow direct now, it saves a lot of energy and keeps the greenhouse free for other things.  You can just scatter your seeds in your chosen spot but it’s hard to tell what is a weed and what  is a plant as they sprout so it’s better to sow in lines/drills, the seed packets should have the ideal depth and distance for each final plant, you will probably have to thin them out a few times as they grow.  I wont go into too much detail, as to be honest there are so many good tutorials on the internet on how to grow HA and they are much better written then I could ever manage!

I find that I grow a lot of the same plants each year and most of my HA self seed, so I just transplant the seedlings to the desired spot once they are established.  My worst problem is not watering the seedlings enough, or thinning them too keenly too early and having the slugs take out the rest leaving me to begin again next Spring.  I am late planning my cutting beds but I know I will grow the following HA:

1. Bupleurum rotundifolium – Griffithii
2. Salvia Viridis/Sage – Blue Clary
3. Euphorbia Oblongata
4. Centaurea Cyanus/Cornflower – Blue Boy
5. Calendula Officinalis/Marigold – Indian Prince
6. Nigella Hispanica/Love-in-the-mist
7. Nigella Damascena – Deep Blue
8. Helianthus Annus/Sunflower – Red Sun
9. Cerinth Major Purpurascens/Honeywort
10. Malope Trifida Vulcan
11. Ammi Majus/Bishop’s Flower
12. Scabiosa Atropurpurea

I sow the Helianthus/Sunflower in Spring in the greenhouse but everything else is started in September, I give a few seeds a helping hand by shaking the seed heads in the spot where I want my new plants, cover them lightly with fine soil, water and then leave them too it.  I still rather neglecting the garden, we have new school for Felix and builders working on part of the house so there is enough going on but I am worried about getting behind, I had better stop writing and get digging or I will regret it next Spring!

Late August eating…

As with the flower beds, the poor veg beds have been a bit neglected.  I have concentrated on watering pots and have rather let the rest dry out resulting in a bit of a scruffy mess.  The courgettes have finally come to an end, I took the photo below just before cutting and composting.

The 2 x courgette ‘Defender‘ (dark green) were really past their best, very dry and covered in powdery mildew (more about this in the next post on squash), the 2 x courgette ‘Soleil‘ (yellow as above)  still had life in it but the leaves were also covered in powdery mildew and I had thrown a few marrows away recently so decided to also compost those.  The 4 plants did us well, they grew very nicely in their potato bags and provided just about the right amount for our family (2 adults, 2 kids).

Also still providing lost of fruit are the tomato plants.  The lovely orange cherry ‘Sungold‘ are about over as are the ‘Tigerella’ and beefeater ‘Brandywine’ but ‘San Marzone’ are at their prime, we are getting huge trusses of fruit, as above.  The 8 plants (2 of each) were about right, next year I think I will add a couple more early fruiting but we have managed lots of puree for the freezer, a good few jars of ketchup and lots of fresh fruit.  Sadly the plants are showing signs of Early Blight but I know from past years they still have time so I have removed some large trusses to ripen in the sun for a few days and have left the rest on the plants to chance.  There is a great description of Blight here for those unsure what it is or how to deal with it.

Finally, in the greenhouse the Aubergine ‘Violetta di Firenze’ are ready and outside Aubergine ‘Slim Jim’, although they are a bit nibbled by earwigs.  Other than that, it’s cucumber, salad crops and herbs that are providing food, oh and the final few sweetcorn.  There is plenty growing ready for over winter and lots more to sow but that’s for a big September update when I will take stock of the whole patch.

August Flowers…and sorry!

I bet you were wondering where I have been?  Well, the summer holidays have slightly taken their toll, Mummy duty has been full on (I am writing this sitting in the living room as Mr C can’t be left alone with F, who is terrorising him at every opportunity).  Also, The Linen Cat has been having a sale which has meant a lot of packing and posting and some hasty panic sewing of new stock to fill the gaps.

Owl lavender bags about to be posted

This along with a complete lack of rain and not enough watering from me has resulted in slightly neglected garden, and blog, I feel suitably guilty and need to get everything back up to speed.

Right, the cutting garden is still producing:

• Helianthus Annus/Sunflower - Red Sun
• Amaranthus Caudatus - Viridis’
• Centura Cyanus/Cornflower – Blue Boy
• Salvia Viridis – Blue Clary
• Cosmos – Dazzler
• Salvia Patens
• Nicotiana Alata – Lime Green
• Cosmos – Purity
• Bupleurum

I have to admit that at this time of writing some of the above are getting very scratty and a number have produced seed heads but I am still picking large amounts of Cosmos and Sunflowers (warning!  bad photo alert!):

The boarders are still pitiful, very dry and with little colour, I will correct this for next year with plenty of late summer plants to fill the gaps, for this year I want to concentrate on making sure the cutting garden is planted up in September with new Hardy Annuals that will survive winter and give early flowers next year.  This is made a lot easier by the fact that most of my Hardy Annuals self seed, I prefer to plant in the same spots so I just give a shake of the dry plants as I lift them, give the soil a rake and water to allow the seeds to settle in then move the seedlings into position once they have sprouted.

I have also saved quite a lot of seed this year.  The dry weather and my total neglect of the garden has left me with quite a few dry seedheads so I figured I may as well pack them up.

Above, you can see Sweet pea ‘Matucana’, Nigella Hispanica and Damascena both of which produce beautiful seed heads which I also use in cut flower arrangements.  I now need to draw up plans for next year’s cutting beds (I will post these, along with photos of the planned plants and instructions on planting Hardy Annuals and Biennials) and get planting so the seedlings have time to settle in before the weather turns cold.