Too much brown

There are many reasons why I write a gardening blog, one of which is that it is a useful garden diary.  It is interesting to look back and see what we were doing last year and beyond.

So, around this time in April 2012, I was praising the Persicaria which was in flower.  I was also sowing parsnip seeds and Doc was helping me re-plant the bed at the front of the house with new perennials.  The hungry gap was over and on the 14th April, we enjoyed Rhubarb from a very verdant rhubarb patch.  All systems were go, go, go.

 

Rhubarb for crumble - 14th April 2012

Further back, on the 8th April 2011 I was coping with a very unpleasant eye allergy.  However, I had managed to plant out peas, mange tout and lettuces.  The narcissi in the orchard helped lift my spirits but not as much as the asparagus did.  Not only were we picking it on 21st April but had been doing so for 3 weeks!

8th April 2011

What a difference a couple of years makes?  Today, the only productive plant outside in the garden is.... actually, there ISN’T a productive plant apart from a frost bitten bay tree, one brownish-looking rosemary bush and a tired thyme plant.  There isn't a hint of a shoot in the asparagus bed, the rhubarb is just unfurling a leaf or two and planting out the mange tout would be cruel.

 

There are strawberry plants in a raised bed but they are struggling to keep going.  No sooner do they put on a fresh green leaf than the frost turns it to a mush.  Their colleagues in the greenhouse are fine and I wish I had dug the outside ones up and found room for them inside too. 

 

Last week, I was concerned that the early seed potatoes might give up altogether if I did not take pity on them, so I plunged them into a raised bed and then covered them with plastic.  But I expect Bob Flowerdew would think I am mad doing this.

The temperatures have crept into double digits this weekend but it is still cold for the time of year.  Plants continue to do well the greenhouse though and I have moved some to the cold frame.  But they do need to be outside so they can explode into growth.  The lettuces are proving to be tough and I have several pots of cut and come again salad leaves which we snip daily.  The salad rocket supplies a little bit of heat to cheer us up. 

I have doubts the Morning Glory plants will barely have the stature to hold themselves upright, even if they have a nice arch to support them.  (Doc persevered to erect this in a rather brisk Southerly wind today!)  They are green but they don't look strong at all.  There are sweet peas which could be hardened off and planted out but I don't think they will do any more outside than they are inside.

I think we are at least a month behind and if we don’t get some continuing warm weather, we might not catch up at all.  Today, Doc searched the orchard and found 12 narcissi to pick and bring into the house.  12 is better than nil, isn’t it?  Never give up, is out motto. Still, we have found a new BBC programme to watch.  'Beechgrove Garden' from Scotland, is absolutely fabulous.  We love it! 

Easter Treats

 Well, it's still cold, but the sun it has been sunny today.   We cannot complain too much because an early Easter is always a gamble with the weather.   Doc and I can remember many March Easters and they were usually wet ones spent confined in our caravan, trying to invent yet another card game to entertain the children.    

We are doubly reminded to manage our weather expectations at Easter because we got married on the 27^th March which was an Easter Monday.  It was a very windy but dry day, so windy in fact my veil turned into a sail and we had to have the photographs taken inside the church.  Last March, our anniversary meal comprised of lunch at a smart restaurant and we sipped cocktails on a sunny, warm terrace (I wore a sleeveless dress!) and this year (Jade, number 35), I wore boots and it snowed!

We are visiting some friends on Easter Sunday and Jay has a houseful of folks.  She has asked me to contribute to the larder by making a cake which I am delighted to do because baking at home has to err on the ‘plain’ side nowadays - otherwise our waistlines overflow our trousers.  And let’s face it, I am not busy in the garden planting seed potatoes.  I am more likely to cook them for dinner!

So I thought an Easter themed cake is a must so I nipped down to the village to buy extra eggs and some mini chocolate Easter Eggs to decorate the top of my cake.  Apparently, there has been a last minute rush to buy mini chocolate eggs.  No-one is in the garden and everyone is baking a cake.  Typical!

Anyway, after visiting two more shops I sourced mini eggs and they could have been golden ones, such was my pleasure at managing to find some.  So in the interests of sharing, here is my recipe for Easter Chocolate Cake – and mini chocolate eggs are compulsory!

175 g (6 ozs) caster sugar

175 g (6 ozs) butter, softened in the microwave for a few seconds

175 g (6 ozs) SR flour with 2 rounded tablespoonfuls of it removed

3 large eggs

1 ½ tsps baking powder

2 rounded tables cocoa powder

Drop of milk

Method:  Put all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and beat with an electric hand mixer until smooth and light.  The mixture should fall of the spoon easily so if it is a little stiff, add a drop more milk.   Divide the mixture between 2 x 7 inch (18 cm) round cake tins lining with baking parchment.  Bake in a pre-heated oven 180 C, 350 F, Gas mark 4 for 25-30 minutes until springy and slightly shrinking away from the sides of the tin.  Cool the cakes on a wire rack.

Chocolate Icing:  Put 50 g (2 ozs) butter and 2 rounded tablespoons each of cocoa powder and milk into a saucepan.  Heat gently but don’t let it get too hot.  Remove from the heat and stir in 225 g (8 ozs) icing sugar and a few drops of vanilla essence.  Beat well and cool slightly, until it is thick enough to spread without running all over the place.  Use the chocolate icing to sandwich the two cakes together and spread the rest on the top.  Swirl it about and decorate with grated white chocolate, chocolate mini eggs (!) and an Easter chick or two.

We love rich chocolate cake but it is not everyone’s choice so I have also made a lemon drizzle loaf which is much lighter and has a zingy, refreshing taste.  I expect Doc will have a slice of both cakes.  Actually, so will I!

Lemon Drizzle loaf

175 g (6 ozs) caster sugar

175 g (6 ozs) butter, softened in the microwave for a few seconds

175 g (6 ozs) SR flour

3 large eggs

1 ½ tsps baking powder

Finely grated rind of 3 lemons

Drop of milk

Method: Line a large 2 lb loaf tin with baking parchment and pre-heat the oven to 170 C, 325 F, Gas mark 3.  Put all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and beat with an electric hand mixer until smooth and light.  The mixture should fall of the spoon easily so if it is a little stiff, add a drop more milk.  Spoon into the loaf tin and bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle, comes out clean. 

Put 175 g (6 ozs) granulated sugar into a saucepan and add the juice of the 3 lemons used above.  Boil the syrup for a minute or two and pour over the lemon loaf whilst it is still hot, in its tin.  Leave to cool for half an hour and then turn out on a wire rack to cool completely.   You can just mix the lemon juice with the sugar and pour over the cake.  It makes a lovely crunchy topping, however, since the lemon juice is not cooked, the cake will not keep as long.  Though to be fair, we have never kept a lemon drizzle cake longer than a couple of days anyway......

Happy Easter!

Daffodils rescued from the snow

 

We must not be beaten

Doc and I are keen gardeners but keeping our spirits up at the moment is a difficult.  I can’t remember seeing so much snow at the end of March, nor have I ever felt quite so cold for so long.  But whilst the thermometer sticks stubbornly at the bottom of the scale, we gardeners must find a way of carrying on the best we can.

Springfield disappeared under an 8 inch blanket of the white stuff and I have rescued a dozen or more daffodils flattened by the drifts and put them in a vase on the kitchen table.  They are a statement of intent.  Spring WILL spring forth, we must believe that.



Sagging Choisya 26th March 2013

Those of us with south facing window sills and greenhouses can weather the storm to a certain extent because we can do some indoor gardening.  Overnight, our greenhouse turned into an igloo decorated with icicles but inside it, it was a different story altogether.   Granted there was a reduced amount of light but underneath the unheated propagators our Mange Tout peas, Morning Glory and Cosmos seedlings and trays of assorted lettuces were lovely and warm and growing away quite nicely.  In fact it was so warm I took off my gloves and hat.  Snow is a superb insulator and the stone slabs in the greenhouse absorb the warmth and prevent the temperature from dipping too low in the middle of the night.  I really should buy a maximum/minimum thermometer to see just how warm it does get in there but I never get round to it.

Also nestled under glass are tubs of strawberries in full leaf and the pots of early carrots are happily growing away.  The parsley is perky and lush green and I have no doubts that the leek and beetroot seeds will be up and about soon.  I also have some perennials in pots and the patio roses and hardy fuchsias are looking lovely. 

When the sun finally showed itself, the snow on the south side of the greenhouse melted very quickly and the plants were suddenly bathed in much appreciated light.  (Actually, there was a minor avalanche when I opened the door yesterday and I was glad of my hat!).  The temperature inside the greenhouse increased several degrees very quickly so I opened a window for an hour or so in the middle of the day and gave the plants a drink of water.  I keep a couple of watering cans filled with water, in the greenhouse and the water heats up which is much kinder than dousing plants in ice cold water straight from the tap. 

In the house, the plant nursery is doing well with tomatoes, peppers, chillies and cucumbers growing into strong, little plantlets.  I have moved them from the warm kitchen (by the Aga) to the dining room which is south facing but has the radiator turned down to a whisper.  This lower temperature will help to harden them off and after Easter, I will take them down to the greenhouse where they will take their turn under the unheated propagators.  As long as the trays are turned twice a day, I don’t have a problem with seedlings growing leggy.

I never thought gardening could be quite so challenging and it is the extremes of weather that is testing us.  Usually, the explosion of shocking pink camellia flowers is over by now and although there is no damage to this enormous shrub, the buds are tightly furled and it looks like we may have to wait until April for the first bloom.  The perennials in the borders were just beginning to sprout new growth and I am praying they are protected under the thick blanket of snow, conserving their energy until the temperature warms up.

When spring truly arrives we had better hold on tight because the garden will become an explosive force of energy for a very short time, and hopefully we will have a better summer than last year.  In the meantime, Doc and I keep feeding the birds, nurturing our young plants and amuse ourselves by watching a very comical (and tubby) male pheasant fall over in the snow drifts.  He really should invest in a decent pair of boots.

Not forgetting the birds

 

Igloo turns back into a greenhouse

Snowdrops and daffodils trying their best

 

Farewell to Good Friends

It’s been quiet lately at Springfield and I have been ‘off air for a while.  The weather has been unkind and even on a sunny day, the cold threatens even the most dedicated gardener.  Everything is waiting to burst into life but we will just have to be patient.  I have never known the snowdrops last so long into March and the daffodils are very slow to get going.  The Camelia is also tightly budded and shows no signs of exploding into colour.

The cold weather is not the only thing to set us back and I have been putting off writing a blog post.  I don't usually procrastinate but there is something I need to say and until now I could not find the right words.  Sometimes I just need a little time to myself to reflect and get things in perspective.

 A couple of weeks ago, Doc and I decided to re-home our chickens.  It was not an easy decision because the girls have been with us for 3 years and we have so much enjoyed their company in the garden - and their eggs.  We also knew how much we would miss them. 

But life moves on. (Clichés are so annoyingly true!)  Our lives are changing and we have had to allow our sensible heads to rule our hearts.  Doc, who is a GP, is preparing to take up a new role as President of his local Medical Society and although this is a great honour , it will be a lot of work for both of us, with a lot of entertaining and events to organise.  We are looking forward to Doc’s year of Office immensely but in order to enjoy its challenges we need to be realistic about what we can manage to do at home and in the garden.  In addition, our little granddaughter is a huge magnet who will continue to pull us across the Irish sea.   When Number One Son asks if we can go over, we want to have a bag already packed, so we can fly off at a moment’s notice.

I don’t want to dwell on the girls’ departure because it was inevitably sad.  For days afterwards, we reminded each other to ‘coop the girls’ and I still see three little ghosts when I walk down the garden path.   However, I found a lovely lady called Anita who has given the girls a good, safe home.  When Doc and I left them, they did not look back at us and strutted off behind a rather fancy, haughty cockerel and his harem.  I am sure the girls will have some fun their new pals and we can be contented that we did right by them.  We looked after them as best we could and took our responsibility seriously.

We have such happy memories of Ginger, Tweedledee and Tweedledum.   The eggs were the best we have ever tasted and keeping hens is a good way to connect with the food we eat.  When I picked up Ginger’s last egg from the straw, it was just as special as the first one Doc brought up to the house.  We were so excited it could have been a golden egg!  I cradled the very last nutty-brown egg in my palm for ages, its warmth is something I will never forget.  It was such a privilege to enjoy home-laid eggs. 

There were funny times too such as The Great Escapes which made Mission Impossible look positively pedestrian.  Doc spent one very wet, wintry evening trying to find a hole they had made in the fencing.  To this day he is convinced the naughty trio were laughing at him. 

Our chickens taught us how important it is in life to do a bit of pottering about, doing nothing in particular.  They scratched and wandered about from dawn until dusk and were perfectly contented.  Doc and I used to take a 10 minute break, sit on the bench to drink a cuppa and we would watch the girls scrape ,scraping their way round the orchard, totally immersed in their surroundings but oblivious to it.  Doc and I have made a pact that we will still take those breaks, even without the hens to watch. 

We will fill the holes where they used to take their dust baths.  We will re-seed the grass and find a new home for the coop.  But the hens will always be part of Springfield and we will never forget our little friends.  

 

Definitely No Curb Appeal

 

A bowlful of soft, luscious berries is delicious - but the plants themselves are nothing to write home about.  The Blackberry is our least favourite plant in the garden and although Doc tidied up the bed last autumn, I finished the process yesterday, in the bitterly cold weather.  It is not my favourite job.

Doc had already dug out one plant so we only have one left now but we have no doubts that it will try to take over the whole garden by the end of this season.   This one bush could be more than enough for us to cope with.   It is a cultivated variety yet it has viscous thorns.  The runners are deadly and try to come up through the membrane and bark which covers the bare ground between the  raised beds in Mr Macgregor’s Garden.  If we did not enjoy the black jewels so much, we would kill the lot!  But you can't beat apple and blackberry pie for with custard.  Blackberries are the THE fruit of late summer and autumn.  The smell of a single blackberry brings back many childhood memories of walking country lanes with a bucket overflowing with fruit and licking my sticky, purple fingers.

Technically, you need to selectively prune blackberries because they are biennial.  This means they grow the stems one year and fruit on them the next.  If you simply hack them back with a machete, you will remove the new wood and consequently lose all promise of fruit that season.  However, finding a route to the base of the plant to cut out the old wood is easier set than done.  It is like wrestling with a monster which always has the last laugh.  It is sometimes difficult to identify the old and new wood so we just do what is possible and every few years, we have to carry out a full on assault - and sacrifice a year's fruit.

We grow autumn fruiting raspberries and they are much easier to maintain than the summer fruiting varieties, which behave like blackberries and need more selective pruning.   In February, all you need to do to autumn raspberries is cut the canes to the ground, tidy up any weeds and mulch the soil with compost.  However, we have given one corner of their bed a more thorough going over this winter.  Lots of grass had infiltrated the canes so we needed to remove it all because it competes for moisture and stunts the growth of the canes.  We have also thinned the canes and removed some of the older ones.  Our canes fruit from July to November and we don’t miss summer raspberries because there are usually some lovely strawberries to keep us happy during May and June.

We also have a Japanese Wineberry plant and the fruits are similar in shape to raspberries but are tiny, dark red and taste of – wine!  It is a much prettier plant, with white flowers and pink stems (with thorns!) which we train over the trellis and up a pergola.  Yesterday, I pruned it carefully, removed the old wood and tied in the new shoots.  Left to its own devices it would produce a huge, fountain of a bush with 6-7 foot arching stems.   It sits next to the blackberry  bush and is definitely the better looking of the two.  The fruits are very juicy too and we love them on cereal in the mornings.

We have a couple of loganberry and tayberry plants but they are not very abundant and we don’t find them as tasty as blackberries, raspberries and the wineberries.  However, they do add interest to Mr Macgregor’s garden and we like having them around.

Thankfully, we will have forgotten the pain of dealing with the blackberry bush by the time it fruits this year and by then we will be pleased we persevered with the task. We just have to remember to wear sleeves when we pick the fruits......

Shopping For Compost

It’s only a few weeks before I start sowing tomato, sweet pepper and chilli seeds and not long after that when the planting season really gathers momentum.  In preparation for ‘S’ day, I went to the Garden Centre today to stock up on compost and this task is not something I look forward to because  sourcing the right potting compost can be a trial by consumerism.

There are so many different brands and endless types of compost to choose from.  I can’t compare like with like because each brand uses a different recipe and I am told that the recipes change from year to year.  In addition, I have to consider peat-free, organic and loam based composts and whether or not I need compost for seeds, young plants or established shrubs.  By the time I have analysed the prices, including the three-for-two deals, my head hurts.

In an ideal world Doc and I would like to be totally peat-free in the garden.  However, one year we had a near disaster when the tomato plantlets sat in their pots of eco-friendly compost doing nothing in particular.  After much temperature checking and bug searching, I concluded the culprit was the compost so rushed out to buy new, established tomato plants and peat-based compost - before it was too late.  It was very irritating. 

However, for the last couple of seasons I have had good results if I use a peat-based compost specifically made for sowing seeds and then when the plants are growing on, I transfer the plants into a peat-free compost such as Vital Earth.

After several minutes looking around (in the inevitable cold) I chose a seed compost, mainly because it was a smaller sized bag.  Unfortunately, there was no Vital Earth compost.  Still, technology was there to rescue me so I sat down for a coffee and consulted the oracle, a.k.a the internet.  Apparently, New Horizon’s organic peat-free multi-purpose compost received an award from ‘Which’ magazine and it was in stock at the Garden Centre.  I did consider ordering it from the internet for convenience sake but it was cheaper to break my back (!) so I hauled three bags for the price of two into my trolley. 

I needed some John Innes 1 and 2 (watch your back because these are very heavy) for re-potting some shrubs and some ericaceous compost for a young potted Christmas tree.  I topped off the trolley with seaweed feed and organic slug pellets and headed for the checkout. 

The assistant behind the counter asked me if I really wanted the New Horizon compost because it was the ‘digging in’ variety.  Apparently, I needed the purple coloured bags; the ones I had struggled with were compost for mulching beds and borders.  She was very kind and summoned a gentleman to help me replace them.  Bless him, he did try his best but he could not quite manage to lift the bags so he steadied the trolley and I wrestled with my bags of compost.

A brief snow flurry began just as I was crossing the car park and I nearly ran over a lady in a wheelchair which was embarrassing.   She was very generous and said I needed a man.   Quite.  But defiantly liberated, I persevered and hauled the bags into the car, drove home and then made two trips with the wheelbarrow to transport my booty all the way down the garden, to the shed.  It was a relief to get back to the warmth of the kitchen and felt I had earned my cup of tea and piece of cake.

There won’t be enough compost.  There never is.  I will go back for more because I always do but at least I have a stock of compost to get the new season started.   I will let you know how I get on with my New Horizon compost.  Though I have a feeling I will meet someone who swears by another brand and I will feel guilty that my tomato plants will be deprived of goodness they deserve.