A New Venture

 Considering that the British Summer has been rather wet and cold the gardening has produced some successes.

Better late than never the strawberries ripened and they ripened over such a small spell of time that I gave some to a neighbour and the less beautiful specimens were turned into microwave jam – it was so runny that I liquidised it into strawberry sauce and now I am going to use it up with other fruits to make crumbles.

The peas and beans have enjoyed the rain so there are plenty to put in the freezer – just need to blanch them first – I shall use RM’s technique of using freezer packs, the sort you use in cool boxes to keep the picnic food safe – to cool them quickly.  It looks easier than making up ice cubes.

And the new project – another patch of lawn is going to be sacrificed to make a herb garden – like when the veg patch was created, we are killing off the grass and weeds by blocking out the light. The new patch will be dedicated to growing the herbs that are currently in pots on the patio.  The trouble with pots is they like to be watered frequently or the plants wilt.  Even in this years very wet season there have been several spells of a few days of hot dry weather so the plants in pots have suffered. 
At the moment all there is to see is a patch of lawn covered with black plastic, weighted down with bricks to stop it lifting, or even blowing way!
 

The rectangular planter has some of this year’s strawberry plants and a healthy amount of runners to plant up in the veg patch over the winter and hopefully become next years supply of strawberry plants.
 

  

                                       

Garden performance

I'm just glad that F didn't have a camera to hand!
On Sunday afternoon there was a break in the dismal weather so I decided I would rake over the last part of the veg patch and sow the green manure seeds, Lupinus Angustifolius according to the back of the packet.  Because the ground was so wet I decided to wear my wellingtons.  I raked the ground smooth and marked out the rows, making a hole to plant each seed - very methodical.  All was going well and I had nearly finished the job when I went to the narrow path between the veg patch and the raised beds to reach the last few planting holes. I put one foot on some bricks at the edge of the patch and the bricks moved.  I overbalanced  and ended up sitting on the rhubarb - as my arms flew out to try and keep my balance I dismantled the edge of the netting frame that is around the strawberries to keep them safe from the birds and most spectacularly, the packet of seeds emptied itself, seeds flying off in all directions.
Frank was sitting at the other end of the garden and he came to the rescue - I wasn't hurt at all - but we ended up picking the rhubarb that had been broken by my fall and rearranging the netting frame and most time-consuming of all picking up as many of the seeds as we could find.
I am expecting green manure to spring up all over that part of the garden!

Rain, rain, go away

This week has had such a mix of weather. 
On Tuesday it was a summer's day and daughter and I spent a couple of hours walking round a nearby nature reserve.  Because it's still term-time it was very quiet and we sat and ate ice cream while watching a family of mallards - no noise to scare them away. We had to walk past a couple of swans who had decided to stand in the middle of a path.  Adult mute swans are large, especially noticeable when you are a couple of steps away from them, but B said we were safe as they did not have cygnets  to protect. Later on we watched a heron catching his dinner - he was very wary of us and kept his distance.
On Wednesday it was summer again and in the evening I was able to garden.  I managed to finish digging the veg patch so was looking forward to sowing the last seeds for this year, but today the rain has returned with a vengeance. 
The water butts are overflowing, the strawberries are still green and the next dry day is about a week away.
I'll just have to take up housework!!

Long time no post -and the weather

Well it's been six months almost since I put anything on the blog - life's been busy but now I have completed my course work and the exam for my latest OU course I really have no reason not to put something together for the blog.
The UK summer is dismal so far - torrential rain and much cooler than normal temperatures  - it suits the weeds in the garden but means that the veg patch is more neglected than it should be.  One success - I picked the first ripe strawberry today - F and I will feast on it tonight.  There are lots of green strawberries waiting to ripen but they need a good spell of sunshine before they are ready to be harvested.  I might have to search out some recipes for unripe strawberries if the weather doesn't improve soon. Are there such recipes?
It certainly wasn't very kind for the Queen's Jubilee Celebrations but it didn't stop the crowds turning out to cheer.  Hopefully the weather will be better before the Olympics and that we shall enjoy an Indian Summer in October.

Christmas is coming

I went shopping in Stafford Town centre at the weekend and I met father Christmas.

I think I must have been behaving myself this year because I got a hug ... so perhaps I'll be getting lots of presents!!

TLC

We went to the DIY store and I spotted the bargain plant trolley. Tucked away at the back was the poor specimen that F is holding – a rather sad Peace Lily.

I don’t like to think of plants meeting an early demise so I paid 10p to rescue it ( about 15 cents). For the last ten days it has been fed and watered and has responded to TLC. Some leaves were too far gone to save but they were trimmed off and now I have a much healthier looking plant that should make a full recovery.

TLC works wonders.

What to do with the apple harvest

This year has produced bumper apple crops in the UK.

In spite of picking off lots of the fruits in June, giving the apples left on the tree chance to grow to a good size, we have been overwhelmed with the amount of fruit produced. None of the trees get sprayed so they produce an organic crop, complete with extra protein - you can’t offer these apples to the squeamish.

We eat apples as desert nearly every day (using up the worst specimens) and there is no room left in the freezer for anymore. We would need to buy a new freezer, and find the space to put it. What to do with the surplus – about two hundred kilograms!

The apples were gathered up and put into plastic boxes (supplied courtesy of Tesco) and taken by car (two journeys) to nearby Haywood Park Farm which offers an apple juicing service.

After being checked for bruising the apples were put through a chopping machine - I don't know its proper name - it's like an oversized liquidiser.

Then the farmer put the chopped-up apples onto the press and juiced them. The two types of apples produced distinctly different juices which were pasteurised and bottled.

Now all we need to do is to get labels made for the bottles - C has said he will help with this - and make a list of everyone who will get apple juice for this year's Christmas present.