GBBD September 2013

As I walked into the kitchen early one morning a few days ago I spotted a sparrowhawk sitting on the garden fence waiting for breakfast to fly by.  It saw me and flew off to the safety of the neighbour's roof so I grabbed the camera.  It was obviously wary of me as I zoomed in.  A pair of magpies didn't appreciate its company though and soon chased it off.  I love seeing hawks.  We were especially priviledged last week:

I was in the living room reading but there was a particularly noisy buzzard outside.  When I looked it was over the field right outside the house so I shouted Andy and went out for a better view.  Suddenly a small hawk began to mob it ... a peregrine.  Brilliant!  They stayed in view circling each other for quite a few minutes and we were just thinking how luck we had been to see the peregrine when another large bird sailed into view ... an osprey!! Fantastic! I didn't grab the camera so I can't share it with you.  Sorry!

The garden is full of yellow marigolds this week. 

The cornflowers and verbena add touches of blue and the apples, roses, berries and snapdragons throw in the reds.

I've spent HOURS peeling, coring and cooking apples: the composter is full of damaged fruit and there's still half a tree-full left ... shouldn't complain though!

I'm particularly pleased with the front pond at the moment.  The water lilies have gone wild since I worked on that area a few months ago.  I will need a machette to get through the leaves soon!

This is what it looked like at the end of June:

The other major change to the garden this month is the new greenhouse:

We haven't got round to ordering the staging yet but there's no rush.  As you can see from the blanket the cat has moved in already.  She finds it very confusing as the glass is so clean she keeps trying to walk through it!  Nothing to worry about, it won't stay like that for long.

Visit May Dream Gardens for more GBBD views.

Ten Green Apples

"Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year.  The morning of the first September was crisp and golden as an apple...” 

J K Rowling Deathly Hallows

The trees are weighed down with apples, pears and plums and the wasps are getting drunk and drowsy.  Time to harvest.

Last year I collected the fruit, made a few pots of jam and bagged the rest for the freezer.

This year I decided to be a bit more inventive so I turned to fellow bloggers for inpiration:

TEN (NICE!) THINGS TO DO WITH AN APPLE

1.  Apple Chutney from Rachel Cotterill.  This looks simple and delicious.  It made me look around the internet for other chutney recipes and I'm now hooked on the idea.  I really fancy one with apples, carrots and onions ... sounds a bit like Branston Pickle though!  In searching round I came across a blog called A Foodie's Quest who had a green tomato relish recipe which might come in useful for Elaine at A Woman of the Soil!

2.  Stuffed Apples.  I imagined baked apples stuffed with raisins when I thought of this one but you can stuff them with all sorts of things apparently ... stop smirking at the back!  I like the sound of Baked Apples with Savory Pork Stuffing from Cosmo Cookie or this sweet dessert (baked apples stuffed with nuts and chopped fruit then smothered in caramel!)  from Backup.

3.  Homemade Apple Pie.  Yes, we all know how to make an apple pie ... don't we??!!  Well, just in case this is how it's done down on the farm in America.  Makes you want to reach for the ice cream before it's ready.

4.  Apple Muffin.  People don't seem to bake buns any more, they bake cupcakes or muffins.  (Aren't they just very big buns? Will we all end up waddling around with very big bums?)  Well Thyme to Garden Now has a lovely whole wheat version so a slight nod to healthy living.

5.  There is absolutely NO nod to healthy living in this so called Apple Salad recipe from SiggySpice!  Made with Snicker chocolate bars and caramel I dread to think how many calories it contains.

6.  Here's a proper Apple Salad from Marky-the-chef to tone things down again.

7.  A simple Toffee Apple came to mind next.  We used to make these for Bonfire Night.  Take care not to burn yourself when coating the apples though.  There are loads of toffee apple recipes out there but Mia Loves Pretty has made her's extra special.

8.  Apple Strudel has to be a favourite.  Delia can always be relied upon and this one sounds great but I discovered a beautiful Bavarian blog called Words and Herbs ("For all who appreciate the beauty of words, flowers and homecooking") and I think I'll give this one a go.

 9.  Now I've gone international I have to include Apple Curry taken from a blog called Dining with Phryne.

10.  Lastly .... you guessed it .... cider.  I am in fact teetotal so I would choose an apple juice such as the one found at Chaos in the Kitchen or A Sweetpea Chef but if you want a more alcoholic one add some rum ....

I'll end with a link to Robert Frost's poem After Apple Picking.  His apples are achievements and desires from his younger days.  

A Close Shave

The ivy had reached the roof tiles and was beginning to cover the chimney so it had to be chopped.

He had a neat business card and headed note paper.  He has carried out work in my mother-in-law's garden and she found him through another satisfied customer.  His quotation was acceptable and he started work on Monday.

Before:

Three men turned up: the Boss was going to erect a fence and prepare the base for the new greenhouse; the worker's job was to prune the ivy and play with the chain saw and the youngest one was paid to look bored and hold the ladder. 

All was going well.  By Monday afternoon we had half a fence; half a laurel bush and we could see the brick work round the front door.

After:

Hadn't expected it to look quite THAT naked but I thought I can now repaint the woodwork.  That's when I realised he had chopped back the honeysuckle I had grown round the door!!  Gutted!  I just keep telling myself it will grow back!

Tuesday morning two turned up ... the Boss was taking his sick dog to the vet.  By lunch time previously shaded plants were basking in sunshine as the top few feet came off the rowan and lilac trees.  Everything seemed fine so we nipped out for lunch ... mistake!  The van had gone when we returned and the neighbours were waiting ...

Apparently the young lad had been rude; they had failed to move the van when someone had wanted to turn their car round and the garden waste had been left "all over" the lane. 

To be honest there was some mess ... slightly more than I would have liked but a LOT less than there could have been!  It would take hours to tidy up every twig after cutting back so many branches so some mess was only to be expected.    

Wednesday morning no-one turned up!  Andy phoned the Boss.  The dog had died.  He was too upset to work so they will be back next Tuesday.

The sight of this beautiful Amaryllis cheered me up.  I put the house plants outside over summer and this one decided to bloom now instead of waiting until Christmas when it usually flowers.

The raspberries have been moved up to the allotment.  The rhubarb, currants and gooseberries are up there as well but I'm keeping the strawberries at home until the fruit cage is built.

Changes

We have a few changes planned for next week.  I have to dig up the vegetable patch and the soft fruit then dismantle the greenhouse (the cat won't be happy!).  We have a man coming to trim the tall trees and a larger greenhouse being delivered (perhaps she'll stop sulking once she's seen it).  The old greenhouse will move up to the allotment, as will the soft fruit.  Really looking forward to everything being sorted!

I've been making jam this week ... strawberry and raspberry and it won't be long before the plums are ready.  Quite a good crop this year.  The apples are weighing the tree down and there are a few pears on the young tree I planted two years ago.  Loads of lovely puddings and desserts for the future ... or for the freezer! Our eldest son is getting married next April so the diet has started already! 

I left teaching three years ago and discovered the joys of pottering.  I enjoyed my job and have some great memories.  I remember my last Sports Day ... a very warm, sunny day ...  as I passed a Year 8 boy who had just won a 200m race I said, "You look hot."  Quick as a flash he said, "Thank you!"   There's never a dull moment in a secondary school!  As September gets closer I should be all smug smiles but this year I've agreed to go back for a term!  I'm going to miss the lazy days. 

    

Golden Rod

Golden Rod reminds me of my childhood as my grandfather had planted it in his garden. It has the same effect on Sue Garrett as she recalls walking to her grandparents' house through a field where Golden Rod grew in wild profusion.  It is a beautiful plant but, as I have discovered, it can be rather invasive.  Janneke gets round the problem by using it as a cut flower with Crocosmia and Gaillardia - sounds lovely so I reckon I'll be following her advice.          

Bees love the flowers and Golden Rod honey is delicious.                                                                          

Parts of the plant are edible.  Golden Rod tea is used by herbalists to reduce inflammation and to aid recovery from kidney stones.  It is known to be a diuretic.

Historically it has been used on the skin to help heal wounds and American Indians chewed the leaves and roots to relieve sore throats and toothache.

Golden Rod leaves naturally contain rubber!  Thomas Edison carried out experiments to try to increase the amount so it could be used commercially.  A typical yield is 7% but Edison's plant gave a rubber yield of 12%.  When his friend Henry Ford gave Edison a present of a Model T Ford the wheels had been specially made from Golden Rod rubber!

End of Month - July 2013

I spent the morning in the greenhouse because it's chucking it down outside.  Delphinium and hollyhock seedlings are potted on and the rose and carnation cuttings are cosy in their plastic bags.

Yesterday I collected seeds from poppies, violas, lupins and white foxgloves.  The wallflower pods are almost ready but Garden News gave me a free packet of those seeds anyway.  I have recently subscribed to Garden News as they are offering 52 weekly magazines for £52 ... a real bargain as they give away a free packet of seeds worth more than £1 every week, it's full of interesting articles on everything from flowers to vegetables and they always have loads of offers.  I get BBC Gardeners' World Magazine too (another offer ... 5 magazines for £5) but it's Garden News I look forward to receiving.

I found a place for my fossil paving slab ... a plain concrete slab used to be there so this one looks much better.  I went back to the stone merchant and bought another two large ones to improve this whole area and got a deal on ten remaining small ones (£30 instead of over £60).  I haven't used them yet but they will feature in my plans for the front garden when I get round to it!

Golden Rod is attracting the bees but I need to carry out some crowd control if it spreads any more.

Here are some more blooms to lift my spirts on this wet morning:

This nasturtium very kindly self seeded and is now creeping along the bottom of a border adding lots of lovely drops of colour.

Thanks to The Patient Gardener for hosting the End of Month meme.

MASSIVE Ladybird

 Earlier this month I was in a friend's garden when we heard jet engines overhead and looked up to see the Red Arrows passing directly over the top of us on their way to the Test Match a couple of miles away.  Yesterday, in my garden, a strange noise turned out to be a low flying microlight buzzing around like a huge fly.  Then today we had this over us:

Have you read 'Enduring Love' by Ian McEwan?  He can be pretty dark at times and this one begins with a man falling from a rope on a hot-air balloon.  Well, this is the Ladybird balloon of Ladybird Books fame and it passes over us quite regularly on warm Summer evenings.  It has never caused us any problems, unlike some others in the past:

When we first moved here the kids were 7 and 5 years old.  One evening the eldest came rushing in shouting about a balloon which was about to hit the roof.  Sure enough, once outside, we could see the panic on the pilot's face as he frantically ignited the gas to gain height.  Luckily he made it.  The episode wasn't over though as it became obvious he was going to land in the newly ploughed field opposite our house.  Our sons were both in the field excitedly watching the action.  Suddenly the pilot threw a rope out and shouted, "Catch it." 

Our eldest ran after the rope while I was screaming, "NOOOO, don't touch it!"

Thankfully he didn't catch it and the balloon bounced over the furrows in the field spilling its passengers out into the mud.  Strangely, I have never hankered after a balloon ride since!

Visions of a small boy drifting off into the air still haunt me. Stupid really as he grew up and became a fighter pilot for the Royal Navy ...

I've been collecting seeds, sowing seeds, taking cuttings and dead heading this week. Pottering! Love it!

I also love this Lucifer Crocosmia.  It's much taller than the clumps I have dotted around the place and would be perfect as a cut flower ... hope it produces LOTS of seeds for me this year!

Here's a link to a nursery in Cornwall that specialises in Crocosmia. I hadn't realised there were quite so many different varieties of this plant.