Hints of Spring!

At last there are signs of Spring coming. I love Forget-Me-Knots and the early signs of blue flowers are cheering. I love the way some of the flowers are pinky purple as well as blue though I know these colours won't stay when the plant gets bigger and will revert to the normal blue.  

The creeping comfrey has gone completely wild and is everywhere. The flowers are like snowdrops and look most attractive but sadly a lot of it will have to be grubbed up! It is just like ordinary comfrey in that the leaves can be used on swellings and knocks on one's bones to help them heal. 















And I am delighted at the way my blackcurrant cuttings have taken off. They are being hardened off and then will be planted into a larger pot before being planted into the garden. 















The new potatoes I planted in buckets are breaking through the compost and soon I'll have to cover them with more compost. I'm really looking forward to having new potatoes in about twelve weeks time. Yummy! 

Then and now!

The above photo is of the garden now. Pots have been left since they last flowered and leaves have gathered around them. A sad and sorry sight. The rest of the garden isn't much better!

The photo above and below are of how it used to look at the same time but a couple of years ago! Unfortunately although I lost interest for a year or two things went on growing! Leaves fell from the oak tree and buried plants and earth. The birds had a great time scratching for bugs under the carpet of leaves.

Herbs such as lemon balm have grown where they wanted and spread over a large part of the herb garden. Marjoran and oregano have gone wild. The herbs I really like have given up the ghost and gone. So I have to plant more dill, basil and coriander. These are not hardy perennials but with our mild winters I had found they went on from year to year but neglect did for them eventually!  



A bit of good news! After Graeme moved the blackcurrant bush I pruned it and in a fit of waste not, want not, I put the cuttings into some compost and put it on the kitchen window sill. And now the cuttings are showing signs of life. The buds are breaking open to show green tips of leaves. So if all goes well I will have four new blackcurrant bushes. Of course blackcurrant is one of the easiest plants to propogate!

Sunny and Warm!

How lovely on the first day in March to have no wind and lots of lovely warm sunshine! It was so lovely that I had to spend as much time as possible outside before I had to go to work. Graeme moved a blackcurrant for me which is something I've been meaning to do for a long time. Now it is in the sun and hopefully will produce lots of fruit. It is a large sweet fruiting variety so will be a good addition to the smaller fruited varieties.

The birds have been collecting the moss that we have raked up off the lawn for their nests. The magpies have already got a nest going in the Hawthorne tree and are making a continual racket as they wage war with the wood pigeons! The squirrel is their other target!

Lots of self sown for-get-me nots, so there will be some colour a bit later on. At the moment the only thing flowering is the evergreen clematis and the flowers though pretty are fairly nondescript. They are white with purple streaks inside the bell shape which one doesn't see unless one is right underneath the flower. The camelia continues to be a riot of colour with more buds blossoming daily.

Sadly they have forcast rain for the weekend which apart from keeping the potato buckets moist will impinge on any gardening I might do. Oh well back to the sewing machine and the dyeing!

Back in the garden!

Well I have finally got back into the garden. My new husband isn't a gardener but he's good with lawns! At the moment he is tackling the moss that has taken a hold over half of it! 
 
                        
The garden is really sad as nothing has been done to it for over two years. So I am now fired up with enthusiasm to tidy and get planting. 

I made a good start today by planting two planters with new potatoes! 










I also did some pruning and gathered up some of the many fallen leaves. The herb garden had a good tidying up and now looks quite bare.  










It needs forking over and weeding now. At the same time as we bought the compost for the potatoes I also bought some seeds and want to grow lettuce, beetroot and more herbs such as dill, basil and tarragon. We have had such a mild winter that the bronze fennel and the ordinary fennel have both overwintered with no problems. 

The camelia is looking lovely and so early! 

 

Winter is coming!

I’ve had my son staying for a week. He lives in Scotland and was pleasantly surprised to see how warm it is down here still. However today it was decidedly colder with quite a snap in the air. Not a nice day for gardening as the wind was very strong and after a small burst of sun rain was imminent. So I went for a walk to the beach. Along the way I saw these berries strung in one of the trees and looking  just like jewels. I’m not sure what kind of berries they are but have an idea they are poisonous!

Surprisingly with the amount of wind the sea was calm, although the beach was strewn with debris and seaweed. Signs of a rough sea previously! There were a fair number of people on the beach enjoying the small amount of sun.

As I walked back up the hill I looked back and liked the look of the trees round the pool with the old cemetery behind them. Some trees have lost all their leaves and others are hanging on. The oak and hazel trees in the garden are still covered in leaves whereas the blackcurrants and hawthorne have lost most of theirs.

I am still getting beetroot from the garden. The self blanching celery is doing well and useful for adding to recipes. And the spinach is hanging in there. Just waiting for the first frosts!

Pineapple Sage

Pineapple sage is a half hardy member of the sage family. Last winter we had some severe frosts and I thought I had lost it totally. However in the spring I noticed a couple of tiny green shoots so didn’t dig it up and ditch it. Slowly the green shoots became six inch stems and they remained like that for most of the miserable wet summer we had. Then in August it suddenly put on a spurt and started to grow until by September it was a 2ft high bush. Now in October it is flowering and has the most interesting red flowers. They are long like catkins and as the flowers develop they are a bit like monbretia petals. There is only one in full bloom but lots coming on the plant. If they all flower it will be an amazing sight. Sage makes a very good herbal tea for sore throats. And a sandwich of brown bread and butter with sage leaves between will aid digestion and clean out the system!

Also I noticed I have one late rose and a couple of non stop begonias blooming. They are determined to show their colours on these grey days we’ve been having. And the blueberry has the most amazing red leaves. For all it is nearly November the garden is very colourful.

Very quick Broccoli and Stilton soup!

This is a wonderful soup and so quick to make. Ideal for unexpected guests or for bonfire parties. Recipe makes sufficient for 4 people.

1 red onion, 2 large heads of broccoli, clove of garlic, 1 tablespoon olive oil, black pepper, 1.5 pints of vegetable stock, 4 oz of blue stilton.

Put olive oil in large saucepan. Chop onion and broccoli and place in saucepan. Add minced garlic and ground black pepper. Stir and then heat on low for 5 minutes to sweat veggies. Make up 1.5 pints of vegetable stock using stock cube. Add to saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15-20 minutes. Turn off heat and add cut up cheese. Stir. Then liquidise until soup is smooth.

Put into bowls and enjoy. Is also good drunk from a mug. I’ve just had a mug in front of the fire and it was delicious. Add buttered granary bread and it’s a feast!