Contemplation!

I sat and had my breakfast looking out at the garden through the French windows. The garden tends towards cottage garden which in my view means lots of plants, close together with no earth showing. Not for me the neat carefully tended single plants in acres of soil. However this approach of mine can lead to overcrowding if not carefully monitored and the resultant look is not so much ‘cottage’ as abandoned! I rather fear this is happening to my herb patch so I will need to cut a lot of them down, especially the sage and lemon balm which are threatening to take over. As well, giving them a short back and sides will stop them from becoming woody.

  It was very pleasing to see out of the corner of my eye that the first hanging basket with Tumbler tomatoes actually had some ripe ones in it!

We have three hanging baskets with tomato plants at all stages in them. The first one has bought in plants and is the earliest to produce. Then the next two are home grown plants one earlier than the other. These plantings take us through until the end of September with tomatoes though last year was a very bad year for tomatoes and most of them were blight ridden.

Having decided on a plan for the workload for the next week I then sat and watched the birds in the birdhouse. We have a lot of finches and blue tits but the tits prefer the hanging seed basket to the bird house.

Blackcurrant Tart

At last I’ve picked enough blackcurrants to make a blackcurrant tart. I have been saving them up in the fridge and I’m amazed that they have kept so well. These have come solely from the large Baldwin bush and the two smaller Baldwin bushes that I planted as cuttings a couple of years ago. I will still have some blackcurrants to pick from the other, later, Ben Alder bush. I think that I’m losing berries from this bush to the birds. The strings of currants on the Baldwin, which is an early blackcurrant, are hidden in the foliage whereas on the Ben Alder they are much more prominent. Next year I will have to seriously think about netting them. For the moment I shall just enjoy my tart! This was a very easy tart to make. Just a layer of pastry on the plate topped with the blackcurrants and 1 tablespoon sugar; then a lattice layer which I brushed with egg and sprinkled sugar over. Bake in a hot oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Then serve warm with cream! Quite delicious!

Soon I should be able to think about making blueberry pies as one bush is almost ready to pick!  

 

Interesting visitors or regular inhabitants?

This was the first one which we found last summer and we were amazed to see it on this rose. We wondered where it had come from and how it was surviving. The best guess was that at the end of term some child had brought it home from school to look after and then it had escaped! We then, over the next four months found several more, mostly on the Hypericum. They were all adults and all seemed very healthy. In case you are wondering what they are, they are Stick Insects!

Then this spring I found a baby one clinging to the Weigela. Another one in the garage and one in the kitchen. So obviously my adults were breeding. But where? And how had they survived over the very cold winter we had had?

And then recently I found another one, again a baby, on a plastic tub in my kitchen. And after that several more on the Hypericum. All babies. I haven’t yet seen an adult Stick Insect this year yet! There is time!

I have to be especially careful when cutting branches off the Weigela as these tiny creatures just drop onto one, or onto the ground where they could be trodden underfoot!

This is obviously turning into a wild life post. So here is a picture of two young blackbirds taking dirt baths under my currant bushes. I don’t think the blackcurrant roots will have been overjoyed as they are very shallow rooted! To really see the picture click on it to enlarge. I had to take it from inside the house so as not to frighten them away!

And it has stopped raining!

Rain All Day!

It has rained all day today. The garden is soaking and now the wind is getting up. Earlier it was quite warm and humid; good growing weather but it has turned cold again. Nothing has been done in the garden at all. So a very short post today!

A couple of years ago we went to Llanhydrock with my son and his girlfriend and I was very impressed by the formal rose garden and the meticulously shaped trees. Llanhydrock is a fascinating place to visit.   I had lots more photos but managed to lose them when my computer was formatted! Most annoying!

This and That!

This Spring we had to take the top off our oak tree as it was becoming top heavy. Our neighbour behind us is forever chopping the branches back on his side which makes the poor tree unbalanced. We reckon this tree is at least 150 years old! And so it deserves a bit of care and attention. Anyway Martin gave it a pruning and it looked a bit bare and forlorn but I am happy to say that it has come into leaf and is looking good. Also it is putting out new shoots at the rate of knots. At least it will not be a problem for another five years!

 The dahlia has finally opened and it is a decorative one. I think the other one will be of the cactus variety though in the same colour. I planted several colours last year but the only ones to have survived the winter are all this rich pink.

 I have this clematis (click to enlarge picture) climbing over an obelisk at the back of the garden. You can see the fern and honeysuckle in the background. It never flowers and I don’t know what it is. It is very pretty having delicate feathery leaves. If anyone knows I’d be grateful for any information. It isn’t evergreen!

The weigela (spelling?) is having a second flowering. This one is Bristol Ruby which is a dark red. The bumble bees love it!

And the Hydrangea is flowering but a lot paler than other years. Normally it is a rich blue or pink (depending on where in the garden it is) but it is very washed out. Perhaps it will darken up later.  

And it is raining. . . again!

Time for some recipes!

With only a very small garden sometimes one has nothing to do! Well other than water and weed! But at this time of the year most plants are at their most abundant and it is useful to have ways of using the surplus they produce. I don’t know where I found these recipes but I’ve had them for some time and use them regularly. Particularly the chicken and zucchini one which is delicious. And it could be that I may have a glut of courgettes as we call them as the plants are producing really well after their dodgy start.

Lemon balm is a herb that will take over the garden if allowed. Not only does it grow very vigorously but also creeps along the ground sending up new shoots. And to add insult to injury it shoots its seeds wide and far. It is true to say that once one has Lemon Balm one has it for life. However it is a herb that I like even though it isn’t the most attractive being bushy and straggly!   

 

Melissa Healing Potion
Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) is an energizing and stress-
relieving herb. It can also help with head-aches and depression. If you are going through a period of stress, grief, or anxiety, you might like to try the following potion:
1 cup boiling water
3 tsp dried lemon balm leaves or small handful fresh leaves
Infuse the lemon balm leaves  in the boiling water for
ten minutes, and say:
Bring me rest and bring me peace.
Harmony come and pain release.
Take a cup each evening for three weeks.

Note: I find it works wonderfully well even without the chant! Honey or Agave Nectar can be used to sweeten it.

CHICKEN AND ZUCCHINI STEW
Yield: 6 servings

INGREDIENTS
1 (18 ounces) can tomatoes
1 cup  chicken stock (this can be stock cubes)

1 small green pepper, coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium zucchini, coarsely chopped(more can be added if you have a lot to use up!)
Fresh ground pepper and salt to taste
2 teaspoon minced fresh basil
1-1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts,
cooked and cubed into 2-inch pieces
DIRECTIONS
Drain the liquid from the tomatoes into a saucepan. Chop the tomatoes and set aside. Add the stock, green pepper and garlic to the tomato liquid. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes.

Add reserved tomatoes, zucchini, pepper, salt, and basil. Simmer until zucchini is tender, about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to low and add the chicken. Cook for 5 minutes.

It is very good with cream, crème fraiche or cheese stirred into it!

And to end on a note of horror I found this on my walk round the garden this evening! It is on my spearmint mint which is just about to burst into flower! It is so like the plant that I almost missed it. It is now a squashed thing!

What a Surprise!

To my absolute delight I found this hidden away behind the tubs of bedding plants. It had been in my mind just a pot with old soil and weeds growing in it. However today for some reason I took a closer look and see what I found! Totally amazing its a young Avocado plant. When we were emptying the compost bin in the early spring I noticed there were lots of avocado stones which seemed to have started developing but hadn’t come to anything. One seemed a bit more advanced and so I stuck it in an empty pot, and this is the result!  We grew one a few years ago on the window sill by balancing the stone on toothpicks over water in a glass. Eventually we put it in the garden and it grew quite tall but it was always tall and spindly as you can see in this picture below. This was my garden last summer! I wasn’t as organised and things were really getting out of hand! The Avocado was three years old in this picture. Click to enlarge.

So what do I do with this one?