Brassica bonanza

Thursday June 30th 2011

There was no messing about at Brian and Diana's on Wednesday, the last unfilled vegetable bed had been treated against club root three weeks previously, so it was time to get planting. Six different types of sprouting broccoli and two of cauliflower were planted in neat rows of five, the cabbages having been planted in spare soil within the fruit cage some weeks before. Each individual plant was given it's own protection against root fly by Diana (who has her own personal arsenal of contraband chemicals stashed away!) and the bed was lightly sprinkled with slug pellets. Next the fleece against pigeon attack was draped over central supports and only then could we breathe a sigh of relief that the plants were safe. You really would have thought that brassicas in general might have come up with a better defence against pests than just tasting cabbagey! Overall we planted eighty individual seedlings, some will start to produce by early November, the rest will continue to crop all the way through to next spring. By the time we had finished I thought it looked like a mini Kew greenhouse, and it's contents just as precious to those who will eat them!

"The time has come the walrus said, to speak of many things; of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings"

Lewis Carroll

Epiphany

Wednesday 29th June 2011

Recently I've felt like I've just emerged into the world, with a deep rooted desire to find out more about the minutia of the plants and animals we share our earth with. Taking the OU course has really opened my eyes to what a fabulous planet we live on. For example, have you ever cut your finger on a blade of grass? Did you know that the plant has deposited minute silica crystals on the edges of it's leaves, to stop herbivores from eating them, and that in highly grazed areas the silica content is higher than in lowly grazed areas. If that isn't an indication of the miracle of nature, then I don't know what is. It's just a shame that I cannot capture on camera the wonders that I regularly see, I'm no photographer and my little kodak cannot get all the details.. Seen but not recorded this week are, a newly hatched red admiral drying it's wings in the sun, and a most striking beetle with a red head, brown thorax and yellow abdomen, which I've been unable to identify, most frustrating! however I did take a good shot of these fungi, cortinarius crocolitus, I do love toadstools!

"I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes

E.E. Cummings

Scorchio!

Tuesday 20th June 2011

Monday was a scorcher, I'm glad I cut the grass before 9am, it would have been far too hot afterwards. In fact it was too hot to do any gardening at Tate House, but we did it anyway! Everything has to look just right for the summer fete on Saturday. Madhu and I pulled up the spinach and pak choi that had gone to seed and sowed two different varieties of carrot in their place, we also harvested the radishes and a beautiful lettuce for the residents tea. I trimmed back the parsley and gave the chives a good hair cut, they will soon produce fresh new leaves, then constructed a bean wigwam, meanwhile madhu gave everything a thorough weeding. The boys were busy all morning putting the finishing touches to the gravel in the courtyard, and lynne was on hand to keep us all refreshed with cold drinks and encouragement, I must say that she has single handedly looked after the garden and given her time for years before our little project started up, what is known as a thoroughly good egg!

The garden is certainly looking beautiful in all it's June glory, but already my mind is turning to autumn and contemplating bulbs etc!

"It is the month of June, the month of leaves and roses, when pleasant sights salute the eyes, and pleasant scents the noses" Nathaniel Parker Willis

Nothing Quite Like It For Cooling The Blood

Monday 27th June 2011

Had two nice walks this weekend, firstly into Knaresborough with Dave and Chum, the weather was still damp but with the promise of heat for Sunday. The only minus were the biting flies as we descended into Conyngham. Decided not to pay too much attention to the housework and catch up with my studies, the result being I'm nearly a week ahead!

Sunday saw us checking out the progress of the crops on the old by-pass near Spofforth, all are looking good, but unfortunately Dave's hayfever did not react well to a country ramble. It was very hot too, but Chumdog has an unerring ability to locate muddy puddles for a spot of relief!

Back to work with a vengeance this week, no excuses now until the holidays, although I do feel more energised again. Photo 2 is a ringlet butterfly on my astrantia, it was very obliging and sat still for a long time.

"The most affectionate creature in the world is a wet dog"

Ambrose Bierce

Nice Weather For Ducks

Oh look it's stopped raining for five minutes! I knew when we had all that wonderful weather back in April that we would pay for it, my only regret is that I didn't buy a bigger water butt. I'm afraid I didn't go to Southlands yesterday, nothing would have needed watering and I have got used to the spare time this week. I did manage to watch the last programme of Botany-A Blooming History though, so I wasn't just lazing about! Everything will be back to normal again next week, and I will probably be better for the rest.

I saw this beautiful mushroom down by the river yesterday, it is a false death cap-amanita citrina, and is actually edible, but nobody picks them in case they get the real thing!

"If only one could tell true love from false love, as one can tell mushrooms from toadstools"

Katherine Mansfield

Mini Beasts

Thursday 23rd June 2011

It's a pity that the children aren't small any more, because every time I venture into the garden it is like going on safari. I still retain the delight of every bug or creature sighted (although don't look for them in the man made bug hotels, they studiously avoid those!), and fondly remember pudgy little fingers reaching out for some hapless victim. The garden is a lot safer for the mini beasts now that I don't use any sprays, they all seem to be flourishing, today's photos are just from a five minute wander. The lovely caterpillar is the lava of the vapourer moth, the adult being almost totally unremarkable.

I note with interest that those plants given the Chelsea chop are responding with vigour, especially the sedums, I was totally brutal with them, in some cases removing the whole seasons growth, and yet they will grow away again and produce flowers in time for late summer. There's simply no stopping nature.

"The spiders touch, how exquisitely fine! feels at each thread, and lives along the line"

Alexander Pope

Summer Solstice

Wednesday 22nd June 2011

Yesterday was the longest day, that means from now on we will be drawn inexorably into the darkness and decay of winter. All the more reason to live the day! It was thus in pensive mood that Chum and I set off on our walk , it wasn't a conventionally perfect summers day but nevertheless I found much of merit to lift my mood. The weather was warm, almost muggy after the heavy rain of the night before, so the gentle breeze that played around was pleasant and cooling. I didn't even mind the misting of rain every now and again, because the best thing about yesterday was the smell. The deep earthy green smell you only get when the ground has really quenched it's thirst. There is more rain to come this week I believe, so us gardeners had better brace ourselves for an onslaught of growth.

"There came a day at summers full, entirely for me, I thought that such were for the saints, where resurrections be"

Emily Dickinson

Temporary Escape

Tuesday 21st June 2011

Well I'm back, after a truly delightful and relaxing spa break at the Feversham Arms in Helmsley. No time to visit the famous walled gardens though, as we were too busy shopping and being pampered, it's an exhausting thing enjoying yourself! We began proceedings with a facial, always a real treat, followed by an hour in the heat experience, a hot tub outside, salt inhalation and aromatherapy rooms. We polished it all off with a visit to the fish! Yes really, 15mins with our feet in a fish tank, it was the tickliest feeling of my life, but it did leave my feet feeling wonderful. A three course a la carte dinner in the evening and full English breakfast next morning, before we had to return to reality, I can thoroughly recommend it.

It is a very quiet week ahead for me, as I'm cutting myself some slack for once, just hope I can think of enough interesting things to blog, only time will tell.

"Take rest, a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop"

Ovid 43BC-17AD

Baby!

Friday 17th June 2011 #2

Something else has made me smile this morning, so you can have two posts today. Just look at this little beauty, a mini Hawes watering can purchased from Morrisons no less, I just had to have it, all for the grand price of £2.49, what a stunning bargain. It's the best thing that's happened all week!

"Life is the greatest bargain, we get it for nothing"

Yiddish Proverb

Bits And Pieces

Friday 17th June 2011

I only had time for a flying visit to Southlands on Thursday, just enough time to cast an eye over everything really. What ripe strawberries there were, had been nibbled by critters, so I binned them. Picked more sweetpeas for the lounge and sowed some multi-coloured radishes, as they were especially requested by Ruth. Late June is pretty quiet in gardening terms, but in another two weeks I shall be flat out picking produce and dead-heading flowers.

I find myself with blogger's block at the end of what can only be described as one of "those" weeks, so to cheer myself up, here are the moments that made me smile

1. It raining enough to fill up my water butt

2. Very nice lunch with Dave on Tuesday

3. Eating strawberries with Diana

4. This foxglove in the garden

I'm having a spa weekend to boost my energy levels, so no posts until Tuesday folks!

"And the heart that is soonest awake to the flowers, is always the first to be touched by the thorns"

Thomas Moore

Stools And Strawberries

Thursday 16th June 2011

There were many jobs to attend to in Spofforth this week, we started by preparing the old compost heap, digging out any weeds, and mounding up the soil at one end, into this we planted Diana's squashes, which will be allowed to ramble right over the walls if they so wish. Next we thoroughly weeded the vegetable beds, as the chickweed was thick amongst the onions, now there will be no competition for the nutrients. Then we turned our attention to the stool bed (pictured), this is where the apple root-stocks are grown, we trimmed out any weak growth , placed a collar around each plant and earthed them up, each stem will now grow roots and onto these stems new apple trees will be grafted. Finally we indulged in a little strawberry tasting, trying one each of all the varieties, it is surprising just how different the flavours can be. I think that was my favourite part of the day!

"Strawberries are the angels of the earth, innocent and sweet with green leafy wings reaching heavenward"

Jasmine Heiler

A Fit Of Pique

Wednesday 15th June 2011

The fittings for the water butt arrived yesterday, and finding myself with that rare occurrence an afternoon off, I decided to try and fit it. Foolish Woman. Now I like to pride myself on a certain ability to tackle most gardening jobs, this girl doesn't pass over the chores of hedge trimming and lawn maintenance to the man of the house, but in this instance I had to admit defeat. Not through some complicated detail, but simply because I couldn't get the bung out to fit the tap. It was screwed in so tightly, I couldn't get it to budge. So thwarted I turned to some dead-heading to soothe my irritation, contemplating the consummate ease with which Dave would no doubt complete the task later. As of course was the case!

"Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts"

Charles Dickens

To Mulch Or Not To Mulch

Tuesday 14th June 2011

It was the big plant buying expedition from Tate House on Monday morning, Jack, Phil and Nick brought their cars with empty boots, just waiting to be filled with the best the local nursery could offer. Lynne and I soon got to grips with spending the budget, and in little over an hour we were back and ready to start planting. I did feel a certain amount of panic because, whilst we had spent an awful lot of money, when we put the plants in situ they seemed woefully inadequate for the space available. However after a lot of fussing and moving things around, we were satisfied with the layout and had convinced ourselves that eventually things would grow larger. Then we hit a snag, my original plan had been to lay a mulch between the plants to retain moisture and suppress weeds, but the only material available to us, donated in quantity by Homebase, just didn't look right in my opinion. We have left one corner in place whilst we decide, but I'd rather see it taken off and the plants allowed to fill out, before we choose an alternative.

I'm skiving off next week for a special spa break, so by the time I get back, the Growing Together team will have made a decision on the mulch, and planted all the bedding plants. Everything will look entirely different again, that's one of the joys of gardening in a group.

"One of the most delightful things about gardening is the anticipation it provides"

Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Water Butt

Monday 13th June 2011

I gave myself the day off from studying yesterday, much as I'm enjoying it, my head is so full of facts and figures I feel I never think of anything else these days. Instead I filled my time with some small jobs, splitting the basil and honesty seedlings in the kitchen, whilst listening to Classic FM, very soothing. Equally good for the soul is a little retail therapy, I've been sitting on a pile of garden vouchers since my birthday, instead of rushing off and spending them all impetuously as usual. So when I went to Harlow, I knew exactly what I wished to buy. I'm now the lucky owner of a pair of gold leaf gloves, several more house-leeks for the wall garden, and best of all, a water butt. Soon the garden will be a little more drought proof, it's just a shame we weren't able to set it up in time to catch all the lovely rain that was bestowed on us, still I dare say we will get some more before this summer is over!

"Water is life's mater and matrix, mother and medium, there is no life without water"

Albert Szent-gyorgyi

Perfect Peas

Friday 10th June 2011

After a weeks absence from Southlands there were plenty of jobs that needed my attention. Despite Val's enthusiastic watering technique much of the garden was still very dry, and as a consequence of this some of the leafy crops were starting to bolt. I decided to cut my losses and pull it all up, once salad leaves start to flower they can turn bitter, and as everything else is growing with great gusto, the extra room will soon be used up. Then I pulled up what remained of the cabbages, which wasn't much thanks to those pesky pigeons, and popped some amaranthus seedlings in their place.

The runaway success this week has been the peas, the edible ones are getting some lovely pods, if they produce enough for everyone to eat one pod straight from the garden, then it will have been worth growing them. The sweetpeas have now produced their first flowers, so I cut them and placed the vase on the piano in the residents lounge, their scent is like distilled summer.

"Earth laughs in flower"

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Protection Racket

Thursday 9th June 2011

We had the fruit cages to put up yesterday in Spofforth, the currants are starting to blush and the blackbirds are looking hungry, apparently they don't like the blackcurrants or gooseberries but will quite happily strip the redcurrants bare. Luckily the actual frame had been left up from the previous year so we only had to tie the netting in place, but it was still a three man job. Once we had finished, the blackbird ran up and down the path outside the cage, and I swear I could hear him say "curses foiled again"!

Next came planting out the courgettes, each with it's own mound of Diana's rich dark crumbly compost, these too we netted against the ruthless pigeon population.

The last job of the day was fleecing the carrots against the dreaded root fly, we tucked them up tighter than a toddler at bedtime, I'd like to see any flies get past that!

"Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within the reach of every hand"

Mother Teresa

Busy

Wednesday 8th June 20

Some days you just meet yourself going backwards don't you? I now get up at 6.30am in order to shoehorn everything into my day, Tuesday went something like this........

Arose at 6.30, fed guinea pig, dog, birds and kids, made packed lunches, blogged, showered, ran George and friend to cricket day in Knaresborough, dropped off to walk dog on way back,two hours study on plant pigments, lunch, back to pick up kids from cricket, go to bank and pet shop, found an hour to Chelsea chop the garden, made tea, washed up and collapsed. You can't expect great garden wisdom from me every day can you!

To make up for it, here is a picture of our new log store and its proud creator. Burning logs is considered to be carbon neutral and after watching the news last night where they announced 20% home fuel increases, I feel we made the right decision having one fitted!

"I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read and all the friends I want to see"

John Burroughs

Beetling Away

Tuesday 7th June 2011

It was just us girls keeping the ship afloat yesterday at Tate House. I brought the pumpkins, cucumbers and squashes from home and settled them in next to the potatoes, they should romp away and cover quite a large area of the bed, giving the gunnera a run for it's money. Madhu and Lynne got on with feeding the baby veg plants whilst I renovated the raised planters. It was very therapeutic pulling up all the tatty shrubs and dubious plantings,(thistles!) of a previous gardener. As I worked I unearthed a lily beetle, so I showed the others before I squashed him, they eat the roots and kill the plants, so no mercy I'm afraid.

We made a bamboo wigwam and planted sweetpeas in one of the beds and calendula in the other two, there is still plenty more room for cheerful summer bedding though. Hopefully we will go on a plant buying mission next week, to fill in any gaps and tackle stocking the sensory courtyard. I can't wait, buying new plants is always the best bit!

"the sense of death is most in apprehension, and the poor beetle, that we tread upon, in corporal sufferance finds a pang as great as when a giant dies"

William Shakespeare; Measure For Measure

Up The Apples And Pears

Monday 6th June 2011

On Saturday Diana invited me to attend a meeting of the Northern Fruit Group, a dedicated and knowledgeable set of people striving to keep fruit growing alive and well for future generations. They hold their gatherings in the new learning centre at Harlow Carr, a building which is run solely on eco-principles. For me it was like stepping into the pages of my course text book, brilliantly showcasing the use of waste wood for architectural support, amongst many other innovations.

Anyway I digress, it was most interesting to observe the group at work, diligently organising their many workshop and show commitments. I really hope I can be of some help to them in the future. We had a quick break for lunch and then were treated to a talk by Andrew Gilchrist about starting his orchard in Cumbria, a location not without it's challenges! I now know what scab and canker look like and which root-stocks to avoid. It is good to know that people like Andrew and Hilary are there to offer advice to us novice kitchen gardeners, long may the NFG continue!

"In an orchard there should be enough to eat, enough to lay up, enough to be stolen, and enough to rot on the ground"

James Boswell 1740-95

Friday 3rd June 2011

Everything is topsy-turvy this week what with the bank holiday and it being half term. Yesterday I was at Tate House (back to Southlands as normal next week ), starting work on the sensory courtyard with our chums from Asda. June had raided her own garden and brought us a good selection of plants, we will find places for them on Monday I think. We soon cleared the courtyard area, also taking down a small cotinus tree that had not had the best start in life, and now we are waiting for Lynne to buy us our fragrant plants,before we start on the finishing touches. It was scorching in there in the midday sun but John turned the water feature on which at least sounded cool!

Crammed another two hours of study in when I got back and finally went to sit in my own garden for the first time weeks, even when the weather is lovely I can hardly find the time these days!

Today's pic is of the glorious poppies in Diana's garden.

"Through the dancing poppies stole a breeze most softly lulling to my soul"

John Keats

A Bounty Of Beans

Thursday 2nd June 2011

A busy day with Diana started promptly at 10.00am sharp. Erecting the bean supports was our first task, eight canes long and two at each end, resting against a sturdy iron support. A runner bean plant went next to each cane and was tied gently in place. Then we draped and pinned wind protection netting around the bottom, as the wind sweeps straight up the river valley and knocks plants flat here. The French beans went next with a more familiar wigwam shape and yet more netting, I couldn't help thinking that they looked like ladies skirts when we'd finished.

We spent a good hour before lunch weeding chickweed from amongst the carrot seedlings, a fiddly job made all the more tricky as young carrots look very like grass! By the time we packed in for the day everything looked very tidy and business like.

For my pains, Diana sent me home with an armful of plants, French beans, an aloe for the kitchen windowsill ( if you burn yourself , just snap a leaf in two and rub the juice on your skin ), and a lovely little bay tree.

Just couldn't resist adding another photo today, I think it is THE DRINKER Euthrix potatoria, so called because it likes to sip the dew. I laid him next to an ear of barley so you could see how big he was!

"May the wings of the butterfly kiss the sun and find your shoulder to light on,

to bring you luck happiness and riches, today tomorrow and beyond"

Irish Blessing

Outside Housework

Wednesday 1st June 2011

There are some tasks in the garden that are almost as irksome as housework. Maybe that's being harsh, as at least I'm outside when I do them, and my mind goes pleasantly blank when occupied that way, unlike housework which just plain irritates. Anyway I settled down to tackle, cutting the hedge, weeding the block paving, and removing wayward brambles. Things now look a lot smarter at least for a little while. The garden isn't the only thing that has had a spruce up, Chummy almost looks angelic after his visit to the beauty salon yesterday, I don't suppose that will last long!

"Housework is something you do that nobody notices until you don't do it"

Anon