Successful Cake Number Two!

These dark evenings may not be great for gardening but they sure are handy for practicing my baking skills...a blessed relief after all the home decorating!  After purchasing some lovely new 6" cake tins from a certain kitchen shop which has just opened in town, I decided to try it out on some work colleagues.  As it would be sampled at home as well I decided to go for my husband's favourite of coffee and walnut using proper espresso as opposed to instant coffee powder - yeuch!

Turned out well, in fact it turned out brilliantly and is probably the nicest coffee and walnut cake I have ever had and I'm not trying to be big headed.  Nice height, even size, gooey and moist but not under-cooked...yes indeed it is another sure fire WI winner!!  Obviously I won't be divulging the recipe in case I decide to make my fortune in cakes (if book writing doesn't pay the bills) but have a look at the pictures and be amazed. YUM.

Autumn Colours at Westonbirt Arboretum

This weekend was a weekend away so no work was done on my new, still very naked plot (I have visions of couch grass growing rapidly in my absence) but we did manage to have a lovely afternoon out at Westonbirt, the National Arboretum in Gloucestershire.   Luckily my snappy snap camera had a full battery so lots of lovely shots were taken. It really is a spectacular place to visit at this time of year; doggies are welcome in the Silk Wood but not in Acer Glade, which is where we spent our time.

Enjoy the photos...

I have just had a look at my earlier posts at the beginning of 2009 and it is quite interesting what I said I would do this year and what I have done this year.

• Plan earlier - yes but I still need to plan even more...with a 4mx20m lottie on my hands I'll be planning til the cows come home (if I was allowed to have them on the plot!).
  
• Start sowing earlier and think about staggering the sowing (although this didn't work a jot with broadies as they all ended up cropping together) - staggered crops such as radish, lettuce and beetroot but this still didn't work well; perhaps I need to stagger them further apart as they all ended up cropping at the same time. I think staggering works along as you eat the veg at the appropriate time otherwise it all goes to pot!
  
• Feed, feed and feed some more - yes did this and had interesting results. I think I may have damaged my beans via the added manure as they wrinkled badly and didn't crop well however the soil overall looked amazing...did feeding work? Not 100%.
  
• Make the brussels bed a bit more firmer - not growing them this year but the PSB is well wedged in.
  
• Move the beans from their usual spot - yes.
  
• Don't bother with tomatoes outside - waste of time as it ALWAYS rains in July - success story of 2009; tomatoes were bl**dy brilliant especially the outside ones which were much bigger than the indoor ones.
  
• Don't bother with aubergines as the weather is never hot enough - yes; it wasn't hot enough and I wouldn't have managed a full-size aubergine.
  
• Pick things and don't let them go to seed e.g. radishes growing two foot tall - need a new freezer I think!  Radishes only grew to 1ft tall this year the lettuces managed 2ft.
  

Ruminating about 2009

Outside the trees have started to lose their leaves, the rain has turned into drizzly cold stuff and it is dark when my alarm goes off - autumn is well and truly here!  It is a case of s*d's law isn't it. I get an allotment and the incredible dry spell ends!!!

Overall though 2009 has been a rather decent year in terms of weather; whilst we may not have had the scorchers that we've had every now and then in the past decade it certainly felt a bit more like British weather although I could have done with a nicer July but that is just asking too much I think.  The early part of the growing season was gorgeous - memories of having to water everything everynight - only to be followed by a hideous wet July.  The plants loved it and went potty but it meant everything was out of kilter and subsequently cropped all at once by the end of August/early September.  Given the past three years of blighted tomatoes I was fully expecting the same again and admit I turned to the use of Bordeaux Mixture - whilst not considered 'organic' it certainly saved the entire crop from being decimated unlike the rest of the country which suffered terribly.  Anyway I'm not too concerned as I don't buy organic fruit and veg, I don't buy organic seeds and I have used glysophate, tomorite and slug pellets - I can hardly start worrying about a little use of Bordeaux Mixture.  Now whether or not I try to be organic with Lottie 11a is another matter and one to be perused over the winter...and perhaps in a winter blog when there is little to take photos of in terms of progress.

Successes of 2009

Tomatoes have to be the winner in this category - I estimate that we had over 30kg of tomatoes.  They were all productive to some extent although the best performers were Vanessa F1, Cherokee Purple and Tigerella. I probably wouldn't grow Ananas Noire again as the Cherokee Purples were just as big (quite unexpectedly) and just as, if not more tasty.  I have grown the Beam's Yellow Pear for a good few years and have decided to give them a rest as they can get a bit bland; instead I am going to go for a standard cherry such as Sungold. We will continue to grow tomatoes in the greenhouse but have decided to not have any grow bags in 2010; they are just too unsightly and a faff to water. I think Stan is keen to regain use of his 'Mediterranean' garden.

The rockery. Stan has continued to develop the rockery which he originally built from old paving concrete; this year it has taken on a completely new form, one that is lovely to look at if only by next door's chickens! 

Cucumbers against the shed. This has been a raving success and one that will definitely be repeated in 2010.  The shed obviously absorbs any southern heat and radiates it back onto the cuke plants resulting in an absolute shed-load (!) of fruit. Plan for next year is three different varieties including a true pickler.

Leeks are looking good so far...time and winter will tell.

Shallots Eschallotes Grise were tres bon!  If a little small although I understand that is quite common; they had a very useful hard coating which could be peeled off in one although when they are the size of a cherry that can be quite difficult!

Cutting flowers - my annuals have been great this year and I have supplied the house with a continuous array of flower arrangements. My favourites have been the purple and white dahlia, love lies bleeding (green) and the purple cosmos. 

Disappointments 

Beans.  These looked so promising until they all cropped within a six day period...when we were in Bruges for Stan's 40th birthday! Oh well.  They are now drying (!) on the plants and will be used in casseroles during the winter and for seed next year...interestingly the big black seeds of Black Emporer are big pink seeds...somewhat different to type.

Courgettes. This was my fault as I carried out a mulching experiment which went horribly wrong. I 'think' that the problem occurred with the paper shreddings...I won't be doing that next year but one has to experiment.

The herb bed aka the coffin. Stan built an odd-looking but useful seat opposite the pond which was lovely to sit on whilst having breakfast in the summer mornings but I don't think it receives enough sun to be a herb bed. The invading nasturtiums loved it though.

Early potatoes. What early potatoes??!?!?

There is more to comment on but I will save that for the bestseller :)

Practical Uses for Gluts

This year has been a fantastic year for certain things in the garden namely tomatoes (at last!!!), cucumbers and damsons.  Other vegetables didn't do so well but we don't talk about those in this post...perhaps later in the 'What I Won't Grow Next Year' post.

The tomatoes have been used for many things but the most successful and hopefully the most useful recipe has been Delicious Magazine's Ultimate Tomato Sauce. It has been fantastic and results in a rich, smooth sauce that would be fab with pasta, sausages, fish, beans, chicken...well pretty much anything and by requiring 5kg of tomatoes each time it certainly helps out with the tomato glut!

 Trying to squeeze this many tomatoes into two ovens proved difficult!

 Garlic, shallots (from the garden) and chillis (from the garden) will used to make an infused oil which was poured into the crushed, roasted tomatoes. The remaining bits formed part of an accidental smashed mess the first time round but didn't end up on the floor the second time and were delicious in a curry!

The final sauce was fabulous and was a different colour and quantity each time I made it...strange but true!

The cucmbers did amzingly well on the trellis Stan helped me make on the South side of the shed; it certainly proved to be a real sun trap and they thrived there in their tubs.  I will definitely be growing them again next year, perhaps a different variety in each tub.

The cucumber pickle recipe was a great success, or at least it smelt like a great success as it is still maturing behind the fridge.  The cukes were sliced finely using a mandolin as were plenty of onions. They were sprinkled liberally with salt, left to sit in a fridge for three hours and then rinsed and drained.  After being mixed with tumeric and various spices vinegar and sugar were added to make what looks like a relish as opposed to a pickle but i am certainly looking forward to eating it. Perhaps with some nice boiled ham at Christmas?

The damsons were plentiful; the tree was so laden with fruit that branches which were hanging at head height flew back up about five to six feet once the fruit was removed. Here was our first batch.

I made damson cheese using a recipe from Roast Figs, Sugar Snow a gorgeous recipe book which is defininitely more than just a recipe book. It is very much a bedside reading book too!  The damson cheese is lovely and so far has tasted very nice with blue cheese and I hope it will go well with some red meats, etc, as we go into winter.

The remaining damsons were sieved into puree, most of it unsweetened and frozen but some remained in the fridge so got used in things like Book Club cakes - rather proud I was too.  According to our members it would have won a WI prize - honour indeed!!!

My Naked Plot

Back in the early part of this year I joined two waiting lists for allotments. The reason behind joining? Mainly because I wanted to grow a wider choice of vegetables and big ones at that so things like cabbages, sweetcorn, asparagus, rhubard, etc.  One list was for the allotments closest to where we live and one was for those at the bottom of our road some one and a half miles away or five minutes drive or bicycle (downhill!).  The closest allotments claimed a six month wait and the further away one was one month; it turned out to be about five months for the one further away but here I am now the proud owner of an allotment 11a or lottie for short. Stan is designated deputy tenant because to gain his allotment badge he will be contributing to the 'build and make' element of the project! 

My updated blog title feels like a suitable title for the project and certainly describes the current state of the plot. Before notifying me of its availability the council kindly rotovated my plot (which has its plus points and its negative points) although overall I'm fairly chuffed with it.  There is an argument for not rotovating and digging by hand as in theory the ground is cleared more efficiently that way. However, not rotovating would mean that I would have to spend months digging and not get very much done for the first few years.

Rotovating has quickly cleared the allotment ready for work to commence and by spending a few weeks forking through and lifting noticeable roots, etc, I should be able to start using it practically in the spring.

As you can see from the photo it is a decent size - 125sqm to be precise as it is a half plot (will do me fine thanks).  It is one half of what used to be a wholesize plot but the previous tenant didn't do very much with it and gave it up at the end of the season - lucky for me.  I haven't come across my immediate neighbour as yet but I'm sure there will be someone taking it on fairly quickly as there are already twelve people on the currect waiting list and the council allotment team won't let empty space remain empty for long!

So lottie 11a is relatively well placed although there is likely to be some shade at the far end towards the late afternoon in the summer and probably from midday onwards in the winter - useful for my planning. 

I have fell on my feet somewhat as I have a lovely tap and water trough on the corner of the lottie and, given that hoses are not allowed, it means my little leggies won't get tired from hoofing full watering cans backwards and forwards in the hot (!) summer months.  I only found out that hoses aren't allowed when I received my tenancy agreement today. Amongst other things on the agreement I am not allowed to keep more than 15 chickens, erect an buildings that would be used for anything other that storing my garden tools and I have to keep the paths and allotment well maintained. If you could see some of the other plots you would assume that the latter stipulation is not adhered to particularly well!!!

The quality of the soil is very good and seems to be a reasonable mixture of clay and sand; I squeeze it together and it clumps for a few seconds and then crumbles.  The rotovating has chopped up the majority of whatever vegetation was there which I think includes the dreaded couch grass or Elytrigia repens; this spreads using a vast network of white roots and even the tiniest bit of root can sprout a new plant.  Apparently it is not as bad as mare's tail and we have that at home and I don't think it is actually too bad so fingers crossed I can deal with a little couch here and there.

Next step of the plan to get myself down there with a fork and some bin liners (can't compost couch) and start digging! Allotment Weeding Party here we come...

Cheesy Damsons???

I do think it is nice when I actually make something quite interesting culinary-wise with the fruit and veg grown lovingly grown in the garden, it is particularly nice when it is with fruit and veg that either appears by its own accord (and no I'm not referring to Deadly Nightshade Pie) or that just exists because I haven't got around to getting rid of it. Enter the lowly damson.

In the garden we have a tree totally laden with them and some are actually still edible whilst the rest are rapidly mouldering (a word?) away to the joy of the wasps who seem to particularly like the goo that oozes from them. I was thinking about damson jam, damson gin (more on damsons and booze in a later post), damson crumble perhaps but no I plumped for that well-known delicacy damson cheese!! Apparently quince cheese or membrillo is well known but damson cheese seems to be more a rarity although when I googled it recipes appeared everywhere!! So is damson cheese cheese? No, couldn't be far from it. The only similarity is that it can be sliced and so can cheese but then so can bread and it's not called damson bread is it!!
I digress - I picked 2 kg of damsons from said tree in the garden and put them in a big pan with 4tblsp of water to simmer. After only ten minutes and a few times bashing with a wooden spoon they had reduced to a perfect mush.







This perfect mush was then pushed through a sieve to get all the gooey puree and juice out - this took ages as I did it bit by bit to make sure I got as much goo as possible.

For every 500ml of goo I added 350gm sugar and returned to the pan. I simmered it gently to get the sugar to dissolve and then let it continue to simmer (making sure the mixture does not stick to the bottom) until I could make sticky goo part on the bottom of the pan. As someone in another post has commented this does not have to be a Moses' parting of the seas i.e. it doesn't have to stay parted just leave a momentary channel.




I placed it into two flat containers from the indian restaurant and left to cool; after a night in the fridge it is rock solid and delicious - note the tester's evidence. YUM!!!

Can't wait to eat it on hot buttered toast (thick and white of course), with roast lamb instead of redcurrant jelly and with cheese - won't I look posh when I bring this out on a cheese board!!!

Silly Season

With sunshine comes the silly season! I predict that each evening's conversation for the next few weeks won't vary much from "Beans with that AGAIN dear?" or "Tomatoes tonight...for a change".

The long awaited summer (ahem...fingers crossed) is bringing with it a glut of beans and all the tomatoes changing at once. I can see them now - they've all been hanging back until now and then BOOM time to ripen!! At least with both tomatoes and beans the freezer comes in very handy or it would if it was empty...hence the manic manufacturing of rhubarb crumble, defrosting of blueberries for breakfast (yeugh - beloved husband can have those...what on earth was I thinking about when I bought them??) and using up of ancient stock which probably could do with being used up anyway! Will there be enough space in the freezer or will we need to buy a new one? Only time will tell.

Who Needs Leaves???

Looks like my experimental de-leafing is working a treat as the tomatoes on those plants which have had a substantial amount of foliage removed start to ripen!

















Unfortunately one of the plants looked a little blackened on the stem so rather than risk the possibility of blight the plant was quickly removed this morning. I'm still not 100% sure it was blight but there was one black and rotten tomato (removed two days ago) and the stem looked a little iffy HOWEVER it looked perfectly healthy further up the stem. Anyway there was only one decent sized tomato on the stalk so I decided on balance it was worth the loss.




I'm going to cover up the stalk and hope that if there was any blight it won't spread through the roots...there are FAR too many of those to remove and is not really very practical.




Always remember to clean your tools - my secateurs are currently soaking in bleach!

Going Bananas in my Pyjamas!

I'm trying out the theory that bananas ripen other fruit by draping a manky old banana skin (kindly donated by someone at work - nice!) over my beautiful green Vanessa FI tomatoes...will it work? Who knows but at least I'm feeding the butterfly and insect population in the process even though my tomato plants will end up looking like a compost bin!!














This morning I was out in the garden in my pyjamas trying to convince the damn things to go red using the well-known 'you-WILL-ripen' staring technique. I find that this highly therapeutic technique is not only widely used throughout gardening circles but is often applied with slightly different end results in mind in the kitchen when waiting for the kettle to boil and in the rest of house when waiting for paint to dry.

117 Green Tomatoes Hanging on the Wall

It could be more but I gave up counting at 117!!! This year has been a really interesting one re tomatoes - firstly ALL 49 of my seedlings grew - probably something to do with having a propagator and a greenhouse. I managed to palm off some on friends and family but in the end I had to keep 30 plants (five of which only just made it into the garden because my beloved husband couldn't bear to chuck 'em). The plants are split between growbags outside, pots in the greenhouse and the garden itself. Interestingly the ones outside seem to be doing really well especially the Vanessa F1, Beam's Yellow Pear, Roma and Purple Cherokee in the size stakes. Tigerella and Ananas Noire seem to prefer the warmth of the greenhouse although the others are hardly struggling; they just haven't swollen as much.

Outdoor Purple Cherokee.














I am cultivating a wonderful crop of green tomatoes - green beefsteaks, green stripy ones, green slightly different stripy ones, green pear-shaped ones...the list is endless of beautiful green tomatoes.










Lovely green Ananas Noire.



We have had some visitors along the way...













And we've also had the odd crisis - here the bamboo canes had started to rot and collapsed under the weight of the tomatoes. I had to remove a lot of foliage and just hope that there was still connective tissue in the stem!












Happy days have eventually arrived on my birthday when a telephone call came through from my sister declaring a national celebration because...I had a yellow tomato and one turning red...or was it purple??

Back After Three Months!

And what a three months!! Sitting at the desk in my previous job did nothing to encourage me to blog in the evenings; I was still getting the sciatic pain so sitting at the home computer was not appealing so I just didn't! Left the last job in early June - hoorah as it was not really a great role anyway - and went on hols to Switzerland which was just magnificent. Photos to be edited in at a later time.

We were away for two weeks in June and the tomatoes were just in their infancy so our fabulous next door neighbour kindly watered them whilst we were away - we had spent a small fortune on irrigation equipment so all she had to do was literally flick a switch and after half an hour switch it off again. She was great though and watered all the young plants which I had not had a chance to plant out - it certainly helps to have a garden-lover as a neighbour. For two weeks after the hols I enjoyed the luxury of being unemployed and I got a thoroughly well-deserved two weeks of hot, hot and phew goddam it's hot weather. I developed a lovely I-know-its-bad-for-me-but-I-like-it tan just through pottering in the garden during the day; in fact it was so hot that I actually heeded advice and stayed out of the midday sun. I'm neither a mad dog nor an EnglishMAN.

I managed to get my cucumbers in at last - they survived me being away but they really needed to go into larger containers. I chose the walkway past the shed as a perfect place, which would get nice and warm and keep them toasty and happy. I didn't have much success with the cukes last year inside with only three fruits being viable. I was hoping my Long Whites would be better outside this year.

Busy as a Bee

Gosh the weekend just gone must have been one of the most productive for a long while. It does help that here in Reading where the sun never shines, we had....sun and loads of it!!! That grey cloud lifted and left us with gorgeous blue skies and warm weather.

I sowed til I could sow no more:

Digitalis 'Camelot Cream'

Gazania

Purple Podded Peas

Dwarf French Bean 'Rocquencourt'

Climbing French Bean 'Borlotto'

Courgette 'Tromboncino', 'Cavili' and 'Parthenon'Cleome 'Cherry Queen' (will it EVER grow?)

I also planted out my spring onions as they were quite frankly annoying me with their slowness.

I read somewhere that courgettes can be just as hungry as runner beans so would adore the same pre-planting treatment we would give our beans.

I dug four holes in a raised bed circa 2m x 1.5m and filled them with some composted manure.

I then added a handful of shredded paper which I watered well.

I then filled them in and built up 'molehills' on top of the trench. I'll plant the courgette into the molehill so that when I water them the water will run into the surrounding moats instead of hanging around need the main stem and rotting the plant.

In the middle of the courgette bed I planted four sweet peas; although I have parthenocarpic varities (need no bees to pollinate) it's always nice to see more insects around the veggie patch. So I decided to sow some fried egg flowers (aka Limnanthes).

Where Does the Sun Shine?

One of the things I wanted to check on Sunday is exactly where the sun shines at the top of the garden. I've always known that predominantly the left side of the path is shady but I also assumed that the right patch remained in the shade for the majority of the day as well but my photos proved me wrong!11am
2.15pm
5.30pm

As you can see from the photographs, the right side receives a good amount of sunshine about which I am really pleased; shade can be quite tough to deal with although this year the patch is looking more lovely than ever!

The hellebores have bloomed marvellously and continue to do so, incidentally on my lunchtime walk yesterday I spotted a stunning variety which was double, if not triple flowered - beautiful!! In the shady patch I have planted a few primroses which are thriving - more so than the ones in the sunnier opposite side. Additionally I planted five Athyrium or fern on Sunday including Ursula's Red, Burgundy Lace, Lady in Red and Ghost, I do hope they thrive like the existing ones in there already. The Euphorbia is also do so well and spreading quite happily, which I don't mind about as they produce huge lime-green bracts which lighten up that patch throughout spring and early summer.

The sunnier right side is this year's potato patch but it cheers me that we could happily use it for a flower garden without many problems although it is more moist than further down; in a hot dry year though that would be a bonus rather than an issue. We just need that hot dry year!

Here are my potato trenches; the three varieties are in: Red Duke of York, Maris Peer and Pink Fir Apple. No signs of them yet but I do keep looking...

I'm interested to see how they deal with growing there; they get the water from rains although the trench closest to the hedge only 'just' so I think I will need to water that one more.

I was going to plant some early dwarf beans once the daffs have gone but they are only just flowering (I planted them late). I think Rocquencourt will look nice there and perhaps some Borlotti.

The pond which is also up in this top section is perfectly placed for shade as it doesn't seem to get much sun at all except for perhaps a small amount late in the day. Stan's work on making it look quite natural has paid off and certain flowers are thriving at their own pace. He spotted a common newt last weekend so I do hope we have as much wildlife as usual - no tadpoles though, I wonder if they are in the neighbour's pond?

On Sunday I erected the new greenhouse - one of those plastic, lightweight ones but all the same another greenhouse. I was in desparate need for it as the main one serves as storage and a potting shed so this one is invaluable for seedlings and hardening off. It was simple to put up and was completed by me within ten minutes, seed trays were in two minutes later and it was half full by the end of the day!!!