Greens for Christmas...

Well, not really as we're out at friends for Christmas dinner tonight and it's going to be lamb.  However, it's sunny here today and not too cold so I've been out to pick coriander, sorrel and rocket to make a pesto for a pasta lunch.



I was in a newly opened shop the other day where they are selling local produce and  whole foods, what they call a bio shop here in France.  They had the tiniest jar of nettle pesto selling for only 5.99 euros....that got me thinking about all the types of pesto you could make from the garden for a lot less that 5.99!

So, today's pesto is some old rocket (it's been flowering for about three weeks), coriander (just cut at the base - I'm hoping for another sprouting) and about 12 sorrel leaves. The whizz up includes the greens above and the ingredients you see below - bit of garlic, oil and sunflower seeds - 1/10th the price of pinenuts.  




Oops, forgot to mention the cheese - we use this generic hard cheese which works fine.  I've just tasted it and it's scrummy - this could turn into a whole range of pestos!

Pickings for the pot...

Think this might the last crop before Christmas except of course for the lettuce which I'm still picking daily.  Grabbed this little lot before whatever has been eating the carrots and swedes makes further inroads. Some nice turnips and small swedes, carrots, rocket, chervil, sprouting broccoli and a drum head cabbage. The drum head is a bit nibbled on the outer leaves but the rest looks fine. All of this is  headed for a giant pot of veggie soup.



The weather here is miserable we've had dark grey skies and a  constant drizzle for about a week. Needless to say the ground is totally sodden. But, three days of sunny dry weather forecast for next week so maybe a spot of weeding and muck spreading - can hardly wait!

Flowers in December...

Well, no way is this Fizz kale plant going to get eaten with what looks like a giant flower about to emerge. I have no idea why this one is so large while the others are all so much smaller but it sure looks like it's about to put on a show.

Picked the last of the pot marigold flowers yesterday and poured boiling water over the petals to make a tea to help sooth sore eyes. Noticed the borage still has some flowers showing must try eating those - friends say they taste like oysters!



Finally, I can't even begin to think about the work that needs to be done on this veggie plot.  Spent so much time in the garden over the rest of the year that the house has been neglected - so the garden needs to be neglected to catch up indoors!  I went to pick some carrots this morning but something had beaten me too it.  Lovely carrot leaves but only a top ring of carrot left.  Well, you've  got to share with nature.  If  they're going to feed the short tailed voles that will keep my long-eared owl roost happy!



 

 

 

Christmas comes early!

Wow, what timing with my £10 gift voucher and a sale I got masses of seeds and even a free tin thrown in! I'm so looking forward to getting this lot going in the new year. I've got loads of stuff and when things are this cheap you can afford to try out different varieties. I've gone for some flower seeds for the hanging baskets and balconnaires and lots of varieties of chillies and turnips. The only seeds I still have to source are sweet dumpling and gold nugget squash plus tender and true parsnip.

Not much going on in the garden at the moment except I've planted about 600 cuttings from my now severely pruned buddleia. Maybe over the next few days I'll be able to get out and do some weeding - this long hot autumn has produced some fabulous weeds.

Today's little lot...

It might be the middle of October but still some goodies to be had.  Basil made a pesto, the mushrooms are now in a pasta sauce and the lettuce was cooked and eaten with smoked peppered mackerel and a horseradish sauce - scrummy. The rocket was consigned to the compost bin! It was well past its sell by date. Tomorrow the dish of the day is belly pork with wild mushrooms and stir fried lettuce and garlic.

Bit of a pick over

Really went out to do a bit of weeding but got a little distracted.  This is the final pick of the squashes I reckon in total I've got about  45 usable squashes to see us through the winter.



I am hopeless at thinning out as I want to give all the plants a chance - that is so silly I know.  In an effort to get over this I ruthlessly thinned out three rows of turnips and four rows of swede - now the remainder had better repay me with plump roots. I didn't thin out these carrots so there are lots of teeny weeny ones. Plenty more growing in the veggie plot which I will thin out.



Last of these long mild chillies I should think as there are no more flowers appearing and we can't be too far off a frost. These have performed well for me this year. I think they are called Doux  Les Landes.



Finally, picked a few beetroot, more calendula flower heads for balm and some over blown calabrese that will make its way into a soup pot.

Now, best get out there and actually do some weeding before the sun goes down!

 

The prince

Another choice edible starting to appear.  This is the prince it's flesh smells like almonds.  I never used to be too fond of conifers but some of the best tasting fungi are to be found at their bases. Amazing day today, blue skies and 24 degrees forecast - looks like a bit of a tidy up in veggie plot is in order for this afternoon. Think I might lift the last of the squashes and set them out to dry in the sun which is set to last for a few more days.

More free stuff

Only went out to clean out the hens and found these had popped up in their coop.  Makes up for the distinct lack of walnuts due (I think) to the pair of red squirrels living in our pines trees.  Good day all round for freebies as this morning I ordered a pile of seeds with my £10 voucher.  With the sale on I managed to get a huge amount of veggie and flower seed for next year. Finally, managed to catch a couple of safflower seed heads that yielded usable seeds for next year (other ones I've picked were like mush). I'm hoping to grow a large patch of these next year instead of the solitary specimen I managed this year!

Yummy!

Just got back from a little holiday where I saw these Milkcaps in a Spanish market selling for 35 euros a kilo - yikes! That is more expensive than cepes here in France. This lot almost escaped me as they were well hidden in the long grass which is currently in desperate need of cutting.



Must have been a lot of rain while we were gone as the mushrooms are out in force and the beetroot has finally fattened up a bit. The veggie plot is looking a bit sad but my remaining squashes are looking good and almost ready to pick.  Hope I'm not saying 'sick of squash' before spring.  The calendula are still in flower so another batch of balm on the cards and a gigantic pot of veggie soup should be on the go by the weekend - and I mean gigantic!

Calendula balm - so easy to make

Gave this a try yesterday and I'm really pleased with the results. First I had to find bees' wax probably available everywhere in the UK but here in France I found it at our local bio shop.  The bag hold's 400 grams and I only used 30 grams to make two jars so it goes a long way. The calendula was easy to find as it grows like a weed in the garden a must have plant in the veggie plot in my option. Last year mine were still in flower at Christmas and like sunflowers they just shout cheerful.

First I picked the petals from about 25 heads of calendula then I added 300 ml of bog standard olive oil making sure all the petals were coated. Next, this went into a bain marie and was kept on a very low simmer for three hours.

I then strained the oil using a muslin cloth and returned it to the bain marie along with 30grs of wax - I used wax pellets so it did not take long for the wax to melt. As soon as the wax and the oil combined I poured them into a couple of glass jars - as you can see not very evenly! The balm was put to the test this morning as I used it on my lips when I went out for a run - well I've just had to start running again after all that lovely crumble.



 

 

 

Hey pesto it worked!

The frozen pesto worked!  OK it's not quite as green as it was before freezing but it tastes just fine.  This means we can make it in batches during times of plenty and freeze for the winter. This is the coriander variety so I'm hoping the basil does equally as well.

Just swapped a load of quince for a load of onions what a nice way to operate - no middle man!

Busy bees....

That's what it feel like at the moment. The grass needs cutting about every other day and things that were hanging back are in full flow. Picked a mass of basil and coriander and made pesto. Have frozen a bit as an experiment so I'll let you know how that works (or not). Some of the basil was from yet another cutting of the plant that went in a while back. If we keep this good weather I reckon there's another cutting to be had.  I think that will make five in total including the initial lopping before it was planted - not bad from a 99 centime Lidl plant.

Picked a few plums this evening that ended up in a crumble along with the rhubarb. The crumble topping is mainly seeds and oats and works a treat with custard.



Picking things daily at the moment and lots going into soups including the wild mushrooms although we've held some back for Saturday's pizza. Tray freezing the rhubarb for multiple winter crumbles - I'd better start back running or I'll end up like the side of a house!



The cucumbers are a funny shapebut they taste fine - I've maybe another two to pick before they're done.  I got so sick of that two tone lettuce (we've been eating it for months) I've pulled it out and composted it.  The little gem is ready so we can munch on that for a while.



The squashes are on the path hardening off before I store them indoors for over the winter.  I've picked about twelve of the golden nugget with more to come.  The butternut are getting to be a good size but have yet to turn from green so they'll need a while yet.  I'll be quite happy with a couple of dozen squashes for the winter months. Tomorrow, I need to get my act together and thin the swedes, carrots and turnips.

Perfect timing...

 

We were scheduled to have mushroom risotto for dinner tomorrow so these were a pleasant surprise after last night's rain. The cep looks the business, the shaggy parasols are plentiful and scrummy but that little orange milkcap tastes divine.  I've got about six types I can identify with confidence to eat from the garden. Last week, we had a giant puffball omelette and on Saturday night we had a cep and field mushroom pizza. Hopefully, by the end of the week the milkcaps will have started to appear in number - they are earmarked for a pasta dish. If we're really lucky some 'chicken of the woods' might appear on the old peach tree stump. I wish all gardening was this easy - mother nature doing her own thing.

Stringy beans but the best squash

Picked this lot yesterday to have with roast chicken dinner.  Well, those beans were truly yucky - I must have picked them too old.  Carrots were just thinnings to allow others to bulk up a bit.  That bicoloured lettuce is amazing we've been picking it for weeks on end and still masses left (didn't have that with the chicken!). Best of all is the 'Golden Nugget' squash it tastes as good as it has performed - 100% germination and best of all it grows like a courgette - the squashes form around the base of the plant not on trailing vines.  A compact productive plant - looks like I'll get around 6 squashes per plant.

 

Begone!

All those blighted tomatoes are now history. The trailer is loaded and ready for a trip to the tip! A couple of tomatoes plants escaped the blight hence my 'bumper' crop below. We were going to get a polytunnel for next year but having read everything I can on blight I'm thinking of taking a different tack. This will involve making use of a very warm west facing wall with a large overhang from the soffet so no rain can hit the plants, making wind breaks for either end, planting in pots, using the drip watering system already in place, and making (not sure how yet) a front piece that can come down over the tomatoes at peak blight times. The down side is I'll be restricted to about 16 plants. Worth a try I think.

After a belter of a storm my seedlings are pushing through. Carrots (to fine to see here), swede and turnip through but no sign of those elusive parsnips. I've transplanted my 'April' cabbage seedlings. For once I've been ruthless and only transplanted planted the biggest and strongest so hopefully the outcome will be 12 decent plants.

I must thank 'North By North' for suggesting Gold Nugget squash.  These are doing really well.  Just got to hope they taste as good as they look. They grow a bit like a courgette and don't trail everywhere.  This will definitely be on my seed list for next year!

Just been out and got this little lot while taking piccies. The chili peppers are Doux des Landes - a mild green chili nice grilled. Had to pick this basil as it's about to flower and the rhubarb went crazy after the thorough dowsing it got from the scary storm.

The herb patch has gone mad. The mint is covered with bees as is the marjoram and the lavender. My tiny sage cuttings from last year have now formed a hedge at the back and the borage is taking over. Think this will need a severe going over come late autumn.

Finally, the calabrese is starting to form little green heads.  I'm snipping these off as soon as they are usable and popping them into a freezer bag. If I wait until I've got enough for a meal before picking  half will have gone to seed so this is a little experiment to see if I can maximize the crop. I've found once the first head is chopped they soon sprout more heads and then you can pick fresh for eating. Happy gardening everyone.

 

 

String theory....

I hope this is going to work and not come crashing down on my head. I've tied string to the top of the wigwam (you might need to click on the picture and  enlarge to see the wigwam) and I'm encouraging runners beans to work their way along the string. It's all a bit slow but we've had a couple of days of good rain so perhaps it will take off.  If it works I might increase the lines next year.  To be honest this plot is baked from morning till night so a bit of shade would not go amiss. In Moulin I saw someone growing runner beans in a window box from their upper floor windows - the beans went down sting rather than up.   I suppose they just had to put the string up to harvest plus it looked very effective.

The dark 'earth' is rotted manure that will stay on top till spring when I'll either dig it in or try the no dig method - not sure yet. I think I'll have to see what it's like after the winter. I've sown seeds where I've removed potatoes etc but not much has appeared yet. Golden Nugget squashes are doing well and  if they taste as good as they are preforming I think they'll be going in next year.  Masses of grapes on the vine but they have a lot of plumping up to do before they are edible. We've been eating the two tone lettuce at the front for weeks I just keeping thinning and it keeps filling up. Cannot believe it will be August in a couple of days I'm sure gardeners' years go by quicker!



 

 

The good the bad and the ugly

I suppose this is both good and ugly! Just created a place in a corner of the garden next to the veggie plot for horse poo! Our neighbours have four horses so a nice supply at hand. Really looking forward to getting this on the veggie plot come late autumn that's if we can get the muck cooking. Someone at Gardener's Corner suggested drainpipes while we build it, then removing them when the pile is built as to let air in. We're trying to use the pipes as a guide so we get a rectangle of poo rather than a heap. Fun on a hot day.



Just plain old bad this is.  I planted three types of onions (sets) and they are all pathetic - the one in the picture is one of the better ones.  I might as well have eaten the sets.  I am so sick of the sight of these they are coming out tomorrow. More bad but I couldn't even face taking a picture - BLIGHT on two cherry tomato plants now removed from the premises. Fingers cross the other plants don't go the same way.



But there's good.  Dinner today included Kale (Fizz) thinnings, new potatoes, turnip dauphinoise and mangetout all from the garden - now that's a good feeling.



The blight on the tomatoes put me in a panic so I picked the rest of the potatoes.  I'm pleased with the crop and it felt good to get another section of the veggie plot weed free and ready for planting. I'm going to plant swede, carrot and turnip in the now vacant patch - all good soup stuff.

More good in the form of yet more blackcurrants - an amazing year for them.  This is my sixth tray - I just pick and freeze these straight away. I'm hoping for at least another four trays which will see me through the winter. I'm going to lop the plants this year and see how many new bushes I can start. The only thing with blackcurrants is they are such a pain to pick well I find they are.



Well I'm off out to plant some day lilies a friend brought round it's a new one for me so my little collection grows.

 

The first tomatoes

Well there are only two of them so far but lots to come.  These were still warm from the sun when I scoffed them.  I've chopped this basil plant and left the stump growing in the veggie plot - I read somewhere you can do this and the plant will sprout again we'll see. Turnips are for roasting on Sunday with chicken (Aldi's not one of our hens).

Lots of work at the moment as all the rain has made both the weeds and the 'grass' grow.  It a bit of a juggle to keep both the garden and veggie plot in order.  I need to get out now and pick blackcurrants (they are planted in a circle on the left in the photo) so much fruit one branch has already snapped with the weight.



 

Rhubarb and day lilies...

The day lilies are out and in the sun they look stunning.  I'm hoping these will all bulk up by autumn and I can split the lot.  I was lucky enough to inherit a small collection of about eight varieties in total.  The two smaller varieties are a subtle yellow and orange but nothing subtle about these three.   I understand you can eat these but I've never been tempted.







Well enough of the flowers now for the important stuff.  I've finally got a small crop of rhubarb. I grew this frm seed last year so am well chuffed to even get this amount.  I've only picked a single stalks from the bigger plants as I'm not sure how much I can take without harming the plant. Sowing rhubarb from seed is so easy peasy I'm tempted to sow a few different varieties. I actually picked a few more stalks than this just about enough for a crumble.



Lifted about a third of the potatoes yesterday as the leaves looked a bit iffy - brown spots starting to appear.  Some very small one but they'll do for salad the rest will store in the basement.  I'm hoping to leave the remaining ones in the ground for another couple of weeks but I've got my beady eye on the leaves. Also pulled the garlic as I'm sick of the sight of those withered looking stalks. I'm going to wash this then let it dry it in the sun then freeze the lot.  I'd say about nine month's supply here so another lot going in come September. I've got some free space now so more basil seedlings going in, yet more coriander being sown along with Swede, lettuce, endive, rocket, french beans and summer spinach. Busy day ahead....



 

Freedom

Thank goodness that open garden (washout) weekend is over I have given friends instructions that if I ever mention doing one again I am to be slapped severely! Today, I picked the very first of the blackcurrants, my older bushes are hanging with green fruits but the new ones gave up a small crop of early fruit.  All of these get frozen to eat with porridge over the winter.  Think this might be the last of the rasps - we're sick of eating them - never thought I'd ever say that! The large bunch of coriander is also headed for the freezer once the leaves are all pulled off.  Our local supermarket sells coriander in little plastic packs for about 1.75 - works out at 176 euros a kilo - so well worth growing. Lettuce is from thinning out little gem (always great germination rate) and a curly type whose name I've forgotten.



Yesterday picked and even larger bunch of coriander and OH made a batch of coriander pesto - this is so scrummy I could eat it spread on cardboard.  Made the same as basil pesto but using coriander - we've also ditched the pine nuts in favour of ground seeds (sometimes pumpkins - just depends on what we've got). Currently my favourite sandwich is toast, fresh tomatoes and a coriander pesto - delicious.



Finally, no rhubarb harvest yet but it's growing well and so is the red bergamot I planted between each plant.  I'm hoping that by next year there will be a mass of red bergamot along with a mass or red rhubarb stalks. Hope springs eternal when you garden!



 

Stormy weather...

In the middle of a storm with (hopefully) some rain.  The ground is rock hard which means Mr Mole must dig deeper to find those worms and hence the mole hills get larger and larger. We really could do with a good soaking but even as I type this it looks like it's passing us by! It must be over three weeks since we've had any rain and the temperature some days has been in the 30s.

Well, we've scoffed all the strawberries and have now started on the rasps, below is the second half kilo we've had off the bushes (Aldi's best!) I planted last year. The pak choi was picked for a stir fry we had at lunch time with our own fresh garlic.  The garlic bulbs are a bit small so we're going to leave them in for a couple more weeks to see if they bulk up. Radishes are so easy to grow but I'm not that fond of them so I don't think I'll be planting them again.



Think this will be the last post until after the open garden days on the 28th and 29th still lots to do outside the veggie plot.  That henny penny fence around the veggie plot is great but I'll need to take it down to cut the grass then put the thing back up -  hmm... not really looking forward to that task.  Hopefully, next post might include a photo of a rhubarb crop - fingers cross crumble on the way.

 

27 Days to go!

Time to get a move on.  The garden is open for charity on the 28th and 29th (gulp) of this month.  Well, the irises are now well past their best but a few late varieties are still putting on a show.  This orange one is tagged for moving though as it just does not work where it is.



The veggie plot is going to have to get on with it now that I've finished planting. The tomato (19) chilies (6) and cucumber (4) plants are in with only the tomato plants left to stake.  I've planted two butternut and three gold nugget squashes the rest of my squash plants I'm going to plant around the garden some will go in the asparagus bed once I get round to edging and weeding that bed.



Everything planted and weeded what a good feeling!  Most of the seeds I've sown have started to germinate but no sign of the parsnips yet just as well I planted poached egg plant along side so if no parsnips at least there will be some flowers.




Tiny wee squashes in front of the Omlet sign and some seedling starting to show through. The comfrey I thought I had removed appears to be back!  That's OK the bees love the stuff and it's good for the old compost bins. I like to have a single row of flowers (or little shrubs) across the beds - so far I've got the comfrey FoC , a row of perennial geraniums from cuttings and to come from seed Zinnia, poached egg plant, nasturtium oh and some freesia.   Along with the veggie I've planted out basil seedlings and sown masses of coriander.  I've sown a single row of dill in with the cucumber as it's supposed to help root growth.  The little wigwam I made from twigs and twine to support the runner beans.  Not sure if it's up to the task but I like the look of it.



I've got rasps and a grapevine on the wall next to our neighbour's field - they seem to be doing well and take no looking after.  Last year I got about 6 bunches of grapes the first I've had off the plant.  Now if this little lot can just get on and grow I can tackle the rest of the garden.