A Hellebore of a Christmas rose!

Weather: Mild and bright with a threat of a cold snap to come in the next few days.

Harvest since last post: (a month!) The vegetable garden is slowing down - we had the last pound of beans three weeks ago, 1lb 8oz parsnips (beautifully tender and sweet) 8 oz Salsify (fiddly but lovely flavour roasted), regular snippings of salad crops from greenhouse (Corn Salad, Landcress and mixed spicy japanese leaves) basil and chilis from this summer's plants now brought into the house and cropping OK on the windowsill. 1lb Leeks.



The Hellebores in the photo are gorgeous and have been flowering since the beginning of the month. These are plants I grew from a free offer a couple of years back. They were tiny and they have bhad two previous homes and this is the first time they have flowered. They are quite lovely and earlier into flower than I had expected. I don't know the variety and hope they continue to flower throughout the winter. If you've been following the blog you might recognise their position. They are in the shady area I cleared at the beginning of the year. The variegated shrub next to it is a Symphocarpus (snow berry - although this version has no berries). It is enjoying the mildish autumn we've had so far.



The other major job we are undertaking this year (we meaning that Bill is doing the hard work!) is further opening up the vegetable plot which is being shifted down the garden a bit as the huge Acer Crimson King at the bottom gets bigger and shades the space more and more.


I wasn't keen to add more paths - and thought the wide new path in front of the shed would take up far too much potential growing space but I have a feeling that the new raised beds in better light will really give us more viable growing area.


The 6ft by 4ft space beside the shed (where the green trug is) will be one of the shadiest spots and it is also particularly slug prone so I have decided that this is the spot for some 'edge of woodland' soft fruit. I know that red currants do fine in shade and I am going to try a black currant and some gooseberries in this spot. I dare the slugs to have a go at a gooseberry bush!

Taking Stock...

Weather: The tail end of an Indian summer - lots of sunny days. The forecast is stormy! Max 14C

Harvest since last post: (three weeks ago). The end of the summer veg. Spinach 14oz, Courgette (gold rush - all the green ones are long finished) 1lb 2oz Butternut Squash 2lb, Conference pears 10oz, Black Russian Tomatoes 5lb 8oz, Costuluto Fiorentino tomatoes 5lb 11 oz, Runner Beans 3lb 3oz, Chioggia Squash 25lb 10oz, Unripe tomatoes (mixed varieties) 12lb 8oz, Aubergine 2oz, Salsify (first pickings of the season) 8oz, Black Grapes 9 oz, French Beans 4oz. Plus some good pickings of parsley, thyme and bay leaves.

The leaves are turning as you can see from the photograph of the runner beans clambering in to the Crimson King Acer! The runner beans have had a bit of a late showing. They have been sparce until now with plenty appearing to have been fertilised but shrivelling and falling off rather than developing into edible beans. I know I wasn't the only grower to find this this year - although some people appear to have had brilliant crops. Why should this be?

I grew a traditional variety called Best of All - and the advice I had from several quarters was that it was probably lack of water or bad pollination. I did come across one other option on the various internet searches I did and that was that the nights may have been too warm for them. Although August was a horrible month with lots of rainfall and hardly any sunshine the average temperature wasn't particularly low - and that was down to warm nights. My walled garden is very sheltered and the day time warmth is stored in the stones creating a microclimate that must have kept the night time temperatures even higher than the local averages.

From mid September when the night time temperatures have dropped my beans have started cropping which to me points to that theory being my favourite!

I have spent this lovely early autumn weather battening down the hatches for winter and moving perennials in the flower garden. I also managed to empty one of my compost heaps so that I have space for the beans and other cuttings and clippings that are so plentiful at this time of year. The greenhouse has been cleared, as you can see, and the far end has been bubble wrapped to keep the heat in for my most tender plants.

And now is a good time to take stock of some of the successes and failures of the summer garden. The biggest failure were the Aubergines - I had six plants taking up two growbags and from them harvested barely one pound! With the grow bags at £5 each and taking into account tomato feed etc that brings them in at around £14 pounds a pound! Could it be that I ignored my In Tune with the Moon calendar at my peril here because I see from an earlier post that I didn't sow the seeds on an auspicious day for sowing fruit?

My chilis have been poor for a second year - two Prairie Fire plants have survived but I am only likely to get a dozen or so chilis and I used ten times that amount in a year. The seeds were from a two year old packet and they took little input in the way of special treatment so at least I didn't make a loss on these!

Top of my pops though this year has to be the Black Russian tomatoes. A huge crop - nearly 20lbs ripened and a further 4 lbs picked green but many will ripen. I had six plants in two grow bags so that adds up to £10 plus tomato feed etc say £15 maximum which brings them in at well under £1 a pound and they are the tastiest, juiciest tomatoes I have ever grown. They are fantastic to cook with and great in a salad - you can't ask more than that!

The Costuluto Fiorentino tomatoes had a similar if not slightly bigger crop but they were a bit dry and not nearly as tasty as the Black Russians. It may be that as an Italian variety they suffered from the lack of sun and would have had a better flavour it the growing conditions had been more favourable....on balance though I think I will try another variety as my 'red' tomato next season.

Any suggestions gratefully received!

So - what's the COSTuluto Fiorentino?

Weather: A short Indian Summer has now been followed by another dreary day but at least we've not had more than a smattering of showers. Max temperature today 16C

Harvest since last post(nearly three weeks - whoops!): Runner beans (at last a few) 2lb 7oz, French beans 1lb 5oz, Costuloto Fiorentino Tomatoes 7lb 6oz, Pears (Williams) 1lb 13oz, Black Russian Tomatoes 8lb 7oz, Spinach 1lb 6oz, Courgettes 3lbs, Butternut Squash 7lb 4oz.

It could be 'eating my words' time - or rather eating my tomatoes time. In an early season post on this blog I lamented the thought that my tomato crop was unlikely to save me any money - it would, I decided, probably be as cheap to buy my tomatoes in the shops.

Well - I have had a huge crop in the greenhouse. Nine plants in three growbags have so far (and there are quite a number still to come) yielded around 16kg. I've converted it to kg for ease of comparison with the sort of prices I'd have paid for these if I'd bought them 'ready grown'!....and I reckon that they would so far have cost me somewhere between £32 and £40 the wide range in the estimates take into acount the fact that it's difficult to find unusual varieties like these in the shops so I've not got an exact comparison. Mind you one of the reasons to grow my own veg is to grow things you can't find in the shops so I'm already a winner.

This means that with the growbags at £5.00 a bag plus seeds and tomato fertilizer I reckon I have spent out around £20.

If you take into account the electricity used to keep the seeds warm in the early part of the year that goes up a bit (a propagator shared by many of other veg seeds)....but knock off the food miles. I'm pretty happy.

And what about the taste?! The Costuluto Fiorentino have been disappointingly bland but they cook up well. The Black Russians are wonderful - every year I've grown them they've delivered. They are full of flavour and when you cook them they provide really juicy tomato sauce. I will grow them again next year as for the Costuluto Fiorentino's - I will probably sow the rest of the seed in the packet from this year and let's give them the benefit of the doubt, it may be that they needed more sun and warmth than we've had this year to develop their full potential but I will definitely be on the look out for another variety.

Any suggestions gratefully received!

Pear Drops....

Weather: Horrible! Max temperature 15C Heavy Rain

Harvest since last post (10 days): Black Russian Tomatoes 5lbs,Costoluto Fiorentino Tomatoes 4 1/2lbs,Runner Beans (flowering, setting pods but pods not swelling properly and most dropping off) 10oz,French Beans 2lb 2oz, Courgettes 2lb 4oz, Aubergine 11oz,Spinach 1lb 3oz,Williams Pears (mix of windfalls and picked 26lbs, Conference Pears (haven't done well this year) 1lb, Green Toms (Costuluto Fiorentino) picked for pickles 12oz, Basil 2oz, Sweetcorn - one cob (delicious).

The big news on the harvest front this week has been the pears. Every other year this tree does really well. I bought it for Bill's birthday about 15 years ago - it's a William's pear you see.... This years fruit has a few blemishes but they are really delicious. It is a pity that the season for eating the fruit fresh is very short, so - apart from giving some away to neighbours - I have taken to looking for good recipes to preserve them.

My mother cooks hers in lemonade and they freeze well like this. I tried simmering them in cider which was lovely. I used pretty unripe pears and let them simmer for a long time so that the cider reduced by at least half. They were good.

The trouble with cooked pears though is that their texture is a bit....well.... boring. But adding crunch to them also seems to mean adding 1000s of calories. There is a recipe in Sarah Raven's lovely Garden Cookbook, which is a sort of toffee tart with lots of butter and sugar and puff pastry. In fact the photo here is the recipe in its early stages with the pears simmering in the sugar and butter. It is utterly delicious if a little sweet for someone with a savoury tooth like me...but it gets a big thumbs up. I'm sure it would freeze well - although mine mysteriously disappeared before I had chance to freeze it!

My favourite pear recipe of the year though is from an article by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall published in the Guardian which I found on line - it is a Pear and Almond cake. He uses ground almonds in the sponge mixture and pears (also pre simmered in butter and sugar) perched on top of it. It is delicious - and I didn't make the same mistake with this one. As soon as it had coolled I cut it into portions, kept two for supper, and put it straight in the freezer. Not only does that put them out of sight and out of mind - the effort involved in defrosting them deters me from having 'just one more piece'!

Here today ...gone tomorrow

Weather: Cool and wet after a nice day yesterday and the promise that it will brighten up later...

Harvest since last post (four days) : 4 Cucumbers (small white now finished plant in the greenhouse overcome by mildew) Runner beans just 7oz (from about 10 plants - very disappointing) French Beans 12oz, Costuluto Fiorentino Tomatoes 12oz (with slug damage from the greenhouse) Black Russian Tomatoes 8oz (really good these - and this was a single fruit), Courgettes 1lb 10oz, Spinach 5oz (thriving now after slug ridden start) windfall William's pears 1lb ( still a bit hard but will cook up fine).


So this is why Hemerocallis are called 'day' lilies! I have waited for two years for a flower on the Millie Schlumpf (above) And what a beautiful flower. But the photograph was taken two days ago - and now this bloom and the second bloom that flowered yesterday have finished. Worth the wait? Possibly - I just hope that now it has found its footing that it will stand up to the slugs and snails better next year and I will have more than one successful stem to enjoy. The earlier stems were totally destroyed by them.

I was delighted with its delicate peachy colour that blends to a vibrant green at its heart. It had been described as pink - and I've never been a great fan of pink. Like the yellow red hot poker of a post or two back this plant was chosen to commemorate a cat ... whether that cat was called Millie or Schlumf, I'll leave you to decide!

What you can't see from the photo is that it is planted a couple of feet from an ancient stone wall where the molluscs lurk...That wall is a whole habitat in its own right. I regularly see mice in its nooks and crannies; it would be fascinating to see it in cross section as I suspect it would reveal a wildlife city from ants and woodlice to the spiders, bees and mice.

Outside? You must be joking it's August!

Weather - horrible. Cool and wet in a pattern that has been continuing for several days...

This week's harvest - cool weather is taking its toll on what should be one of the glut weeks of the year. Nevertheless:

Courgettes 2lb, Runner Beans 11oz, French Beans 1lb 8oz, Spinach 10oz, Rhubarb 10oz, Tomatoes (Black Russian - great flavour) 7oz,Costuluto Fiorentino Tomatoes (not impressed by the flavour and not very juicy - although the plants haven't been happy all season ) 2ob 5oz, Potatoes (Highland Burgundy - purple floury flesh - interesting but not overly appetizing visually once you're over the initial wow factor!) 9lb 8oz. Harlequin Potatoes (really nice salad/general potato) 5lb 13oz. Cucumber (small white) 2, Artichokes (last two) 2. Herbs used: Basil, parsley, Thyme, Lemon Balm.

When you photograph a garden it is natural to wait for perfect light conditions and highlight the good bits....but sometimes its worth 'telling it like it is'!

I did get out at the weekend - and was amazed at how much growth there had been in the borders. I usually allow the Lovage stems to overwinter but this year they had been blown almost horizontal and at 8ft they were bearing down on the Michaelmas Daisies in the same bed. When I looked at them I realised that the stems were hollow so I've experimented by cutting them into 10 inch lengths and tying them in two bundles with....wait for it (if it works this is a good bit!) ... bindweed stems!

I am hoping that these little bundles will provide homes for bees and ladybirds etc. They look fairly like the Bug Houses that you buy for just this purpose. They do smell pretty strong. Lovage (which is supposed to taste like celery but it is so strong I find it overpowering to use in cooking) has a distinctive smell. I hope the insects don't mind that! We shall see.

Redcurrant magic

Weather: horrible! A cool wet and windy weekend.

The week's harvest: 1 Black Russian tomato (1lb 2oz!) Courgettes (1lb) Runner Beans (9oz) French Beans (8oz) Tomato Costuluto Fiorentino (rather misshapen (2lbs) ) Small white cucumbers (5) Spinach (80z) Peas - a handful of pods, basil, tarragon, mint, parsley, mint, sorrel and chives as needed.....and Redcurrants 1lb 12oz

And the redcurrants are the story of this post. There are still a few on the bush - but so far this year I have picked more than two pounds. And the magic bit? I have thoroughly abused and neglected this bush. I was told it would grow on a north facing wall - but not only is it tucked away on one of those, it struggles for position with an overgrowing vine, virginia creeper, and a variety of shrubs that leave it with virtually no light at all and yet it rewards me with, what others have described as, jewel-like berries. They really zing out at you.


I have made a couple of jars of redcurrant jelly already
this year - one of which will come out at Christmas. This latest batch of reducurrant juice (seen in the process of straining the currants out) is going in the freezer to await the arrival of this year's chili crop when I will make some jars of chili and redcurrant jelly.

I have two varieties in the greenhouse - Prairie Fire which has made a nice compact bush and is flowering at the moment. And Twilight which is taller - some might say leggy - but also seems to be doing well.

A second Prairie Fire plant is in a pot and I had put it outside but it seems chili plants are yet another delicacy for the slug population....did I mention the slugs? Something must be done!

Percy's Pride

Weather: Sunshine and showers - quite warm. Lovely growing weather.


This week's harvest: artichokes (3) Courgettes yellow and green (3lb 10oz) Vine leaves (50) Small white cucumbers (6) Potatoes (unidentified type left in ground by mistake (1lb 8oz) Potatoes (Highland Blue ....and they are purple all through) (1lb) Poatatoes (Harlequin - cross between Charlotte and Pink Fir Apple, very nice) (1lb) Aubergine (2 small slug attacked ones) French Beans (Trail of Tears) (13oz) Spinach (10oz) Peas (2oz) Radishes (3 slug eaten ones) Tomato (enormous single fruit Black Russian) (1lb 4oz) - Mint, Thyme, Parsley, Basil, Marjoram Sorrel.


Not a bad crop... it's not possible to work out exactly what that lot would have cost me as some of the varieties aren't on sale but I reckon it would be at least £20. This argues against my last post a bit - in which I reckoned that the cost of producing home grown veg isn't necessarily cheaper than shop bought veg. It does seem a good haul at the start of the summer glut - and things like the courgettes have taken little other than my time and the cost of four seeds.

I have heard it suggested that people are growing more of their own veg to beat the 'credit crunch' - but I would still maintain they won't save much money by doing it , particularly if they are setting themselves up from scratch. Let's assume they have space in their back gardens but even so the set up costs can be considerable - you need spades, forks, secateurs, plant feed, compost etc and I bring on many of my seeds in a greenhouse. My greenhouse must be 15 years old now and I get a huge sense of achievement out of growing and eating vegetables I've grown from seed but if I did it purely as a cost saving exercise....I'm not convinced you'd save more than a few pounds a year, and it would take several years to wipe off those set up costs.

The other thing to take into account is that a beginner is bound to make mistakes and poor weather, pests and diseases can wipe out wholw crops. My vegetable garden last year was a disaster. I didn't get one courgette plant past the slugs, no lettuces, all I had was about half a dozen bean plants and a few potatoes. If that had been my first attempt I would have given up.

But enough of that...

Finally - the reason for calling this post Percy's Pride. The yellow Red Hot Poker (Kniphofia) in the photo is a variety of that name. Bought and grown in memory of our old cat Percy who died a couple of years back at the age of 21. The snails have played havoc with this plant since I've had it and this is the first time that two flowers have bloomed together. I knew he'd make it eventually though - he was that sort of cat!

Growing your own - the cost

Weather: Hot! Up to 30C with thunderstorms due this evening after three brilliant summer days.

This week's harvest: Two and a half pounds of shallots, two artichokes, 2 pounds of courgettes, a handful of peas, a handful of french beans, basil, one cucumber (small white), one huge Black Russian tomato (9 oz), parsley, mint.

At last summer - and the vegetable garden gets in to full swing. I thought it would be an interesting exercise to add up the cost of producing the produce I harvest v the equivalent in the shops and so far my sums have come up with a couple of interesting statistics.

Take the shallots - a dozen shallot sets set me back about £4.00. Yesterday I harvested my crop as the greenery had fallen over and they haven't put on growth for a while. On weighing the yield it was just under a kilo. Online from Abel and Cole (from whom I get a regular veg box) I costed a similar quantity of shallots for about £5.00... Theirs aren't available until October and it may be that I could have left mine in the ground longer but I don't think they would have gained much in size. This makes the saving very limited - if I cost out shallots at the supermarket (non organic) ...well they are around £2.50 per kilo.

My tomatoes will probably be in the same boat. With each growbag at about £5.00. The cost of tomato fertilizer, the special growing rings I bought last year, plus the seed....I'll be lucky if my crop per kilo will be much cheaper than those in the shops. Mind you you'd be hard pressed to find Black Russion or my Italian variety in the shops.

On the other hand there are the artichokes. Two brilliant plants, one grown from seed four years ago and the other an off shoot of the first one transplanted two years ago. We have had about a dozen artichokes - and I've left a couple to flower because they are in the flower garden and the giant thistle flowers are worth their place there anyday.


They have needed little care - just a mulch of my own compost in the spring and no extra feed. Abel and Cole have them listed at 98 pence a piece! Now that is worth growing! And as for Courgettes - the classic summer glut vegetable - Abel and Cole have them listed at £1.92 for 500g. I am picking that much a day at the moment and I have a list of favourite recipes gleaned over the years from Courgette and Mint Frittata to a lovely salad version in which they are steamed then allowed to cool in a herb vinagrette...and of course Courgette Soup, a freezer staple for weekend lunch times til Christmas (and beyond space permitting!)

The elusive scarlet Pimpernel....

Weather: Windy and cool for July (20C max) cloudy with sunny intervals

This week's harvest: 1lb green/yellow courgettes, 2 artichokes,basil, 2 white cucumbers,rocket (lots as usual) Lettuce (a few leaves),mint,bay, parsley, shallots 2.

I came one of one of my favourite 'weeds' - the Scarlet Pimpernel yesterday and coincidentally in print too. It was in the first of Beverley Nichols famous gardening books - Down the Garden Path, written in 1932 - and referred to its ability to predict the weather.

A little more research in ' A Country Herbal' by Lesley Gordon reveals that one of its common names is 'poor man's weather glass'. This is because its flowers won't open in the rain - or even when rain is expected. It is also called 'poor man's clock' because on sunny days they are said to open at seven o'clock! The weather prediction certainly held good today (see the photograph above) there was indeed no rain. As to the opening at seven o'clock .... I wasn't up early enough to tell you...

Anyway - July and August are its months and I found the specimen in the photo lurking in my runner beans. I am delighted to report that my push against the slugs early in the season allowed them to get going properly this year and between them and my french beans there are already more than 25 bean-lets set.

Oh....and the sad spinach in my last post is now doing very nicely thank you!

Sparrow attack...

Weather: Raining - should brighten up later 20C

This week's harvest: basil, courgette (one, the first small Verde di Milano!), rocket (lots) Lettuce (one Tom Thumb - between crops) thyme, artichoke (two - with lots more to come) .


And so to a small apology to the slug population of my garden (much reduced because of the success of the nematode treatments). I have been struggling to bring on spinach - and to some extent lettuce - seedlings and of course blamed the chewed leaves on the slugs....until I caught the culprits in the act. (See rather blurry photo shot through the runner beans..) There, balancing on the seed heads of the regrowth of last year's spinach, is one of my little flock of house sparrows enjoying a little greenery in addition to the seeds I put out in their feeder. There's gratitude for you! A few days before, I had watched a big fat male sparrow casually decimating a seedling...in fact technically more than 'decimating' it because he had ripped off a lot more than ten per cent of the plant.

Now this is a little difficult to take in. I love my little flock of sparrows and despite still coming out top of the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch survey as the most common bird in our gardens, their numbers have fallen drastically over the last thirty years and are on their Red conservation list.

I certainly don't want to put them off living in my garden in fact they have featured in Nature's Voice the podcast I make for the RSPB. We devoted much of the episode we made for this year's Big Garden Birdwatch to sparrows which can be downloaded from the link as an mp3, should you like to hear it.

My solution to my current problem is to suspend a criss-cross of cotton above my seedlings. I haven't caught them touching them since but we will have to wait and see. I know that some people use horticultural fleece to protect their plants but my veg garden is one of my favourite places to sit and the aesthetics are as important to me as the produce and ...well horticultural fleece just doesn't do it for me.

Cat's eye view...

Weather: hottest day of the year so far but a threat of thunder later. 26C

This week's harvest: Lettuce (Tom Thumb) Courgettes (3 tiny ones) Japanese Turnip Greens (a good handful) Rocket (many handfuls) Spinach (from the regrowth on last year's stumps 2 good portions) Lemon Balm, Mint, Basil, Chives, Artichokes (2 good sized ones)

Seeds planted in the new wooden raised slug proof (I hope) section: 1) Mizuna 2) Fennel 3) Winter Radish 'Weiner Runder Kohlschwarzer' (a cooking radish that you harvest when it is the size of a tennis ball and was really good last year) 4) Pak Choi.

All these are best sown after the longest day as before that they are apt to bolt. I haven't managed to stick to the In Tune with the Moon gardening Calendar but I notice that I sowed on a 'root' day with a waning moon on a descending orbit which should have suited the radish and the fennel but not been so good for the leafy Mizuna and Pak Choi....we shall see!

Why we do it...

Weather: Sunny morning with showers forecast. Max 21C

This week's harvest: rocket (lots) spinach (pickings from the stumps left when I cleared last year's perpetual spinach) bay, thyme, basil, lemon balm, chives, artichoke (1)

OK - so nothing happens in the video! But that's the point. That was one of my favourite garden views on June 26th 2008 at about 8.00am. If you recognise the view from stills on previous posts you might notice that the Euphorbia (Fire Glow) has been cleared from the scene.

I wouldn't have cut it back but there were huge gales a few days ago and it was the worst casualty in the whole garden. The weight of the orange heads pulled it down and it was leaning right over the rose and pulling the yellow foxgloves over. They don't feature in the video - but I'm sure they'll make an appearance on a future post.

Meanwhile enjoy the peace of an English cottage garden in June.

Midsummer flower power...

Weather: Not brilliant for June - today sunny 21C but blustery. Rain forecast in the next few days.

Harvest in last week: First small Gold Rush courgette, handful of peas, handful of spinach (re growth from cut down perpetual spinach) handful of self seeded oriental greens (not sure what variety). Three lettuces (Tom Thumb and Pablo) and many handfuls of Rocket. Mint, Dill, Chives, Lemon Balm, Bay, Thyme. Two Artichokes.

The photograph features the Rosa Mutabilis my mother gave me for Christmas. It is flowering well although it is rather overshadowed by the Euphorbia (I have cut lots of it back to let some light in). Having found the 'hot' colours of this border rather over the top earlier in the season I am now enjoying the reds and pinks and oranges that are left. It improved when I removed a clump of very strident pink self seeded Valerian. Now the cool greens and the reds that I can see from my kitchen window are a very pleasing mix.

The other pleasing combination at the moment is the lovely white Papaver poppy that was given to me as a cutting from my great uncle's garden. It has been in this spot for several years and it isn't nearly as prolific as its orange cousins but is all the more rewarding for that. These are the only two flowers this season but with the Knautia Macedonica behind it and some self seeded White Campion in front of it I have really enjoyed it this year. I love to grow things that remind me of people and every time I look at this I think of John.
I have just had a birthday and my neice Tash gave me a Nelly Moser clematis which I have just planted. It is a lovely plant and I only hope I can keep it going as I am notoriously bad with clematis. I does however have buds on it and it may even flower this year.
I have put the stones over the roots to give them some shade as that is one of the things I know about clematis! It's been in for more than a week and - dare I say it - it's looking OK so far!

Wild Fuschia!

Weather: Warm with some cloud but the sun has reappeared for at least part of the day at last! 22C max.

This week's harvest: three lettuces (two Tom Thumb, one Pablo), rocket - several big pickings, perpetual spinach (a couple of pounds) from last year's plants which I have now cut down, mint, basil, parsley, dill, chives, two artichokes.

I don't like the blousy fuschias you see in all the garden centres but I do love the 'wild' fuschia which you see as hedging in Cornwall and Ireland. I also have a very delicate pale pink version which I inherited with the garden. At the moment though my red one is startlingly beautiful - particularly in the early morning when this photo was taken. I particularly like this plant as is was grown from a cutting taking from the garden where I grew up. I often grow plants because they remind me of people and places and this is a particulary potent example!


At the same time as I took the photo of the fuschia I photographed the Euphoria (Fire Glow) wet with dew. I am in two minds about this plant this year. It is stunning - but its very 'orange' colour makes it difficult to place. (See the photo in my last post) This year, now it has grown so large (and I was warned that it could be unruly....how right they were) it has been 'shouting' at the pinks and purples around it. It is also shading my new Rose (Mutabilis) which is doing really well and blends quite well colourwise. The Euphorbia remains on my mental list of potential plants to move next year.....

In the vegetable garden - just as the slugs, encouraged by the huge amount of rain we've had in the last fortnight, were beginning to become a nuisance - the third pack of nematodes I'd ordered dropped through the letter box! I watered them in two days ago and have been trying to keep the soil moist to get them established. The beans were really beginning to suffer - I lost half a dozen plants from either end of the row (the slugs seem to hide in the walls an path edges and eat the first plants they get to first!) I also lost a whole young courgette plant.

Meanwhile the greenhouse is doing very nicely - the tomatoes are about 3ft tall, there is a flower on one of the aubergine plants and the cucumber plant is beginning to grow well. I have had leaves from the basil and the french marigold seedlings are ready to be transplanted. The chilis aren't doing great things yet...but there's time.

I planted one of my Rosemary cuttings out in the herb garden and took out the overgrown parent plant that has been slowly dying back. At the same time I removed some Sweet Cicely (which seeds itself like mad) and opened up a big space. In it I planted a tricolour sage that I bought at Waterperry Gardens and two chili seedlings. I haven't 'nematoded' this bed so I suspect slugs and snails will make short work of these. I will try sawdust as a barrier tonight.

The long term weather forecast for the summer isn't very chili friendly - after a warm June they are expecting a wet July and August....booo hisss!!

June bustin out all over?

Weather: After a bright day yesterday - today started off with rain. 17C.

Harvest this week: 2 Lettuce, 3 portions rocket, basil ( a couple of leaves), parsley, dill, 1 artichoke

I couldn't start the first post in June without a rose! This is a rose that has been in the garden longer than me - it must be well over 20 years old. I don't know its variety and it is never very prolific but there are quite a few buds this year. It is a 'classic' rose shape with a delicate perfume.

The vegetable garden is getting going properly now - but we have had a huge amount of rain over the last week and the slugs (that have been kept at bay by the nematodes) are beginning to emerge. Several leaves and a few shoots of the courgettes have been eaten away. I am hoping the next batch of nematodes will arrive this week as the weather is perfect for introducing what will be the final batch of the season now.

Yesterday I went over the newly opened shady bed that used to house the huge Choisya I removed back in January. The transformation from dark space is going well.

See April 22nd blog for the first planting I did here. The clump of Kashmir White geraniums has made plenty of leaf growth but the flowers (which are already open on the plants in the sun) have still to show. I bought an aquligea called Leprechaun's Gold with variegated foliage and double purple flowers which seem to have settled in well. Last week I bought a white (or rather cream) Camasia which I hope will make a good show next year. A white tradescantia a spiderwort called Innocence is now in its third position in the last three years and I think this is its place because at last it looks really happy! I'm also pleased with the Iris Sibirica that I put there after dividing a clump from a sunnier border - there are several flowers on it.

Final photo for this post is a wide shot of the main sunny borders taken from the same spot as the April 22nd post. I'm not sure the colour scheme is as restful as it could be. The pink Valerian on the left is self seeded - it grows really well round here. I hadn't the heart to take it out and it 'shouts' a little at the orange of the euphorbia (Fire Glow) and the helianthemum (Fire Dragon).

We could really do with some proper sunshine in the next week - although I'm not holding my breath.

Down came the rain...

May 25th (Sunday of the Whitsun bank holiday weekend). Very windy and pouring rain! 17C.

This week's harvest: 5 Tom Thumb lettuces, 5 pickings of rocket, two pickings of perpetual spinach. mint, marjoram, parsley and dill.


After a sunny week last night the wind got up and the rain arrived as forecast. This photograph of the Olearia in full bloom was taken a week or so back. It is in the border of our patio area and out of the corner of your eye looks almost as though it is covered in snow!

The weather has been good for gardening and I haven't been indoors at the computer. The vegetable garden has been coming together. The slug nematodes appear to be working and I have a good showing of beans (runners and french beans) now about four inches tall. This weather will help them on too. They are on the perimeter or the giant Crimson King Acer at the bottom of the garden but it doesn't shade them until mid afternoon.

We have moved the greenhouse and taken down the old plum tree that had been decimated (and more) by silver leaf. I have also cut back the ivy from the shed where the mature stems were a good couple of feet above the roof line. If it wasn't pouring with rain I'd go out and take a photograph of it! The upshot of all this work - and the laying of a path which is topped with the wood chippings from the huge Hawthorn we took down a month or two back - is that we have increased the viable veg growing land by about 4 square metres.

I have planted out five courgette plants (two Gold Rush - one of my favourites) and three of a new variety to me which is described as having a neat habit called Verde di Milano. I have also planted a couple of Butternut squash plants next to the south facing wall behind them with the plan to train these up the wall.

Between the courgettes I have planted out half a dozen sweetcorn plants. This was a tip I was given a couple of years back and (last time I had a successful veg growing year - ie not last year!) this worked really well because the sweetcorn plants grow taller than the courgette leaves which shelter the ground retain the water at their roots. As I have so few sweetcorn plants I have planted them in a circle - the advice is always to plant sweetcorn in a block for pollination purposes - but I'm hoping my circle will work OK.

I planted a couple of short rows of Perpetual Spinach from the remains of an old packet of seed (probably three or four years old) not expecting much but there are a good dozen plants coming through. I have also a row of true spinach (from new seed) and yesterday planted a short row of Rhubarb Chard.

The Rhubarb Chard is from a packet of free seeds which are part of a trial from www.rivercottage.co.uk/ - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's business that has grown off the back of his television programmes. I decided to invest in membership which allows me to access his online tutorials. It's a great website and uses video really well - it is relevant and informative and I'm interested in the way people are developing their use of audio and video on the web as at Podcats I am always looking at new ways to use audio and video for my clients.

River Cottage also sent Marina di Chioggia squash (which I have sown in a pot for later transplanting - although given this rain I may put the other seeds directly in the ground. ) Plus French Bean (climbing) Blauhilde - although given the successful germination of my other beans (including some Borlotti seeds that I have yet to plant out) I've run out of space for beans this year.

The lettuces (Tom Thumb) that I sowed in the greenhouse back in February and planted out in late March have been doing really well and we've been eating about one a day for a couple of weeks. The Rocket that I mentioned on an early blog at the beginning of the year as having overwintered from a late sowing is also doing us proud. We have been eating a good handful (probably half a bag of supermarket rocket) every day too.

We have also been having regular pickings (once a week for several weeks) from a row of Perpetual Spinach that managed to make it through the slug fest last year. It is now going to seed and I am taking each plant out as we use it and putting the inedible bits on the compost heap.


All in all we have had more out of the garden this year so far than we had in the whole of last year. Slug nematodes get the big thumbs up from me! And just to remind me what the garden looked like before the rain set in - this photograph of the Weigela was taken a week or so ago. Today it looks bedraggled and the flowers are just going over.

I'll have a Pea please...

Weather: April showers with a few sunny intervals. Cool...9C

I have planted out the peas (Avola) which I grew in a polystyrene box that arrived as packaging. I have put them amongst the peas I sowed directly into the ground a couple of weeks ago...I say amongst, as only two seedlings have appeared. As there are few slugs (due to the success so far of my nematode campaign) I can only point the finger at mice!

Actually - I'm feeling a little guilty about how well the nematodes have worked. I saw three slugs this morning who'd been at some spinach seedlings but these are the first I've seen for a month. This time last year I could have enticed a hundred to a beer trap each night. The guilt? I have found a toad who has taken up residence in one of the compost heaps...and I'm sure he'd prefer the slugs to be as plentiful this year as last year. He is in the compost heap with the best compost in and I haven't the heart to move him on and each morning I lift up the hessian that covers it to see if he's still there. He always is! So the compost will have to wait.

I can't be feeling that bad about him though because the next installment of the slug nematodes arrived in the post last week and I watered them in a couple of days ago. You are supposed to do it in dull weather and keep the ground damp. The weather forecast on Saturday was for heavy rain in the afternoon after a bright start, so as the clouds rolled up at midday I was out there with my watering can musing smuggly that the rain would water them in. At two pm the clouds rolled away again and we had a brilliantly sunny afternoon. At regular intervals from then on I had to fill the watering can to keep the soil moist. I emptied the water butt! It hasn't refilled yet but the forecast is for heavy rain tonight so that should be OK.

I also put up bean supports at the weekend - see photo . People use hazel and willow but I always use Buddlea! The plus is that I get lots of straight sticks when I prune in the spring. The minus side is that they root very easily so you have to make sure none of them get too good a foothold or you get new buddlea plants. After a couple of years in the garden they have dried enough to break up and use as kindling for the wood stove.

The peas are in the bottom left of the photo - the beans will be along the spindly frame behind. The tree (a wonderful Acer called Crimson King) will shade the area rather more than the beans will appreciate but I should get some and......

we are working on bringing more of this part of the garden into cultivation by moving the shed up under the tree and dropping the greenhouse back 10 metres. The idea is that it is moved at the time the overwintering Pelargoniums and fuschias come outside and before the indoor tomatoes get placed in their grow bags. Next year the beans will be in full sun.

Watch this space!

Tulip explosion...

Weather: Summer seems to have arrived all of a sudden. No frost last night, the sun came out today and the temperature is in the high teens for about the first time this year.

The tulips have responded! Compare this photo with the photo on the previous post.

I had a busy weekend in the garden - although it was cloudy and cool the conditions for gardening were perfect. I worked on the borders - splitting many of my perennials, particularly those which may survive in the shady bit of border created from removing the huge Choisya back at the beginning of the year (see Jan 12th post). That bed is in the background on the photo below - but before I detail that the orange stems of the Eurphorbia in the foreground are remarkable at this time of year - I reckon they've grown a foot in a fortnight. It is Euphorbia Fireglow and was given to me by a fellow pupil at an art group a few years ago. It is quite rampant and spreads pretty quickly but it has a stunning display at this time of year.

I also rescued a statue of Aquarius who had been entwined in ivy and was all but invisible in her previous position. You can see her on the left of the photo - I'm sure she'll feature in later posts as I'm pleased with her new position.

So what did I plant...around her: a white Tradescantia (which I have read will grow in shade) moved from a bed where it was all but devoured by slugs last year. I took a punt on some pink Veronica which I split from a clump I grew from seed several years ago. I split some deep purple Monks Hood (very poisonous) from another shady spot so I'm pretty sure this will like its new position. I'm less convinced that Iris Sibirica will like it - I inherited it with the garden though and it was in a shady spot originally. There is also a bright pink Aster called Elsa Spath (I think) taken from a clump that was really in need of dividing so even if it isn't happy in the shade the original clump will have benefited from its thinning. There is Knautia Macedonica which also came from a sunnier spot....well it's worth a try. And the thinnings of Geranium Kashmir White...

And I treated myself to a new plant from Waterperry Gardens - I chose and Aquilegia called Leprechaun Gold. It is said to be tolerant of partial shade...it depends on how it interprets 'partial'!

How many of these will thrive or survive ...who knows!

Tiptoe through the Tulips

Weather: Overnight frosts for the last three or four nights but bright days with just the occasional heavy April shower!

This morning's sunshine quickly melted the frost off the Tulips - but the cool April has kept these blooms back. I haven't got a note of the date they flowered last year but I suspect they were virtually over because we had such a warm April last year.

Frost or not I saw the first swallow on Sunday (13th) and this morning one was sitting in the sunshine on the telephone wires near the house.

I ordered seed potatoes and shallots as a bit of an afterthought this year and they arrived this morning. I would usually chit my potatoes but it's a bit late to leave them out long. As soon as I'm sure the soil is warm enough they are going in! I've got limited space so I have just 5 tubers of Harlequin (a cross between Pink Fir Apple - which I've grown with great success in the past - and Charlotte, an early main crop) and an heirloom variety with red flesh called Highland Burgundy (10 tubers). These are also a main crop.

After my frustrating time with veg last year I'm not 'saving space' for later crops that may or may not materialise. We've also come up with a cunning plan to enlarge our veg plot. It means moving the greenhouse and the shed and probably won't be completed this year but Bill has already started putting down the foundations for the greenhouse. The next problem will be how to move it. It is an all metal structure that we constructed on site from the instructions - adding in the glass as we went. Any thoughts on the best method of shifting it ten feet would be gratefully received! I suspect we will have to dismantle it.....

Other things done since my last post: I planted the shallots that arrived this morning - the are called Red Sun and they are big fat bulbs. I planted out Tom Thumb lettuce plants that I've been hardening off as they are too big for the pots I grew them in (my lettuces have been a huge success so far this year. Fingers crossed).

How is my lunar 'In Tune with the Moon' gardening calendar going? Well not too well so far. It would be fine if I could get out in the garden every day but my gardening, like most of us I suspect, has to fit round the other things in my life! Although I do see that Friday (a root day with a descending moon) would be a good day for planting my potatoes. I'll put it in the diary!

Chocolate anyone?

Weather: Frosts overnight for last four or five days. It has been sunny most of the week, but cool and a cool wind has blown up today with some sharp April showers (including hail!) 9C .


It's not easy to photograph but the climber above is Akeba Quinata also known as Chocolate Vine. It has taken some time to establish (I planted it two or three years ago) but it is lovely at this time of the year with reddish purple flowers that are supposed to smell of chocolate but as they are about 8 foot off the ground I don't often get close enough to smell them!I bought this as a plant from one of my favourite nurseries called Bernwode Plants at Ludgershall near Aylesbury. They stock some really unusual plants and their catalogue tells their stories. For example the Akeba Quinata was introduced by the plant collector Robert Fortune from China, Japan and Korea in 1845. I understand that in hot summers it may be followed by dark fruits but I have also seen that it is not self fertile so I would probably need another plant if I want fruit.

It's been a busy week - I was going to say 'we' but of course I meant - Bill cut our giant hawthorn back to 2 metres high and I pruned it. Our permission to cut it back says we must reshape the crown so I have pruned it accordingly. It looks a bit sad and spindly now but it will be interesting to see what it is like later this year and next season.

Anyway, thanks to Bill's hard work, we have a store of logs for next winter and lots of kindling. He also shredded the twigs to be incorporated into the compost heaps over the summer - so all in all a productive exercise. The only complainants are the sparrows for whom it was a great vantage point but there are plenty of other trees and bushes for them. I am delighted to have the extra light in the house as it is less than 8 feet from the front wall.

Other things in the garden this week: sowed Avola pea seeds (finished last year's packet). Last year's peas hardly came to anything as most were demolished by slugs before they could get properly established. Sowed sunflower seeds from a very old packet. A short row of Perpetual Spinach from a very very old packet of seed show some signs of germination. Seeds of parnsip, radish and salsify (sown last week) still not showing.

A squat pot of leek seedlings in the greenhouse seemed to be suffering from lack of space and as it is too early to put them out I have transplanted them into a bigger pot. It looks a bit of a dogs breakfast but they have a long growing season and I hope this disturbance won't be too detrimental to their long term health.

Planted 4 Lily corms - all bought cheap...two look particularly unpromising but hey they are worth a try!

I toad you so!

Weather: after a foggy start the sun came out and the temperature reached 16C.

Having spent too many hours at the computer I decided to go for a walk in the Oxfordshire countryside. The toads definitely think it's spring! I found this pair on a bridleway. They were lucky I was a walker with my eyes open and not a horse who could have wiped them out with one hoof.

There were lots of butterflies around too. I saw several Peacocks including the one below who kindly stayed still long enough for me to photograph him. But I also saw an Orange Tip and a Brimstone.



There's a clump of wild garlic on this walk, which I do regularly despite not having a dog! I've picked a few leaves from this each year for several years - I chose a dozen or so. I was taught to pick wild flowers by a lovely country woman who used to babysit for me when I was tiny. I always knew her as Mrs Dabinett - which seems very formal nowadays but back then a child would never call an adult by her first name. She taught me many of the west country names for flora and fauna which I still use today! She told me that if I picked from the wild I should leave any clump or group of plants looking as if I hadn't taken any and if there aren't many there then don't pick at all. It's good advice and even though we aren't supposed to pick most wild flowers at all nowadays I always follow her advice when I do.

A little later on the walk I came across another old favourite - a plant I always called an Oxslip - but having got home and done a bit of research I suspect it to be what is known as a False Oxslip. True Oxslips seem only to be found in the East of England and we are pretty central here - and the flowers on the true Oxslip hang on one side of the stem wheras you can see from my picture that the flowers are pretty evenly distributed around the stem and the leaves look more like a primose leaf than the more knarled leaf you'd find on a cowslip. A lovely plant however and I enjoy seeing it at this spot each year.
When I first came to Oxfordshire my job was 24/7 ( 25/7 actually radio stations are demanding beasts!) and I hardly had time to step outside my front door. I can't believe how lucky I am nowadays to be freelance and have the time to get outside mid week.

Enough of this 'walking' stuff - I must get back out into the garden. The third of the trees I got permission to work on is being cut back today. A vast old hawthorn (30ft or so) is being reduced to 2 metres.

It's due to get cold and miserable tomorrow and that's when I'll come inside and get back to my day job!

...out like a lamb?

Weather: 14C after a mild night

It was always going to happen - once the spring was here there is so much to do in the garden that it leaves little time for blogging about it! But after a windy March the early days of April have been mild and calmer.

The Lamb's Lettuce that I grew in a big pot over winter in the greenhouse has come in to its own. I've often thought about growing winter salad leaves but never got round to it properly and this is lovely stuff. Its flavour could be described as bland but it has a fresh smell and taste that summons up memories of wet grass and buttercups in spring from my childhood in the west country. And best of all - mixed with a few outer leaves from the Little Gem lettuces I sowed very early on in the propagator and some of the Rocket that stood in the garden over winter and is putting on new growth - makes a great 'nil food miles' salad. (Not counting the Olive oil etc in the dressing).

I had pricked out 10 or so Little Gem lettuces into a tray and the day before yesterday planted them out in a cold frame/raised bed. It is an old (and somewhat despised!) plastic cold frame that in desperation I sunk about six inches into the soil and filled with earth last year in an effort to deter slugs. I protected the edges with copper tape which did have some effect. This is now coming into its own because the soil is about five inches from the top of the plastic sides and the original lid fits on nicely to warm the earth for seedlings. But back to the Little Gems - on the first night out two plants were nibbled and in the morning the culprit was spotted inside the copper cordon (which incidentally I also treated with slug nematodes 10 days ago).

I added an extra barrier yestderday - I surrounded each plant with a circle of sawdust. This morning. No more nibbling. The first battle in the war against the slugs is won!

Other things done in the garden this week: Sowed row of Parsnips with Radishes as a catch crop indicator. Plus a short row of Salsify - this is the first time I've tried Salsify.

Back filled the bean trench. Applied slug nematodes on the whole of the vegetable garden and on particularly troublesome flower beds (the weather has been wet to damp ever since which bodes well for their efficacy this year).

Pricked out Black Russian and Costoluto Firorentino tomatoes, plus aubergines into individual pots and left them in the propagator. The Costoluto Firorentino are new to me this year - the Black Russian is three year old seed so I am particularly delighted with their germination!

Sowed a few early seeds in pots in the greenhouse: courgettes, cucumbers, climbing french beans and runner beans to bring on. With luck this will keep me ahead of the game later in the season.

Obtained permission (from the council and the owner) to have an elder tree and a sycamore tree on a neighbour's land that were shading my garden to be cut down. This was done this week so there will be a little extra light in my patch this year.

Chili seedlings (Prairie Fire) that I sowed in the propagator on March 3rd and had given up on have germinated after all. There are four showing now.

That's it for now....phew

rhubarb,rhubarb,rhubarb.....

Weather: after a wet and cool few days this morning dawned bright and frosty.

We had the first rhubarb of the year as a rhubarb, ginger and almond crumble at the weekend. It was delicious - as all things from the garden are at this time of year when the flavour is enhanced by the sense of achievement. I never force my rhubarb but it must be an early variety because we always get a pretty early crop. The clump is over 15 years old and it pretty well looks after itself planted under the huge Crimson King Acer at the bottom of the garden just feet from a six foot wall so it gets pretty deep shade in the summer. The only thing I do is mulch it with homemade compost each January.

It was a busy weekend and I didn't get out into the garden - besides it was raining hard. Over and inch of rain on Saturday night. I have declared war on the slugs this year. I found the first small grey slug in the green house having feasted on some Basil seedlings so my campaign is now on. The first of three doses of slug Nematodes arrived in the post last week and are waiting in the fridge for the right conditions (and time) to apply it. The packet says water them on in the late afternoon/early evening and I've decided that tonight is the night! With Easter this weekend and the weather forecast gloomy it seems the perfect time as the soil must remain damp for the next week or so to get them settled in. That is where my last attempt with Nematodes (about 3 years ago) failed. As soon as I had them down the rain stopped falling and the soil dried out.

One of my big disappointments last year was that the slugs got all my runner and french bean plants. This year, Nematodes apart, I am giving them the classic start by digging a trench and filling it it with kitchen waste (a trick I learnt at Garden Organic when I was presenting a gardening feature on a radio show a year or two back). This is supposed, not only to enrich the soil but to help moisture retention. Before filling in my trench I also added a batch of shredded paper- mainly old credit card slips which has a pleasing ring! I can already taste the beans... The only drawback with the site is that part of the row ends up under the aforementioned Crimson King Acer which is a good 35ft high.

The sun is still out and I can spare an hour for gardening before I get down to proper work so I'm off....

Every things coming up roses....?

Weather: Slight frost overnight, chilly breeze but no sign of the snow we were threatened with yet!

Once upon a time when you bought a film for your camera and sent it off to be processed and forked out dosh each time you wouldn't waste your precious shots on a photo like the one above but...what joy to be able to do it. A true 'snapshot' of the greenhouse on March 3rd 2008 (when I should be indoors working....)

Yesterday - going by my In Tune with the Moon lunar calendar on a fruit day and a waning moon it says that I should sow 'fruits', which include tomatoes and chilis. So that is what I did.

Into the seed trays in my propagator one short row of Black Russian tomatoes (which were so successful last year - and using the remains of last year's seed) One short of row of Costoluto Firorentino tomatoes ( a red variety new to me this year from the Real Seed Company) Also Chili Pepper Prairie Fire (left over last year's seeds).

As for the other stuff in the greenhouse photo there are - overwintering pelargoniums, rooted cuttings from same in the autumn, plus new cuttings from prunings of the mother plants at the weekend (Tom Cat and Black Butterfly plus a lovely double white with pink edges) , Tom Thumb lettuce in pots and in the wooden seed tray (some of which I hope to transfer outside eventually) Parsley (from seed in January) Aubergine seedlings (should be reading to prick out in a week or so) Diascia (lovely rusty orange overwintering indoors and cuttings) Phygelia (three nicely rooted cuttings) Dorycnium Hirsutum (also rooted cuttings - a member of the pea family with small white flowers - it is hardy but doesn't take well to hard pruning so I often take a cutting or two of this)

As an extra I sowed twenty or so Peas (Avola) into polystyrene strips - recycled from packaging that was covering something or other a year or so back. I haven't got a plan as to where these go if and when they germinate and last year's attempt with these seeds resulted in half a dozen pods - the rest of the row were enjoyed by the slugs.

This year however I am awaiting the arrival of some slug Nematodes ..... I have used them in the past but struggled to keep the ground damp enough for them. Ironically I didn't try them last year when keeping the ground damp wouldn't have been a problem!! The very fact that I have ordered three doses of them at 6 week intervals means we will be assured of a hot dry summer....

Roll out the Barrow....

Weather: Weekend - sunny and warm....but possible snow forecast tomorrow! Daytime temperature today and yesterday around 12C.

Spring really feels in the air and it's time to get the compost out of the bins and out mulching the plants.


I have three bins . One is current and overflowing with the less than perfect mix that winter always provides. The other two I thought were rather twiggy and I was going to turn one into the other ....but when I took the top layer of the centre bin off I found some really good stuff in there. Once I'd pulled out the obvious twiggy stuff I was rather smug - the compost is not half bad.

I mixed several barrow loads to mulch my roses and incorporated blood, fish and bonemeal plus a few handfuls of pelleted chicken manure.

And that brings me to the rose in the picture which I pruned yesterday. It is New Dawn planted by the previous owner in the mid nineteen sixties - so a venerable plant.

It has suffered in the last two summers from Rose Sawfly - or rather the grubs of the sawfly - which eat the green of the leaves leaving them as dry skeletons. Last year it lost all it's leaves in mid summer and I feared the worst. It did however have a second flush of leaves but when I came to prune it there wasn't much good growth from last year so I have cut it fairly severely.

While buying Slug Nematodes at Harrod Horticultural online last weekend I noticed they had an email your problems option. Which I did! They came back early this week to say that the sawfly larvae will be at cocoon stage in the earth at the moment and I should remove them. And if I get a similar infestation this year I should spray with Derris (as I garden organically).

I could find no signs of cocoons in the earth but will have the spray at the ready!

Garden soup..

Weather: Mild and dull - nearly 12C while I was working in the garden today.

There is one weekend in the year that I look forward to. It is the start of the gardening year for me and it is often this last one in February. So....I was out digging today and sorting out in my head where I'll place all the vegetables in the plot this year.

This also means clearing the last of many of last year's crops so the ingredients for the lunchtime soup this year were:



4 Red Giant carrots (not exactly giants).
3 small potatoes - thrown up during the digging process
3 straggly leeks
A small handful of purple sprouting
A few spinach leaves
A small Mizuna plant
A small Japanese greens plant...
1 Bay leaf
1 of last year's chilies.
3oz pancetta (not home grown!)
Small knob of butter
Stock - including tomatoes from last night's dinner
1tbps Creme Fraiche

Method:

Chop the potatoes,carrots and leeks and gently heat with with the pancetta and butter. Add the chili chopped (without its seeds as I grew a very hot variety last year). Add a little water and the bay leaf and simmer until tender. Then chop the spinach and add to the mixture and last night's stock. Finally add the purple sprouting and chopped Mizuna and japanese greens and simmer for another minute or two until the purple sprouting is just tender. Stir in the creme fraiche and heat through. Serve immediately.

There is nothing more satisfying than a meal that is nearly all gleaned from the garden in February.

Big attack of smugness! And it was delicious, though I say it as shouldn't...