More Winter Veg

 My gardening post this month brings you my attempt at trying to get more out of the veg plot over a longer period of time. It is three years old and for the first three years I have essentially put the garden to bed at the end of September. This year I have tried to extend the season by growing different things.

My first ever go at leeks has been successful. I only tried six pre bought plants to test out the soil and they were good so I will do this again. I grew half of my tomatoes outdoors. This has been good but they don't taste as good as the indoor ones but are perfect for cooking with. The spinach is ready to pick and I have a winter variety to put in next. My lettuce are running out and I have winter varieties of these to sow but I might have missed that window.

I am trying some cauli, purple sprouting and some cabbages for the first time but I fear that the butterflies might get the better of me but it is worth a try.

My friend Beth's wedding florist garden is looking fantastic at the moment with lots of roses, dahlias and asters.

I have been picking some stuff to dry. Who knows I might try to keep my table vase going with some dried flowers in the winter months.

Talking of my table flower challenge, I have has some lovely dahlias from Beth and some asters from my garden.

And this pretty set of Penstemon, Anemone, dahlias, September Daisies, and the odd last Lupin.

I have brought my pepper plants indoors and it is making the fruits turn yellow which is fabulous because I am not a big fan of green peppers.

The autumn raspberries are still killing it and I love to pick apples from my neighbours.

Those outdoor tomatoes made a wonderful soup and I was pleased to get another crop pf radish.

Leaving you with our favourite seasonal cake of the moment - spiced apple cake.

Thanks for popping in. Jo xxx

September...ing

 I am coming at you early with my September post this month because it is changing so fast. There have been extremes of weather here in the UK (some more adverse in certain parts) So this is the September food/forage edition.

Finding - more ways to use up the courgettes. Yes, they still keep coming! Courgette and walnut loaf was only a hit with the kids when I added copious amounts of butter icing.

Using - up the last of the summer veg in cottage pie. The green beans, peas and the three carrots I managed to grow have all gone now. We still have a few more spuds.

Bottling - up my jostaberry wine above and my gooseberry wine below. The gooseberry is sharp, as you would expect, but with some elderflower cordial and gin it makes a fab cocktail. Ideally, you need to wait six months to a year for it to mature. I have some wine from last year so it doesn't feel like waiting to us.

Joining - forces with my wider family to make a 23 litre batch of cider. It is our first time using the press and it involves a lot of planning and manpower. We joined up with my brother, his wife our kids, my mum all alongside Andy and I.

 

Cracking - out a Penang curry for 7 to feed the troupes. This curry doesn't traditionally have courgettes in. Mine does! We have about a year to wait until we can all share the cider.

Picking - damsons from the hedge in the field. There were not as many as last year but I was secretly glad. We are drinking last years damson wine which is wonderful but this was just enough for some jam and a damson cobbler.

Wasting - nothing by making a couple of bread and butter puddings for the freezer from the drier ends of bread. Two of us like it, two don't so I make them in small dishes for Heidi and I.

Introducing - some green peppers to our meals. I don't really like them but I can see that my pepper plant fruits are going to turn yellow at best. This is chakchouka a meal that previously Andy and I had enjoyed but I hadn't managed to get the kids to eat it. We all like it now and with a few of my green and yellow peppers mixed in with some shop red ones it was a winner served with garlic bread. It may have had some courgettes in too!!

Sharing - my table flowers from the garden for this week which are a simple bunch of asters, although I have other beautiful variations to share with you.

Watching - the sun go down on our productive an bountiful small holding.

See you soon for a another catch up. Jo xxxx

August...ing

Hello! Sneaking in with my August ups and downs just at the last minute. If I am going to be honest with you, it has all been a bit of a blur. I can't remember what we have been up to but I know we are all happy, alive and enjoying time together. As ever, in the latter part of the Summer holidays, I am yearning for my own routine to be back in place. On the other hand, it is nice to carve out some time to spend with my teens before they return to school and now college.

Stressing - about making hay. It has been so hard to decide when to cut and dry our hay. You need about a week of dry days to make it and of course we keep having little (and big) showers which means we had to keep turning it and hoping it wouldn't get wet again - it did. When you bale hay you can't let the baler pick up any green growth from the field because it will cause heat in the centre of the bale. This can make them 'go off' inside or in a worse case scenario, combust in the shed of over time. In the end we strung out the hay making over about 10 days and had to leave quite a bit on the field to avoid picking up any green. Hay is money in the shed for small holders because it feeds our sheep over winter when the grass is not growing. If we didn't cut hay we would need to buy sheep feed every month but we got there in the end. Usually, we sell our excess hay to people with horses but this time we had to keep every bit. A little inside farming knowledge for you there!

Eating - steak. I hardly ever buy steak but now that everything else on the plate comes from our garden I thought I would treat everyone.

Emptying - my yarn basket. I love doing that at the end of a project. I like putting all the stich markers away, putting the needles back in the case and starting a fresh. I have some yarny things to share next time.

LOVING - my gladioli which have bloomed in the last week. They are truly magnificent. I used them in my big yellow jug to enter the floral class at our local show. 

Winning - the show champion cup again for the third time! I have now volunteered to be show chairman next year so I won't be able to enter any classes but I can still join in the fun.

Picking - so many vegetables to get three the same size that I had to make Glutney. It is a superb chutney recipe that uses what ever fruit and veg you have in gluts.

Hosting - an afternoon tea for friends to celebrate my blokes 50th birthday. We had cake, scones, tea, bubbles and great company. My friend Beth let me pick some of her dahlias for the table spread. I have moved them to the window now we are back to normal.

Leaving - you with the obligatory farm photo. Time for a sit down and a relax. I really need some relaxing time.

Thanks for dropping in. Jo xxx

Lots To See

My three word gardening post finds us in the height of food production but slowing down on the flower side. I find it really tricky to have late summer flowering in the borders. I must look up how I can change this for next year.

There are however enough blooms to pinch a few for my table vase challenge. It has been going well this year and there has not been a day when I haven't had flowers in a vase on the kitchen table since XXXX The pink selection is from early August: pink roses, the first of the cosmos, cerise godetia, Gaura stems, a knautia scabious and the fuzzy flowers from a shrub called Sorbaria which I really grow for the foliage.

Things are a bit hotter last week with mini Rudbeckia, honeysuckle from the hedge, the my ever flowering Alstromera and some wild yellow toadflax.

This week I have more scabious, some sweat peas, fairy rose and a few rejects from Beth's wedding cutting sessions. I watch her cut from the field she uses at the farm - then I go out and pick up all the ones on the floor with bendy or short stems. I guess flower farmers only select the best blooms but the rest are good enough for me!

Most of my patio pots are fading now but I have one with a stunning Fuscia in which is adding a splash of colour amongst the herb pots.

Veg wise we are still eating lettuce. I have been quite good at successional sowing this year with hardly a break between varieties. We are on butterhead lettuce and sorrel leaves for salad at the moment. I sowed some more today and also ordered some winter salad seeds to try and keep going.

 

In the greenhouse things have improved. The peppers have been potted on and this has helped them to bulk up on the fruits.

Other improvements include reducing watering frequency on the tomatoes which has stopped the rot I was getting on the bottoms of the fruits. I have removed most of the leaves now so that the sun can get to ripen the trusses.

I had a few tomato plants I couldn't fit in the greenhouse so I took a punt and put them outside. They have fruits - fingers crossed for some sunshine to ripen them. On the down side lots of my veg has mildew due to the damp weather. Courgettes always look a bit sad towards the fruiting part of their cycle but the courgettes keep on coming...of course they do!

We are onto Autumn Bliss raspberries now. I highly recommend this variety, it is prolific and the fruits are fabulous to eat or freeze.

In other areas of the garden I have some new favourites. These Asters are showing their pink petals which are brightening up the front of my studio. I was given the seeds by my aunt and I am glad I spent the time pricking them out.

To complete today's garden tour lets move the front of the house. The hot bed is still looking good and the grasses are doing quite a bit of the heavy lifting here.

I have started a gravel garden around the edge of the main bed. I don't want to do lots of watering especially if the weather is going to be so erratic - I thought I would choose plants that don't need watering. It looks a bit bleak so far but as the plants spread, seed themselves and naturalise I think it will start to frame the border nicely. They need watering at the moment to establish root growth but by next year I should be able to let them do their thing.

Keeping the bed hot and fiery are the rudbeckia and a second flush of flowers on my golden celebration rose.

On the wider scale of being a small holder, Bloke has cut his hay but he is nervous. The forecast continues to warn of showers and that is no good for drying hay. Hey ho!

That was more than I thought! Hope you are enjoying the garden, maybe eating the fruits of your labour or just sitting a while with a cuppa in your favourite space.

 

Jo xxxx