The Saturday Snap: Wandering Around

Due to the rain, I was back indoors in time for Gardener's World yesterday evening. I don't watch it regularly but last night's was jolly good with Monty in his herb bed, dispensing good advice about which herbs will happily grow together, i.e. get the soil type right, one size does not fit all. I particularly liked how to tell the difference between french and russian tarragon, especially as I've just bought a tiny (labelled-as-french) tarragon plant. Carol Klein pottered around her beautiful garden at Glebe Cottage, gathering seed from Hellebores and taking softwood cuttings from a Black Elder (Sambucus nigra) shrub and honeysuckle. (I didn't know you could do that with hellebores.)  Catch up with it on BBC iplayer.

I've just been outside to see if I could find any seed to gather from the hellebores in the Secret Garden below my windows but, sadly, the rain has made the flowers mushy and all the seeds have already dropped. I'm probably a week too late but I'd hoped to photograph the seeds still attached to the flowers for today's Snap.

Wandering further along the path, some beautiful Hydrangea heads caught my eye, still glistening with the drops of night-time rain showers;  as I rounded into the veg patch, the sun came out from behind a cloud and, although there was a little breeze, I managed to photograph red orach, a yellow ladybird, the unopened centre of a sunflower and honeysuckle rambling through ivy.  All together a very satisfying start to the day but now comes the choice:  which photo to pick for the Saturday Snap?? I think it has to be

The photo feels so bright and sunny even though there are currently black clouds looming, it's going to be one of my favourites and looks lovely as a desktop background!  If you want to see the others, go to my Flickr page (link on the right).  I'm not sure how this works, but I think you can also download the photo to your own desktop (if you want).

Tomorrow's forecast is for rain ALL DAY so I'm off to put out tubs and containers to catch the water (good for the blueberries) and to get some more seeds sown.  I seem to remember parsley doing particularly well a couple of years ago, sown just before a downpour.

Good gardening everyone!  Caro xx

P.S.  If anyone would like to join me in the Saturday Snap, please leave a link in the comments box.  I'd love to see your photos! xx

Cherriettes of Fire

Meet my new tomato ...

I'd like to say that this is all my own work but that would be telling porkies.  After several attempts I've thrown in the towel with my own efforts and resorted to buying in a few plants.  After no less than three attempts at growing a bush tomato from seed, I have been forced to admit defeat.  Oh the seeds germinated alright and grew strong and upright until the tiny first proper leaves appeared.  The next morning, just a stem.  Or a half eaten leaf.  I persevered and nurtured but night after night mysterious munchings carried on until there were only stems.  I tried again - twice. But this is the current state of my third attempt:

Really just too frustrating!  I've since discovered from Emma Cooper's blog that this could be the work of Fungus Gnats - those irritating little flies that hop swiftly around when you water indoor plants. Their eggs hatch just under the soil and the maggoty larvae munch through roots or whatever vegetation is available. A suggested solution is to let the soil dry out between waterings, a better one is apparently yellow sticky traps. (I might check that one out!)

So, during a visit to a well-known home'n'garden centre to pick up more potting soil, I found myself examining the labels in the tomato section ... and picking up a couple of sturdy, leafy plants to bring home.  (Nice to see that said emporium has embraced Heritage toms.) I bought rescued a vine tomato called Auriga (looking very abandoned and sorry for itself) and another Heritage tom "Tornado" - although whether I'm the best person to nurture these plants, based on previous form, remains to be seen!

But how could I resist a tomato that was called "Cherriettes of Fire"?  I've had the soundtrack to that movie running through my head ever since. It's not a heritage variety but given the abundant flowers already forming, at last I have hopes of a tomato crop this summer.  (Fingers crossed against blight, that is!)

The Saturday Snap: Secret Garden

This last week I went to London Zoo in Regents Park.  Have you been to this zoo recently?  It's changed a lot (for the better) since I was last there - unsurprisingly, as it's been quite a while since my last visit. (We're talking years, not months, here.)  I used to go and sketch there while my (then) baby son slept in his buggy (or I'd practise speed sketching while he watched the animals as a toddler). It used to feel very wrong and very grey, with all the compounds made of brutal concrete and very little vegetation. I felt so sorry for the animals, cooped up in that grey world but still able to see the park beyond the fences, so close but so far. So it was a very lovely surprise to rediscover the zoo as a beautifully lush and verdant space with lakes, shrubs, planting and grass at every turn - so much so that it was sometimes hard to spot the animals!   Of course, I completely forgot that it was half-term as well as the London tourist season and therefore the zoo became very crowded - but not before I'd happened upon an oasis of calm in the children's section. Not only, wow!, a giant 4 foot high flowerpot in the entrance but written on it a verse which summed up my thoughts on why I garden.  So this week's Saturday Snap (and verse) is

The Secret Garden

The secret garden is a place

Where time moves at a slower pace.

Flowers sway, Leaves rustle,

Away from all the noise and bustle.

Ah, yes, my sentiments exactly. 

The Saturday Snap

Recycling. Save the Planet, blah, blah. Everyone's getting the idea nowadays, aren't they?  But instead of just chucking your rubbish out into specific bags or bins, or throwing clutter out to the charity shops, how about a bit of genuine creative UP-cycling - or is it re-using?  Gardeners have been doing this for years, saving handy bits of wood, mesh, etc.  So when I saw this on a recent visit to the City Farm, I had a quiet chuckle to myself.  Today's (two for the price of one) Saturday Snap/s are ...

Raised Beds!

Timber framed with bedknob?
or, below, metal bedhead with knobs?

Have a jolly gardening weekend everyone!

Berry berry rainy

We're having typical Wimbledon weather in London this week - a few weeks early!

Just two days ago, on a warm sunny evening, I was invited to raid my friend's abundant strawberry patch and returned home with the above tray and thoughts of Eton Mess, strawberries and cream, strawberries in basil sugar, strawberries drizzled with balsamic then dipped in crème fraiche ... choices, choices!  I stepped onto the balcony the following day in hot sunshine to prepare the culinary feast.

Yesterday was a somewhat different story: while stepping out over Hampstead Heath, I got caught in ... yes, at last! ... rain showers.  As I whizzed homewards, getting absolutely drenched, I kept repeating "think of the veg, think of the veg".  It made the soaking so much more comforting.

So much exciting watery goodness after weeks of drought prompted thoughts of an immediate post yesterday but I was thwarted as my son has the laptop for his GCSE revision these days. (I'm availing myself during his Chemistry exam.)  Having dried off, I stayed firmly indoors in the afternoon which was just as well because it monsooned non-stop for most of the afternoon:

I watched raindrops gathering on the windows

and as it eased off, I waded out on to the balcony to photograph the coriander:

Wonderful to have a real drenching for all the veg and flowers but, having put out my beans and sweet corn the night before, I wish it hadn't been quite so blustery!  

See you tomorrow for the Saturday Snap!

The Sunday Saturday Snap

Oh dear, this is not getting off to a good start, is it?  The Saturday Snap appearing on Sunday ...  Not that I've been slacking off, no no. I have been completely distracted by the balcony pigeons breaking through the defences and sitting on my bean and sweet corn plants (supposed to be planted out this weekend). Heartbreaking.  I have therefore been up a ladder with my drill trying again to close the gaps and Keep.Them.Out!

Onto finer things...  The Saturday Snap this week is continuing with the herb theme:

Sages are flowering everywhere at the moment, on my balcony, on the allotment, in the Veg Patch.  The flowers are so beautiful, how could I resist a quick snap? There's a lot more to sage than meets the eye, it being both a culinary and medicinal herb and greatly attractive to bees. Most people will know of common Sage (salvia officinalis) but there are many interesting varieties, pineapple sage and blackcurrant sage (with beautiful red flowers) to name but two. And now, a few facts:

• Sage is an evergreen herb which you can harvest throughout the year as needed. Leaves picked in the spring (before flowering) have a mild, warm flavour; after flowering the flavour is stronger and more tannin. 
• Buy any pot of sage in the spring, dig a hole slightly larger than the pot (best in a sunny spot outdoors), firm in and water. Very easy to maintain, it will thrive in either ground or container.
• Container grown sage should be planted in a free-draining loam-based soil in a pot with plenty of room, such as a tall 'long tom' pot.
• Sage will need watering in very dry weather but does not like being too wet in the winter so don't stand on a saucer if container grown.
• Sage grows quickly and will get big within one season (given enough root room) but can be pruned back in the Spring if it gets too straggly. Don't prune in the Autumn as it may not recover from frost damage.
• Despite pruning, sage can get very woody so replace every five years.
• Beware! over use of Sage can have potentially toxic effects.

And, for my sister, Using Sage:

• Traditionally used with chicken (think sage and onion stuffing), this herb also works well when cooked with potatoes, onions or squashes, such as pumpkin. I've also read that it goes very well when cooked with liver but, as I don't like liver, I'll leave that for those that do!
• Sage butter is made by frying the leaves until crisp in either melted butter or a blend of butter and olive oil and this sauce can be used over gnocchi or ravioli stuffed with squash.
• Medicinally, sage has antiseptic properties and is used to relieve sore throats and colds. Make a sage tea by infusing one or two leaves in a flask of hot water, strain and add some honey or lemon juice (to make it more palatable!).
• Jekka McVicar, in her New Book of Herbs, advises that sage is known to be astringent, antiseptic, antispasmodic and a systemic antibiotic.  As well as being used to treat sore throats, it is also used for poor digestion, hormonal problems and to stimulate the brain!  
• Jekka McV also writes that Sage arrests the ageing process - but, NB the last point in sage facts, above! 

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Credit where it's due: a lot of these facts have been gleaned from one of my favourite books Grow Your Own Herbs in Pots, written by Debbie Schneebeli Morrell, a friend from York Rise (the street, not the flats) and from a little book I've just reviewed: Grow Your Food: A Guide for Complete Beginners. My review is in the post before this, also quickly found here.

Perplexed by Potatoes? How to Grow Your Food

... A Guide for Complete Beginners by Jon Clift and Amanda Cuthbert.  This is a(nother) new book aimed at novice food-growing gardeners and, after reviewing it, I give this book 9½ out of 10.

I love surprise packages and this little book - just 16cm square - arrived during the week from Green Books, an independent publisher in Devon. Green Books say it will be published this week, on 26th May, although Amazon apparently have had it since 7th April this year!

First impressions:  Lovely size and feel. Clear layout, distinct headings, plenty of photos for each plant, drawings where needed, e.g pinching out tomato side-shoots. It's a soft-back book, about the thickness of a monthly magazine, so (and I apologise if this seems sacrilegious treatment of a new book) it's tempting to roll it up and stuff it in a back pocket where it will happily sit until needed. As a gardener who stuffs everything in my pockets, this is a plus. I also like the matt feel of the pages which are printed on recycled paper.

So far, so promising.  The main sections are The Basics, then Easy-to-Grow Veg, E2G Fruit and E2G Herbs, arranged alphabetically within their chapters.  Each plant has a symbol showing at a glance where/how it can be grown (useful for small space or container growers), excellent illustrative photos and clear information about what to do. Just 6 headings contain all you need to know answers:  Plant or seed? Planting/Sowing, How do *** grow? Looking after your ***, Harvesting, Now What?  For me, this is the winner. The information is straightforward, concise, to the point and very easy to understand. I've even picked up a tip or two myself and found myself wishing I'd had this book three years ago when I started the Veg Patch.

The downside:  There is no index, despite the pages being numbered. This is easily overcome with a few post-it type markers relating to the veg you're planting, although I couldn't find Spinach until I happened on Perpetual spinach! I'm also curious as to the choices of plants that were selected for the book;  parsnips and turnips but no pumpkins and squashes?  Broccoli but no cauliflower or brussels? The fruit section has nothing on strawberries which, in my view are easy to grow, a good investment (if you're shown how to peg out runners) and expensive to buy in the shops even at the height of the season.  Melon (from seed) would have been a nice addition, too. The herb section is very limited - no coriander, no chives, no oregano.  Sure, rosemary and sage are easy to grow but how often are they used by the average cook? (This is, after all, a book about growing food and I'd have thought that coriander and chives are frequently used by cooks, along with parsley and basil (featured). Any tips on the uses of various herbs would also have been a big plus point. And what about edible flowers?  Many people still want a pretty garden, albeit a useful one.  I think that was the appeal of Alys Fowler's garden, the randomness of finding lettuce among the marigolds and so forth.

And so, to summarise:  Bearing in mind this is a book for novice food growers, it should definitely take it's place as essential early reading.  (I wish I'd had the section on potatoes when I first grew them, as every gardener I asked had a different piece of advice about planting!) What I love about it is the accessibility; when I started growing veg, I wanted to get straight out into the garden, not be sitting indoors reading about it.  This book allows that possibility, even including three short chapters covering Before You Start, Useful Gardening Terms (so you don't feel like an idiot) and Common Problems.

Forget Dr Hessayon (for now), this book contains excellent clear advice, does not patronise the newbie gardener and I believe (and hope!) it will give beginners the confidence to get started (whether from seed or plant), to succeed and therefore keep going and to explore other varieties in the future.  I imagine the book will get scruffy pretty quickly, having a soft cover, but it's a reference book that belongs in the tool bag or greenhouse, as well as on a bookshelf.

I say again:   9½ out of 10. 

(And a bargain at only £6.95 cover price!)

Sold via Amazon or Green Books

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And the tip I picked up?  I didn't know that basil will grow to 50 cm if you keep pinching off the growing tips ... or that outdoor grown basil (in a warm, sheltered spot) can be cut down to soil level before the first frosts, transplanted and brought indoors where it will throw up new shoots for winter eating.  Keep pinching off those growing tips though, else it will flower and become non-productive.