Early Flowers and Parsnip Wine

I’m hoping this spell of good weather will last. The garden is looking better by the day but Winter has a nasty way of surprising us at times like these. February is not Spring, although we all like to believe it is. Grateful though for every opportunity to admire the few flowers daring to brave the cold nights and shine in the daylight.

The snowdrops are a fine show right now and the early crocuses are very pretty.

I planted primulas to give a cheerful greeting by the front door. Their leaves have suffered because of the cold but the flowers are just beginning to open and will be lovely in a week or so.

The hellebores continue to put on a splendid show. I planted a very dark one a few years ago and it’s been very slow to flower. At last it has produced one sophisticated bloom, almost black and very lovely. Not fully open yet but here’s a glimpse to be going on with,

Others are luscious shades of pink and white, some with double petals and fascinating centres.

I bought a collection of mail-order hellebores a few years ago. When they arrived I was dismayed to see the tiniest of plants. I potted them and kept them in the greenhouse for a year. Planted in the garden, they grew slowly and have never made big plants. They produce very few flowers. In contrast, when I’ve bought well-established plants from our local nursery they have flourished and produced abundant flowers. So, my conclusion is not to buy mail-order hellebores. Pretty they may be, but only two or three flowers don’t give enough satisfaction.

I find herbs are very good plants. Often they’re regarded as just useful for cooking but many of them are beautiful too. The well known ones like rosemary and marjoram are evergreen and have lovely flowers. My prostrate rosemary, which splays on the ground in a pleasing way, has delicate blue flowers at the moment. Sage makes a woody shrub which looks good even in Winter.

Indoors, I’ve been waiting for my amaryllis to bloom. It has grown an enormously tall stem and I wondered if it would actually produce a flower. I’m pleased to see a few pretty petals emerging at last. In a few days it will be lovely. I’ll put another photo on when it’s fully formed.

I had to use the last of my stored cooking apples. A rat had chewed through the floor of the shed and everything was a mess! Only a few apples were spared but I didn’t want to waste them. I think in future I won’t store them like that, although I have done for many years. I will freeze them as stewed apples and lots of cakes.

After a good clean up and peeling I used the last precious few to make my apple and cinnamon squares. A firm favourite of ours. The recipe is in my “Earthy Homemaker’s Cookbook”. Very easy to make and absolutely delicious. If you’ve tried the recipe, here’s a tip. One day when I forgot to sprinkle sugar over the apples before covering them with the cake mixture, in desperation I sprinkled the sugar mixed with cinnamon on top of the cake mixture before putting it into the oven. To my relief and surprise it made a delicious, crispy topping. Now, I always make them like this. They also make a lovely pudding with some Greek yoghurt or ice-cream. We love them and I hope you will too. You’ll find my cookbook with this link:

https://geni.us/eANQu

Regular readers might remember that I make wine. Nowadays I just make parsnip but I tried many different kinds in the past. Parsnip is a really good, warming, Winter wine. Just a hint of sweetness and leaves a gentle glow in the chest as it goes down. It’s a pleasure to make and a joy to drink. It’s time to rack off my last batch.

When it was made and put into the demijohn to ferment it was very cloudy.

Now, after a few months, it’s clear and ready to be racked off the yeast into a fresh demijohn to mature for a while in a cool, dark place.

There is absolutely no need to add chemicals to home-made wine to make it clear. If you’re keen to have a go, my recipe and full instructions are in my cookbook. See my link above for details.

Last week I talked about my liking of studio pottery and showed a few from my collection. I had a lovely response. Obviously, there are like-minded readers out there. Thank you to everyone who commented. It’s always appreciated and good to know I’m not posting in vain.

With you again next week. Wait patiently for Spring and enjoy the early flowers in the meantime. Bye for now.