Glowing Colours, New Beginnings and Cheese Scones.

It’s the Vernal Equinox this week! The days and nights will be of equal length. The garden is responding to the extra light and so am I. Every sunny day is a bonus to be treasured and filled with garden activities.

There are some beauties filling out the borders. I’m urging them on, greedy for more flowers, but patience is a virtue which every gardener learns.

The crocuses are fabulous, the cyclamen are still putting on a show and the primulas and anemones are glowing with vibrant colours.

I have only a few daffodils. Many of them forget to flower after a year or two in my light, sandy soil, but I have a few new ones to bloom a bit later.

The shrubs are budding and showing promise for Spring. The Mahonia though is flowering now. A welcome evergreen bush which thrives in Winter. Its glossy, spiky leaves and sulphur yellow blossom look lovely during these early days.

All the seeds I put into the tunnels have germinated and tiny fresh shoots are growing. Mang-tout pea “Sugar Ann”, “Little Gem” lettuce, “James Scarlet” carrots, mustard leaves and kohl rabi are promising some tasty meals in a few weeks time.

Next I want to sow parsnips. I love “Tender and True” parsnips, a sweet variety which grow well in the polytunnel. They don’t mind the intense heat during Summer as long as they’re watered and they stay tender for a long time after Christmas.

Leeks are also vegetables I love to have in Winter. Unfortunately, I’ve had my crop wiped out a couple of times with a pest called Allium Leaf Miner. This is a tiny fly which lays eggs on the leaves, then the grubs which grow from the eggs tunnel into the leeks and destroy them. The only remedy is to keep them closely covered with very fine mesh at all times to prevent the flies from finding them. It also affects other alliums like garlic and onions. Gardening isn’t always easy!

My tiny tomato seedlings have developed their first true leaves and are doing well on the windowsill.

I’ve sown two trays of Cosmos flower seeds in the greenhouse. One tray has a pink variety tinged with a darker edge, called “Picotee” and the other has one called “Dazzler” which is a deep pink or crimson. Should be fabulous!

I saw Monty Don on “Gardener’s World” using a tamper to gently press the seeds onto the soil. I said to my husband that I could do with one of those. The next day he made me one. Very resourcefully, he made it from an old breadboard which I’d discarded. Needless to say, I’m delighted.

Back indoors, I’ve been experimenting again with my airfryer. I saw a recipe on Facebook for cheese scones cooked in one and I had a bit of cheese which needed using up. My airfryer is only tiny but I thought it would manage the quantity. As usual, I changed a couple of things in the recipe to make it easier, to suit my taste and to make it my own version.

I was pleased with the result. Slightly moist in the middle, crispy and savoury on the outside and very simple to make. Good with apple slices and sauerkraut. Here is my recipe, if you’d like to try it.

Airfryer-Baked Cheese Scones
Makes four.

1 cup Self-raising Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
half a teaspoon salt
half a cup of grated Cheddar Cheese. Approx 50g
2 tablespoons Sunflower Oil
two thirds of a cup of Milk (I used Oatly)

Have a square of lightly oiled foil ready.
Put ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
Separate the mixture into four equal quantities and place them on the foil, slightly apart.
I removed the tray from the bottom of the airfryer and baked on the bottom of the basket.
Preheat the airfryer on the Bake setting, for 180C, and set the time for six minutes.
When the temperature is reached, carefully drop the foil and scones into place. 
Cook for six minutes.
Turn the scones over and cook again for another six minutes.

Good warm or cold.
A silicone spatula is useful for turning them over. Try to make them evenly sized. My last one was bigger and had to be cooked for another minute. Mine looked a bit lumpy but tasted delicious.

These made a nice change from sandwiches and are a good way of using up a small lump of cheese. I also tried them with Lancashire cheese but I think the texture of cheddar was better suited and had a stronger flavour. I will experiment more with them. Might be good to add snipped herbs, crushed garlic or bits of tomato.

I hope you have plenty of sunshine, garden pleasures and tasty cooking. Bye for now, with you again next week.