“Mad as a March Hare”! That’s me now that Spring is on the way. The month has begun with glorious sunshine and flowers are colouring the stirring soil. What a lovely time of year. So welcome after the dreary cold of Winter and filling me with inspiration.
I sowed my first seeds of the season in one of the polytunnels. “Little Gem” lettuce, “Purple Vienna” kohl rabi, “Sugar Ann” mangetout and “Berlicum” carrots. The soil is fairly warm so these hardy vegetables should germinate but perhaps a bit slowly. Patience is a virtue, they say!
Our little orchard is a picture with the snowdrops, hellebores, and crocuses.
New pleasures surprise me every day. The satin petals of purple crocuses scattered around the garden are unfolding in the warmth of the sun. White and purple bi-coloured ones look pretty in a pot and the lovely pink flowers of cyclamen coum mingle pleasingly among the snowdrops.
The hellebores are magnificent with abundant flowers and glowing colours. There are so many lovely variations of petal shapes and centres.
Lonicera fragrantissima has, as the name suggests, delightfully scented flowers. The fragrance fills the garden. Another shrub, whose name I’ve forgotten, has pretty pink berries and one of my viburnams is just beginning to flower.
I’ve spent a few hours in the sun over the last few days picking up dead stems and debris from the borders. I haven’t noticed any disturbed wildlife so I think it’s time to do this now. I have a problem with moss because parts of the garden are in shade. It seems to like our light sandy soil. I don’t worry too much about it but it can be a bit of a nuisance in places. I can manage to scrape it off to an acceptable level.
I planted some Alstromeria last summer. I bought two lovely established plants from our local nursery and they flowered profusely during August and September. They have fleshy stems so I was worried that they wouldn’t be hardy enough to survive the winter. I was delighted to find new shoots coming up when I cleared away the dead foliage. I’m hoping for these blooms again in a few months time.
The frogs are not active yet in the pond but surely any day now the frogspawn will surprise me. Our robin has found a mate and they were together feeding from the fatballs today. I captured a photo of one through the window.
Such welcome visitors, absolutely beautiful, and they eat many of the garden pests. Constantly singing, they can often be heard even in the night. The robin is probably the most recognised of our British birds.
A few primulas have sent up their glowing flowers and fresh green leaves.
Indoors, life goes on despite the temptations of the garden! My freezer supply of cakes was a bit low so I made my super-quick brownies. These are simple to make and take only about twenty minutes to cook. They’re moist and deliciously chocolatey. My recipe is in my Earthy Homemaker’s Cookbook for those who have it but I’ll give the recipe again here for anyone who hasn’t.
Super-Quick Brownies
Use a good cocoa for these, not drinking chocolate. I use Green and Black's for its rich chocolate taste. I use oat milk for my baking but most people will use dairy. Either is fine.
Grease a large tin. I use a roasting tin, 30 x 25cm(12 x 10inches)
4 large Eggs
200g Caster Sugar
200g Self-raising Flour
2 heaped teaspoons Baking Powder
4 heaped tablespoons Cocoa Powder
4 tablespoons Milk
200g Sunflower Oil
Heat oven to 180C/160C for fan oven.
Put all ingredients into a bowl and mix thoroughly with an electric mixer or in a food processor.
Put mixture into the greased tin.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
Press centre gently. If it springs back it's cooked.
Allow to cool then cut into squares. Lift out with a palette knife. They freeze well if not all needed at once.
Good as they are but if you like an even sweeter treat try one of these.
Spread with jam or marmalade. Cherry jam is good for a Black Forest effect.
Slice and fill with buttercream.
Spread glace icing on top. Add nuts or glace cherries.
I keep intending to paint a picture but seem to have lost momentum. I used to paint regularly but somehow I’ve lapsed into a lazy spell. The house is fit to burst with my paintings, so perhaps it’s just as well. Here’s an old one with a breath of Spring. Painted with gouache from a vase of flowers.
With you again in a couple of weeks. I hope you enjoy the brownies and the sun shines on you. Bye for now.
Living a contented creative life. 