Spring Sensations and a Sweet Treat

March is a month of Spring joy, weather changes and for us, our wedding anniversary. Married for sixty-one years!

We usually buy something for the garden to mark the occasion. This time we’ve had two beautiful hanging baskets full of bright little flowers.

Such a busy time in the garden! I’ve started sowing seeds cautiously because nights are still very cold. Although temperatures are high inside the greenhouse and tunnels during the day it’s easy to forget that they plummet at night.

So, I’ve sown and germinated “Little Gem” lettuce in the greenhouse. These are hardy. I’ve sown carrots and kohl rabi in one of the tunnels and peas in the other one. The pea seeds, “Hurst Green Shaft”, are years old so it’s a bit risky. They might not germinate. However, pea seeds can last for years so I thought I’d try them. Broad beans are just beginning to peep through the seed compost.

I have mentioned before that I make my own compost. I haven’t bought any for years. For seeds I mix two parts of homemade leafmould and one part of homemade compost. If it’s a bit rough I riddle it to remove bits of hard material but I’m not too fussy about it. For potting, I mix two parts of compost with one of leafmould. Things grow well and it costs nothing. Also means I’m not collecting plastic bags.

The frogs have been busy but frogspawn has only just appeared. Snails and slugs are crawling out again and eggshells are appearing. A few cunningly disguised caterpillars are about as well and easily spotted ladybirds are everywhere.

Sometimes it’s not a bad thing to be a bit untidy in the garden. What we often regard as waste nature finds a use for. I found a lovely bee was resting peacefully on a Rudbeckia seed head I hadn’t cut down.

I had a pot of lovely little tulips and violas which were a glorious sight a few days ago. Here’s what they looked like. Sadly, strong wind and heavy rain have left them bedraggled and looking quite miserable since then.

Lovely Spring colours are lighting up the garden. The hyacinths are sensational and the fragrance is so pleasing as it wafts around. I have two patches of corydalis beneath the fruit trees showing off their pink flowers and the yellow of daffodils can’t be matched.

I found two tiny toadstools in a pot. So lovely. Some gardeners are a bit worried when they find fungi in the garden but they’re an essential part of the ecosystem and do no harm. I’m fascinated by them.

I’m always so glad I went to the trouble of preparing and freezing lots of strawberries in the summer. Gardeners often say strawberry plants should be replaced every three years but mine are several years old and produce kilos of fruit. Delicious fresh but also lovely in winter, thawed and stewed gently with a little sugar. Fabulous warm with ice-cream or cold with Greek yoghurt.

Something else I froze a few months ago was my courgette and ginger loaf. It was just like fresh when I thawed it. A really nice moist and sweet treat served sliced with a spread of butter. I thought up this recipe when I had courgettes in the garden but they’re available from the supermarket all year round. It’s not in my Earthy Homemaker’s Cookbook so I’ll explain it here.

Courgette and Ginger Loaf
You will need a loaf tin and I used a cake tin liner to make it easy to turn out.
1 small Courgette, approx. 150g
2 Large Eggs
100g Caster Sugar
135g Self-raising Flour
1 heaped teaspoon Baking Powder
15g Bran
100g Sunflower Oil
2 lumps Stem Ginger
1 tablespoon Ginger Syrup from the jar

Grate the courgette, chop ginger into small pieces. 
Grease the tin if not using a liner.
Heat the oven to 180C/160C for fan oven.
Put all ingredients into the mixing bowl and beat well.
Spread in tin.
Bake for 35 minutes.

Check with a skewer to the centre. If it comes out cleanly it's done.
Worth doubling up the recipe and freezing one for later. Keeps very well.

With you again in a couple of weeks time. Enjoy the lengthening days and sunny spells, the daffodils and bursting buds. Bye for now.