Basil, Butterflies and Summer Nights

Summer is slipping into August. The last month of the summer season is here but we still have long sunny days and light nights. Vegetables are at their best, the apples are fat and juicy and the pears promise delicious flavours in the weeks ahead.

We’ve had some extreme temperatures this year and it has been very challenging. Despite our efforts the garden has suffered. Some of the time I feel quite sad to see the damage but then I remember that a garden is forever changing. Renewal will certainly happen and I must embrace it. I wrote a short poem about the ups and downs of Summer.

Summer Moods

Nights of stifling stillness
When the cool dawn can't come too soon
Rob us of repose and solace
Beneath the glowing moon.
Summer has its blessings
And for that we should be grateful
But sleep derived with tired eyes
It's best described as hateful!
At last the weather breaks,
Fresh breezes lift our sullen mood
And suddenly the sunlight pleases.
To complain of it seems rude!

Because of our age and the climate changes making gardening more difficult for us I’ve decided that one of the vegetable beds should be converted. It never did well and needed constant attention. Perhaps a selection of hardy perennials and shrubs will be easier to maintain and provide eye appeal.

I’ve started to plant lovely things from a local nursery. More to do but it’s taking shape. Here are a few lovely items I bought to bring interest and colour to the bed.

Late summer flowers are blooming a little earlier than usual. Rudbeckias and Japanese Anemones usually blossom in late August but mine are beginning now.

I love Hollyhocks but haven’t had much success growing them. I have only a single plant but it’s very beautiful with burgundy double flowers.

I thought I’d lost a pretty perennial pea during some over enthusiastic weeding but it has sent up a new shoot with delicate pink blossom. Very happy to see it.

When I pass the lavender the scent is wonderfully heady and wafts in a delightful way along the path. It’s English lavender of some kind but I don’t know the variety. Its pale mauve flowers are deliciously aromatic and the plant stands up well. I have a small, darker one which lies on the paving but I feel that has its own pleasant effect.

A few other pretty blooms are scattered here and there. A rose or two, Phlox, Liatris and Petunias.

In the polytunnels the vegetables have thrived in the heat. As long as they have plenty of water they don’t mind high temperatures, even though we keep the doors shut to keep out pests. The French beans are yielding tasty, tender yellow pods. These are a variety called “Voltage”, a favourite of mine. They freeze well. I “blanche” them for a couple of minutes in boiling water and cool them quickly. Then I spread them separately on a baking sheet and place them in the freezer. When they’re frozen I scrape them into a container. This open freezing stops them from forming a solid lump and I can sprinkle out as few or as many as I need.

Months ago I sowed seeds for “All the Year Round” cauliflowers but they didn’t germinate well. I had only one small seedling. I planted and forgot about it in the tunnel. I didn’t do anything except to keep it watered and once I gave it a liquid seaweed feed. I was astonished to see a tiny white head begin to grow. Finally it produced a lovely harvest which provided two meals.

My cabbages have also done well this year. When I harvest them I leave a stump and some outer leaves. Then new heads form. Sometimes one but often three smaller ones grow. It extends the season and saves space. The last one was beginning to split, a sign that it was becoming too mature so I had to use it right away.

The squashes growing in the top of a compost bin are thriving. They enjoy the warmth and light on their leaves as they dangle over the sides of the bin. Some gardeners recommend removing leaves to ripen the squashes but in fact it’s better not to do that. The leaves are essential to feed the plant. My best squashes are behind the leaves so they’re not suffering in any way. The flowers are very beautiful.

I grow basil in the greenhouse in Summer and make pesto to freeze for winter meals. I have talked about my version of pesto before but I think it’s worth mentioning again.

When I first tasted pesto from a supermarket jar I thought it was horrible! However, I like basil and when I began to grow it I thought perhaps I’d try to make my own. If, like me, you don’t like pine nuts you might like my recipe using cashew nuts. I also prefer to use Lancashire cheese instead of Parmesan. Parmesan is good but we have delicious British cheeses which work very well and to my mind taste better with the basil, although I wouldn’t use Cheddar because it’s too greasy.

I grind the nuts finely in my food processor, add basil leaves, crushed garlic and Lancashire cheese. Then I whizz them to a fine consistency and drizzle in some olive oil until a soft spreading texture is formed. It’s delicious and freezes perfectly. Good on pasta, a baked potato or crackers.

Full instructions are in my Earthy Homemaker’s Cookbook, which I published after requests from my readers. Here’s the link if you’d like to take a look.

https://geni.us/eANQu

Butterflies have been a welcome sight since the temperature climbed. They seem to enjoy the bright sunlight. Red Admirals, Holly Blues and Gatekeepers are flitting about among the flowers.

Sadly though they do sometimes fly into the greenhouse and can’t find their way out. A beautiful Cabbage White was lying lifeless on the greenhouse floor. I took a photo.

I love to see frogs as they peep out from the pond and occasionally startle me as I move around the garden. Two leapt out when I went to the tap the other day. I had my camera and took a shot.

Since I started my blog five years ago my health has declined so I’m not as active as I was. I might not have enough interesting activities to share with you but my philosophy is still the same. My message has always been and continues to be that the simple things in life can be the most satisfying and contribute to happiness. To be creative is life-enhancing and makes us resourceful in every way.

With this in mind I have always tried to be innovative, whether it’s in my gardening methods, cooking, baking or crafts like sewing, knitting, photography or painting. Things don’t need to be sophisticated or complicated to achieve their goal. Neither do they need to be expensive. I hope this has been obvious in my blog posts over the years.

With you again in a couple of weeks. Enjoy the last official month of Summer with all it has to offer. Bye for now.