Living a contented creative life.

September already. A mellow month full of fruity scents and a feeling of change in the air.

The aroma of apples is wonderful when they’re gathered in the shed. The perfume is heady as you open the door and the delicious smell fills your nose. I’ve already used windfalls in my apple and cinnamon squares and chutney, and I’ve stewed and frozen some for a rainy day. Now the rest of the crop are ready for harvesting. Some have been picked and others will be done soon.

The runner beans are still generously growing. I prefer to eat them very small while they’re tender but when they grow too big I cook the kidney beans from inside the pods. These are nutritious and flavourful. They lose their lovely pink colour in the pan but still make a tasty meal.

I have some new French beans coming along as well. I haven’t tried this variety before. Not sure what they will be like but the plants look healthy and the little pods are just beginning to poke out.

I was a bit slow to resow the “Little Gem” lettuces so there’s been a gap but I have a few small ones growing now. The same with radishes but they grow rapidly and I should be able to produce some more before the weather turns cold. I love “French Breakfast”. So sweet and tender! The spring onions have grown well and keep providing a juicy kick to a sandwich.

I have a few peas growing. The flowers are beginning to fade and leave behind their little pods. I had the seeds from the Heritage Seed Library at Garden Organic and I think they’re called “Witham”. Not a name I know but nothing ventured, nothing gained!

Carrots have been wonderful. They’re protected in the polytunnels from the devastating carrot fly. I sow every few weeks so the supply is ongoing. I never grow a big crop which needs to be harvested all at once. Small amounts sown every few weeks keep me supplied with enough vegetables for our needs and they’re always fresh. Parsnips will be ready soon but I leave them until it’s frosty. Apparently it improves their flavour although I’m not sure if that’s really true. I would need to compare.

Wild fruits grow here and there in the garden. They look very decorative although they’re essentially weeds. The wild strawberries are nice to eat but you need a lot to gain a helping of them so I leave them for the blackbirds and mice. Blackberries are a nuisance with their thorns and their spreading habit but I must admit they look lovely and they feed the creatures who live in the garden.

September flowers are singing out for attention with their bright colours.

Indoors I’ve not been as busy as usual. The cucumbers and courgettes haven’t produced enough to make a lot of pickles. I was also hoping to preserve some tomatoes but the crop hasn’t been substantial. Enough for plenty of good meals but not a surplus. By October I usually have a satisfying cupboard full of preserves but less of everything this year. That’s the way with a garden. Weather, pests and the gardener’s own efforts make it a chancy business. Great when it succeeds though.

I hadn’t made a fruit cake for a long time. My own recipe is a favourite with the family and I thought it was about time I got going. I always make two because it’s not worth putting the oven on for a single cake. They freeze well and it’s nice to have something tucked away.

A satisfying cake full of fruit and spices, it also makes a delicious pudding with custard or Greek yoghurt.

Fruit Cake (Makes two)

400g Dates
300g Raisins or Sultanas or a mixture of both
1 Orange
6 large Eggs
250g Muscovado Sugar
540g Self-raising Flour
60g Bran
300g Sunflower Oil
1 heaped teaspoon Cinnamon
1 heaped teaspoon ground Ginger
1 level teaspoon ground Cloves

Stone and chop the dates. Put into a heatproof jug with the raisins and/or sultanas. Pour boiling water about three quarters of the way up the fruit and leave to soak.
Scrub the orange and grate the peel. Add it to the fruit in the jug.
Heat the oven to 180C or 160C fan oven.
Beat the eggs and sugar together. 
Add other ingredients including the slightly cooled fruit and liquid.
Mix thoroughly and put into cake tins. (I use cake liners.)
Bake for 45 minutes.
Test centre with a skewer. If it's sticky put it back for a couple more minutes.
It will look very brown on top but that's alright.
Takes a while to cool on a wire rack.
Freeze one when they're completely cold.

This and other cake recipes, including my apple and cinnamon squares, are in my Earthy Homemaker’s Cookbook. You can find it with this link,

https://geni.us/eANQu

I also have one-pan meals, vegetarian meals, cheese and chutney recipes and plenty of tips to make your cooking easy.

I might decide to write my blog fortnightly instead of every week. A week flies by and although I always have something to say I don’t want readers to grow tired. We all have busy lives. I have some very loyal readers who give me the most lovely compliments but my numbers have fallen considerably over the Summer. I will think about what to do. It’s a lovely hobby and I’ve loved doing it but perhaps it’s time to change my approach.

Bye for now. Enjoy the best of the weather and when it’s wet try my fruit cake recipe for a sweet treat.

Almost the end of August. Making the most of the last Summer days and the benefits of the season.

The rudbeckias are glowing, fuchsias are gracefully showing their frilly petals, the asters are beginning to open their lovely daisy flowers and the veronicas have pretty spikes of pink and mauve.

It’s good to see the wildlife thriving in the garden. Grasshoppers are abundant this year. One obligingly posed for me on the polytunnel door.

I think the bluetits have been busy on the poppy seed heads. Occasionally I see them gripping a stem and pecking holes to reach the seeds. I discovered some seedheads with completely stripped tops. Just delicate skeletons remained where the seed capsules had been. So lovely to see.

The cooking apples are ready for harvesting. Best done on a dry day so that the perfect ones can be stored for winter use. I used to wrap them in newspaper but I discovered it’s easier to spot any spoiled ones if they’re left bare. For years I kept them successfully in our frost-free shed but during the last two winters mice and then rats found them. They managed to get in and caused problems. Fingers crossed for this year! It’s good to have fresh apples to use during the cold months.

The remaining two squashes still growing on the plants had their stems nibbled by snails. The stem needs to be left on for storage so this was a problem. I found two “popsox” and used them to enclose the squashes and their stems. Snugly wrapped but able to expand they should be fine now and will be ready for harvesting soon.

My little bell peppers are red and ready to use. A bit of a funny shape but that doesn’t matter. They’ve been grown naturally and are full of goodness and flavour. The chillies are ready as well. Not very hot but that’s fine for us.

It’s funny how little coincidences happen in life. There is a Facebook group for my old school and people were reminiscing about a sewing project we did in our first year. It was a small felt book made to keep needles in. I knew I had mine but wasn’t sure where. When I decided to photograph some of my boxes for the blog, I opened my old sewing box and there it was. A bit shabby now but it’s sixty-four years old! Not surprising really. Here are my photos of it.

I have several boxes. Some are made of wood, simple classic box-shaped or round and lidded . Others are metal and a bit more elaborate. A few are made of pottery. Some of my boxes were crafted by my husband so have special significance.

Little treasures live in them and it’s lovely to find them again when the boxes are opened.

Interesting bits live in a few. This one has a seahorse skeleton and a shark tooth with some pretty shells.

Another contains a tiny musical movement which plays Brahms lullaby. Reminds me of my sisters singing me to sleep when I was very young.

Pottery ones made by my husband are small but beautiful.

These old and well-loved objects are what make a house a home. They make a certain amount of clutter and housework but I wouldn’t be without them. Every home is unique and reflects the owner’s personality. At least, that’s how it seems to me. I’m a creative type of person so I gather things which are either useful or beautiful. Habits of a lifetime!

That’s all for this week. I hope you enjoy the last few days of Summer and the beginning of September with it’s fruity and earthy fragrances. With you again soon. Bye for now.

Hello everyone. August is galloping by. Won’t be long until the “season of mists and mellow fruitfulness” begins.

As you can see from my apples I already have some mellow fruitfulness. These aren’t very sweet apples but I shall cook them in various ways. My green cooking apples are falling in the wind and will soon be ready for harvesting. I’ve already used plenty for puddings, cakes and chutney. They are so delicious stewed, stuffed, or baked in my apple and cinnamon squares.

Plums are gradually ripening but won’t be available until early October. Looking lovely on the tree with a slight blush of colour. They’ll be deep purple when they’re ready.

End of summer flowers are pleasing with their lovely colours. Cosmos, phlox, Japanese anemones, rudbeckias and a few late roses.

Wild flowers and weeds creep in and give their own beauty to the garden at this time of year.

I thought the squashes were ready early because the plants appeared to be dying. Just three managed to grow. A wet July and the gnawing attentions of mice put paid to several others. Only one seemed to be ripe and it was bigger than the other two. I cut it free from the plant and put it in the greenhouse to harden up the skin for winter storage. The smaller two need a little longer before I cut them off.

Runner beans, true to their name, are running away with me. So generous that I can’t keep picking before they grow too big. It’s not a problem though because when they swell I remove the kidney beans from the pods and cook those. Although the beans lose their beautiful pink colour when they’re cooked they are really tasty and full of goodness.

The tomatoes are ripe. I was hoping to preserve some in kilner jars but I don’t think there will be enough. I needed some for chutney. They have done well without any problems but the crop isn’t huge. They’re big and beautiful, full of juicy flavour.

At the weekend I made my Dark and Sweet Chutney. This will keep for months so I make plenty. It’s my husband’s favourite. I prefer my Courgette Chutney. A lot of chopping of vegetables but otherwise very easy to make. Both recipes are in my Earthy Homemaker’s Cookbook. There’s also my recipe for piccalilli. Here is the link if you’d like to take a look.

https://geni.us/eANQu

If you only want one recipe, let me know and I will see what I can do.

Time to think ahead in the garden, so I’ve sown cauliflowers, winter lettuce , onions and spring Cabbage. The seeds have germinated and are just poking out of the seed compost.

When they’re ready I will put them into plugs until they’re big enough to plant out in the garden or polytunnel. These onions are very hardy so they’ll be fine outdoors. The lettuce will be in the greenhouse and the caulis and Spring cabbages will be snug in the polytunnel. They’ll grow slowly until February when the days lengthen, then they’ll put on a spurt and be useable a few weeks later.

Indoors I’ve finally got round to doing some painting. I finished my little picture of a neighbour’s tiny Pekin cockerel. It’s nice to hear him showing off to his girls. I managed to snap the photo while he was crowing, showing his open beak. It was difficult to capture the beauty of his silvery feathers. I drew the outline with pencil and pen then coloured the details by painting with gouache.

That’s all for this week. With you again soon. Enjoy the summer while it lasts. Bye for now.

I’m taking a break from my blog this week. Hope to be with you again soon.

Whatever happened to our English Summer? I don’t mind some rain but desperate now for a bit more sunshine. Most of the flowers seem to be thriving though. This time last year the phlox had brown crispy leaves but now they’re green and healthy. The cosmos have grown to an enormous height and their lovely flowers glow in the dull light.

Whenever the sun does peep from behind the clouds I walk around the garden and enjoy whatever it has to offer.

The lavender smells wonderful and the bees are ever busy among the scented flowers. It splays over the paving and never looks tidy but I love it so much that it really doesn’t matter.

The red salvia has been a treasure. I planted it about four years ago and its scarlet flowers please me every year. I just give the woody shrub a light prune in Spring after frost has finished and it becomes a beauty. I should take some cuttings to replace it when its lifespan is over.

The campanulas are having a second show. I deadheaded them in July and the stems produced more buds. One of my favourite flowers which self-seed around the garden and please themselves where they’re going to grow. Pleases me too.

Nice little cucumbers are ready most days and my four dwarf bean plants are still producing copious amounts of yellow beans. The chillies are ripening and I’ve picked two. They look almost black before they turn red but once they’re ripe they are a brilliant colour.

The runner beans are growing too fast in the rain. I can’t keep up! I don’t like them too big and I’ve frozen a lot already. The freezer is already bulging. I shall be making chutney soon so I can use some in that. I’m waiting for the courgettes which, sadly, aren’t doing too well. The outdoor ones haven’t grown and something keeps eating the flowers so no fruit can form. The one in the tunnel looks healthy but the small courgettes keep withering. Frustrating. I love courgette pickles and they’re really good in my chutney recipe but things aren’t looking promising yet. I live in hope for some sunshine to buck them up.

I’ve used a few windfall apples. They’re very sour at this stage but have a lovely flavour. I mix them into my bread puddings with plenty of sugar and some sultanas. Delicious and so easy to bake in my airfryer.

The “Roma” tomatoes are almost ready and I’m using the St. Marzano ones. Sweet and juicy. I thought I’d make some tomato and basil scones with my airfryer-baked cheese scone recipe. The cheese ones are very nice but I wanted to experiment with them. I tried it out and was really pleased with the result. Here’s my recipe.

Airfryer-baked Cheese and Tomato Scones
Makes four

1 cup Plain Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
half teaspoon Salt
40g Cheddar Cheese
2 tablespoons Sunflower Oil
half cup of Milk
1 medium or two small Tomatoes
Basil, approx. 3 large leaves 

Grate the cheese. Cut tomato into small pieces. Tear the basil into little bits.
Combine all ingredients.
Mix well with a wooden spoon.
Mixture will be a bit stiff but that's ok.
Grease a doubled piece of foil.
Form the mixture into roughly equal scones and place on greased foil.
Press any exposed tomato into the mixture.
Place in the airfyer.
Set on bake at 170C for 7 minutes.
After 7 minutes carefully turn them over and cook again on the same setting for another 7 minutes.
Good hot or cold.

With all this rain I’ve been thinking about knitting and it reminded me of my vintage pattern books. The older one is from the 1940s and another one is slightly later. They’re absolutely fascinating but I confess I wouldn’t have the patience to make a lot of the patterns. They include delicate lacy full-length night-dresses, bra and pants sets, silk stockings and some crazy hats. Here are some photos I snapped from the books to give you an idea.

How about that hat? Perhaps the style will become popular again. Who knows?

At the back of the books are instructions for “make-do and mend”. How to unravel worn out jumpers and reshape them into something else. I’m not sure most of us would want to do that nowadays but they’re really interesting and practical ideas.

I hope you’re finding lots of ways to beat the rain and looking on the bright side. Bye for now. With you again soon.

August about to begin! How the Summer is flying by but still so much to enjoy. Lovely flowers and delicious food from the garden and warm days when the weather permits.

Here’s a selection of pretty things to see in my garden right now.

I love the little surprises which turn up in a garden, like feathers dropped by the birds. One was lying in the corner of the pond. Bamboo grows by the side of the pond and dry bits fall in constantly. Although these are a nuisance they do look interesting in the water.

Another interesting surprise happens every year. Fungi pop up overnight, all around the garden. I think they’re a bit early this time, probably because the soil is so damp. Some of them look very edible but I wouldn’t dare to eat them. They’re fascinating and I welcome them.

Even strands of grass are beautiful.

The view from the windows shows an ever-changing scene. Allan has made new legs for the old garden bench. Really good again now. Just needs a lick of paint.

In the vegetable garden it’s a busy time. The runner beans are producing every day now so I freeze some to make sure they aren’t left on the plant to grow too big. The beans are best when they’re roughly 23cm long (about eight or nine inches). When they’re allowed to grow to an enormous size, they might be impressive but they’re horribly stringy and tasteless. They’re tender and tasty when they’re a reasonable size and as long as I keep picking they’ll continue to produce.

I know I’ve mentioned freezing beans before but it’s useful information if you’re new to gardening and have a surplus. Runner beans are very generous. Best blanched, in other words boiled for a couple of minutes, before cooling quickly in cold water, drained well and open-frozen on a baking tray. When they’re frozen I pack into containers. This keeps them separate and easy to tip out when the time comes to use them. I’m doing the same thing with the French beans.

The tomatoes are ripening at last. Although I love home-grown tomatoes they do take an age before they’re ready to eat. I started the seeds in March and they’re only just red enough to enjoy. Worth the wait though. Nothing bought compares with the taste or texture.

Little outdoor cucumbers are ready too and add a fresh tang to a sandwich lunch. I grow “Marketmore”, an old outdoor variety . It isn’t fussy and difficult to grow like greenhouse cucumbers. The small fruits are just the right size for our needs. They have spiky dark green skin which is bitter but when they’re peeled the flesh is sweet, juicy and good to eat.

Brambles abound in our garden. They’re unwelcome visitors as the plants are vicious thorny things. We don’t eat blackberries but I must admit they look beautiful and the wild inhabitants eat them.

Lots of lovely food available in the garden this month. Carrots, potatoes, beans, kohl rabi, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and basil. A lot of seed sowing is now coming to fruition. Peppers and chillies are almost ready and delicious garlic and onions are stored indoors.

When I’m cooking these garden goodies I value my wooden spoons and other utensils. Although they’re not dishwasher safe I still prefer to use them. There is something so pleasing about a wooden spoon and they feel just right for stirring in the pan.

I used to have one of those glass domed dishes for squeezing lemons. I found it hard to use so I tried a wooden reamer. Far better for extracting every drop from a lemon or an orange. Pleasant to hold and they’re somehow lovely to look at as well.

Allan made me a wooden tool for crushing things. I find it perfect for bashing eggshells when I’ve baked them for use in the garden. Crushed eggshells add calcium to the soil. Good for tomato plants and home-made compost.

With Summer in full swing I was inspired to write another little poem.

Summer Garden
The perfumed lily dances in the breeze,
Scattering its velvet pollen on the air,
While songbirds flit around the trees
and I sit among the flowers and stare.

Enchanted by the sounds and sights
And breathing Summer's sophisticated scents,
I gaze upon the scene's delights
And think what wonders life presents.

A garden full of flowers and bees
Feeds the soul and soothes the mind.
So many lovely things to please
When Nature's generous and kind.

So much to enjoy at this time of year when the weather’s good. My garden has been very wet but I prefer that to extreme heat. The plants are thriving and the watering comes from the sky instead of the watering can.

With you again soon. Enjoy August and all its pleasures. Bye for now.

Although it’s been wet and dull at least the garden doesn’t need watering. Thankful for small mercies! Just the polytunnels and greenhouse need regular sprinkling and the plants don’t seem to mind the grey skies.

Lots of lovely food growing in the tunnels. Whenever a crop is finished I replace it with fresh seeds of something else.

This week I’ve sown “Autumn King” carrots, “Little Gem” lettuce, “White Lisbon” spring onions, “French Breakfast ” radishes and I have new peas and French beans just beginning to grow.

Chilli peppers and bell peppers are coming on nicely in their pots in the greenhouse. The bell peppers are a funny shape but I’m confident they’ll still be tasty.

I have parsnips, leeks, carrots, sprouts, kale and squashes growing for use in Winter. Right now I’m enjoying some lovely yellow beans, runner beans, kohl rabi, carrots, basil, parsley and lettuce. Harvested the last of the cauliflowers and frozen some more florets. Tiny outdoor cucumbers are looking promising and the tomatoes are just beginning to ripen in the greenhouse. Isn’t Summer wonderful when you have a garden?

Basil is a lovely herb when it’s fresh. So good in an Italian-style salad with tomatoes and cheese. Recipe for this in my Earthy Homemaker’s Cookbook.

https://geni.us/eANQu

I also make my version of pesto and freeze portions for winter use. I don’t like pine nuts and I love Lancashire cheese so I came up with an alternative recipe which I love.

Here’s my version of pesto.

Cashew Nuts
Lancashire Cheese
Garlic
Basil leaves
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

You can add more or less of each ingredient according to taste. 
Grind the nuts in a food processor. Add crumbled cheese and crushed garlic (amount depends on how strong you like it). Add salt and pepper.
Wash and pat dry the basil leaves and add to other ingredients.
Whiz to combine well then add olive oil a little at a time until a soft consistency is formed.
Freezes well in small containers and is just like fresh when thawed. Great on pasta but also on baked potatoes or spread on crackers.

Other pleasing things in the garden this week while the sky cleared for a while.

Nectarines are in season. One of my favourite fruits, but the supermarket ones are a bit tasteless and hardly ever sweet. I usually stew them with some sugar. I admit it’s not as healthy as eating the raw fruit but it turns bland, disappointing fruit into a taste sensation. The softened slices and sweetened juice are just so delicious and it’s simple to do.

I just wash the nectarines, slice them, discard the hard stone and put them into a saucepan with a small amount of water. Heating them gently releases the juice and softens the fruit.

As the nectarines soften, I stir in about three tablespoons of sugar or a bit more if the fruit was sour. The juice and sugar make a delicious syrup.

Good served warm with ice-cream or cold on their own or with Greek yoghurt.

I baked my ginger sponge in a big tin and cut it into squares. A very easy recipe with stem ginger for an added sweet treat. All my cake recipes are quick and uncomplicated because life’s too short for endless hours in the kitchen but it’s lovely to have freshly baked cakes. My sweet-treat square recipes are also in my cookbook.

Thank you to my regular readers for your requests for my recipes and suggesting I write a cookbook. It took months of work but I enjoyed it. Thank you to everyone who has bought it and I hope you’re finding the food easy to prepare and good to eat.

I haven’t painted for a while but I’ve started sketching for a new picture. I will share it when I begin the painting.

Meantime here’s an old one. These are opium poppies which pop up spontaneously every year in the garden. We had the old crazy paving when I painted this. The garden looks very different now. I took a photo and drew the image in pencil, then I painted it with gouache paint.

With you again next week. I hope we have some sunny days but if not there are many enjoyable things to do indoors. Enjoy your own pastimes. Bye for now.

So much rain! Huge drops splashing on the paving. The flowers drooping their soaking petals. The pond almost overflowing as the clouds burst overhead. I did want some but not every day. Glimpses of the sun are more than welcome and it’s a treat when I can venture out into the garden.

Between showers I harvested the last of this summer’s rhubarb and froze it. These last sticks were thinner than the Spring pickings but they won’t go to waste. When I’d trimmed and washed them I chopped them into small pieces. I always speed this up a bit by lining up the sticks to cut across several at once.

Saves time and my energy. The small chunks need no special preparation. They freeze perfectly just as they are.

The gooseberries were beginning to fall off the bush. Their lovely transparent skin and slight softness showed me that they were ready. I gathered them cautiously, avoiding the vicious thorns.

There weren’t enough to save so I made a fruity bread pudding with them using my air-fryer.

After washing and topping and tailing, I put them in a heatproof bowl and stirred three good tablespoons of sugar around them. Baked them for twelve minutes at 135C in the air-fryer, checking now and then, until the juice ran.

I used some crusts and leftover bread, adding half to the gooseberries and pressing them down to soak up the sweetened juice. Then I whisked an egg into about 300mls of milk with a tablespoon of sugar. I added the rest of the bread and carefully poured the milk mixture over the bread, pressing it down gently to make sure it soaked up the moisture. Left it to soak for a short while, then baked it at 140C for twelve minutes in the air-fryer.

I allowed it to cool and we ate two helpings each. Absolutely delicious.

When we had a few blue-sky moments I was out with my camera searching for lovely colours and textures. Here are some I snapped.

The birds drop lots of seeds during winter and I find grassy plants growing underneath the feeders. Various kinds of cereal like oats and wheat spring up. Although they drive me mad they are often very interesting to look at.

Last year the pond had a leak and had to be drained and relined. It was a lifeless hole in the ground. Repaired and refilled, nature quickly brought it back to life. Frogs found their way back and activity began again.

The tadpoles are whizzing about and come up to the surface to nibble bits of dry leaf or insects which have fallen in. They seem to grow randomly. Some are still very small, others are big and showing signs of legs. Some have all the features of tiny frogs but still with a bit of a tail. I managed to take a couple of photos.

The squashes are doing well. They might need feeding with liquid seaweed soon because the little fruits are swelling and they’re in boxes of home-made compost instead of in the ground. They’re vigorous plants and are stretching out across a paved area. I’m hoping the warmth of the paving will help them to grow. I will nip off the growing points in a day or two so the plants will concentrate their energy into growing a few good fruits instead of lots of small ones.

Delicious vegetables to be enjoyed roasted or made into soup during the winter. They store well in a cool room.

The cake supply is running low so I will have to do some baking soon. Perhaps more of my tasty iced and spiced squares. Such a delicious treat and easy to make. I’ve still got chocolate brownies and banana loaf in the freezer so we won’t starve but I like to have plenty stashed away. All these cake recipes are in my Earthy Homemaker’s Cookbook, available in paperback or kindle form. Easy to do and with clear step-by-step instructions.

Make the most of any sunshine that comes your way and enjoy a lovely baking session when the sky turns grey. Bye for now. With you again next week.

Not as much colour in the garden this summer. Some plants need replacing and some are not yet ready to put on a show. The phlox, asters and rudbeckias will flower later.

I grew cosmos from seed and they’re lovely plants but not giving me the mass of pretty pink blooms I pictured. Some haven’t turned out to be exactly the colour described on the packet and they’re flowering in dribs and drabs so far. I’m hopeful they will be glorious though by the end of Summer.

I’ve had a lovely plant in one of the borders for a couple of years but I’ve forgotten the name. It has pretty spikes of tiny flowers which are always covered in bees.

The rain has been welcome although I must admit I’m wishing the blue skies would return. Lovely to see raindrops on flowers though.

Indoors I have a cactus. When I bought it , three years ago, it was covered in lovely flowers. I thought it needed plenty of sunlight so I kept it on a south-facing windowsill. No flowers! Just spiky green growths. Then, a few months ago I read that cacti need a cold spell before bringing them into the warmth for them to flower. So I put it somewhere cold for the Spring, and later brought it back into the sun. Now it’s flowering! Beautiful! I’m so pleased that I know what to do in future.

The vegetables have been very good this year. I think they liked the heat as long as they had sufficient water. The yellow French beans have been delicious and generous. I popped some twiggy sticks around the plants while they were small and they’ve supported them very well. Growing happily in the polytunnel they continue to yield their golden treasure.

The tomatoes are swelling nicely. The “Roma” ones are producing more fruit than the “St. Marzano” ones but time will tell whether one tastes better than the other. Both are plum types. I prefer them for their tasty flesh, few seeds and thin skins and also because they preserve well for winter in canning jars. Still green but coming along nicely.

The garden has been buzzing with little creatures. Grasshoppers are jumping, bees are zipping about and I think the dreaded Cabbage White butterflies are beginning to find mates and look for my sprouts.

I used to grow lots of gooseberries but I was tired of their vicious thorns and the tedious task of topping and tailing them. I got rid of most of the bushes but retained one because I enjoy the fruit.

They’re not quite ready. I tasted one and it was still horribly sour and crunchy. Many people think that’s how gooseberries taste but actually if they’re allowed to ripen on the bush they are sweet and delicious. They need to be left until they’re almost transparent and give to a little squeeze. I can enjoy them raw when they’re ripe.

Gooseberry tarts are delicious and so are the jam or jelly. The green fruit turns to a tawny red when it’s boiled with sugar into jam.

Jelly is easier because the fruit only needs to be washed and stewed, without topping and tailing. The juice is dripped through a jelly bag then combined with sugar and boiled until it sets. This also means no seeds go into the jelly.

Jam is trickier because the stalks and blossom end of each gooseberry need to be nipped off before stewing and boiling with sugar. This is called topping and tailing. Tiring if you have a lot of berries.

During Summer I freeze any surplus bits of fruit like strawberries, plums, apples and blueberries and later I make mixed fruit jam. Next to strawberry, it’s my favourite jam. I usually do this on a wintry day. A pleasure to be in a warm kitchen cooking up wonderful things.

It’s very easy to make jam. You need a large pan like a stockpot but not a vintage brass one because they react with the acid in the fruit. Equal quantities of fruit and sugar will make a good flavourful jam. Some fruits like strawberries have hardly any pectin to make the fruit set but pectin can be bought from the supermarket in bottles or as jam sugar. I use cooking apples which are rich in pectin and add them to give a good set. Lemons are often recommended but I can’t see the sense of it because they don’t seem to have any pectin.

If you’d like to make jam, some useful tips are in my Earthy Homemaker’s Cookbook. This link will take you to it if you’d like to find out more. The book is available in a paperback or kindle edition.

https://geni.us/eANQu

My daughter pointed out to me that I’ve been scribbling down tips, recipes, stories and poems for most of my life. In my twenties when the children were young I noted any tips I’d picked up or worked out while I was cooking and economising. Having little money made me very resourceful and the habit has stayed with me to old age. I always wanted to share good ideas and I was probably an intended blogger long before blogs were invented.

Like my daughter, I wanted to be an author when I was young. She has successfully carried out her intentions and now has several books in print. My notes hardly ever became completed stories, although I published several local history articles while I was working. Now I have my blog and I hope to continue sharing ideas and photographs for a while.

That’s all for this week. With you again soon. I hope you’ll join me. Bye for now.

July already. The garden fading one minute and blooming the next.

The campanulas are almost over although they may be generous with a second showing. The roses are glorious for a few days then their drooping heads shed their petals. If I can snip them off in time a few more lovely blooms will appear. I long for glorious cascades of roses but my plants struggle and only give me a few. A precious gift to be enjoyed while they flower.

Time for the lilies to scent the garden with their heady fragrance. Only a couple out yet but a few more to come. They’re not doing as well this year. Time to renew them I think.

The vegetable harvest has been really good. I dug up the garlic from the polytunnel. Dried off the bulbs and brought them indoors to begin using. I’ve only grown a small crop this year because I found that I was throwing some away. Although they keep for months, at the end a few were going mouldy and useless. So, fresh delicious garlic for as long as they last.

The onions were ready after soaking up the sun on the greenhouse bench for a few days. I trimmed the roots and snipped off the dry leaves and put these in the compost bin. The onions will keep well now and provide some tasty meals. A few are small but they will all be used.

These onions are called “Toughball” which might make them sound a bit chewy but in fact the name refers to their ability to grow over Winter, outdoors, and to withstand frost and snow. After sowing the seed I put the little plants into the ground in autumn and they grew slowly until February when the days lengthened and they began to put on a spurt. Sweet and tender, they’re the best onions I’ve ever grown.

The squashes have enjoyed the weather in June and are already forming little fruits. I have grown two different kinds from seed. “Buttercup”, my favourite, produces dark green squashes with bright orange flesh. Sweet and tender, they’re wonderful roasted. The other one I haven’t tried before. It’s called “Bon bon” and produces smaller squashes. Both types will store well over Winter in a cool room.

Time to closely cover all cabbage type plants to save them from Cabbage White caterpillars. Allan has built a domed frame to go over the kale and sprouts with fine mesh to keep the butterflies from laying eggs. That’s the plan anyway, but butterflies will find the tiniest hole and their caterpillars can strip the plants in a couple of days. Fingers crossed that we’ve got them adequately covered.

I’ve noticed there seem to be more grasshoppers this year. Lots of small ones. Not sure if these are babies or a different type than I’ve seen before but they’re bobbing about around the garden. Nice to see.

With so much going on in my kitchen with all this harvesting and so on, I often reflect on how much we value the small things we use everyday. Take spoons for example. Simple things which we hardly ever give a thought to. A perfect example of “form following function”. By that I mean the shape is dictated by what we use it for. The bowl holds its contents with its hollow shape and the handle allows us to hold it as we use it. A different shape wouldn’t be as useful.

I’m very fond of my spoons. I have Allan’s grandmother’s spoon to measure out tea for the pot. More like a tiny shovel but still with that familiar form. I have a few sets of teaspoons. Art deco and other vintage spoons with traditional patterns. Old- fashioned simple ones and a few “apostle ” spoons which are tiny teaspoons with a figure cast on the handle. Here are some photos of a few.

The small “apostle” spoons are ideal for scooping out spices from their jars when I’m baking. Here are my other Art deco spoons.

You might remember I’ve been knitting a summer jumper. Taken me ages because the yarn was cotton and was slow to knit and I lost a bit of enthusiasm. I’ve finally finished it but I’m not entirely happy. Despite my best efforts it isn’t as neatly made as I would have liked. I certainly wouldn’t go out in it. Expert knitters would judge my every stitch! It’s a nice style but I think the pattern was misleading. My excuse, of course!

That’s all for this week. Bye for now. Enjoy the Summer. I’ll be back next week.