In years gone by we’d take the last week in July off work to rest, relax and celebrate somewhere warm. For this is the week that we celebrate our wedding anniversary and his Lordship’s birthday (timed specifically that he would never forget!). Now we take the same week off but enjoy whatever winter throws at us and take enjoyment in annual garden chores. The big, heavy, hard graft sort of chores that are best done as a team with lots of time to rest.
This is year is no exception although I admit to dreaming of warmer islands in the Pacific I am looking forward to getting things outdoors ship shape in readiness for Spring which is only weeks away. With a new rose garden to care for, not to mention the kitchen garden there is plenty to be working on. To give us a kick start we got some help with the annual gorse harvest and this has spurred me on to crack on with things more than usual.
With more garden to contend with we had an even bigger pile of bark mulch delivered. 7 cubic metres worth of pile delivered from a local farm called the Bark Farm (don’t you just love the name). MT was first to celebrate the arrival of what will become our new best friend for much of this coming week.
With all the commotion of the delivery and the unusual sight of wellington boots there was some explaining to be done to the bassets.
Fortnum was not convinced that the spade was a serious proposition for digging – he finds paws much more useful. He was also unconvinced but the intention until he saw the spade in action. Stage one complete – rose garden mulched. Thickly. Enough to last another year.
The kitchen garden may look like it’s been ransacked right now but we’ve still got a wide range of winter vegetables to bring to the table every day. I’ve been taken aback by how we can create a veritable feast from what looks like a humble pile of vegetables. I’m loving the culinary challenge of finding tasty things to make with what’s ready for harvest – like the roasted fennel and mushroom lasagna which on the face of it sounded like an unlikely combination but turned out to be really tasty and has been added to our must cook again list.
Admittedly I had to buy the mushrooms but I grabbed two juicy fennel bulbs from the garden before they went to seed. It’s still a thrill to skip through most of the vegetable section in the supermarket and ultimately we’d like to get to a point where I could almost leap frog it altogether by relying entirely on seasonal produce from our very own backyard pantry instead.
According to Greek mythology it was Chloris, the goddess of flowers who created the rose (Rhodon) from the body of a beautiful nymph lying in the forest. It’s a romantic thought that I might pop up to the local forest and pick a few roses of my own instead of them arriving by mail. But arrive their did packed in damp straw ready for planting out into our traffic island flower bed.
Technically speaking the new “Rose Garden” is MT’s project and he’s spent hours researching roses before finally selecting a truly England colour theme – red and white. I did put my foot down when his municipal planting scheme ideas were edging towards a patriotic celebration to create an English flag. In fact, our rose bed is a celebration of English romance matched with kiwi myth and will be a stunning display worthy of the roses namesakes.
Elegance and timelessness are what spring to mind about black and white photographs. They have a depth of view that colour photographs often don’t convey. Converting colour photographs from colour to black and white digitally can often bring a crispness and brightness to an otherwise dull photograph. So why given all the pluses of black and white photography do I show so few of mine in Black and White?
Mostly it’s because I like my photographs to be a true representation of what I see. That means in all the technicolour glory. But mainly because when I try to make the conversion they simply don’t look that good. This is because I mostly don’t give lots of thought to how I take my photographs but rather just click away experimenting as I go. For once this week I thought I’d think a little more in advance and look for photographic opportunities where I could capture the essence of winter in the kitchen garden.
At the time I didn’t convert the photographs to black and white but when it came to publishing them on the blog I threw caution to the wind.
The really heavy frost was only with us for one day but it was a remarkable day when the winter vegetables really did go wintry. Like this Bok Choi.
But let’s start at the gate which was frozen shut. It was quite remarkable to see the frozen moisture on the wood. Also, how the edges of the parsley and asparagus were edged with frost.
Although they looked a bit forlorn the leeks will have benefited a bit from some chill. Looking more at this picture makes me realise I’m going to have rather a lot of leeks to eat!
The vestiges of rhubarb, cauliflower, cabbage and beetroot certainly didn’t enjoy the chilling experience. I’m hopeful that they will still be ok to harvest as I have plans for them next week!
Away from the kitchen garden the frost was certainly making it’s mark amongst all the puddles of water lying around. With all the recent rain we’re waterlogged in many places. I quite like the artistic feel of this frozen puddle.
Having had a bit of a photography blight in recent weeks I’m feeling more cheerful to have been able to get out and get a bit more practice in. I’ve enjoyed the black and white experiment too so perhaps I’ll do a bit more of that in future. That would of course require me to be more diligent in my photography which is probably a good reason in itself.
Since I started growing vegetables two years ago I’ve comforted myself that I’m a beginner and that if anything grows is a bonus. It seems that this year my beginners luck has run out as far as Cauliflower growing goes. Unlike the creamy tight balls I have previously grown this years crop has been more flower like than cauli. Despite covering their creaminess with leaves to keep them safe from the sun I have been left with the rather unattractive sprouting look.
The good news is though that they taste just as good in soup. And with winter upon us I’ll be rustling up plenty this week before these plants finally go to seed for real.
Aside from the dodgy cauliflower there is plenty still flourishing in the kitchen garden. The celery is still tall and strong. I’m harvesting as I need a few stalks so we’ll have plenty to keep us going for a while. The broad beans are shooting up and about ready for tying in to save from the retched winds that are most definitely on their way this week. My favourite tall vegetables are the fennel which makes a mean risotto now MT has found his risotto making mojo again.
The cabbages, beetroot and parsnips are keeping us well stocked too. The leeks look very promising – can’t wait for Spring to see them in their full glory.
There is something heart warming to wander down the garden and wander amongst the kitchen garden. The bassets see it as the biggest snack cupboard to raid. I am content to discover what’s ready for picking and plan what might be on the menu for the coming weeks.
For all the gardening books I have there is nothing that prepares you for what actually happens when it comes to vegetable growing. Nothing like experience to teach you how things work. I’ve bought myself a beautiful notebook this week to start my full Backyard Pantry masterplan. With the wet and windy weather this weekend it’s a perfect opportunity to start planning for next year.
I’ve got my sights on a cloche system that will support poly sheets as well as sun shade (for the pesky cauliflowers), insect net (to keep the pesky white cabbage butterflies) and fleece to keep the plants warm (to keep off the pesky frost). But first I need to plan out what I’m going to grow and in what quantities. Planting will start in the barn in August to give me the best start this year.
Although we could never eat all that we grow it gives me a real buzz to drop off a bag of vegetables to the neighbours or to my city slicker friends. I may also give away extra plants from seeds to people to see if I can make the growing bug into a virus.
Memories of harvest festival services in church when I was a child have been popping in my head recently. Displays of fruits and vegetables in technicolour glory all laid out in church to celebrate the end of summer’s hard work. I was never in favour of tinned produce making it into the display when those who didn’t grow their own still wanted to make a charitable donation to the festival. The wonder for me was seeing people’s hard labour on display, grown with love and offered with good heart. Popping in a tin of peaches and pears just didn’t cut it for me.
It’s been a veritable seasonal feast here are Domestic Executive HQ. The kitchen garden has been burgeoning with crops and the kitchen overflowing with new adventures to capture this seasons produce in chutneys. I do however have some regret as things in the garden look so wonderfully lush and in their rightful place. Just like this butternut squash peaking out from under the leaves.
Companionship is an important part of life. And this is just so in the kitchen garden where the carrots have been making friends with Marigolds. These are orange beacons amongst the predominant greens and as well as bringing colour to the garden they’ve kept the pests away from our prized crops. I’m definitely going to increase the amount of flowers we grow with the vegetables next year. These are both beautiful and purposeful so deserve a prized place.
Although we are moving to the end of our prime growing season there is still plenty to marvel over. I am also getting increasingly inspired about what are the culinary possibilities from our remaining crops.
There is nothing better than being able to chat with a like minded friend. Someone who won’t roll their eyes when you start moaning about your tomatoes and will get equally excited when you tell them the number of eggs the chickens are laying. Comparing notes about what’s growing in our respective veggie plots was a comforting experience. To know that another novice grower is also wondering how big your pumpkin plants should be growing or whether you’ve spawned a triffid.
We were both as clueless about when the potatoes should be lifted. The rule of thumb as I understand it is after they’ve finished flowering. But what if they don’t seem to have flowered or the flowers blew away in a freak gale. A couple of weeks ago common sense prevailed and I checked my veggie calendar where I’d written down when I could expect the spuds to be ready. I admit to feeling just a little dumb to realise that I was already a week late. My Granddad in law will be tutting at me if he read this blog!
As I stepped into the kitchen garden this weekend it was like being transported to a different world. A place of minor miracles everywhere you look. I still can’t get my head around the fact that I can grow food. Food we eat and enjoy. Food that started by me fumbling with packets of seeds and crossing my fingers that my efforts would not be in vain.
I munched my way around the beds pulling out the occasional weed but otherwise marvelling at what nature has produced for us to eat.
I rest my case with Little Basset. He has been eyeing up the new garden bed every since the landscapers arrived. For a dog that loves soft sand and soil it’s like his birthday and Christmas has arrived all on one day. The fact that the bed is raised and he can think he is above all of us on higher ground just reinforces his small dog syndrome and his ambitions to be top dog around here.
As the one and only leader of the pack, I’m pretty chuffed with the new arrangements out front too. Rather like we might be close to having a front garden instead of piles of mulch and weeds spoiling the garden effect. 2 years and 4 months after we moved in I can now declare our front garden landscaping over.
