Notes on growing ornamentals and edibles, and musings on other matters that interest me.
With the nights drawing in and the chances of frost increasing, I decided to harvest the few pumpkins that grew this year. Given a lackluster summer, I actually feel I’ve done pretty well. In particular, the Sibley Squash, below, from …
Late summer and the Crocosmia is cracking hot in my front garden. Crocosmia are one our favourite summer plants and we have several cultivars. First up is everybody’s favourite, Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’. This always flowers before any other Crocosmia in my …
There are a lot of Alliums out there, and one of my favourites is this one, Allium ‘Millenium’. It’s around 30-40cms tall and is one of the latest season flowering alliums that I’ve come across, flowering late July and into …
Over the next couple of weeks, my site is going to be moving from Blogger to WordPress. Hopefully there won’t be too much downtime, but I wanted to let people know. Email subscribers: with luck your subscription will just transfer …
Serves 6 450g courgettes – chopped350g potatoes – peeled and chopped (I leave the skins on as I prefer them that way)3 garlic cloves – chopped1.2 litres veg stockSmall bunch oreganoSummer: add ½ cup lentils (c. 120g) Winter: add ¾ …
Serves 2 200g shelled Broad Beans1 crushed garlic clove, several garlic scapes, or Chives10 or so leaves of Mint, chopped up2 tablespoons olive oil2 teaspoons of lemon juiceBlack pepper100g FetaSalad leaves 1. Put garlic (or chopped alternatives) into a …
Once your cucurbits (pumpkins/squash/courgettes) get growing, they can sprawl all over the place. When it comes to watering them though, you only need to water near the root of the plant. Watering along the sprawled stems and fruit won’t actually …
When we were leaving our previous house and garden, I took 10 cuttings of my rambling rose, Rosa Seagull. Roses aren’t exactly known for being easy growing plants, and I’d never taken rose cuttings before and wasn’t that hopeful that …
Serves 4-6 Ingredients Olive oil (or canola/rapeseed oil) 2 tablespoons (30ml) grated ginger 6-8 garlic gloves, crushed 2 teaspoons (10ml) curry paste or powder 1 teaspoon (5ml) ground cumin 1 teaspoon (5ml) ground chilli powder 1 teaspoon (5ml) turmeric 2 …
