Lots to Do

Last week was a fairly busy week. As well as my trip to Leicester on Thursday there was plenty to do at home. Things like taking advantage of the dry weather to mow the lawns for what is probably the last time this season. I managed to get this done on Monday morning and on Monday afternoon I reduced all the shrub and tree clippings in size so they could be put in the garden wheelie bin, we've been waiting for it to be emptied again, I think we could do with a weekly collection at this time of year.

The biggest job in the garden this week has been sorting out the pond. It had got very overgrown during the summer with both flag iris and water lillies taking over; these plants were taking a lot of water from the pond and this plus dry weather over the last week or so had led to the levels in the pond going down.

On Saturday morning we decided to tackle the problem. Water was added to the pond and then all the plants were lifted out, the mud cleared out from the bottom and held in a tray and sifted for wildlife. Plants were reduced in size and quantity and then replaced. We now have a happy pond.

The last of the tomatoes and cucumbers were collected from the greenhouse during the week so on Saturday afternoon I made some Green Tomato Chutney.

Later today I'm going to make some Cucumber Pickle; both recipes from the little book pictured below.

I've also been planting up bulbs for the winter months; pink Hyacinth and Paper White Narcissus which apparently have a wonderful scent. They are now stored in the back of the garage in the cool and dark as per the instructions - I hope they will produce some lovely scents and colour for the dull days of January.

Last but not least I've been knitting wool squares for the project I found on Teresa's blog. I've been using up scraps of wool and I've been knitting them whilst watching TV - things like 'Waking the Dead', 'Spiral.' Nigel Slater's 'Simple Suppers', 'Autum Watch', ' Land Girls' and Sunday evening's new adaptation of Jane Austen's 'Emma'.

There's Rosemary.......

This afternoon we've spent time in the garden busy with our plan to clear some of the raised beds and move some of the plants to others areas. Many of the lavenders and the thyme have been lost over the wet winter and other plants need moving or replacing. The idea is to use an area at the side of the greenhouse for container planting of herbs, strawberries and other smaller vegetables and use the raised bed that housed the herbs for planting other vegetables. The only problem with this is a rather large Rosemary bush. I love this bush but it had grown so much that it was taking over most of the bed pushing out the chives, thyme, hyssop and good king Henry; in order to move it the bush first needed to be pruned and cuttings to be taken. Paul was doing this as I was removing the nettles, dandelions and buttercups from under the gooseberries and blackcurants; whilst I was working and occasionally wincing as I either scratched myself on the gooseberry thorns or stung myself on the nettles (don't worry there are plenty more of these fine plants left for the wildlife elsewhere in the garden) I could smell the gorgeous scent of the rosemary as it was being pruned.

We've put some of the clippings in a bowl in the house to scent the sitting room. Cuttings have been also taken and potted up ready for re-planting.

Now the original plant is only half the size it was this morning we can leave it to rest a few days before moving it, you can see how old it is from the woody stem.

Our plant is Rosmarinus officinalis, the vertical variety, which, according to my herb book means "dew of the sea". Medicinally it is considered to be useful for all things to do with the head as it increases the supply of blood to the area and has a relaxing and anti-depressive action helping such conditions as head colds, nervous headaches, premature baldness, poor circulation and forgetfulness. It symbolises remembrance - I think most people will know of Ophelia's speech from Shakespeare's Hamlet, Act 4, Scene 5 -
"There's Rosemary, thats for remembrance; pray you, love, remember. And there is pansies, that's for thoughts."

Hmm - maybe this is something I should keep around the house as I often run up the stairs, open a draw or cupboard or wander into the pantry and have no idea why I've done it or what I was looking for!

Perhaps Rosemary Tea would be the answer.

Recipe for 1 cup

"As a remedy for headache, colic or colds take 2 or 3 tops of rosemary, either flowering or not, and place in a small teapot, then pour one cup of boiling water over them. Cover and infuse for several minutes, then strain and drink warm. The tea many be sweetened with honey if wished."
Quote from 'Herbs for All Seasons' by Rosemary Hemphill


If you want to dry rosemary it needs to be collected in late summer or early autumn.

"Pick in the early morning after the dew has evaporated from the leaves. Tie the herbs in bundles and hang in the shade or lay the branches on airy racks. When quite dry, crumble the leaves from the stems and store in airtight containers, or pack the whole dried stalks with leaves still on them into boxes or jars and close tightly."
Another quote from - Herbs for all Seasons

Oh, what a wonderful scene this drying of herbs and flowers like lavender and rosemary conjours up - what a lovely thing to do if one had an old cottage with a huge kitchen or even better a still room in which to dry flowers and herbs, make pot pourii, bottle fruits and make jams and preserves. Well, I can dream!

Busy in the Garden

Over the past few days we have been really busy in the garden. I've been cutting grass, weeding, splitting and re-planting. Paul has been sorting out the back of the shed which had become a bit of a dumping ground for old pots and logs; so much so that it became a struggle to get to the compost bins.

I've been splitting up and thinning out the Geums which have really spread this year. Rivali is the most prolific so I've re-planted some of it in a border left partially empty by the demise of a huge Hebe in last August's very wet weather. Our other Geums are 'Lemondrops' which I've also split and 'Dolly North' which we only put in last year so I've left her alone for a while to spread even further.

I contacted our nearest Wyvale garden centre, which happens to be Bridgemere Garden World, to enquire if they were taking part in the 'Plan Apple' project for recycling plastic plant pots and seed trays. They are, so we will be disposing of a lot of pots there. Now we can reach the compost bins easily when we empty our under the sink household waste bin.

The Rhododendron we planted in 2006 is looking good and the flowers are so pretty. Also doing well is the Solomon's seal. We bought two little plants about five years ago, just look at them now.

Behind the Solomon's seal you can see the small logs which make up one of the wildlife habitat areas Paul has created around the garden. The water buts, full to the brim from the rain earlier this year have been put to good use during the warm weather.

You may have been wondering what the cats have been doing whilst we have been busy in the garden. Well, as you can see, they've been keeping themselves occupied.

The frogs in the pond have been enjoying the warm weather, too. Paul has been photographing them for his blog.

February is.....

Daffodils in jugs around the house and making marmalade with Seville oranges



Making something heart shaped for Valentine's Day.



Finally being able to get out into the garden and starting to clear the winter debris.



Seeing the first stirrings of this year's rhubarb.



and deciding which seeds to use for the coming season.



Of course this year things are different as the house is being sold and we don't know if we will be here for spring and summer. So the tidying of the garden is not just for us but for prospective viewers and hopefully (fingers crossed!) buyers who, if we plant the seeds will benefit from the produce.

The weather has been so wonderful this week with days of bright, clear sunshine and evenings of sumptuous red and pink skies. We've been able to have a few ventures into the garden to start clearing up ready for Spring. On Tuesday we drove over to Nottingham to visit friends which was very pleasant and this morning we walked around Trentham Lake and sat at the lakeside cafe with warm cups of coffee - my fingers were freezing as today is considerably colder than the last few- and chatted to a lovely gentleman and his family mainly about photography and the difference between film and digital cameras. I think we all decided that digital was easier and more adaptable but that there was nothing to beat the mood and clarity of black and white photos.

I've been meaning for a while to write a post about one of my hobbies which I've suddenly realised has been affected by my possession and use of a digital camera so much that it is something that I don't do anymore. I'll expand on this in my next post.