Michelle's Garden

New garden, new blog

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:50:00 +0000

We have started work on our new garden!
Thanks for everyone's lovely comments over the last two years. Our new blog can be found here.

Time to go

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 08:29:00 +0000

After waiting for months, suddenly it was move day.
Our neighbours' pretty kitten came to say goodbye. Lots of cats frequented our garden but this one was my favouriteOne last glimpse before we left (and a quick dash outside to grab a few not-quite-ripe pears for my mother in law!)Then it was time to leave.Goodbye garden!

Tidying up

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 08:02:00 +0000

After we put our house on the market I started to neglect the veg patches a bit... but when we finally got a move date I set about clearing them.
The broccoli took some uprooting.It had grown a massive stalk and strong roots. and hundreds of seedpods.From the other beds we found a few hidden onions and one lonely carrot that had survived the slugs earlier in the year. Then S mowed the lawn and made it all look neat and tidy

Before: After:Much better!

Some things

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 10:52:00 +0000

These pretty weeds sprung up in the onion patchI found an interesting moth
These seed pods are growing on what I think are bolted radishes. When they dry I will collect the seeds for next year.

The bees love the flowering broccoli

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 10:11:00 +0000

Saving parsnip seeds

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 13:39:00 +0000

Earlier this summer one of last year's undiscovered parsnips produced an amazing plant. It had finally dried out......so I collected some of the seeds There were hundreds of them - no need to buy any next year Self saved seed is meant to have a good germination rate - fingers crossed for next season!

Overgrown and neglected!

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 10:17:00 +0000

We have been away quite a lot and all the sun and rain has made everything grow very fast.Most things have bolted and the rest have been frazzled and withered.The broccoli has gone nutsThe rocket is taking over and the chard is way past eating point. But we have lots of flowers so the bees are happy.
These flowers pop up every summer in the shade of our big tree - I think they are from bulbs But I have no idea what they are!

Dragonfly

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:56:00 +0000

Not actually from the garden but on a trip to Malmesbury this weekend, a huge dragonfly landed on S and I couldn't resist taking a picture Magnificent creature! Click for a close up of his amazing wings

Butterfly

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 22:02:00 +0000

Not sure what species it is but very pretty
Click for a close up

Mid July

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:43:00 +0000

We have had lots of good sized onions. They were grown from autumn sets which apparently means they won't store well.So we've kept them in the bed until they are needed. It's great having such crunchy fresh onions to cook withThe calabrese started flowering whilst we were away. Sadly it tastes too bitter to eat now but I'm enjoying seeing what broccoli looks like if the buds are allowed to open.The chillis are turning red now and they are pretty hot. The poor plant is looking a bit pale and wilty though, perhaps from overwatering or being pot bound. Probably both. So I put it in a bigger pot - hopefully it'll pick up soon. The pears are swelling nicely Unfortunately the spot has come back quite badly. I may have to prune this bit out but not sure if it's allowed at this time of year - I don't want the tree to get an infected wound and lose even more pears.I made a little posy, elegantly displayed in a drinking glass! Pot marigolds, wild marjoram and rocket flowers from the veg patches and purple loosestrife from the bog garden. I love having flowers in the house but rarely do because they make me sneeze. So far so good though :-)

Red and black day moth

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:43:00 +0000

We saw lots of these on a recent walk. They looked like moths but I thought they must be butterflies as they were flying in the day time.

According to my mum:

"This is a Burnet - probably a six spot. They are extremely poisonous. their bodies contain cyanide derivatives which are formed by the caterpillar from its food plants, stored up and passed on to the moth. They fly during the day in June and July and live in colonies near where clovers, trefoils and vetches grow. The caterpillars are dumpy, pale yellow with black marks. They hibernate on the plant and resume feeding in spring. The cocoon is yellow, boat shaped and is prepared high up on a grass or flower stem"

So they are day moths!

Plaiting garlic

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 17:22:00 +0000

There are instructions on how to do this here This messy pile was turned into... ...these lovely neat braids, ready for eating and storing

Allium harvesting

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:52:00 +0000

We have had several side shoots from the broccoli - not as nice as the main head but still delicious. The garlic was looking ready and 3 of the shallots had bolted (you can see them sticking out of the netting) so I pulled them all up today. These are grown from bought cloves These are grown from the cloves I saved from last year's harvest. I think they were a little bit bigger. There was certainly no advantage in buying new cloves so next year i will just plant what I save. The shallots were also grown from last year's harvest and some of them are huge! (There's a 50p in the pic to show size comparison) I'm not complaining though - I love shallots and organic ones are hard to find and usually very pricey. We worked out this is probably about £30 worth of stuff and I only spent £4 for some of the garlic bulbs, the rest are from previous harvests. Not bad!We also have some chard that is ready - the seeds were given to us by one of S's colleagues. I'm not sure what you are supposed to do with it though - any suggestions are welcome! Not really about harvesting but the hydrangea is looking gorgeous again so I thought I'd include a pic

June catch up!

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:46:00 +0000

Some things I forgot to post...A potato plant grew out of the compost I added to our raised bed. Despite being rogues, they were actually very good. We had our first (and probably only) batch of peas. The plants look a bit poorly now - we were away during the heat and they needed watering. A lily opened on the pond - it is the first flower this plant has produced so I was happy about that! Also, I went for a lovely walk with my mum by the sea. We saw lots of these and she did tell me what it was but I have forgotten!

Tiny Grasshopper

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 09:00:00 +0000

I found this little fella in our kitchen.He was tiny (5mm long?) and he just looked bright green. It wasn't until I zoomed in that I saw the amazing pattern on his legs and his stripey antennae! Click for a close up to see it properly.

Best broccoli ever

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 10:10:00 +0000

The buds on the broccoli (which we have decided is of course a calabrese! Not exactly sure how that happened) started to open so we decided to eat it even though it was still small. S took pics and I did the harvesting. You can see the buds beginning to open and (if you click for a close up) you might spot my photographer reflected in the water droplets!This shows just how silly we are for growing brassicas in a small garden. Look at the size of the plant compared to the head! I could have grown a lot more in that space. But the flavour! We have never tasted anything like it. It was so sweet and so crunchy, none of that fibrous outer layer you get on bought calabrese and no bitterness either. We ate most of it raw, including the stalk. So, despite the unfavourable land to dinner ratio, we will certainly be growing it again!

June growth spurts

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:38:00 +0000

All that hot weather followed by all this rain has sent everything into overdrive. The radishes have mostly bolted but I don't mind - the flowers are very pretty. Perhaps I can save some seeds from them. The broccoli is huge now, taking up a third of a raised bed. Not very practical really......and it's only got a small head. The buds look like they may open soon - not sure if we should eat it now or wait for it to get bigger? The chilli plant I picked up at Winchester farmers market has a fair few fruits on it. Looks like a juicy one! The pears are starting to swell and the tree is looking much healthier this year after it got a hard prune in the winter. The lettuce hasn't bolted (phew!) and is much crunchier and tastier than anything you can buy. But the weirdest thing in the garden is this... it's one of last year's parsnips that must have been left in the ground. It must be 4 foot tall! They are biennial and in their second summer, they produce flowers. Parsnip seeds are notorious for being difficult, going off easily then failing to germinate. I wonder if collecting the seeds for next year would be a waste of time?

May update

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:14:00 +0000

There are loads of beautiful damselflies emerging from the pond.After mating they lay eggs in the pond, ready for next year. Click for a close up.
The yellow flag iris has flowered for the first time! We had our first cabbage - spring pointed, delicious! S fried it up with some wet garlic - you can see all the potential cloves inside:At least that means they have split so should bulb up nicely now! The few surviving onions grown from sets are bulbing up too. I thought this was a purple sprouting broccoli that had failed to sprout - but it looks like a calabrese head is starting to grow from it! Either I mislabelled it or perhaps this is how purple sprouting looks at first? Will have to wait and see!

Pear blossom

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 10:41:00 +0000

Spring!

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 19:13:00 +0000

I planted 10 snowdrops in 2007 and we got a few flowers in 2008......this year only one popped up!The garlic are still making steady progress. I took the netting off the pond and cut everything back. There is a frog living there and every night we hear him croaking really loud. I think he is looking for a mate. No frog spawn so far though. We went out with a torch and although we didn't spot him, we did hear him splosh into the water. The compost bin has actually made compost! My first ever attempt and the bin is over half full of lovely stuff, despite sitting in the shade all year. I've just cleared the beds so will be adding compost to them soon. The un-decomposed stuff got buried in trenches. I am meant to grow runner beans on them but we prefer peas so I will be sowing them soon. Elsewhere, the garden got a serious haircut...and the hydrangea has already sprouted lots of buds and leaves since I took this pic. Spring is here!!!

Brrr it's cold!

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 13:17:00 +0000

I love the thick frosts we've been having - the pond has been frozen for a few days now. The net sunk under the weight of the leaves and now they are frozen under the surface. I will have to fix that when it thaws (cracking ice on a pond can shock and kill wildlife) or they will start rotting and cause me algae problems in the spring.This is my Christmas pressie from my mum. I love it - it will look great on our garden wall but I'm waiting for a warm spell to put it up! I planted several spring cabbage and purple sprouting broccoli transplants in the autumn but only 3 have survived the slugs and only 1 looks healthyI didn't label them so I have no idea which one it is. We will have to wait and see - roll on spring!

Yay!

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 22:04:00 +0000

I planted a load of alliums a few weeks ago and already they are growing shoots! Shallots, onions and garlic. I can't wait to harvest them - only about 8 months to go!

Winter things

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:47:00 +0000

S harvested the leeks last week Only some of the transplants survived and they didn't grow very big but they were delicious. This spider plant was a lovely birthday gift. Surprisingly it has produced a beautiful flower! I thought they reproduced asexually? I made a batch of lime soap, much to my mother's delight as it is her favourite. I have got some Christmas themed essential oils for the next lot. Second batch of wholemeal, sugar-free mince pies. A little over cooked but they passed S's taste test. The garden is looking very wintry but the trees are already planning for next summer... the lilac is covered in bright green buds!

Tallow soap

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 22:09:00 +0000

I have been saving lamb fat for a while to make some old fashioned soap. Before vegetable oils were available, soapers used animal fats to make tallow soap and that's what everybody used. I saw Ivory at Little House in the Suburbs had made some recently so I thought I would give it a go.I followed these instructions for rendering fat. The fat melted quite quickly and the smell wasn't bad at all.Then I sieved out the impurities. I mixed the leftover gristle with peanut butter and fed it to the birds - it was all gone by the time I went out to the bird table the next day! When the fat had set, I gave it a rinse and then it was ready to use. Pure tallow soap can be a bit harsh so I used 40% lamb fat and 60% olive oil. I used a good soap calculator to make sure I added the right amount of lye.
A video of the cooking process - it was more exciting than when I just use vegetable oils It has come out well - much harder than my pure olive oil soap and bubblier too. It does smell a bit of lamb fat which I wasn't expecting. I hope the smell disappears as it cures - it's supposed to. I could have added some essential oil but I wanted to see what it was like on its own!

A comment on Ivory's post suggested making your own lye - not sure I fancy that but it was an interesting article!

More autumn jobs

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:13:00 +0000

I love this chilly weather we are having but it has put me off clearing up in the garden! Today I braved the cold and harvested what was left in bed c. We got a few beetroots some carrots and some parsnips. The carrots were very sweet and crunchy. Not sure what made this one split. The parsnips were deliciousThey are supposed to be better after a frost though. We've not had many beetroots this yearThe soil is lovely in this bed - full of organic matter, good structure and lots of worms! Two years of the no-dig approach and not walking on the surface has paid off. It really was worth building those raised beds.I pegged bed c's netting over the pond to keep the leaves out. There was a huge frog sat in the bog garden and he dived into the pond. I'm so pleased they are still living in our garden!