Away from the hustle and bustle

I wanted a break from all the madness of Christmas, the shopping, the Christmas songs, fighting your way through the crowds. So we went to RHS Harlow Carr. I wanted to see winter interest in the gardens, autumn and winter foliage. I wanted to see what they can still manage to grow in the kitchen garden at this time of year. But I still wanted a bit of Christmas without the crowds.

We had a lovely walk around, it was really peaceful, not many people, and there was still plenty of interest in the garden with colour from foliage and seedheads.

We also found some lovely rustic Christmas displays in the summerhouse and greenhouse.  The shop was a pleasure to walk around, listening to lovely classical Christmas music and  there were twinkly lights too.

Things I've been doing

I haven't blogged for a while. That's because I've been having some problems with  my blog. I think, it's sorted. I hope it's sorted. Anyway  I'm back and wondering where to start. I'll keep it short for now and just tell you briefly what I've been doing.

I've been doing Christmas things, like making decorations with the grandchildren and going to the school nativity. We visited our far away grandchildren, played with them and looked after them whilst their parents had a night out.

I've bought a Christmas tree, foraged for greenery and made a few wreaths, written Christmas cards and wrapped presents. I've also made chutney and bottled up blackberry gin.

I'm looking forward this week to putting up the Christmas tree and decorating the house, making mince pies, and lots of other Christmas things.

Dreaming of salad

This 52 week salad challenge must be getting to me because the other night I was dreaming of lettuce. Not just any lettuce but red salad bowl lettuce.But I had been eating it earlier in the day and was feeling pleased that it was still doing well in the garden after all summer and I am still picking the leaves.

Looking back in my garden journal I found that I sowed the seeds on 21st April. Over the summer I have just picked the leaves, but recently because I thought they may not last much longer once the frosts start, I started to cut the tops which are a much brighter red colour and have started to thicken and become more lettuce shaped. These have been lovely in salads.

I am also now picking the winter salad leaves planted in the cold frame which are a curly leaf mix.  The watercress and mustard are also still doing well.

Indoors I have sown seeds for baby leaves. There is a winter salad mix, some 'gourmet micro greens', rocket, beetroot and lemon basil. These are all at the just germinating stage, but I am also growing peashoots and have been cutting these for a few weeks.

The weather has turned very cold here now and sometimes the idea of going outside to the top of the garden to pick some salad is not very appealing, so it will be good to have some indoor stuff to use.

Jam

I made jam last week, for the first time ever-- rhubarb and ginger. So I'm feeling quite pleased that I have achieved something I've been wanting to do for ages.  I'd like to say that I've learnt a new skill, but I don't think I'm very proficient in the art of jam making yet. I  got quite stressed about it. I know some of you will be thinking 'what's the problem? Making jam is easy'. You can probably rustle up a few jars of jam in less than an hour. I haven't got to that stage yet.

I had to plan this event well in advance, because the fruit was in the freezer and it also had to be left to soak in the sugar and ginger for at least 2 hours. So the fruit was taken out of the freezer the night before, then in the morning all the ingredients were put in a bowl and left. We went out for the day, so I cooked the jam later in the evening.

The recipe was quite easy, but being a novice I read it at least half a dozen times to make sure I knew what I was doing. Then there were the things the recipe didn't tell me. Like how to sterilise the jars and how to seal them properly.  So I had to look elsewhere for that information. There was plenty of useful information  on the Internet on how to make jam, but there was so much that I got worried about doing the wrong thing and ending up with mouldy jam. And trying to remember all the useful tips was difficult.

It all got very messy with jam all over the worktop. I now know that I need to buy a jam funnel.  In the end it worked and I now have several jars of rhubarb and ginger jam which taste pretty good, although I should have cut the rhubarb up into smaller pieces. I think it will get eaten before it has chance to go mouldy.

The recipe is from the  BBC Good Food site. If you're interested here it is:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1091639/rhubarb-and-ginger-jam

Winter tubs

I love it when just as you think things have finished in the garden you can do something else to keep things going. Like potting up containers with winter colour.  That's what I did at the weekend.

I bought some pots of red mini cyclamen, some small hardy ferns, a stipa sirocco grass which has shades of copper and pink in autumn and winter and some gaultheria which is a small plant with dark glossy leaves and  red berries. These are all sold in garden centres at this time of year for autumn/winter container planting.

I made up one container in the front garden near the door.

 

Another smaller pot for near the back door

 

I added two of the gaultheria to this trough which has been going through the summer with violas, now gone over. The ivy in the pots was there for the summer displays and is still going strong. I removed the top layer of compost in the pots and topped up with fresh.

 These should all keep looking good beyond Christmas.

The view through my window

The autumn colour in the garden is amazing at the moment. I keep thinking it won't last much longer but it just keeps going on and on. The view from our dining room window is lovely. There is a blaze of colour from the cotoneaster horizontalis which is almost the same colour as the red brick of the wall it is growing against. Below that the astilbe foliage is now turning from yellow to a pale golden brown, contrasting well with its dark seedheads. This border and the one on the other side of the window are know as the 'shady borders'. they are in deep shade most of the time and astilbe, hostas, ferns, euphorbias seem to grow well here.

Looking further down the garden the oak tree, is still hanging on to its golden leaves, and below that is a weigela now turned a bright yellow.

The 'yellow border' where I grow yellow/orange/red coloured plants looks more yellow now than it ever does during the summer.

Down the left hand side of the garden the 'pink border'  has pink/purples and dark red flowers during the summer with a contrast of golden grass. It has now taken on a more golden theme from the astilbes, grasses and hardy geraniums and has some lovely maroon colour from the evergreen heucheras.

In other areas of the garden the hardy geraniums have dark red tints.

The deutzia has also taken on red tones.

What  autumn colour do you have in your garden now?

Enjoying November

I love autumn. I love the colours, the misty mornings, the smell of woodsmoke. I love collecting berries for flower arrangements or rose hips to dry for Christmas decorations. I love lots of things about autumn. September still has hints of summer, October starts to get more cosy and the colours start to change, the mornings are cooler, mists hover over the fields, cobwebs cling to hedges and gateposts, then we move in to November.  November is frosty and we start to think of winter. But it is a month to be enjoyed. The colours are still wonderful and frosty mornings reveal another kind of beauty to the garden.

As I walk the grandchildren to school in the mornings I like to point out to them the 'autumn things' around, like the colours of the trees.  We collect leaves to press and use to make pictures. So I was a bit saddened this week to see one of the houses near by to have a Santa and sleigh in coloured lights fixed to their house wall and a snowman flag flying on the flag post.  I can't deny that Christmas isn't far away and I don't mind going shopping and seeing Christmas things on display.  I like to prepare for Christmas in November, like baking the cake, making mincemeat and other lovely things.  But I think to decorate your house for Christmas in early November is a bit over the top.

So I will for now enjoy the colours 

 

the misty mornings

the cobwebs

berries

I will make things for Christmas

But I will  enjoy the cosiness of autumn, and I will leave the decorations until well into December.