Hyacinths at Christmas

 It seems ages ago that I potted up the hyacinth bulbs for flowering at Christmas. It was at the beginning of October and once I'd planted them, I put them away in the shed where they would be cool and dark and almost forgot about them. Occasionally when I was rummaging about in the shed I remembered them and checked to see if they needed watering. They always looked no different to when I had first potted them up.

But then about three weeks ago I checked them again and amazingly there were pale yellow shoots poking through the compost. I brought them into the house and following instructions on various gardening web sites, I put them where they would get some light but still be cool. After a week the pale shoots had turned green and were looking really healthy.

Some of them I give to friends for Christmas presents, others go to family. The rest of them go in my front porch on the windowsill or the table, and decorate the porch for Christmas. I cover the top of the compost with moss, collected from the garden, and I put sparkly gold twigs in the pots which look good at Christmas but provide support as the hyacinths start to grow taller. The hyacinths are white so with the gold twigs are a good seasonal colour. I'm not sure that they'll be in flower for Christmas, but they won't be long after.

Some of my friends say that it is easier to just buy them from the shops at this time of year, they are quite inexpensive. But I love the growing process.  The waiting and watching, the excitement of those green shoots appearing and the knowing that this was something that I have nurtured. This is all part of the magic of Christmas.

Grey days and a muddy plot

 The days are shorter now and are often  grey and gloomy. We've not been down to the allotment much recently, being busy at home and in the garden. But work has slowed down and after clearing and manuring some of the beds, it's a matter of waiting until other beds are cleared of vegetables before I can continue to manure and weed.  The shed has been tidied and cleaned out and the greenhouses have been cleared of the tomatoes and chillies and also cleaned out. So everything is fairly ok.

There are  still plenty of vegetables which will keep us going through the winter. There's fennel, leeks, kale, cabbage and beetroot and we go down about once a week to pick what we need.  There are also the onions, garlic and apples which are stored in the shed.

We went down a couple of weeks ago after some very heavy rain to check if the drains were still working and the plot wasn't waterlogged.  We were pleased to see that all was well, but it was quite muddy and I didn't feel inclined to do any work

Winter is the time to catch up with jobs on the allotment and now that the plants in the bog garden have died back I can see that the pond needs sorting out.  The compost bin needs turning but when we were there last week everything was frozen solid so we couldn't do any work or dig up any vegetables. There's an untidy area under the hedge where stuff tends to get dumped. I want to tidy this up and put it to better use. So there is plenty to do when we have more time.

The allotment seems to be having a rest for a while, but once Christmas is over we will be back

Through the garden gate--November

November has been quite a month for changing weather. There has been snow, heavy rain, gales, frosty mornings and sunshine too. 

The garden is slowing down now and taking on a different look. There is still plenty of colour about but not from the flowers, they are gone over now. I love the colours as everything starts to fade and turn to yellow and brown, the straw coloured plant stems and blackened flower heads. On the sunny days  there is a lovely golden, mellow look to the garden.

Some might think the garden looks untidy, but I love it like it is. It all takes on another sort of beauty especially on those frosty mornings we have been having in the last week.

The leaves are falling everywhere--over the borders, blowing across the lawn, covering the paths and drive, behind the shed and tucked in amongst plant pots. They have all fallen now from the lime tree which hangs over the drive. The oak tree is still clinging on to its golden leaves and probably will do until after Christmas. 

As the garden slows down, then so can I. It's a time to have a rest from back breaking gardening and take things easy.  I enjoy going outside on sunny days to sweep up leaves or tidy up a bit in the borders, but there's no rush, there's all the winter months to get the borders cleared. 

  
The wildlife will benefit from the messiness. As I wander around the garden I often wonder what creatures are hiding underneath  the piles of leaves left to rot in a corner or the seedheads and broken hollow stems in the borders. I know there are some forms of wildlife about as Holly the cat regularly leaves them for me outside the back door!

As usual I have joined with Sarah at Down by the Sea for her monthly Through the Garden Gate slot

Along the canal

We've had some bad weather recently and haven't been able to get out much in the garden or go down to the allotment. It's been a case of make the most of any occasional fine spells and get out to sweep up some leaves or tidy up a bit outside.

Last week we made the most of one beautiful sunny, autumn day to go out for a walk along the Leeds Liverpool Canal from Bank Newton to Gargrave.  Gargrave is on the edge of the beautiful Yorkshire Dales and it was a perfect day to admire the scenery.

I like canal walks, because they are flat.  They are also really peaceful and the scenery and wildlife is usually worth looking at.

At Bank Newton there is a group of about four locks close together.  There were a few canal boats moored there and the lock keepers cottage looked very pretty with an equally pretty garden. I love the little gardens that the canal boat owners create.

There was no signs of life on the boats, but there were plenty of  ducks about on the bank.

 

 

Gargrave is a sleepy little place, with the canal, the river, a train station and one or two shops.

 

Gertrude's Gardenalia shop caught my attention. But we were more interested in having lunch first in the Masons Arms. After a good lunch we went back to see what Gertrude's Gardenalia had to offer. There were some interesting vintage things--galvanised baths and pots etc., but the word vintage usually means expensive and so I thought I would stick to picking up the odd bargain from the local car boot sale.

Walking back to the car along the lane towards Bank Newton there were plenty of berries in the hedgerow and I collected rosehips for my Christmas decorations.

Autumn on the allotment

The days  are getting  get shorter, and colder and our time on the allotment is often dull, damp and misty. But the work is easing up, there is no rush now to get things done, we have all winter. The leaves are falling  from the big sycamore tree.  Every time we go, we find the top of the plot carpeted with with a layer of leaves. So sweeping up these leaves is one job which will keep us busy for a week or two until they have all have fallen. But it will all be worthwhile as they will go in the leaf bin and rot down to make lovely leaf mould for the beds next year.

leeks growing well

As crops are cleared and the beds weeded and tidied up, we are covering the soil with a good layer of well rotted manure.  There are still plenty of vegetables in other beds which will keep us going through the winter--leeks, cabbage, kale, Brussels sprouts, fennel, beetroot, parsnips.

mulched bed

Both the greenhouses are now empty. The tomatoes were finished weeks ago and last week I picked the last cucumber, cut back the chillies and sweet peppers and had a good clean up. I had a lovely box of vegetables  to take home that day.

 

Today I pruned the fruit bushes-- blackcurrants, gooseberries and redcurrant and  then covered the bed with a layer of our home made compost. The blueberries got a mulch of pine needles, saved from last year's Christmas tree as they like an acidic soil.

Most of the flowers have gone over now but the Rudbekias just keep on going and every time we go I cut another bunch to take home with me. We have had frost a few mornings recently and the dahlias turned black, so I lifted them and put them in the greenhouse to dry out.

rudbekias

I love this clearing up process as the growing season comes to an end. It's bringing about a time of rest for us, although there are always jobs to be done throughout the winter, but we don't need to go down to the plot so much now. It's a time to look back and a time to look forward. Some crops may not have done well, but there's always another year to think about mistakes made and try again or try something different.

One sad bit of news is that we haven't seen Ziggy the allotment cat for a few weeks now. She was always there to meet us when we arrived demanding food and she followed us around as we worked. She had started off living on Plot 10b which was Helen's plot and when Helen gave up her plot Ziggy came over to join us on Plot 8. She was getting old and we could see that she was quite weary and struggling. We will probably never know what happened to her and where she decided to end her days, but we feel pleased that for the last few years of her life we provided her with food, love and comfort. Read her story here http://margaretspatch.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/ziggy-allotment-cat.html and here http://margaretspatch.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/greedy-cat.html

Through the garden gate--October

 

October is a lovely month in the garden with so many autumn colours around. The leaves are falling onto the paths and need sweeping up regularly. That will keep us busy for a few weeks yet. There is a Rhus shrub just outside our front window which turns the most beautiful orange/yellow colour in the autumn before it's leaves finally fall.

 

The hostas also turn a lovely yellow colour before they die back. The cotoneaster horizontalis growing against the house wall in the back garden is full of berries now and the birds are loving them.

 I don't do much clearing up in autumn, I have found that leaving the interesting seed heads from plants which have finished flowering and any foliage with good colour gives the  garden a lot of colour and interest for a while.

I have been making up some autumn containers with cyclamen and evergreens for outside the front and back doors. They are looking very good and will keep well through the winter. The pinks and purples go so well with heucheras and many of the small evergreen shrubs which are sold at this time of year in garden centres especially for autumn pots.

October is one of my favourite months, not just because of the lovely colours but also because my birthday is near the end of the month. My potting bench outside the shed which Richard had made  years ago from an old kitchen table was rotting and in need of replacing. I decided I would like a new one for my birthday and after looking at several online, Richard decided he could do better and would make me another one, this time from new wood. I am very pleased with the finished result. I don't think I could have found a better one anywhere else and my potting area is looking much better now. It's all ready for me to work at, but I feel it's too nice to mess up with compost!

 

 Today I am linking with Sarah at Down by the Sea for her monthly 'Through the Garden Gate' post.

Jams and chutneys

There's something really cosy and homely about stocking up the cupboard with jars of preserves to see you through the winter.  You've always got a jar to give to a friend or donate to a charity coffee morning.

Last week I decided to make some spiced apple chutney. I found the recipe in the Sept/Oct issue of Landscape magazine. As with all the chutneys I have ever made, it is easy to cook, but takes hours to make.
I have found that I need to set aside a full day to make chutney. Preparing the ingredients can take ages, then all you do is throw them in the pan, bring to the boil and simmer--but it takes hours to get the point when it is ready. You need to go away and do something else while it is cooking.  Chutney is ready when all the vinegar has evaporated and when you draw a spoon across the surface of the chutney a channel is formed without any vinegar filling it.

If you are making chutney for Christmas it needs to be made about a month or two in advance to allow the flavours to develop. I've never made this recipe before and I did lick the spoon after I had filled up all the chutney jars-- it tasted pretty good.  So I'm wondering if I can really wait for a month before eating it.

I've also made apple and blackberry jam. Click here for recipe. You may notice now that I'm making things with apples. If you've read my last blog,  you'll know why.