Harvesting the apples

 We've had a bumper year for apples both on the allotment and in the garden.  In the garden we have an old Bramley apple tree. We've lived in our house for thirty-two years and the apple tree was well established when we moved in, so I don't know how old it is. It has good years and bad years. Last year was probably the worst year ever and we thought it might be because it was old. But it has bounced back. There are apples all over the garden fallen from the tree which will provide some food for the birds in the winter months. The good ones which we have picked from the tree are now stored in the shed.

On the allotment is an apple tree of an unknown variety, it was there when we took the plot on and we have pruned it and looked after it over the last three years. It has rewarded us with an abundance of apples this year. I think the variety is a cox's pippin, it tastes and looks much like it.

With all these apples around I needed a good way to store them. I haven't done well in the past with storing the Bramleys. So I got a number of boxes from the local supermarket. These are the sort which are used for displaying fruit or veg, shallow and made of good strong cardboard. I have wrapped each apple in newspaper and set them out in the boxes so they are not touching. The boxes stack up easily and fit neatly on the shed benches. I'm hoping this will work and the apples will keep well.

All that remains now is for us to eat all these apples. The Coxs aren't a problem, we are eating them an apple a day each. That should keep us healthy. Now the Bramleys need cooking and making up into puddings, jams etc. I have plans to make jams and chutneys.

Tatton Park, Roald Dahl and dream jars

A few  months ago  we visited RHS Harlow Carr gardens and came across the BFG  in the woods. He was moving to Tatton Park for the flower show it said on the information board. Well we didn't go to the flower show so we didn't see him again.  There was a trail for children in the woods and something about bottling dreams which intrigued me. At this point I have to say that I had never read The BFG and if you have then you will know more about it than I did at the time.

The BFG at Harlow Carr

Later on in July I had a message from my daughter who lives in the south of England (We live in the North).  They were taking their children into London to follow a dream jar trail ( all connected to Roald Dahl and the BFG). She informed me that one of the dream jars was to be found at Tatton Park. I wanted to know more, so my other daughter (up here in the north) and children decided that in the school summer holidays we would take ourselves off to Tatton Park to find this dream jar. I was quite excited, not only were we visiting a garden, which is something I love to do, but I was going to find out more about these dream things.

Tatton Park is a really big place, there is so much to see. It is set in 1,000 acres of parkland. There is a working farm with rare breed animals, the Mansion, The Old Hall, the Gardens, shops and places to eat. We couldn't see all of that in one day, so we just visited the gardens. There are 50 acres of garden divided up into different areas, so that took us quite some time to look around. In fact I don't think we managed to cover the whole of the gardens in the day.  One of the areas we did see was the Japanese garden--we weren't allowed into this but could view from the outside--it was a very peaceful  place.

Japanese garden

 We also saw the walled kitchen garden, the topiary, the rose garden. We went through the maze and for a brief moment thought we'd lost the children!

There have been lots of Roald Dahl events going on at Tatton Park  through the year to celebrate his centenary.  Around the gardens was a Roald Dahl Trail with lots of  things  relating to Roald Dahl's books. We didn't always know what they were but sometimes we could guess which book they were from.

We saw a giant chocolate bar and the 10 year old spotted an upside down house. He said he had only read one Roald Dahl book but he seemed to know a lot about the other books. The 12 year old said she didn't like Roald Dahl books. I found that hard to believe, I was getting more interested by the minute and wanted to read some of these books myself.

upside down house

We found the dream jar at the entrance to the gardens. Further on through the gardens, in the woods there was a scene from 'the Twits' with washing hanging on a line, and we came across an old pram in the woods--I'm not sure where the pram fits in to all this.

dream jar

But the best thing of all for me was the fernery. I love ferneries, and this one was especially good, with lots of green foliage, ferns of course and water dripping everywhere. The first thing we saw as we entered was a load of snozzcumbers.

snozzcumbers

At the time I didn't know what a snozzcumber was but it looked quite revolting. If you don't know what a snozzcumber is then read the BFG. Moving through the fernery we spotted lots of other things which were obviously  from Roald Dahl books. And finally there he was--the BFG, hiding in the greenery, almost as tall as the highest tree fern.

The BFG

And amongst the tall ferns high up was a tree with little dream jars hanging from it. I loved it, but what were these dream jars all about I wondered? I had yet to find out.

dream jar tree

We had great fun at Tatton Park,  the gardens are worth visiting anytime, but if you want to see any of the Roald Dahl events check out the website here http://www.tattonpark.org.uk/roald-dahl/events.aspx

The secret of the dream jars has been revealed because I bought myself a copy of The BFG in the shop before we left. If you want to know more, read the book or watch the film.

“Dreams,” he said, “Is very mysterious things. They is floating around in the air like little wispy-misty bubbles. And all the time they is searching for sleeping people.” (The BFG)

Through the garden gate--September

 September was a lovely month in the garden.  The rudbekias and sedums have been flowering for weeks and are still looking great. The sedums are so loved by the bees and butterflies. The Michaelmas daisies are flowering now and a good contrast to the lovely golden hakonechloa next to them.

 

One of the splashes of colour which is showing no signs of fading are the pelargoniums in the borders up the side path of the house. Some of them have been in the ground for two winters now, it must be very sheltered there. I would normally pull them up late autumn. I think they might be in there for another winter. I wonder how they will do this time.

There is a lot of tidying up to be done in the garden now as the summer flowers come to an end. I spent a couple of days weeding and tidying up the front garden. It had got very untidy, the hostas were completely slug eaten so I cut them right back. Under the windows at the front of the house the borders have got very out of control, so I have started to dig everything out. I want to start again with completely new borders but I'm not sure what to do with them so I have decided that once I have cleared the ground of all the unwanted plants I will leave it all unplanted over the winter while I think about it and work out a plan.

This month I have again joined Sarah at 'Down by the Sea' for her monthly 'Through the Garden Gate' slot.

Tomato harvest

This is the first year growing in our new greenhouses and we've had a good summer with cucumbers, tomatoes, sweet peppers and chillies. But the tomatoes are now almost finished. Last weekend we cleared out most of them, leaving just one growbag with three 'Gardeners' Delight' plants still ripening. The thing about tomatoes is that once they get going and start to ripen you often have loads ready all at once.

One of my favourite things to make with them is tomato soup.  I make a pot full and freeze it. On cold days later in the year it's a reminder of those summer days I spent picking tomatoes.

Last year when we didn't have a greenhouse on Plot 8, the tomatoes were grown in the greenhouse on  Plot10b which was Helen's old plot.  They were very slow to ripen and looking back in my allotment journal we were still picking them well into October. I finally made green tomato chutney with them, which was delicious and friends and family have been looking forward to this year's batch. They are going to be disappointed, no green tomato chutney this year.  Instead I used the same recipe but with the red tomatoes.  I hope it is as good, it took hours to cook and the kitchen smelled of vinegar for days after.

Here's the recipe:

Tomato chutney

2kg  red or green tomatoes

500g apples

500g onions

250g raisins

25g salt (I didn't use so much)

500g sugar

600ml vinegar

Spices of your choice eg. ginger, pepper, chillies 

(I used some grated root ginger and some chopped chillies)

Finely chop the tomatoes, apples and onions and place all the ingredients in a large pan. Heat gently, stir and simmer until a pulpy consistency is achieved. It took about 3 hours to reach this pulpy stage so allow plenty of time for cooking.

Jar up and seal.

 

Watercress

One of my favourite salad veg is watercress and last year I decided to grow some from seed on the allotment. I had grown some in a salad bed in the garden before and it had grown well but been a bit straggly and all over the place. It disappeared eventually, probably having been dug up by mistake.

 This time I grew it in a big container and this seems to work well. The container helps to keep it under control. Last year after the first cutting, I was pleased to find that it grew back a few weeks later.  I thought it might have died over winter, but no, it returned this year and is doing even better.  I cut it, then it grows back, again and again.

I have also found that if I take some home and put the stems in a little jug of water, roots will grow from the stems. These can be planted into pots of compost and will grow. This is an easy way of growing watercress if you didn't want to be bothered growing it from seed and could be done with shop bought watercress. 

If grown in the ground, watercress needs a moist soil.  In a container it will need regular watering to keep the compost damp. If you don't have anywhere to grow it outside, then it can be grown indoors on a windowsill in a small pot or recycled food container.

Watercress is one of those foods which is really good for you, it is rich in vitamins and minerals. I love it's strong peppery taste and much prefer it to rocket.  It is a very versatile veg.  It's good in salads, on sandwiches with cheese or egg,  chopped up in a sauce with fish, it also makes a delicious soup. In fact if you look up watercress recipes on the Internet you will find loads of ways if using it.

And the great thing about watercress is that the slugs don't seem to
be interested in it.

Sweet peas at the allotment

If I had to choose a favourite flower then sweet peas might be the one. They flower for a long time over the summer and their fragrance is exquisite.  They are easy to arrange, just pop them in a vase and they do their own thing.

A lot of people say they have trouble growing them and I used to have problems when I grew them in the garden.  But since I have been growing them on the allotment they have been great.  What's the secret to success?  I'm not sure, but at the allotment they have soil enriched with well rotted manure or home made compost, they have plenty of space and an open position with sun. I don't do anything complicated, just plant them to grow up a netting frame and let them get on with it.

I have been picking sweet peas for weeks and weeks now and over the last few days have wondered if it is finally time to cut them down.  They are looking a bit tired, the stems are shorter, there are aphids on them, the leaves look a bit mildewy and there are not as many flowers.  But short stems doesn't matter, they can be put in a smaller vase. When I bring them back from the allotment I give them a rinse  in a sink full of water to get rid of the aphids.  They don't last as long now, just a couple of days, but they still smell wonderful. I won't cut them down just yet.

Through the garden gate--August

I'm joining Sarah again at 'Down by the Sea' for her monthly 'Through the Garden Gate' slot.

August has just flown by and with grandchildren to look after during the school holidays we haven't had a lot of time for gardening.  The garden itself seemed to take a rest from mid July to mid August, it's been all quiet in the flower borders with not much happening.  It's like the flowers have been charging up their batteries and are now ready to explode, full of energy again. And now in the last couple of weeks things have started to happen. The rudbekias, heleniums and phlox are brightening up the borders, the sedums are starting to show signs of colour and the white buddleia is happily flowering away.

When I have managed to find time to get out in the garden I have been cutting back the alchemilla mollis which has now gone over and also the ferns which pop up all over the place and would take over if left to do their own thing. The ferns grow everywhere and obscure the other plants in the borders so it looks much better after a good tidy up. They soon grow back again though so it's a regular job in the garden. With some of them I can manage to dig out the roots, but others are really tough and some grow out of walls so I can't get rid of them. The recent wet weather has brought out all the slugs which have nibbled the dahlias and had a feast on the hostas leaving them in shreds. 

The good news is that our Bramley apple tree, which is quite old and produced hardly any fruit last year, is now almost bending over with the weight of all this year's fruit. That means I need to tidy up the shed, clear a space to store them all and then start making things.  I found a  recipe for spiced apple chutney recently which I want to try out.

School holidays means lots of days out with the grandchildren and we've visited one or two big gardens recently--Parceval Hall and Tatton Park.  These were both fantastic places to visit and I will save these for another blog.