So that's where the strawberries have gone
We've made a second batch of cordial. This time it's strawberry, rhubarb and lemon verbena. The lemon verbena was added last minute as Joe decided it didn't have enough kick. The strawberry pulp tastes delicious. We'll have to wait for it to cool before we can give it the thumbs up. Joe is already unconvinced. This, I think, is partly because we've harvested all the strawberries (for now) and thus he can't sneak off and gorge on them this afternoon. It turns out that what he's being doing most afternoons.
It's been another day of catching up with the garden. Sowing, planting, weeding and a lots of feeding, particularly as Joe S said that my sweetcorn looked pathetic. I've also made up some containers from leftovers seed-raised stuff. There's a 'cool as a cucumber' Salvia patens 'Blue Angel' and Nicotiana 'Lime' combo and a hot Mexican number with 'Blue Angel' and Zinnia 'Old Mexico' (seed from Kokopelli), some pots of night-scented stock and Reseda odorata and finally two large low pots full of Basil 'Bolloso Napoletano', which has lovely large blistered leaves.
Lots of the perennial Digitalis are out in full swing. I am particularly pleased with our seed raised Digitalis viridiflora. It has very small yellow flowers (green in shade). It comes from Macedonica and is a typical woodland-edge Digitalis, but it is coping well in the sunnier spots I've put it. We've also got two very handsome plants of Digitalis ferruginea that are just coming into flower. I sowed some more from seed I collected last year as I'm so taken with their stature. That and their slug proof leaves. I want to get hold of some of the Spanish Digitalis obscura. I once came across a field of this when botanising in Spain. It was quite a sight. I've got some D. grandiflora that are desperate to get out of their pots so I think I'll dot them around the spring garden and perhaps on the shadier side of the nectar border.
There has been no weather today, but by all accounts it looks like it will be fair. I hope so as I intend to spend every spare second in my own garden as I'm on operation 'tidy the garden before THEY come'. But I'll tell you all about that next week.
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~43~RS~)
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Hi Alys
Fancied having a go at the Elderflower cordial from last week but with only 5 flower heads on our Sambucus nigra decided it probably wasn't a good idea. Now strawberry and rhubarb cordial sounds delicious but I can't help but think that Joe has the right idea – just eat the strawberries. Did look for a recipe though and found one that used 8 sticks of rhubarb to 300gms strawberries. What sort of a quantity is a stick of rhubarb? I’d best just eat the strawberries. Have you tried redcurrant and raspberry cordial? Usually have plenty of redcurrants and raspberries.
Martyn
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Alys,
Sorry to be a pain but how do you move a Camellia? Yes I know you should plant them so you don’t have to move them but two Rhododendron that where behind it have died after 20 years. So any help would be appreciated.
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Dear Ida
Well you'd be best to wait till autumn to move it. But if you can't wait that long then with a lot of love and care try this (though I'd really press for waiting till the growing season is over). Dig your new hole and fill it with water. Leave it to soak through and do this for at least another two days. This way you know that the camellia will be moving into something nice. Now dig up the camellia with as much root ball as possible (might need a hand with this one). Buy some friendly mychhorizal fungi and spread it around the new hole (help enormously with establishing new fine root hair established plants). Plant new camellia. Love it a lot. And by that I mean water it every week, not a slosh, but a proper soaking without fail and with luck it will like its new home. Depending on how large the camellia is you can prune it to help the move.
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Dear Plotman
My rhubarb was very thin indead so I worked on the principle that rhubarb is quite a strong flavour and was cautious. I used 8 thin stalk in the end.
I was going to try raspberry and loveage as we've only got black currants this year (and they're going into a seperate cordial).
A
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Hello, Hope you are enjoying the weather!
When you say you only have black currants is that due to weather / birds / pruning?
We had red, white and black currants flowering. The red currants had lots of fruit but I forgot to net them and the birds ate them as soon as they were ripe! The white currants had few flowers this year and also got eaten by the birds. In contrast we have lots of black currants and the birds haven't touched them at all?
Must net the raspberries and blueberries asap!
The morello cherries seemed to suffer wind damage, this also did for the kiwi fruit, two plants had lots of flowers (30 to 40) but strong winds a couple of weeks ago appears to have destroyed the lot.
When are Jerusalem Artichoke ready to harvestt by the way? They just seem to get bigger and bigger, looking a bit like sun flowers now!
Paul -
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Hi Paul
Wondered about the lack of redcurrants myself. We had flowers on our red, white and blackcurrants. We’ve got lots of redcurrants protected by netting from the blackbirds. I left one bush unprotected for the birds, but they still prefer to try to steal berries from under the netting. However no blackcurrants at all and unfortunately the white currant bush had to make way for the greenhouse. I think I have managed to get some cuttings going off the white currant though. Our raspberries are doing well and we are enjoying lots of fresh strawberries. Our blue berries are only young bushes but have a good looking crop of fruit to look forward to.
Apples look to have set a reasonable crop but plums and gages are very disappointing with only a few plums set. Isn’t gardening wonderful no two years are the same and its best never to plan how to eat your crop until its on the plate.
Martyn
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I am starting to really miss Gardeners World. Roll on Friday....
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Me too. I've spent the week at home decorating.I've got a lovely shiny milky white bathroom to show for my efforts.
I had a dream that all my cucumber flowers had turned to males ones and no-one had picked them off whilst I was away, I was horrified.
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Alys,
Have you considered a "Garden produce recipes" blog? I've just grown Kohl Rabi for the first time and would like your butter and mustard recipe!
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The khol rabi recipe is really simple. Peel golf balled sized rabi and boil in a pan of water until tender. You can chop the rabi up in to chunks in your in a hurry. Take a tablespoon of butter and melt it with a table spoon of grainy mustard, a little salt (if the butter is unsalted) and some pepper. Slice the hot rabi into the butter/mustard sauce and smother. Serve hot.
You can also grate raw khol rabi into salads. It's an Austrian thing and is supposed to taste like apple.
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