Well, I’ve skipped a couple of months, let’s just say that sometimes life gets a little busy!
But here’s a peak into what happened in the Garden in December 2022…
The Iris Garden
The roses in the Iris Garden are looking lovely and recovering from being smothered in kikuyu!
Indoors
When I brought this orchid cactus inside a couple of years ago, it was just a sad stump! This year it rewarded me with a flower in October, and then another just before Christmas. It’s just beautiful.
The Terrace
A place to sit and relax in the cool shade of the sprawling Chinese Elm.
Laundry Garden
The snap dragons in this garden are in their second year and have just been superb. While Vicki’s Christmas Lily is putting on a show, there is a pop of yellow from the beautiful yellow tiger lily.
Woodland Garden
I had always thought that fuchsias were delicate little plants! This one in the Woodland Garden has proved me to be wrong, it is thriving.
Our Resident Blue Tongue Lizard
We were delighted to see the return of the blue tongue lizard just outside the back porch. He comes in and out via the drain, and often sits on the door mat basking in the sun. When it gets too hot, he can be spied through the grate in the drain. They say if these creatures are around, there is less chance that there will be snakes, it may not be true, but I’m always happy to see him reappear in the warmer weather, but what’s even better is that, apparently, they love snails! If only they weren’t solitary creatures – a few families in the Veggie Patch would be very welcome. As you might imagine. sometimes I forget as I barge out the back door, and we both get a bit of a start!
Kitchen Pots
After noticing that the pots of herbs, lettuce, ginger and tumeric were struggling where I had them, I got to work and cleaned up a more suitable space. I am sure that they will be much happier here, more sheltered and not subjected to full sun all day long.
The Citrus Garden
When I first saw the Flower head on the Elephant Garlic in the Citrus Garden, I couldn’t help myself, I snapped a pic and sent it off to my sisters, with the message “I have pixies in my garden!” Jan messaged back “…I hope they don’t get up to too much mischief!”. So just had to snap the second pic where the pixie hat has well and truly slipped – I think there may have been a little shenanigans going on…
A few Geraniums
Just a few pics of some of the geraniums in the garden, they always add a splash of colour and are so hardy.
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- Ivy Geranium – a gift from neighbours nearly 30 years ago!
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- Not sure where I got this pretty thing!
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- I beliebe that this beautiful geranium come from my late mothers’ garden.
The Veggie Patch
The Veggie Patch is slowly coming back to life…
Garlic
The garlic has been harvested, cured and braided. I’m not so happy with this year’s crop, there were too many single bulbs, but the rest was a really good size. Before I braided them, I selected the largest of each variety and have set them aside ready to sow next season.
Shallots
A little different to the garlic, the shallot crop was plentiful! In fact, maybe a little too plentiful, I will see how it goes, and hopefully will have a good idea before I plant out next seasons’ crop.
As to storing the crop, I’ve opted to braid them. Not wanting to waste the green tops, I trimmed each bulb as I seperated them. The greens were piled up, while the bulbs were set aside for braiding.’
The greens were taken to the kitchen where they were sorted into two piles – one for the compost, one for the dehydrator. The ones for the dehydrator were washed, chopped and then spread out onto trays of the dehydrator. There weren’t enough trays, so it turned into a two day job. Once I’d finished the last of the trays, I stopped chopping and lined a container with paper towel, laying the shallot tops in the container, the sealing it with a lid and placing it into the refrigerator until the first batch was done. I now have a jar full of dehydrated shallot tops in the larder to be used in soups, casseroles, stews etc.
When trimming the tops off the shallots, I made sure that I left at least 20cm attached to the bulb, this was to allow for braiding. I thought that I would make nice long braids, it took a while to work it out, but I soon got into the hang of it. When they were done I collected some hooks that I had in the garden shed, they used to be used for hanging baskets, but were now destined to hang the shallot braids from. They turned out a treat! However, lesson learned, shorter is better… The weight in the longer braids meant that they were destined to break – while frustrating, they were easy enough to turn into shorter braids to be re-hung.
Shallot Greens
The greens were taken to the kitchen where they were sorted into two piles – one for the compost, one for the dehydrator. The ones for the dehydrator were washed, chopped and then spread out onto trays of the dehydrator. There weren’t enough trays, so it turned into a two day job. Once I’d finished the last of the trays, I stopped chopping and lined a container with paper towel, laying the shallot tops in the container, the sealing it with a lid and placing it into the refrigerator until the first batch was done. I now have a jar full of dehydrated shallot tops in the larder to be used in soups, casseroles, stews etc.
When trimming the tops off the shallots, I made sure that I left at least 20cm attached to the bulb, this was to allow for braiding. I thought that I would make nice long braids, it took a while to work it out, but I soon got into the hang of it. When they were done I collected some hooks that I had in the garden shed, they used to be used for hanging baskets, but were now destined to hang the shallot braids from. They turned out a treat! However, lesson learned, shorter is better… The weight in the longer braids meant that they were destined to break – while frustrating, they were easy enough to turn into shorter braids to be re-hung.
Tomatoes
It took me some time to get my tomatoes planted out, in fact they didn’t get into the ground until December, with the last of them planted just before Christmas. The weather up until then was less than desirable, so I held off. I planted most of them quite close together, as I heavily prune them and only grow two or three stems tied up between a couple of bamboo stakes. My reasoning is, that by removing the majority of leaves, the bulk of the energy goes into fruit production, and also provides for good air circulation around the plants. I did this last year, rather successfully, learning a few lessons along the way, so am going to continue learning and hoping. That being said, I did choose to plant the determinate varieties in an area where they can go wild!
New Years Eve
Finally, while not actually “in the garden”, this was our New Years Eve. It was a quiet evening, just the two of us, but we celebrated at home with a grazing board for two.
And for dessert…
Fresh from the garden, raspberries, and sorbet made from garden fresh raspberries, served with homemade meringues and vanilla ice cream. The perfect summer dessert to enjoy while heralding in the New Year…
- 250 g frozen berries
- 40 g icing sugar
- 1 small egg white
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Add the icing sugar and fruits to the bowl of your processor or Thermomix.
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Blitz 3 to 6 times on high speed (TM TURBO).
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Add the egg white and mix for 1 minute and 30 seconds. (TM SPEED 5).
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If your food processor has a whisk attachment, you may like to use it for this step. It just makes the texture a little creamier. (If using the Thermomix, insert the butterfly whisk and mix (TM – SPEED 3/ 1 Minute).
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Scrape the mixture into a container, cover and place into the freezer until ready to use.
- I have successfully halved the ingredients, without affecting the quality of the sorbet.
- The only thing I really dislike about this sorbet is the seeds of the berries. When I have the time, I gently simmer the berries for five minutes, then pass the mix through a sieve. The puree is then poured into an iceblox tray and frozen and used as for fresh berries.
- Try using pieces of diced fruit to make this sorbet. Rock Melon/Cantelope makes for a delicious refreshing sorbet.
Until next time…
Happy gardening!
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