Sauromatum venosum - update

 

                                        Is waking up ! 💚

Cabbages and Blackcurrants

 

Feeling happy to see tomatoes appearing and a couple more cucumbers  .

Hard work keeping up with the watering . Cucumbers are thirsty beasts !

I made a good start harvesting and freezing up my blackcurrants . It took me a good couple of hours to pick and prune the blackcurrant bushes ...not finished tidying the beds where these bushes are growing . I still have a fair bit to do there . There are some hefty great brambles growing in amongst them .

I didn't take any pictures of this as the whole process of picking the black currants . It is one very boring job . Picking off all the tiny stalks but it forced me to slow down and it became a kind of mindful meditation in a way .

Then pruning out all the branches that had already fruited down to the ground and saving the new shoots for next year's crop . Once I've got the brambles out , I will give the earth a good restorative mulch .   

I now have four good sized bags of blackcurrants in the freezer . I have made jam in the past , but I think this winter I will use them for pies and crumbles...... mmmm....Cornish Clotted Cream ...

Meanwhile in the shed ....

I have been growing on my cabbages !  🤣 

Safe from harm from cabbage white butterflies , green fly , black fly, pigeons ,rabbits ,caterpillars .

They are beautiful , perfect , completely unblemished ! The best Cabbage I have ever grown !

 I wish that I'd grown my Cavolo Nero Kale in here and so that is what I have decided to do !

          So I harvest them all...chop, chop , chop !

Of course I know that these could get a whole lot bigger  , but I will process these and get them into the freezer and we'll see if the remaining plants will make new shoots . And if they do , then I might plant them out and bring them on for Spring greens .

 Will also start off some of my favourite Cavolo Nero Kale .Seeds are waiting to be sown , to replace the pigeon pecked ones out in the vegetable garden .

I think you are supposed to cut a cross into the stem , then new shoots come between the leaf joints .

I know this works outside . Not sure if it will work in the shed . Finger's crossed .

I have a few more baby cabbages on the side , which I will plant out under butterfly mesh ,surrounded with chicken-wire ,  cabbage collars , slug defence , pigeon deterring devices   .

And so , a quick wash in the sink ,

Shredding up ,

Blanch in boiling water for about a minute ...make sure the water is fast boiling .

Then ....

   Plunge them into iced water ....

Spread thinly on parchment lined trays ....pat dry as best you can with a tea towel .

Put into the deep freezer . I left them in over-night .

Next morning , all beautifully frozen and crisp . Easily break up to put into portion size freezer bags .

These will be fine for up to six months in the freezer .

If you don't blanch the vegetables they won't last as long in the freezer . You can do that , but must use it up quickly . I'm told only a couple of months .     

I would always blanch it to be on the safe side .

A quick quote from Roald Dahl -

🥬  " From now on , you must eat cabbage three times a day .

              Mountains of cabbage !

                 And if it's got caterpillars in it ..... so much the better !"   🥬

                                       from    -  George's Marvelous Medicine 

                      Dahlia "Night Butterfly "   made me happy today !

🌿🌿Keep the Hoe Going ! 🌿🌿

 

                                        Sweet Peppers Corno di Toro Rosso

                  Will soon be ready . They need a little bit more sunshine .

        Cucumbers going crazy in the greenhouse ?         Let them ! 

They are on the Epiphyllum side of the greenhouse . The "safe "side .

Cucumbers hiding !  C. Beth Alpha and C. Femspot these varieties do best for me . 6"-7" lovely crisp , crunchy and  refreshing .

They do take a lot of watering mind ...even more than the tomatoes , but it is so worth it !

Noticed this shoot coming up through the bench  .

Looking down I see a tray of French Beans that I had forgotten about ! and......

.......... there are beans there ....already !

I will lift them all onto a tray under the greenhouse bench and dump some compost over their roots and just let them continue growing .  I have more on frames outside ....no need to disturb them .

Tomatoes  ..... need to take off a few of the lower leaves to let in some light .

I like them to grow as nature intended them to grow  , 8ft tall x 6ft wide , wild  and fully laden with fruit .  I don't pinch off all the side shoots  ..just one or two maybe and any yellowing leaves . 

I don't have any yellowing leaves just yet . 

I do allow them to scrabble about , but not so much as the Cucumbers, as on this side of the greenhouse are all the proper prickly cacti .  . . and I mean proper prickly . . . like dangerous . So I restrict them from growing too close to my cacti .

I haven't had much success growing tomatoes or cucumbers outside . I do this every year and this works for me .

A polytunnel would probably be the very best way to grow them , but I harvest enough for the two of us and the flavour is so much better than the supermarket can give you . Supermarket cucumbers taste horrible .....blurghk !

I'm feeding them now too . Every couple of weeks or so .

Outside the Runner-beans are really getting away now , winding themselves up the bamboo canes .

 

          It is lovely to hear the sound of happy bees .

I've been tidying up this bed . Weeding around the edges , before the grass begins to grow into the chicken wire .

 The french beans on the right are being so slow to get going , but when they do, the plant on the left hand side of the pic , should begin to flower to attract in the bees .

I can never remember , tell me , is this Oregano or Marjoram ? 

Anyway , the bees love it 🐝🐝🐝🐞🐝🐝🐝

My botanical brother reminds me "to keep the hoe going !"  and this is so true .

 Which do  you prefer ?  

A nice old vintage hoe . It's been kept beautifully sharpened !

                 It really cuts those weed seedlings down .

                               The Peas are still there .   🐁

   The retro hoe from the  70's . Never been sharpened . This hoe is good only if I've spaced things out properly ....which I don't usually do . 🌿🌿🫛Cramming in as much as I can like I do !  🌿🌿🌿

 Well , when I first saw this , I did think it was an expensive gimmicky thing ,and not sure whether to buy or not  but , as it turns out , this is the one for me !      Absolutely brilliant ! 

It gets in between the plants , the narrowest of gaps and easily sheers off the weeds .

                                  🌿🩷      I am in love with this hoe !   🩷🌿

   No-one is allowed to touch this hoe . This especially applies to my husband who has a tendency to use a tool for the wrong job .

                                                             MINE !

He's busy making another bonfire at the moment  .

The African Keyhole bed is looking more and more lush every day . There is another bed beside this one which I didn't get round to planting up and it has become absolutely riddled with weeds and stuff .

                                                 Nightmare ! 

We should really have a bonfire here to clear it , but can't at the moment because on one side it is too close to the African Keyhole Bed and on the other side are my lovely Black currants bushes .

   And that , my lovelies , is my next job !   Mmmmmm....... black currant crumble and cream  .

                                                        🌿🩷🌿