Posts Tagged ‘fruit’

Wednesday Wish: Fruit trees

Wednesday, March 20th, 2013

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Blueberries, quince and damsons
Image credits: blueberries, quince, damsons

Spring is coming, spring is coming!

That means that we’ll be able to get back to using our garden again. It’s looking really sorry for itself at the moment – neglected, frost-shattered terracotta pots

Much as I love pretty, jaunty annuals, I never feel like they’re value for money. I prefer having bulbs – they bring pleasure year after year and once they’ve been planted, the majority of them just get on with it.

Recently, I’ve been thinking about investing a bit more and getting a few fruit trees. Top of my list are damsons, quinces and blueberries. I make jams & jellies so fruit from my own garden will make it all that more “home-made”.

Bluberries really suit where we live – they love acid soil and you can grow them in pots (the majority of our garden is cobbled stone setts). Damsons are famous for growing well “up north” – apparently they like a bit of damp – they’ll feel right at home with us then! I’ve wanted my own quince tree ever since I made a batch of jelly from a big bag of quinces given to me by a friend of Granny Glittens. They’re not the kind of fruit you tend to find to readily in shops or markets and the jelly is fragrant, delicious and a beautiful amber colour.

I think I’d like to turn our little plot into a micro orchard!

Tuesday Huesday: Grapes

Tuesday, July 17th, 2012

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a bunch of multicoloured grapes on the vine
photo credit: deboraaplante100

Our colour picker doesn’t do justice to the kaleidoscope of hues in this awe-inspiring photograph. We’ve never seen a bunch of grapes like it – it’s beautiful! The original image has tagged it as being of the Montepulciano variety which is made into Montepulciano d’Abruzzo wine.

Growing our own

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

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flat leaf parsley and coriander growing on a windowsill

This year we decided to grow more of our own – and we’ve got no excuse, as Todmorden‘s the home of Incredible Edible.

strawberries growing in a vintage terracotta strawberry pot

We have a variety of crops to look forward to in the coming weeks.

homegrown beetroot in vintage enamel breadbinhomegrown peashoots grown in vintage metal bucket

Most of them are growing in containers as much of our garden is paved with stone cobbles. It also makes protecting them from the ubiquitous slugs & snails much easier.

tomato plants growing in a vintage mini greenhouse

We use lots of the old galvanised metal ‘dolly tubs’, buckets and bins.

courgette flowers in a vintage metal dolly tub

The plants seem to like it!

potato plants overflowing from a vintage metal dolly tub just outside the kitchen doorpink stems of rhubarb growing out of a vintage metal dolly tub

Potatoes, beetroot, carrots, tomatoes, rhubarb, strawberries, broccoli, courgettes, squash, peashoots, salad leaves, a variety of herbs – and yes, those are figs.

tiny fruits growing on a fig tree

There’s still a little room for some flowers.

lilac coloured osteospermum growing in a vintage metal bucket

pink lupins growing in a vintage dolly tubpink lupins growing in a vintage dolly tub

Perennials like the hostas, astilbes and lupins return each year like old friends. Although this year’s harsh winter saw a few losses.

purple lobelia growing in a vintage metal bucket

red geraniums just about ready to flower

To these we add a few annuals – osteospermums,  lobelia and the like.

hosta leaves

pink fox glove about to flower growing next to a giant ribbed terracotta urnyoung purple shoots of astilbe plants

We’ve enjoyed working in the garden this year. We don’t think self-sufficiency is here just yet – but hopefully we’ll reap some rewards!

An apple a day

Friday, March 28th, 2008

Vintage teatowel detail showing fruit & vegetable illustration

Where were we with our nature-influenced design blogs? We’ve been slightly sidetracked with the opening of our new shop.

tea towel detail showing fruit and vegetables tea towel detail showing fruit and vegetables
Details of a vintage 1960s/70s calorific value tea towel

We’ve previously looked at fish, birds, flowers and leaves – today it’s the turn of fruit & vegetables.

tea cup and saucer butter dish
‘Eden’ design by Meakin & Figgjo Flint butter dish

Vintage footed strawberry plate
1950s strawberry bowl

They’ve been used as inspiration in artwork, illustration, decorative objects and unsurprisingly kitchen and dining wares.

pottery spice post with apple decoration pottery milk jug
Hornsea Pottery &  Goebel Pottery

Arabia orange marmalade pot Vintage Arabia preserve pot
Pair of Arabia preserve pots

Apples have always proved a very popular decorative subject, particularly strong during the 1960s & 70s it seems.

Wooden apple Glass apple

We love this glass apple designed by Ingeborg Lundin for Orrefors in 1955

Glass apple designed by Ingeborg Lundin for Orrefors

Comfort me with apples pottery charger

Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love – Song of Solomon, 2:5, King James bible.

Bill Charmatz vintage illustration of bowl of fruit Bill Charmatz vintage illustration of a stock pot

Cookbook illustrations from the 1950s are a firm favourite of ours.

And obviously you’ll need something to put all this fruit & veg in!!

Vintage cane fruit bowl Vintage Rye Pottery fruit bowl

These are two nice recent finds – a 1960s globe cane fruit basket and a 1950s Rye Pottery fruit dish.