Posts Tagged ‘gardening’

Beet It!

Thursday, December 8th, 2011

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close up view of freshly dug up beetroot

I don’t think we’ll ever win any prizes for our fruit & vegetable growing. This was our second attempt at growing beetroot. This year the roots were slightly more bulbous than the previous, but still not what you’d call monsters!

freshly dug up beetroot

But we didn’t despair – we decided to make best use of what (little) we had. We used some of the leaves in salad – they look & taste much like spinach, but with beautiful, burgundy stems.

freshly dug up beetroot in an antique Billingsgate Market oyster trug

The remaining leaves & stems made a lovely, earthy winter soup – garnished with a little flourish of cream.

home grown beetroot pickled in balsamic vinegar with whole mixed peppercorns

The (baby) beetroots themselves were pickled in balsamic vinegar with whole peppercorns – and they were absolutely delicious served with a selection of cheeses and a salad!

Garden Helper

Thursday, July 15th, 2010

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vintage "Do it Yourself Gardening Annual 1960"

We wrote a short blog about growing our own recently…

detail of vintage gardening annual from 1960

… or our attempts at least!

detail from vintage 1960s gardening annual

How about this for the perfect companion?

cover from vintage 1960s gardening annual

This fab 1960s garden DIY annual should help. Even looking at the cover makes us want to get out there and dig!

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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!

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G is for…

Friday, May 16th, 2008

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photo of our garden

Our small Pennine garden has woken up – well, started to at least! We’ve been out at the weekend sweeping, potting up seeds, planting strawberries and some colourful annuals.

strawberries growing in our garden colourful annuals in our garden

We have lots of shady corners, so hostas and astilbes do really well.

astilbes hostas

Ferns like it here too – we’re really fond of these little ones which self-seed and sprout from the old stone walls.

ferns ferns

self seeding clover type plant

This is another self seeder. It can take over a bit if left unchecked, but if it’s restricted within pots and cracks between paving it looks wonderful – the bright green leaves and pretty white flowers really lift the shaded areas… and it’s always good to get plants for free!

We have a little project for the summer, renovating this little, old greenhouse which was about to be thrown on the tip. It’s a house in the loosest sense of the word – being only about 4 feet wide. We’ll try not to lose any of its shabby charm, but if it doesn’t get some TLC soon it will fall to pieces.

greenhouse

We love these bits of metalware in the garden – old dolly tubs, buckets and watering cans.

galvanised metal dolly tub pottery urn

Also the drainpipe hoppers which look lovely when the flowers start to spill over.

old cast iron hoppers being used as plant pots

We’ve got our seating arrangements sorted out, picking up a Victorian cast iron bench over the winter.

Victorian garden bench

Also a more portable 1960s metal & plastic weave chair… and this fab 70s floral lounger.

old weave chair vintage 1970s floral sun lounger

The birds are well catered for…

hanging bird feeder full of peanuts stone bird table

Although its about time they started to find their own food now.

We’ve made a good start, but there’s plenty left to do… and Fudge is always happy to supervise proceedings.

Fudge the dog asleep in the garden

It’s nice to be able to sit back and survey work done so far though… and plan the next move from our strategic headquarters.

garden shed

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