July goings on.

July has been a busy month so far. 


Inspired by this book:

I thought I'd have a go at bottling (or 'canning' in America) gooseberries. I bought some from a PYO farm I came across to eke out the ones I grew myself.

I used my new preserving pan to sterilise the jars and lids, with a tea towel folded at the bottom as instructed. 

Topping and tailing the gooseberries was rather tedious, but necessary. Miss Read, in her Fairacre series of books, says she uses a pair of nail scissors but I prefer my knife.

I packed each jar with fruit then added hot syrup (Just sugar and water). I screwed on the lids and slightly loosened them, then lowered them into the hot water and brought the water to 88 degrees Celsius for the amount of time it said (20 mins I think - it varies, depending on the fruit used).

The finished result. Now that the fruit has softened there is loads of room left in the jars!

 I was amazed at how the jar lids dimpled down, indicating a vacuum has formed. When you think about it this is just the same process as tinned fruit that you buy in the shop. 


I'm very excited about all this! I love seeing the pictures of Amish cupboards filled with jars of produce, and I love the thought of preserving food without needing a freezer. I've bought some smaller Kilner jars to preserve rhubarb, chopped peaches and chopped pears. I would like to preserve vegetables, soups and stews this way too but, due to low acid content and the danger of botulism therefore, I would need to get a special canning pressure cooker for these.


This month in the veggie garden, after weeks of rain:


First potatoes dug up.

Courgettes (zucchini) are forming. Had to pick these a bit smaller than usual due to slugs nibbling the skins off!

My one remaining Pumpkin plant is now flowering. It always amazes me just how big Squash flowers are! I caught this one in the morning; by midday it had curled up again.

The mint plants, which grow wherever the mower can't reach, are also coming into flower. The bees LOVE them!

And finally my 3 'helpers'....


Bramble,

Luna,

and Flopsy.

What have you been up to this month?

Veggies, water and washing

Some piccies from my garden today...

Busy washing day! Boil washed my un-paper towels, then hot washed towels, hand washed 3 things and ordinary washed the rest - 3 linen lines worth. I love to see washing blowing in the wind. It connects me with all the women all over the world, all through the past, who have cared for their families by washing their clothes.

I have two water butts but they have yet to be connected to the drain pipes. Still, I leave the lids off to collect what they can and......

.... I leave all this out to collect more rain then pour them into the water butts. This has really transformed my attitude to rainy days from gloom to excitement. I love harvesting the rain God sends!

The St. John's Wort is living up to its name by blooming in time for St. John's day. (June 24th) Picture is slightly blurry, sorry.

Mint grows wherever the lawnmower can't reach.

The potatoes are flourishing - looking forward to the first dig!

By contrast the beans are really struggling. This is the second sowing, 24 bean seeds each time, and only 3 have made it. 

The strawberries are beginning to ripen, a few at a time; not enough for a bowlful yet.

Apples are swelling on my new Jonagold tree.

The onions are coming along nicely - apart from the one I accidentally chopped with the hoe. Oops!

The courgettes have survived the slug attack....

..... but this is the only one of 3 pumpkin plants to survive the chomping molluscs.

The gooseberries are almost ready to pick!




And finally, two nosey pets who just had to come and have a look....

Luna, our little girl cat....

...and Flopsy, peeking coyly over his shoulder.


Hope you've had a good day too!  x x

Some Piccies for May

After weeks of almost constant rain we've finally had some sunny times - between showers. Took the camera out yesterday in the back garden and thought I'd share the piccies with you.

Bluebells - the very epitome of England in May.

The gooseberry bush is showing signs of the beginnings of berries forming - an amazing feat since Bramble (my cat) keeps catching the Bumble bees that visit here.

Solomon's Seal. Look how the raindrops stay on the leaves, making little beads. I am always astonished at how fast this plant grows each year! Some years it gets completely eaten by grey caterpillars from an insect which only feeds on Solomon's Seal.

Jack-by-the-hedge (or Jack-by-the-compost-bin!), a wild flower which has decided to make it's home here.

Beautiful, beautiful apple blossom from the Jonagold tree I planted this year. Will they make apples this first time? No idea - we'll have to wait and see. The label said it 'probably' doesn't need another tree nearby to pollinate - probably??!!

The onion sets have shot up this last week.

The 'darling buds of May'. Hopefully they'll open out this week, as the nearby hedgerow ones have.

White dead nettles and stinging nettles. I allow some to grow for the butterflies but have to be careful not to let them overtake the garden.

Unfurling fiddle heads of Ferns - now there's poetic!

And finally some pics of the beautiful animals whose lives I am privileged to share. This is Bramble, probably looking for more Bumble bees to catch!

Luna, Bramble's sister, investigates the pond.

Can you see who's hiding here?

Yes, it's Flopsy the bunny!

Hope you enjoyed my May photo album! Blessings  x x

Potato Harvest in 12 pictures!

First of all, apologies for not posting for a while. It's the end of the school year and I've been so busy with the usual activities - class trip, sports day, tests, report writing, preparing for your next class, passing on info about your current class etc etc - that sleeping has been my main priority!

Anyway, somewhat later than the actual event, here is my pictorial story of my triumphant potato harvest.......All good gifts around us.....

Off to the garden. Hmm....slim, model-like figure there.....  ;-)

Attempting to dig them up. Problem: because they're growing in a tub the roots are all tangled up together....
....and I can't pull them up as I'd hoped.

Right! Time for the secateurs!

 Rueful look at all the foliage cut down. (Bunny feasted on these later!)

Now I can get to them!

Try the garden fork. Nope. Not enough leverage.

Aha. A hand fork works!

The first potato!!!! The variety is 'Desiree' with this lovely pink skin.

The whole crop from one tub. Now to scrub, cut and cook them.

The onion harvest, drying on the lawnmower box. A couple of these to cook too.

The finished dish! I was surprised and disappointed to find the beautiful pink colour disappeared when cooked, but they still tasted delicious. The highest praise came from teenage daughter (who took all the photos by the way) who pronounced them to be "right good". Praise can go no higher!