One Week Eating Local(2) Part 5

It rained here yesterday morning so no boot sale. The only rain for days and it falls on a Sunday morning! Ho Hum

The eating locally produced is ongoing and so easy with all the garden produce.When I made the Bacon and Egg Pie last week I saved a small bit of pastry and rolled thinly, just enough to do a pastry case for a mixed fruit meringue pie with odds and ends of fruit from the garden.


Some almost past-it  gooseberries, last of the redcurrants and a couple of early very sharp cooking apples, all cooked up with quite a lot of sugar. Stirred in some cornflour (sadly not local) and  egg yolks. Then used the egg whites and sugar to make meringue for the top.

It's very pink and divides into 6.I've been eating for lunch instead of a sandwich some days.





These were a surprise from the garden

Two of the 4 calabrese plants have produced a head already, much earlier than they should and very small due to dry/chilly weather I guess.

I made a little cheese sauce and fried some of my potatoes..........After peeling - as this is the damage ants have done to some of the lovely Charlotte spuds. Every year I threaten to stop bothering with potatoes as this always happens.

Then it gets to February and the East Anglian Potato Day and there I am again getting some seed potatoes as usual.

Breakfast was toast and the very local honey which I'm enjoying as a change from toast and marmalade.

I keep forgetting to welcome some new followers - Hello, thank you for pressing the follower button  hope you like reading my ramblings.


Back Tomorrow
Sue

Magpies and Ants

My second picking of tulips from my mini cutting garden, nearly all yellow this time, the next lot to open will  be all shades of pinks and purples.

While I was collecting the nettles tops last week I found a magpie feather. I know it came from a  magpie because of the green blue shimmer. Last year a pair nested in the top of one of the Poplars on the field.

A few weeks back I heard a huge racket and saw a pair of magpies arguing with a pair of rooks over that old nest. I've not noticed any birds near it recently so maybe they all gave up.

(For readers from overseas this is a magpie!)


Magpies are large striking looking birds, unmistakable in their black(with shimmery blue/green tinge) and white and now SO common. It was rare to see them when I was a child and so unlucky to see just one. Now wherever you drive in the countryside there they are.

"For anglers in spring it is always unlucky to see single magpies; but two may always be regarded as a favourable omen. And the reason is, that in cold and stormy weather one magpie alone leaves the nest in search of food,while the other one remains sitting with the eggs or young ones; but when two go out together it is mild and warm and favourable for fishing."

"Magpies flying three or four together and uttering harsh cries predict windy weather" .

What I also keep hearing and then seeing down the meadow, but only as they fly away, is a pair of Green Woodpeckers, they are very shy birds,could they be nesting somewhere close? None of the trees down the meadow are old enough to have holes in them for woodpecker nests.

Still seeing the goldfinches and long-tailed tits on the feeders, like the header picture, and a couple of starlings have found the suet block - don't see many here .

On Monday I noticed a few of the early potatoes were just showing through so needed a little soil pulling over them and as I did this all along the edge of bed were ants..... as usual. I've puffed them all with Nippon ant killer but only have a little left. Last year I got some Dof ant powder cheap from a boot-sale which turned out to be useless. With no garden centres open I've ordered online some of the decent stuff. Ants do more damage here, especially to the potatoes, than anything else- and they are bound to appear in the kitchen in June, coming  out of the old chimney bricks so I expect this will be my 4th June hoovering up flying ants.

I was supposed to be doing posts about Saints and their days from my book, but they've not been very interesting to write about!
However, today's Saint is Fulbert of Chartres. Fulbert was born in the mid C10 and was a clever child sent to study at Rheims and later taken to Rome where he became chancellor of the cathedral of Chartres where scholars came from all over Europe to study. He died in 1029 and the steeple of the cathedral is the only part that remains from his time when he rebuilt the cathedral after a fire.
And the next two? April 11th Saint Guthlac and April 12th Saint Zeno of Verona.  Not very well known.

Back Tomorrow
Sue

Potato Day Again

On Saturday I went to the 25th Annual East Anglian Potato Day - the longest running event of it's kind in the country! Organised by  Ipswich Organic Gardeners; Suffolk Organic Gardeners and Norfolk Organic Gardeners groups and held at Stonham Barns (the place not too far from home where I go for the local boot-sale.).

I got there earlier than last year so was very near the front of the queue, only a dozen people in front of me and 100 behind

As it was the 25th anniversary they had invited Bob Flowerdew, organic gardener extraordinaire, who's often on Gardeners Question Time on radio and used to appear on TV too, to open the event.
 Blimey he looks older - he used to always have a long plait down his back, but now just a top-knot and beard.
 Here's a blurry photo of him with microphone, encouraging everyone to grow more spuds. He says the secret for Norfolk and Suffolk potatoes is as much watering  as possible, which is all very well, but I have enough watering to do with the greenhouse stuff plus the beans, squash and courgettes.

I just bought a few Home Guard and Foremost and  more of Charlotte - my favourite. No point taking up my limited space with too many as I don't eat a lot of potatoes nowadays, but it would feel strange to grow none at all.

As well as about 80 varieties of potatoes there are other stalls too and I managed to nab another free jute bag from the Local Councils Recycling Stand- even though they said last year they wouldn't have them again.

I was tempted by this.......so tempted that I bought it...............a small pottery bowl from a lady called The Vegan Potter, mostly she does one-off unique pieces. This bowl has a lovely glaze - a beautiful colour. Not sure what to use it for though. Sure I'll think of something.

I also loved this bigger bowl below and took a (poor) photo of it especially for Joy. It's made from small squares of clay all overlapping slightly and shaped in a mould (a bowl lined with something - newspaper? can't remember what she said), It looks amazingly complicated.

This is a better photo of it from her web site below

 

So now I have my seed potatoes and my seed packets and called into a garden centre after Stonham  for my compost.............I'm ready for growing - just need the right weather.

Back Tomorrow

Sue

Saturday 10th August

A Yellow weather warning in force today for high winds. It was already windy yesterday afternoon but  incredibly warm........... I had windows open all over and curtains going crazy. The heavy rain forecast didn't happen here and neither did a big power outage which affected some areas of the country.


Because of baking 3 cakes for the show and bringing them home and popping in the freezer I won't need to do any baking for weeks - very handy. The 1st prize-winning tomatoes were skinned and added to the bag in the freezer and that made 2lb so far towards my Red Hot Relish and I picked the rest of the mange-tout, added the ones I'd shown on my pathetic 'tray of vegetables' class and they went in the freezer too. I gave away the prize winning cucumbers on Saturday and shoved the courgettes in the fridge with the peppers and aubergines while I decided what to do with them.

On Tuesday I went to Ipswich, hadn't been for months but there were a couple of things I needed from Lakeland and Wilkinsons. Goodness me the town looked sad, so many empty shops that weren't empty last year. The only thing cheering was the Hospice Elmer trail. This is one of 55 to track down. I looked on line to see the story behind the design and found............

This sculpture is based around the life and early years of local boy Ed Sheeran. The design shows mini murals depicting the special and memorable events of his life, many of which are featured in his single Castle on the Hill, and which have shaped him into the man, and very talented artist, that he is today. Among the patches are many images of his tattoo characters and items that have featured heavily in his life and music.

This is the second time I've seen the "Cornhill Improvements" and I still don't understand the huge amount of money spent. Water fountains - like so many other towns and the concrete "stonehenge" and there were deckchairs too

And behind you can see one of the huge empty shops. A family run department store for years until 1996.
Looking on line for the date it closed I found this........................
Could a new tenant soon be found for the former Grimwades store on the edge of the Cornhill as the council prepares to replace the controversial plinths outside it?

As we revealed yesterday, the concrete "Four Arches" structure - described by many as "Cornhenge" - are to be replaced at the end of the summer with polished plinths that meet the original specification.

This has prompted some people to ask why they are being replaced and not removed altogether - but a spokesman for Ipswich Council said they were a "Marmite feature" with as many supporters as those wanting to see them gone.

He said: "They add an element of height to the redevelopment of the Cornhill and once the final plinths are put in place, we're confident more people will like them - we have already heard from many people who like the concept even if the concrete doesn't look very good."

As the debate on the plinths continues, construction workers have moved in to fit out the former Grimwades store that was being converted into a Pret a Manger last year.

The up-market sandwich chain pulled out of the deal just before Christmas with the interior unfinished. It is understood that the building's landlords have found it difficult to find a new tenant to move into a half-completed unit and have decided to finish fitting it out themselves.

They hope this will make it easier to find a new tenant within the next few months - although no one is lined up at present.

During the fine summer days the Cornhill has been full - many families with young children enjoy sitting down near the fountains that have become a popular feature.

The safety work on the Cornhill is expected to get underway within the next weeks after the borough got the recommendations of an independent expert - the full report cannot be published until after the completion of the inquest into John Stow who died the day after falling down steps there in January.

The council is to install extra handrails, a permanent barrier beside the tapered step in front of the Old Post Office, and improve the definition of the steps so they can be more easily seen by people on the Cornhill.

This work is due to be completed over the summer - with the new plinths installed by October half term.

Not sure all that work will help fill empty shops!


2 pairs of shorts were an extremely good surprising bargain at the Wednesday Boot sale, I paid just 50p each and one pair still have tag attached , I would have paid more as it's rare to find big-bum clothes at boot sales! And another 50p spent on a Sudoku book because the one I bought from The Works was infuriating once I got passed the Easy and Medium....turned the page to Hard and got completely stuck so never even made it to the Extra Hard pages!

Decided to use some of the aubergines with courgettes, peppers, potatoes and onions all from home plus a few bought carrots to do a big tray of roasted mixed vegetables. One lot to eat and 3 boxes popped into the freezer. I think I might do another batch next week, when more courgettes appear.

Youngest and Florence visited me this week which was good....... And that was another week gone.

This week I'm grateful for.........
Food from the garden
Clothes from a boot sale
The Internet to find out interesting things


Back Monday............Have a good weekend everyone....look out for those Yellow Weather warnings!
Sue

East Anglian Potato Day 2019

An old picture from their website.

Now in it's 24th year it's the longest running potato day in the country. It's held every February at Stonham Barns (the place not too far from home where I go for the local boot-sale.). Jointly organised by 3 groups............ Ipswich Organic Gardeners; Suffolk Organic Gardeners and Norfolk Organic Gardeners group.
It's quite a tradition now to go and wait in the long queue for the doors to open and then jostling round the tables to find the varieties of choice, which are all laid out in alphabetical order.

I joined the queue quite late for me and only had to stand in the gusty wind for 10 minutes, but at least the sun was shining and discussing it with a lady standing behind me in the queue we decided that there had never been a Potato Day in pouring rain, snow yes but never anything needing an umbrella. There seemed to be a lot more people there than recent years I reckon it's the Brexit Effect!!

This year the tubers were 17p each and  I bought 6 each of 4 different varieties. 2 first earlies........ Swift and Accord, and 2 second earlies Nadine and Charlotte. 6 is enough for the width of the bed I'm using this year. Not bothering with maincrop as I don't eat many potatoes, so I'll just buy a few at a time the rest of the year. I know nothing about Accord so that will be an interesting trial. The others are all ones we've grown often before.

I've put the first earlies out to chit ready for planting next month and the second earlies in the cold porch so they don't start producing shoots too soon.

I spoke to two people I knew, one had heard about Colin but the other hadn't. It's always difficult because I never know what to say when people didn't know he had died, they are always embarrassed when they don't need to be which makes me feel embarrassed too!

Anyway, Mid Suffolk District Council had their usual stall and I asked about their free bags and had one of the very last. No money now for giving anything away, they used to be sturdy jute, last year and this year- cloth, - next year nothing!

I'd  thought about  doing other stuff on Saturday morning while out but the wind was so strong all I fancied doing was getting home into the warm and watching the rugby. So that's what I did.

Finished a book, started another,  watched rugby and listened to the wind whistling around the chimney.

Back Tomorrow
Sue

Potatoes, Tomatoes, the Hedghog Returns and Replies to Comments

At the annual Potato Day in February I got 5 (enough for one row across a veg.bed) of each of First Early ...Home Guard and Swift, Second Early........Charlotte and Nadine and Maincrop.....King Edward and Majestic. 

The two rows of  Early Potatoes were finished a few weeks ago. Awful quality........nibbled by ants and hardly any on each root.
Then  about 10 days ago I dug the first of the Second Early type Nadine and hooray at last, decent spuds.

The same  day I had the first of the tomatoes from the greenhouse, they are meant to be small.........baby plum.

I've seen the hedgehog several times now, usually evening and always in the same place........because that's where I've been putting a bit of cat food! He/she loves it. and it gave me a chance for better photos.
I think it's now common knowledge that a dish of milk shouldn't be put out for them although in the past that was common. Maybe that's what led to a decrease in hedgehog numbers - killing by mistaken kindness.

Thank you for all the comments and reminiscences about books, reading and libraries.

Hello to Samantha who hadn't commented before but was also a library assistant and has got through bereavement and cancer.

Eileen T asked if I remembered Library Tickets - yes I've spent years of library time getting them in order in trays. They were sorted by the date they were due back and then by a 5 figure number, so when a book was returned it meant flicking through the trays to find the bit that went back in the book and then the little pocket bit went back to the reader. When I started work borrowers were only allowed 3 books at a time, so people were in and out of the library much more frequently than nowadays - we can have 20 at a time from the mobile library!

Jean in Winnepeg (hope your arm is healing) reminded me of  Annuals, which we  had from Grandma at Christmas, and the Annuals were usually the same title as a weekly comic, which we always had. Then I've remembered that Grandma and Mum called  weekly magazines "books". So when we went to Stowmarket we would go into Durrants the newsagents and collect our "books" from a room at the back of the shop because they were ordered and kept for us.  So maybe I learned to read from "Jack and Jill" comic- the first one I had, then I remember  "Judy" and "Jackie" and "Fab 208" and they are all still available on ebay! and no I'm not tempted.

And thanks to Spade and Dagger I know that I'm not the only person who hasn't read all the children's classics. I  can only remember having Black Beauty which made me cry, The Water Babies which I didn't understand and Heidi which I  enjoyed.

Also thank you to Anon who suggested the Bookworm book a while back, I never remember where I've heard of books.

Back Tomorrow
Sue

Lots of Gardening Done Before and Since

This post was started several weeks ago...........
Before the 11th
After the cold of April gardening got started in the first week of May and a few things were done in the week before Colin became more unwell............... he helped me put the wire-netting fence  around the cutting garden. That's foiled the ducks and pheasants from taking a short cut right across it!

Col had sown lots of beetroot seed several weeks ago and covered it with fleece but what with one thing and another we hadn't looked underneath to see what was happening and when we did look it seems the wind and rain on the fleece hadn't protected the beetroot seedlings but rather rubbed them all out of the ground.....well not All but lots. So the fleece was lifted onto wire hoops and I shall be re-sowing in the gaps when the remaining seedling get going.

Next job was to finish  putting compost on the pea/bean bed  and fork it in. I put up canes ready for the French climbing beans and hardened them off for a while.

Everything in the greenhouse is fine except there was a disaster  when  both my remaining cucumber plants collapsed.......not really sure why, as they were covered with fleece when we had those cold nights. Replacements were found from the car boot sale.

Since the 11th
I've thrown myself into gardening, keeps me busy, so I've cleared along one side of the greens bed leaving just the spring cabbage, which are so late, then compost  was added and courgettes planted.

Lots of grass cutting, I can work the ride-on mower, but I'm a bit dangerous with it. Col hardly ever let me have a go and even cut the grass with it the week before he died. I'm much safer with the small rechargeable mower, it might have been expensive to buy but it certainly is an easy machine to use, starts easily, light to push, easy to empty, easy to charge the battery..... I sound like the TV ad!

The two gooseberry bushes that I planted just after we moved here are covered in fruit, the old blackcurrant likewise. Not sure about the raspberry canes yet. Strawberries have flowers. I'm hopeful for several days of my own soft fruit this summer.

I'd love to know why the only place in the whole garden where there is bindweed is in the end of the bed where I planted the asparagus crowns last year?  I'm pulling and digging it out every time I see a new bit. I think I'm winning. Horrible tenacious stuff. 9 out of 10 asparagus crowns have survived the year. Next year I'll be able to cut one or two to eat. I found the cat rolling in the dry dirt around the asparagus crowns so put lots of prickly bits of hawthorn hedge on the bed to stop her.

10 maincrop potatoes planted.....very late. The early potatoes look OK except for a couple - must find out why -. Leek seedlings have been re-potted. I think they will be the only winter veg I'll bother with as it's such a faff trying to protect the brassica family from cabbage white butterflies/white fly/pigeons etc.

Mangetout peas are all planted  under a fleece cloche. Climbing French beans are planted out. The Tomatoes, Cucumber, Aubergines and Peppers have been moved into big pots around the greenhouse and then I ran out of compost. Spring onion, lettuce and radish seeds sown in the half barrels on the patio and I rescued the Bay tree from the nettles that were growing up around it.

Still to do.........Sow runner beans in pots, I'm late. Put up canes for them. Do hoeing and more grass cutting and loads of weeding in the two front flower beds. Colin edged them with tiles last year but because I can't work the big strimmer it's just a mess.

Finally lots of watering every day because now the garden really needs a good rain, we had a short shower yesterday afternoon but it didn't do much good.

Back Soon
Sue

East Anglian Potato Day

The 22nd year of THIS EVENT and several of them at this venue which we now live closer to than ever before. (It's where I go for the Sunday Car boot sales in summer). It's run annually by Norfolk Organic Group, Suffolk Organic Gardeners and Ipswich Organic Gardeners Group.
There's a lot of queueing up to get in and I've waited in snow and rain and bitter winds - it's rarely warm in Mid February. Last Saturday was Freezing and but dry enough. I arrived ¼ of an hour before the doors opened and reckon I was about 50th in the queue!

There are lots of other organisations running stands there and it costs £1.50 to get in but by picking up a free shopping bag from the District Council Re-cycling stall........

 I reckon that covers the entry charge. (Bit peeved that they only had cloth bags this year, every year previously I've had a sturdy jute bag). Inside the 80 varieties of potatoes are laid out in labelled boxes in alphabetical order and cost 17p each. They provide paper bags to put the potatoes in and pens to write what you've got. .

Before I went I checked the website to see what types they had available this year and  I decided to mix in a few  older varieties. Last year we just had First Early Foremost and Second Early Charlotte.........10 of each I think, they were what we grew at the smallholding to sell. But neither were very outstanding taste-wise  here........the soil is different I guess, and we seem to catch more rain here than where we were by the coast. This year we have a bit more room than last year to grow.

 I got 5 (enough for one row across a veg.bed) of each of First Early ...Home Guard and Swift, Second Early........Charlotte and Nadine and Maincrop.....King Edward and Majestic. Total cost £5.10. All I have to do is remember to write down a note of the rows when they are planted and it will be a good taste trial.

They make sure to hand out notes for next years date of course.

I need to get the early spuds on trays to chit (produce short shoots) The dining room table should be the best place for them........steady temperature and light.Nice sturdy shoots are what's needed...........and then roll on spring for getting them planted. We're going to need quite a lot of fine and warm weather to dry out the veg beds this year.

One of the stalls were selling off these...... "clearing out" they said ...........for £3 each. Good bargain.

Back Tomorrow
Sue

Potatoes

Someone (reputedly George II in the 1730's) once said that an English summer was 3 sunny days and a thunderstorm. Our storm was at 11am yesterday morning. One flash of lightening, a few rumbles of thunder and a 3 minute shower, our 8 water butts are almost empty so we could have done with a bit more. Colin worked out that it only costs pence to fill a water butt with mains water so that's what we will have to do otherwise I'll lose all my greenhouse crops which would be a loss of pounds rather than pence.

 We've now been eating our own new potatoes for a couple of  weeks. Like everything else in the garden they've suffered from dry weather and ants and also being grown on land that was previously grass - at least it had been for a few years.

But with a bit of scraping and removing nasty bits they are quite edible. We certainly won't be self-sufficient in potatoes like we were in smallholding days as we only had room for 10 of each first and second earlies. These are Foremost, the first earlies. Taste-wise they certainly beat some new potatoes I bought a while back which had no flavour at all.
We've also had our first courgettes and two small bowls of raspberries from the canes that were here before us, plus I have cucumber overload! I sowed four seeds as sometimes they can be difficult to get going, all four grew then I couldn't bring myself to throw out the two plants I didn't need!

Thank you for all the comments on the last two posts. The years flew by so quickly it's good to look back sometimes to remember all we did.

Back in a flash
Sue

How Does Our Garden Grow........... Part 1.... Vegetables

The first lettuce from under a plastic cloche (Mrs F left 2 tunnel cloches here which have been very useful) was cut a few days ago, so that's lettuces, radishes and chives to eat - not quite self-sufficiency but better than nothing. In a year or two there should also be asparagus (we planted 10 crowns and see signs that 8 are alive) and rhubarb at this time of year.

The runner beans have begun to climb the canes and I've also planted out my climbing French beans and put a little fence made of sacking around them to keep the wind off until they get going as I did with the runners.  Three courgette plants are under a mesh frame to keep next door's cat from laying on them...........she prefers our garden to theirs for some reason. Polly rarely lays about outside, preferring a bed or a chair indoors! There are several rows of beetroot under fleece for the same reason.............and to stop birds pulling them up. The first lot sown were sparse so gaps have been filled with new seeds which are now all germinating.
Our 20 potatoes plants are all looking healthy. They were all under fleece protecting them from the late frosts the other week but I've pulled the fleece back to slow the second-earlies down a bit.
Then under the other little polythene tunnel cloche are the chard and mange-tout peas with room for more later in the season. I started the peas in pots in the greenhouse in the hope they will survive all pests. I've got a heap of sticks there ready for them to clamber over when I take the cloche off.
16  Brussel sprout plants arrived in the post yesterday (Yes I've Cheated) 8 for us and 8 for Col's brother as that number is the cheapest way to buy and we don't need them all. So a while after the top photo was taken I was outside planting them and had to take another photo.

Mrs F left several wooden frames covered with wire netting and also lots of clay pots, and that's how I've covered things...........using the pots to support the frames. The sprout plants also have fleece over the frame to shade them until they get established. (The house in the picture is next door and is up for sale...........for £100,000 more than they paid for it 18 months ago! I know they had a new kitchen and bathroom, but good grief, things haven't gone up that much). There is space for another tripod of Climbing French beans, runner beans  and for 8 Purple Sprout Broccoli plants which will arrive in July. They will be our only brassica plants, being the things that produce the most from least space. Sadly no room for cauliflowers, calabrese or cabbage.
 

On the edge of the driveway, so they can trail without getting in the way, are three squash plants which I put in 3 tyres filled with soil and compost. Each tyre is sitting on some material stuff we found in the workshop, it lets water through but not the soil. I hope when the squash have finished I'll be able to clear away the tyres and drag the soil on the cloth stuff across to the veg beds - that's my plan anyway. To keep the plants from being blown about I pushed a tile upright on the side of the prevailing wind.

Into the greenhouse and there I have some Basil, 5 plum tomato and 4 cherry tomato plants and 4 cucumber plants, although I shall only keep 3 as there isn't room for more.........and I've run out of big pots anyway... ......the greenhouse has a solid floor so no borders to plant in.

 On the staging on the left I've got 4 aubergines and several pepper plants - hopefully more sweet peppers  than chili peppers but I'm not sure as some didn't get labelled properly (oops). Two sowings of leeks eventually produced a few seedlings and I've potted 2 dozen into bigger pots with more to do later and I've also just sown more runner beans.  There are a couple of spare courgette and squash plants.......just in case.......... and last but not least the fig tree which is looking well and my £1.99 grapevine - which I picked up from QD in Stowmarket a few weeks ago.

It's been an interesting challenge to work out what not to bother with in the limited space and we may regret something and change plans next year or we might find we have more room for things this year and pop in a few extras later. Actually it might be interesting to do a post on what we're not growing and why .............well, interesting for me!

I've just found my penfriend from Michigan has a blog HERE

Back Soon
Sue

PS Thanks for nice comments yesterday