The September Garden Helps The Purse

 After cutting and giving away the six marrows that had appeared while I was away on holiday last month the courgette plants recovered and I've had 5 more altogether and the sweetcorn are finally giving me some small cobs. Also here is very last tomato from the greenhouse, no green ones to bring in this year - a really poor year. These all came into the kitchen last Thursday.

I harvested a few more beetroot from BiL's garden and took home a handful of windfall cooking apples that one of the Keep Moving Group had brought in.

A week or two ago I bought British Coxes Apples from Aldi and wished  I hadn't, they were nowhere near ready to eat and horrible sour. Picked far too early. So I tried the first of my Falstaff from the garden and they are delicious. Won't need to buy any  apples for at least 3 weeks.

Falstaff Apples from the garden

And finally I've been picking a bowl of raspberries every 2 or 3 days for a couple of weeks  from the late fruiting canes and one last runner bean!

It's handy that the weather is cooperating so far this month, we've had better weather than many parts of the country - lots of sunshine. The raspberries have almost finished and it will soon be the end of them if we get much rain. 

Back Tomorrow

Sue

Courgettes # 1 to 5

 It's that time of the year when growing your own and  eating with the seasons  means every other main meal has to be one using courgettes and I discovered I'd been putting courgette recipes on here every summer since 2017 and maybe before that on my old blog.

This year Courgette number one was used in fritters, courgette two popped on top of a cheese, bacon and onion quiche and three and four used for a courgette crumble. Even the children ate this - as long as I served it up with chips!

I use cheddar and no pine nuts and the other courgette recipes are on last years post HERE 

Then there was a week or two without any - the cold and wet weather slowed down the outside plants and the two plants in the greenhouse produce male flowers instead - a hazard  of growing inside. 

Courgette number 5 was the next available and from outside and was used to make a courgette/ pesto sauce for pasta. 

# 6 and 7 will be ready any minute. I'll let one turn into a Marrow later in the season so I can do Marrow, Apricot and ginger jam as that is a real favourite now as a change from marmalade.

I don't buy courgettes from supermarkets out of season so make the most of them as almost free food.

Back Soon

Sue

The First Homegrown Food of 2024............

........was a small courgette from the greenhouse. I could have let it grow but cutting it will encourage others.

Later there will be plenty for all the courgette recipes but this time  it was grated and added to some part cooked and mashed frozen peas,  plus flour and an egg to make fritters - very green and colourful food again! I served them up with bacon and my home made tomato relish.

Also in the greenhouse the tomatoes are setting and there are cucumbers on the plants that will be ready in a few weeks - they grow like crazy once they get going. I need to check that recipe for the Sweet and Sour cucumber pickle so I'm ready for the glut.

This week I found a few raspberries off the canes that were here when I came. I cut them back each year and they seem to fruit at random times, producing a handful now and again from now until September. The row of summer fruiting canes that I planted are buzzing with bees all the time and looking hopeful for a good crop in July. My first three strawberries were ready from the small plants my sister gave me,  I added to some picked from BiL's strawberry bed - his are really getting going now.

The basil cuttings finally had enough roots for me to pot them up - 4  plants from my 79p pot bought from Aldi in the first week of May. 

Next door neighbour's cat is still causing me problems, there is one area of the three veg. beds unplanted. Does she use that bit? No - she pushes her way under, in and around all the fences, covers and barriers and digs up the leek plants instead!....again. I thought even a mouse wouldn't be able to get in but she managed to find a weak spot. I've used even more metal pegs to hold the netting down now - hopeful that the remaining leeks will be ready in the autumn.

Thank you for all the comments about Foxgloves yesterday - seems they are popping up in gardens everywhere and bees love them. Must be the only good thing to come from all the rain we have had.

Back Soon

Sue

Saturday Just After the Middle of May

After a week of lovely fine and warm weather here it went back to a bit of  rain on Tuesday, Wednesday and poured all day Thursday - will the Sunday Boot sale be cancelled again? Met with my friend from Grammar School Days in a new coffee shop in Stowmarket. I think we now have more coffee shops than normal shops...........thank goodness they had cheese scones!

 I'm still battling the birds in the veg beds. Something got underneath one of the wire netting frames - which I'd balanced on flower pots over my two courgette plants - and managed to dig one plant out of the ground. It can't have been pigeons as they are too big - or the cat next door, so it must have been a blackbird or something similar. Luckily I'd sown six seeds and hung onto the other plants so had a replacement. Now they are covered by a netting tunnel and I also had replacement leek seedlings because of the same problem. The netting frames were only a couple of inches of the ground - thought that would put off birds/cats etc but seems not.

In the greenhouse, things are now in their big pots......less of everything than previous years when I've tended to squash too many plants in.  I gave two tomato and one pepper plant to BiL and put 2 more tomato plants and 2 aubergine plants out the front in a box saying 'Help Yourself' and they went- so that's good. As usual I bought half a dozen French marigold plants which are supposed to be good for helping  the tomato pollination. Other things in here are two more courgette plants into large pots that I'll probably abandon when the outside ones go mad, runner bean seeds just sown, yet another spare courgette, a cutting from the gooseberry bush where a branch had touched the ground and rooted, a small tray of calendula seeds and  the sweetcorn growing well in their peat pots- to go out at the end of the month.

A while back I looked at the long range weather forecast........difficult to make any sense of it ........ very variable I think!.

Signals during this period are extremely weak, and for the most part indistinguishable from climatology. Similar weather conditions to those of the preceding few days are most likely to characterise this period to the end of May; a mixture of unsettled periods with rain and showers and settled interludes in-between. By early June, the chances of above and below average rainfall are evenly balanced. There is a slightly higher likelihood of above average temperatures compared with below average temperatures, such that the chance of hot spells, although still very small, is slightly higher than normal too.

Swifts are back in the village, spotted them on Wednesday - very good to see, no Swallows yet - so no signs of summer  and we'll shall have to wait and see what the weather does.

Also back is the Great British Sewing Bee on TV for it's 10th series next week, it's one of the programmes that I watch to keep me company of an evening.

Back Soon 

Sue

Rounding Up

No exercise group this week as the village hall is having work done but as there were two lovely days on Monday and Tuesday, I got lots more clearing done in the garden and once again the garden waste bin is almost full just two days after being emptied.

I cleared the Passion flower right back to ground level as it was spreading everywhere and took the insect protection off the Purple Sprouting Broccoli, which promptly all fell over - they are too tall and leaning away from the fence. Might get something edible off them eventually.

It's been a week of endings in the garden

The last of............

..............the beetroot, as there weren't many I've only been eating now and again to spread the enjoyment.

..............the courgettes, one plant has lasted far longer than normal and I took 5 more courgettes off before pulling it up and adding to my compost bin.

.........the autumn raspberries, such a surprise at how many I've had considering there are only a few canes.

.........the tiny plum tomatoes, the very dead plants are now in the council garden waste bin and a bowl of tomatoes in the fridge.

.........the parsley plants, divided from a pot bought in the spring from Aldi, the section I put outside was eaten by slugs(?) and the two in the greenhouse had come to an end. Need to buy another pot to divide and over winter.

My church visits 'happened' to take me close to  Bridge Farm Barns, a cafe/gift shop/vintage shop place to look at what lovely things they have in for Christmas - very pricey though and I bought nothing except a coffee and cheese scone ( it would have been rude not to and I went without breakfast specially!)

When I got home I got my Christmas list book out of the drawer ready to start noting down presents including what I already have for the Christmas Hampers for my sister and sister in law. Checked what cards I have -  seem to have bought rather a lot half price in the January sales - plenty for this year for sure. The problem with having several family birthdays all within a few weeks in October and November is that it's difficult to think about Christmas presents when I've only just asked what they would like for birthdays.

Thursday was wet and as I drove to Diss for shopping I couldn't remember the last time I'd driven in rain as it's been another dry summer and early Autumn for us in Suffolk but the weather has become much more autumnal in the last couple of days.

This week I've been grateful for

• Fine warm weather for garden clearing and to save on heating oil
• Living in a quiet part of the world
• The food from my garden

I'll be back Monday - Hope you have a good weekend

Sue

The Last Bank Holiday Weekend Before Christmas!

 Sorry about that title, but it's the frightening truth!

It's the weekend when they have the flower festival in the little church at Crowfield - I think I've been most years since finding out about it, not because of the flowers but because they have a rather good amount of second hand books for sale. Discovered Crowfield hasn't been "done" as a proper church visit although it gets mentioned every year. Must rectify that.

The Athletics World Championships have been good to watch on TV this week although I puzzled at the decision of the GB Athletics Association to only take people who had could get into a final. It meant there were several events with no representative from here which seemed a shame.  

Haven't had flowers for a while but spotted these for sale for £2 on a roadside stall near where we have the Keep Moving group. Gorgeous colours.

After my shelf shifting there's no room now for much of a seasonal display on the smaller shelves in the living room. But the room seems to be looking bigger without the other big pine shelf unit which is what I was hoping for. The books that are not used so often, which were on the bigger shelves, are now in my bedroom waiting to see if they are really needed any more.

That Roberts Radio was a charity shop bargain while we were on holiday in Somerset many, many, years ago - £4 I think because it had no electric lead but we had one at home and it can use batteries too which is useful in a power cut. Come to think of it everything there is second-hand except the flowers and the plate stand! 

More garden clearing this week including one Huge courgette plant which had finished - I'm still eating courgettes several times a week and thought it was nearly the end but after removing the one plant I discovered the second plant has put out new growth and there are still babies appearing - more fritters/courgette pesto pasta/courgette crumble next week I think. I've had 2 handfuls of Runner Beans so far and I'm hoping for more, the plants have gone up to the top of the canes and are now coming down again with more flowers than they had before. 

My garden waste bin had settled a bit so I managed to shove everything in and it will be emptied next week ready for me to fill up again when I cut back the Buddleia that's smothering the sweetcorn plants. I'm trying to think of a way to squeeze in another compost bin of my own, I have two - one to fill - which is full-  and one rotting down. The rotting down one could be emptied onto the garden now but there's not a spare patch of soil to empty it onto......I'll puzzle it out somehow.

Have a good weekend.

I'll be back Monday or Tuesday

Sue

99 Ways With Courgettes?

Can't manage 99 but  here are a few to be getting on with, proving that there is no need to complain about a glut of courgettes - they make almost free food!

The first is from a cutting from a magazine that the Somerfield supermarket used to give away. Somerfield was in Saxmundham and after they closed it turned into a Waitrose.

 COURGETTE CRUMBLE

 Notes -  I use a bit of garlic puree from a tube rather than fresh as I don't eat enough of it to make it worthwhile buying or growing. It doesn't need the salt. Any fresh breadcrumbs will do. I save the crusts to use. Pine nuts are very expensive so I don't bother and I usually add some grated strong cheddar as well as a smaller sprinkling of grated Parmesan.

COURGETTE FRITTERS

For one person I used 1 courgette, grated and squeezed as dry as possible, handful of frozen peas - defrosted. Mixed with a a tablespoon of flour, half teaspoon baking powder (not sure that's necessary) a small egg, small pinch salt and good amount of black pepper and half a teaspoon whichever seasoning you fancy - the recipe says cumin, but I used curry powder.

Drop spoons full into hot oil in frying pan and press down, turn over when browned. For a different version of most fritter type recipes some grated cheese can be added but I didn't and served up mine with a couple of rashers of bacon and some tomato ketchup.

COURGETTE and PESTO PASTA SAUCE

Start cooking pasta then heat a little oil in a pan on low heat then add grated courgette, cook until soft. Stir in a spoonful of pesto and then the cooked drained pasta and serve up with a sprinkling of Parmesan and grated cheddar.

Mine was eaten this time with a piece of home made Focaccia  bread which I had cut into pieces before freezing.

And when the courgettes turn into a Marrow

MARROW, APRICOT and (optional)GINGER JAM

2lb Marrow, peeled, seeded and cut into squares (prepared weight)

8oz Dried Apricots, soaked overnight and drained

Grated rind and Juice 2 lemons

3lb Sugar 

(Plus optional grated ginger root/ground ginger)

Steam the marrow for about 15minutes ( I cook in very little water and drain really well) then mash.

Put Apricots in pan with 1½ pints water and cook for 30 minutes until soft.

Add marrow pulp to apricots and the water they were cooked in, with lemon rind, juice and sugar.

Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved, stirring then boil for 15-20 minutes until setting point is reached.

Makes about 5lb and is a good colour and delicious.

Back Tomorrow

Sue

My Quiet Week in Suffolk

The sun has shone and I have books to read and tennis on TV and I did  the Wordle in less than 6 goes all week and in just two tries on Wednesday - a good fluke!

So I'm one of the lucky people with nothing to moan about! 

My Quiet Life in Suffolk this week has involved the Keep Moving Group, swimming and a trip to Morrisons in Ipswich after a very quick stop at  the  Wednesday boot sale (where I bought nothing). At Morrisons I bought a new pair of shorts having abandoned 3 very old pairs last week - all three were really too big and two were chucked due to falling to bits and one pair still OK have gone into the charity shop bag. Too old for shorts I may be but I shall keep wearing them!

Below are the small courgettes that were my 3rd  harvest from the garden, the first small harvest  was a cucumber from the greenhouse and the second was a handful of raspberries from the canes that were here when I came. I cut all the courgettes that were there to encourage more to grow. 

These are all from 2 plants, the third is really slow growing and one I put in a pot in the greenhouse because of being short of space outside is even further behind which is odd. If all 4 plants were to really get going there will be far too many courgettes. But I want to leave one or two to get to marrow size so I can do the Marrow and Apricot Jam (This link is so I know where to find the recipe in July!)

This weekend there's some repair work to do on a piece of trellis that's against the fence which has a yellow climbing rose on it. I hadn't really thought about how the trellis was fixed but, like so many things here, it wasn't really fixed at all. I noticed it had collapsed almost on top of the climbing beans after we had a sudden mini storm on Thursday afternoon and in the rain I went out to try and prop it up - getting nicely scratched in the process! I managed a temporary fix but it needs something more permanent  and I reckon putting a couple of screws into the fence panel and wiring the trellis to the screws should do it - if there is some wire left from what I used for keeping the raspberry canes upright, if not it will be tied with my ever faithful baler twine.

Not sure what else is happening this weekend although I'd like to go to a farmers market so I can get another 'artisan' cheese to try. And I might raid Brother-in-Law's strawberry patch again!

Have a lovely weekend wherever you are and whatever you're doing.

I shall be back Monday

Sue

An Odd but Good Jam

 What to do with an over large courgette - I wouldn't call it a marrow but it was a good size already.

I used to make Marrow and Ginger jam but it never sets well and it's not a favourite anyway so I looked in my preserving books and came across..................

 An odd combination perhaps but as there were apricots left from the Christmas cakes that needed using and lemons in the freezer I decided to give it a go. (Lemons from the freezer can't be grated for the rind so I added the juice and quite a lot of the pulp instead)

It also sounded a bit dull so I decided to buy some ginger and grated that in as well. I didn't make as much as the recipe - the large courgette wasn't big enough (produced 1lb prepared  plus 8oz apricots and 1¾ lb sugar )

Just to make sure of a set I used proper jam sugar which I'd got in ready to do Strawberry Jam later.

Rather a nice colour. Filled these 3 smallish jars and half another.

It might sound like an odd combination but oh my goodness it's delicious and more like a marmalade than jam - nice and tangy. The two small jars were planned for the 2 Christmas hampers  - but they might be kept!

(this was made a week or so ago before the weather got really hot !)

Back Tomorrow

Sue

Courgette Recipes

Whoop Whoop Hip Hip and Hooray!! Cam Norrie is through to the Semi-finals at Wimbledon - unfortunately he has to play Djokovic..............

 

 When I wrote about the tip for getting  Basil cuttings to root in water, I mentioned making pesto to use in a recipe called Courgette Crumble and Ang asked for more details.

So I'll start with the Crumble Recipe (you can see I've had this a while as it was cut from the Somerfield Magazine, and Somerfield disappeared years ago). When the children were at home I would serve this up with chips to persuade them to eat it! 

I don't use Parmesan either in the home made Pesto or in the crumble topping but just some grated cheddar instead and I use a bit of garlic from a tube rather than fresh as I don't eat enough of it to make it worthwhile buying or growing.It doesn't need the salt. Pine nuts are very expensive but I use them when I make the spinach and ricotta lasagne so buy a small bag for that, wrap up the remainder tight and peg closed and store in a tub in the fridge. I think years ago I just went without.

42p  per portion back then.....How much now?

Hadn't actually made Courgette Crumble for a while but with the basil growing so I could make a tablespoon of pesto and with an overload of courgettes I made a small crumble at the weekend and just like years ago I served it up with chips but mine were a handful of  Mixed Vegetable Fries which I discovered in Morrisons freezers a while back.

 And then other idea is Courgette Fritters

For one person I used 1 courgette, grated and squeezed as dry as possible, handful of frozen peas - defrosted. Mixed with a a tablespoon of flour, half teaspoon baking powder (not sure that's necessary) a small egg, small pinch salt and good amount of black pepper and half a teaspoon whichever seasoning you fancy - the recipe says cumin, but I used curry powder.

Drop spoons full into hot oil in frying pan and press down, turn over when browned. For a different version of most fritter type recipes some grated cheese can be added but I didn't this time  but I served up mine with a couple of rashers of bacon and some tomato ketchup.

That's a few less courgettes to give  away or compost!

I've added the recipes to the Recipe Page

Back Tomorrow

Sue

Not Quite So Strange Times Week 14

Slowly, slowly some things are getting back to normal. People who like buying new stuff in shops are happy, and I'm sure I saw on the news some even fighting to get in! and many queueing for hours and we're all being encouraged to go out and spend. I shan't say what I think about that.
But then a bit of news that was more exciting to me and that's the smaller more local-to-me car boot sale is hoping to re start in July - strict rules and I think it will be very busy because the big Needham Market boot sale is cancelled for the rest of the year.

This week was going well. At the weekend I had a socially distanced coffee with Col's sister, her husband and my niece. They have been seriously shielding as BiL has a debilitating condition that really wouldn't mix with Covid 19. It was so good to catch up. They've found their garden again after not having time to do much for several years, it's looking lovely and productive.

Then Monday  I went to visit the nearest Grandchildren, sat on the floor to play with Youngest Granddaughter but then moved wrong and the blasted knee went clunk and I was stuck on the floor. Poor DiL had to haul me up to the settee! I managed to drive home OK but it put paid to other plans (not that I had any!) for most of the week. I had been so careful not to twist it since the first time -  last December- but will now need to be even more careful.

On Tuesday I delivered Polly cat to the vets. Do you know how much it costs for a cat to have a tooth removed? BIG MONEY! They reckoned it might have set off an infection if it was left wobbly so was better out.

There's been a couple of spells of good rain during the week but not the thunderstorms some parts of the country have suffered. I hope the rain has helped the fruit trees as it looks like a bumper apple crop this year, it certainly plumped up the raspberries.


Food from the garden so far this year

• 9 small lettuces (I now have a gap because the next sowing took ages to get going)
• 5 Cucumbers - and 6 more given away
• a few asparagus spears
• lots of rhubarb
• Few strawberries.
• 2lb of gooseberries
• First raspberries
• 3 teeny courgettes, one had been pecked by birds so I took off these tiny ones and covered the plants with a net. Then one more decent size courgette later in the week.

.

Then lots more raspberries and a few more strawberries

and
 

• The first potatoes. I wouldn't normally have dug them up this early but two plants seemed to have died so I wanted to see if there was an ants nest underneath. No ants but so, so dry under the ground. Not many potatoes from 2 roots. I made potato salad.

One pound of gooseberries are in the freezer, ready to make Gooseberry and Date chutney sometime.

Oh, I found out where the Mystery Parcel came from - someone in the family - for research because they are planning to do something similar but better value and all ethically sourced. I was able to give an honest account of what I thought of it.

This week I'm grateful for

1. My wonderful children and grandchildren
2. Fruit from the garden

Hope you have a good weekend. Nothing planned here except for popping out for the Saturday local paper. I might go through books again to see what I can send off to sell and then there is more cross stitch to get done. I'm making the scissor keepers to to go with the two owl scissor cases made so far.

Back Monday
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

A Garden Tour

This was last Sunday - the day when there were a few hours of sun in between all the awful weather of Saturday and Monday.

 If this works it should be a tour of the garden round the house. I eventually (always have to re-remember how to do it!)  managed to load it to youtube and it was OK there so should be OK here.
Watching it back I noticed that I called the beetroot "red beet" that what we called it when I was small to differentiate from beet - which was the sugar-beet grown in the fields all around our house.

Sorry it's a bit wobbly, I need to learn how to hold the camera steady while walking.

Please ignore all the long grass and weeds around the edges. Col's brother should be coming over when he has some spare time to do some strimming for me. I can manage most of the work myself but not using a big strimmer. The raspberry cage that Colin built when he was still well enough is also a bit  of a white elephant. I do have all the netting to cover it but that's another thing impossible for one 5 foot 5 tall woman to do on her own! I can't take  the cage down either as it's so well bolted to a wooden frame.

Thank you for all the comments about the Olive Herb. Researching things for blog posts is one of the things I love doing.

Back Tomorrow
Sue

Last Week and the Bank Holiday Weekend

After 4 years I've just about got used to being able to go out and about on Bank Holidays. 2015 was the last year we were at the smallholding with the campsite open for what was always the busiest weekend of the year.
I can remember one sunny year when tents just kept arriving - and we ended up putting some on the hay-field, there was even a yurt!

Actually I haven't yet decided what to do this weekend so not sure where my out and about will take me, it's all weather dependent. What I really should do is get the paint out to do all the bits that got damaged when the kitchen was fitted, the scratches and scrapes are beginning to annoy me.

Anyway before that there's a week to look back on..............

Monday morning started with no electric - bother. I discovered something had tripped the trip switch which is out in the garage so spent ages going round indoors, turning things off, going out to the garage and trying the trip again........all with no luck. Had a think and decided to turn off all the fuse things which are in a cupboard in the back porch and then try the trip, and it stayed on. So one by one I switched the fuses back on and found the one that made the trip flip off was the one that said 'Upstairs Sockets' .
So back upstairs and check round - Nothing switched on. Looked all round the house AGAIN - by which time I was getting a bit fed up - and found the fridge switch that I'd forgotten about because its under the kitchen worktop with just a little junction thingy with a light that shows the fridge is working on the wall above. Switched off that switch and Hey Presto! But WHY is the fridge plug on the upstairs socket circuit??  Just one more thing to sort..........was it the fridge or the plug on the wall? Answer = Sadly it's the plug on the wall. Electrician needed,  which will probably cost more than buying a new fridge and a darn sight more difficult to arrange although I was quite pleased that I'd found the cause and got everything back on and working again, even the fridge -  by using an extension lead. Another thing that in the past I would have left to Colin to sort, he would have found the problem in half the time!.

One morning this week I went to the surgery to pick up.............................2 bottles of wine! The week before I'd popped to a Friends of Mendlesham and Bacton Surgeries coffee morning. I had £1 worth of draw tickets and left my phone number and got a surprise when the phone rang later to say I'd won 2 prizes. I don't drink but there are plenty of family who do so they won't go to waste.

All the small plants that were in the greenhouse in my photos earlier this week are now planted out and protected from pheasants, ducks, pigeons, cat  and any strong winds that might come blowing across the fields.........it's a complicated business!
 The sweetcorn, chard and parsley are well protected

French climbing beans with a sacking wall around the bottom and a fleece tent pegged to the canes.
I'll take the fleece off when the plants get going.

Beetroot seedlings under wire frames, lifted on flower pots

The courgettes are under a fleece tunnel at the moment, just to stop the wind rocking them about until they get well rooted.  I think they'll be OK when I take it off, can't remember from last year  if any of the local pests eats them. I'll need to use the tunnel over the squash plants when I put them down the other half of the bed.

  I've been weeding too, mainly big stuff like cow-parsley that's around all the shrubs, I really need a strimmer but the battery ones wouldn't be man enough for cow-parsley and nettles and I'm not man enough for a great big machine. Colin's brother has been asked to come over with his big strimmer but I'm on a job waiting list!

The Chelsea Flower Show has been on TV all week, I'm not a huge fan of  TV gardening  programmes they make me feel inadequate.  But no one can expect to compete with the Chelsea show gardens, they are mostly so un-real, make it possible to watch without feeling hopeless. My sister and her husband are off to visit the show today and for a moment I was envious, then thought - no - all that walking about - all those crowds - better off watching on TV. (Like Wimbledon tennis!, which reminds me - The French Open starts on Sunday, it's on ITV 4 I'm pleased to say)

Swimming, shopping, visiting youngest and Florence, sitting in the sun and my week has gone by - alone - but still getting through.


This week I'm grateful for

• Solving a problem by myself
• Beautiful gardens on TV
• Fine days for gardening
• Juicy nectarines back in the shops for summer.......love them

Have a good weekend, hope the weather isn't too disappointing.

Back Monday
Sue

Another Week Passes

 Monday
I found 2lb of last years strawberries in the freezer and Brother-in-law brought more from his garden at the weekend (and I have enough of my own to have some everyday for a few more days) so I made some strawberry jam, chucked in the half pound of gooseberries that were all I rescued from the 2 new gooseberry bushes (ruined by ants I think) to help it set and a packet of pectin too, just to be sure. I don't eat much jam, brother-in-law is now diabetic so can't eat it - I'll take some with me when I go anywhere and give it all away.

Then swimming. 4 lengths straight off (it's a small pool so that's only 80 metres!) and then about another 15 lengths with rests quite often. The 32 lengths without stopping I used to do years ago will be 40 lengths here and a long time away I think.

Home again and the first thing I noticed at the end of the lane was some cardboard boxes and a bin bag near the workshop door. "Surely not fly-tipping right up here!" was my first thought and then saw they were full of wood-off cuts, some bits my sister and BIL didn't want to store for winter. They were quickly chucked on the massive heap in the wood-shed. Winter alone but warm!

Time for lunch and the week of Queens Club Tennis started at 1pm on BBC2. The signal for me to get out some  cross-stitch and settle down to watch.

England Football in the evening. Whoop! they played until the end and won.

Tuesday -
A drive from Mid Suffolk to near the coast to see youngest and Florence. Took strawberries and jam. We had a walk round the charity shops. Lots of shops closing or moving in Leiston. The town needs Sizewell C Power Station to be built but from the health and safety point of view the people don't need it. Youngest said the last Building Society in the town - which closed a year ago will be opening as a charity shop soon. Just Barclays Bank left for all the businesses to use.
I had a Co-op voucher for Subway BOGOF so we had one each for lunch. I don't really get Subway.............it's just  a bread roll with a choose-you-own filling! but almost every Co-op in Suffolk has a Subway concession in it now, so perhaps it's a way to keep the East of England Co-ops running and young people seem to like them. (That makes me sound old!)

Home and a card through the door "We tried to deliver a parcel, you can collect from Debenham Post Office" - Bother, just drove through there on the way home.

Sat out in the sun and read for a while then it clouded up so in to watch tennis. Andy Murray back after a year off for hip surgery. He looked good for two sets but faded at the end. Britain's new number one - Kyle Edmund won his match, he has come on well over the last two years.

Wednesday
Decided to have a fight with the front path. The slabs are two feet wide but the grass had overgrown them so much that there was only a few inches of slab to be seen in places. Didn't take too long with the lawn edger spade and a bit of tugging to clear the path. One slab was a bit on the huh (as we say in Suffolk) potential "Trip Hazard", so I levered it up with a draining shovel  (the only bit of school physics that has come in useful in life was learning about levers!) and found big roots of something underneath, got rid of them and it still wasn't flat, repeat two or three times until it's level but a bit rocky. Oh well - best I can do, at least there's nothing for the postman to trip over.

The darker bit down the middle was all that was visible before I got busy with the edger spade

Afternoon to the dreaded dentist, for a big filling to rebuild the tooth that broke. It might not work for long and I've still got toothache from the filling he did a month ago although he said it looked OK, I may have to go back for a root canal thing on it if it doesn't stop aching. Oh Joy Unbounded!

Picked up the parcel - it's a fly screen for the back door, made of chains but I seem to have bought industrial quality as it weighs a ton so I'm going to need help with the fixings -Bother. I need to master the art of using a drill, I'm OK with using it as a screwdriver but never got the chance to try drilling holes.

Thursday
Longest day or to be precise longest daylight hours. Forgot to do a Summer Solstice post - must remember - Next Year.
Absolutely Freezing cold North wind this morning. Had to get out of bed and pull in the windows during the night. It doesn't seem like June at all, I put a hat on when I went out early to fill the bird feeders - woolly hat in June - ridiculous!
At home all day, the on and off toothache was worse, probably aggravated due to the scale and polish he did, at least I hope that's the reason.

Vegetable Garden Harvest today

First French climbing beans and  courgettes. It's always best to cut the first courgettes when they are very small as that helps the plant to grow stronger - same with cucumbers, in fact I always pinch off the very tiny cucs when they first appear and don't let any grow to full size until the plant has really got going. Although saying that, I have 3 plants this year so did the above with 2 but let the third keep going with it's first fruit.

 I needed CAKE! Preferably with cream and the new strawberry jam so made a mini sponge as I only had 2 eggs left.

Rang to check the work in bathroom will start next week....... taking out bath to replace with shower. That's the first part. Then they'll take the grotty shower out of the bedroom and I'll see what's underneath it. May need new carpet, may put a small bath in the bedroom instead, might not!

Rang a local man who advertises in the Parish Magazine to get him to come  for ideas and quote for new kitchen units.They are 1970's or 80's mock wood, kick boards missing, a draw front missing and generally old and tired.

Tennis again, Oh dear Kyle Edmund knocked out by the same bloke who knocked out Andy M. The commentators keep saying how entertaining Australian Nick Kyrgios  is but although he played brilliantly today with loads of un-returnable first serves, I find his on-court antics a bit childish and his swearing isn't necessary either, and I know that's sounds like I'm too prim and proper but I really don't understand the need for constant efffffing!


Friday
 First cucumber and last of the strawberries - due to lack of rain the plants have flagged. It's too far down the garden to water them and with a water meter I'm wary of using the hosepipe too often.

Out shopping to Stowmarket. Quite quiet in town for a Friday morning..........except in the bank........always a long queue there. Bought myself a new pair of shorts AND trousers in M&Co - a very, very rare event. Some of my shorts are so old they are falling apart- despite mending. Now I can ditch the worst and I needed a pair of lightweight trousers, now that I'm out at things like WI in the summer months.

A gloriously sunny afternoon but the wind from the North is keeping temperatures down here so no good for sitting out ............. Tennis on TV instead  and Nick Kyrgios again,( serving aces like crazy and not so much mucking about) and more stitching but with so much time fiddling about on the blog it's not growing very quickly .................."it" being a Christmas card for a small person.


 So that's another week  gone, and that's what I did to fill my time, sometimes I feel I'm still waiting for Col to come home other times I'm OK........mostly OK.

Many thanks to everyone who clicked the follower button. I'm so easily made happy by seeing the numbers go up! and thanks for comments too.

Back Monday - Have a Good Weekend.

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

Need a Courgette Recipe?

Have you hit Courgette Glut Panic yet?

We've just got 3 plants here and they're not setting well because of the dratted pollen beetle so have been producing one at a time and there hasn't been a glut, but just in case, this is another recipe for courgettes.It's a variation of the recipe on the magazine picture below and is a bit vague as I go by eye rather than scales

First you need to make some pizza topping or pasta sauce (my recipe below) and use a portion . ................. I suppose you could open a jar of pasta sauce but there would be some left and it wouldn't be as nice as home made!
Then you need onions, courgettes, about 2 slices of fresh bread left out to get a bit dry, grated strong cheese and some pine nuts.

For two people
Slice an onion and 3 or 4 small courgettes or  1 or 2 larger ones.
Fry the onion  in a little olive oil ( or rapeseed oil) until soft, then add courgettes and continue to cook but not too much , turning to brown them a little. Tip into baking dish.

Mix in the sauce, just enough to coat the courgettes and onions but not too much, and season with pepper.

Crumble some fresh bread that's been left out to get a bit dry, mix with grated cheese and pine nuts and tip over the courgette mix.

Bake in hottish oven for about 20 minutes until nice and crispy on top.

 I make up big batches of the sauce and divide up to store in the freezer.

Many Thanks for comments over the last few day, sorry I'm so hopeless at replying.


Back Shortly
Sue