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Rhubarb Fool – A speedy pudd when unexpected guests turn up
You know what it’s like when you are suddenly having unexpected guests and you have to throw something together for them to eat. Well you won’t get a speedier pudding than this! I think most gardeners that grow at least a little of their own food have a clump of rhubarb, as it’s one of the easiest foods to grow. Give it a sunny or slightly shady spot, chuck some well rotted manure on every year, and it will grow happily producing enough rhubarb to stew and freeze to last all winter. If said guests turn up in the winter, just grab a portion out of the freezer and pop…
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Stewed Rhubarb & Yogurt – Breakfast of Gods!
A week ago on Gardeners World, Monty Don said, “I think rhubarb just lightly stewed with yogurt, is a breakfast of Gods”. Well Monty, I couldn’t agree more! As a little girl, when my dad harvested the first rhubarb of the year, and my mum turned it into a crumble. I really couldn’t understand the appeal. But now… I am a total convert to rhubarb, and despite all the recipes I make with it, including savoury ones. I think Monty is correct, there’s nothing nicer than stewed rhubarb and yogurt, it’s delicious! My favourite yogurt to have with it is by Yeo Valley, their organic Lemon Curd yogurt. It compliments…
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Happy Easter from Walnut Kitchen Garden
Happy Easter everyone on this beautiful Easter Sunday. Can you believe the weather? Three bright sunny days on a bank holiday, unheard of! I hope you’ve all managed to get out and about enjoying the marvellous spring flowers that are appearing everywhere. I heard a rumour that it’s going to rain tomorrow, but we’ll think about that tomorrow! Today we’re just going to soak up all the sunny joys that an April Easter bank holiday brings. For the last few weeks there’s been a real blue and yellow theme here in the garden, which always makes me think of Easter. No more so than in my new little planting patch,…
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It’s all go in the garden – Spring has Sprung!
Gosh it’s all go at this time of year! I’ve been sowing seeds on and off since the end of January now, when I started with the chillies. It’s been a continuous cycle of sowing, then potting the seedlings on once they’re big enough to be handled. I actually risked putting them out into the greenhouse a couple of weeks ago. Thank goodness it had finally turned milder as I was totally running out of space on the windowsills! Anyway I’m glad to report that they’re all doing well, streaking ahead now they have so much more light. It’s just a case of keeping a close eye on the watering…
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Time to chop down Karl Foerster
It’s the time of year to chop down ‘Karl Foerster’, don’t worry it’s a grass not a person! Official name Calamagrostis × acutiflora – tall grass to most of us. I discovered this grass about six years ago, when a neighbour gave me a clump in a large pot after splitting his own. Now at this point I would normally say, “beware of other gardeners baring free plants”! They are usually things that spread like a weed, but not always. This neighbour is a particularly good gardener with some lovely plants in his gorgeous garden borders. He told me that it was a well behaved grass and that it stays upright, well he…
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The Frogs have spawned at last – But there’s a problem!
Finally the frogs have spawned. They are really late this year, but then who can blame them. You’re not going to feel too much like romance in a pond covered in ice and snow now are you? They arrived back on the 19th February when the weather was quite mild. I have absolutely no idea where they all go to each year. When they first emerge from the pond the garden and greenhouse are full of little froglets, they seem to stay for the summer then they are gone. Only to return the following February. Bad weather stops spawning I thought we were on target this year for the usual…
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So we did get snow this week!
Well, the weather forecast was certainly correct, we did get snow this week! What a strange weather week it turned out to be! Up until Tuesday it was still feeling like spring had sprung, with more flowers appearing each day in the warm sunshine. The now familiar daffodils all along the grass verges were bursting into flower. But Tuesday morning. I thought it seemed a bit bright when I woke up. Sure enough we’d had a sprinkling in the night, just enough to make everything in the garden look really pretty. By mid-morning though, the sun had come out and the snow was a just memory. We had clear blue…
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Just as the garden is waking up from its winter slumber…
It’s typical really, just as the garden’s waking up from its winter slumber, with all the plants pushing up and the lovely flowers bursting out everywhere I look. The weather forecaster tells us that for the next week or so we’re going to be having, snow, sleet, rain and temperatures dropping below zero! So no doubt they’ll be taking a quite a bashing! Just as we’re all desperate to believe that spring has sprung, it reminds us that we’re not past the bad weather yet. In all fairness though we have had another incredibly mild winter taken as a whole, just that one very cold snap in mid-December. Seed Sowing…
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Pulmonaria – Perfect plant for a shady border
If you are looking for, a ridiculously easy to grow; hardy plant; with beautifully coloured flowers; a long period of interest, and something that grows in shade, then look no further. ‘Pulmonaria’ – or its rather unpleasant common name, ‘Lungwort’ – is the plant for you! When most perennials haven’t even started to wake up, and only the small snowdrop and crocus bulbs are out. Pulmonaria’s have shot their little flower spikes up and are flowering profusely. I hadn’t come across this fabulously good value plant until we moved here in summer 2013. There weren’t many flowering plants in the garden considering it’s size. A few nice bulbs, some grasses,…
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Demolition in the Garden
Well the last of the three original conifer trees was demolished this week. When we started to take them down eight years ago, we decided to keep the one, to use as a bird feeder. The birds have enjoyed it so much, especially being so close to their holly hedge. They flit between the feeders and the hedge, where they sit on the branches wiping their beaks . If you look closely you can see a goldfinch looking back at you! Totem Pole It’s become known as the totem pole and we grew some winter jasmine up it, to make it look a bit more attractive. It’s done a good…
