Categories
Garden general

What a Day

We woke up late this morning and opened the curtains to a really miserable day. Not looking like a day for the planned gardening. As we sat in bed drinking tea, the rain started to clear and a strange light appeared down in the valley. Slowly it spread up into the sky and, equally slowly, turned from a vague streak of colour into a bright rainbow.

As the rain moved away the rainbow faded again and then finally disappeared. The sky turned blue and gardening looked possible.

Later Simon, who helps us look after this hilly wonder nowadays, turned up and the three of us set off clearing, planting, pruning and cutting down, now that the leaves have gone. The rain kept coming and going but not enough to stop us.

We had a really productive day, from the top right down to the bottom of the garden. Holes in the laid hedged were filled, brambles cleared, redundant, rampaging wild roses removed, perennials planted, the garden produced, garden pole stock renewed and a spot the difference created in one corner of the top area, where a maple needed its yearly trim and an old ailing cherry tree needed to come down to make room for more planting. Now I need to decide what to carve the cherry stump into.

Categories
Garden general

Fattening up for Winter

I happened to pass the window where the camera phone is set up when there was a rush of birds. Some bits are speeded up others slowed down. Originally they were there for around six minutes after I pressed the button.

Categories
Food general

Turmeric Cauliflower Cheese

This is one of those experiments that crept into my brain and worked first time. I make quite a lot of variations of a cauliflower, broccoli, potato mix from dry to moist, from roasted to plain cooked vegetables, from full vegan to a combination. I used cheese this time but you could add more nutritional yeast or a touch of marmite into the mix instead and perhaps add crushed , mildly salted, salted cashews to the top when browning off.

Ingredients for the roasting tine – 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon turmeric, desert spoon mint, tablespoon thyme, teaspoon paprika.

To add later – tablespoon nutritional yeast,  half teaspoon of  arrowroot, teaspoon whole mustard, 100g barber’s crunchy, desert spoon bouillon.

Vegetables – chopped large cauliflower, about 20 small salad potatoes, 1 small onion chopped fine.

Heat the oil, herbs and spices in the oven in a roasting tin (210c).

At the same time pre-cook the potatoes for 5 minutes in the microwave, add to the hot oil and turn. 

Keep pre-cooking the cauliflower a batch at a time (4 minutes each), adding to the roast and turning to catch the turmeric colour.

Add the onions to the roast before the last batch.

Add the remaining ingredients, except the cheese and mix round. Add 100 cc of water and half the cheese, then mix up. Top with remaining cheese and return to the oven, until the cheese is browning.

Categories
Garden general

Abundant Apples

After a complete absence last year all the apples and pears have swung into full production this year. A pity that I no longer make alcohol and neither of us like crab apple jelly and that’s just one tree.

Categories
Garden general

Goodbye Cherry Tree – Hello Toad

Sadly one of our cherry trees had become dangerously likely to split because of bark inclusion. It generated a lot of wood of one sort or another and a pile of wood chip for the garden paths. In amongst that I’m managing to find a toad and lily pads inside the tree remains. To be continued, as the wood dries.

Categories
Garden general

Accidental Time-Lapse

A clumsy fingered mistake edited to remove some gaps in activity.

Categories
Garden general

Spring and flowers and old friends come back to life

Categories
Garden general

Early March 2025

Some flowers on the edge of going over, some here, some on the way. Time for planting out the more hardy, tidying up paths and edges and sitting enjoying the shapes and colours.

Categories
Garden general

Long Tail Tits and a Robin

Categories
Garden general

Feeder Changing Room and Ten Minutes on a Murky Day

First the apparent bird swap. This is unedited apart from picking it out and slowing it down.

On this one, some chopped out, some slowed down, some speeded up and a wider view than some of the others. The Pigeon plodding round and round amuses me. About 5 minutes.