April, a little magic is starting

1st April 2013

After the coldest March in 50 years, a little magic is starting in my porch. I’ve gone ahead and sown herb and tomato seeds. I’ve sown some sunflower seeds myself, but I’ve also got my two smalls to sow their own sunflowers. They have great fun everyday, looking and counting how many are starting to appear. Then the competition starts, on who has the most and the most advanced.

A little magic…sown 26/3

Here are my sweet basil…

Sweet Basil..sown 26/3

Here is my over wintered geraniums, from last years hanging baskets…

Over Wintered Geraniums

And my over wintered begonia tuber…..

Begonia

But still waiting on the tomato seeds to appear…

Awaiting the tomato seeds…sown 26/3

The greenhouse and garden are still too cold. So my porch has become my garden.

March

A Foggy Day
5th March 2013

March 2012 was one of the hottest on record. We basked in the sun. Parts of the country reached 23°C and a hose pipe ban imminent. I distinctly remember sitting by the back door, in the shade, planting sunflower seeds with the smalls. And I’m sure afterwards, they jumped into the paddling pool.

Fast forward 12 months and March 2013 is the second coldest since UK records began. The coldest spring in more than 50 years and parts of the UK still has deep-lying snow. Somewhere in the UK,  snow has fallen every day throughout March 2013. It has been a very cold Easter, with areas of Scotland (Braemar) recording -12.5°C

And all because the jet stream is far south than normal for this time of year.

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On the day of taking this photograph of the garden, the sun did manage to burn away the fog and I managed to have a clear, sort and clean of the greenhouse. Since then, I haven’t managed much else. You can’t do too much in the garden with nightly hard frosts and snow. Therefore, activities are restricted to planning, ordering seeds and indoor sowing.

Herbs

Tomatoes and Vegetables

Flower Seeds

Something for the smalls

I’m not sure what this year will bring. After last year, which was really my first year of doing anything like this (sowing carrots, tomatoes and herbs). I became aware how short the growing season in the North East of England can be. For example, I sowed my tomatoes last year at the end of March and by the first frosts of late late summer to autumn, I had a few red tomatoes, but most were still green.

So what will that mean for this year?

February

I do love a hard frost and this morning delivered, it’s how winter should be. However, there are some signs of it getting warmer and the days are slowly getting longer, we are moving towards Spring.

The lawn looks awful; littered with twigs and leaves, muddy and churned up with worm casts. It’s hard to believe that in a few months time, it will look so different and almost regenerate itself (with a bit of care and tidying up from me).

With it being so cold and snow on the ground, I haven’t ventured much into the garden or secret allotment area, but now it’s getting warmer and sunnier, I’m feeling more motivated. I’ve already got some herb, vegetable and flower seeds ordered.

I think I’d better get on and start waking up the garden.

January

I can’t quite believe that tomorrow is the First of March, where has this year gone already? I’ve been a bit absent from blogging for the past few months; Christmas, New Year and the family seems to have kept me very busy and away from the keyboard.

The beginning of January was extremely mild, I seem to remember going out New Years Eve without a coat. However, after a mid period, came the snow.

First of December

First of December

First of December, most of the leaves are off the trees and many of the night-time sky’s are clear. Just before taking this photograph, I went onto the lawn to pick up all the dogs squeaky toys and the ground was rock hard under foot. Last night was below freezing, inside the greenhouse was -2°C overnight. I took this at about 9am and it was still -1°C in the greenhouse.

I love the night and morning sky at this time of year, with so many clear nights, there is so much to see (Orion, Jupiter, Mar, Venus and of course the Moon)

Good morning Venus

I keep picking up the leaves off the lawn, but I really enjoy the frosty mornings and most of my time now is on the Christmas preparations.

Amaryllis Black Pearl – update

A few weeks back I potted an Amaryllis ‘Black Pearl’ and it looked like this…

I put it in a very warm place for a couple of days and almost immediately I saw some growth. Now just over three weeks later, it looks like this…

Looking good

Paper white narcissus (Narcissus papyraceus)

I was watching BBC Gardeners World when Monty Don potted up some Paper white narcissus (Narcissus papyraceus) and though to myself, I’ve got to do that this year. I really want some winter flowering bulbs in the house this Christmas. They take about 6 weeks to flower, so should be flowering in time for Christmas and they are fragrant, or so I’ve read.

I bought some bulbs, bulb planting compost, two tall terracotta plant pots, a shallow terracotta bulb bowl and some colanders. Since I don’t have a potting shed, I laid everything out on the dinning room floor, it’s just a bit too cold outside for me to do this out there.

I filled the tall terracotta pots with the bulb planting compost and positioned the bulbs on top. In this pot I managed to squeezed in 5 bulbs, almost touching each other.

Some have already sprouted. Then topped up with a little more compost and gravel, then watered well.

I’ll leave these in the porch to welcome any visitors.

The next idea came after searching the internet for information about indoor planting of paper whites. I found this great idea from ☞ Sarah Raven and is where the colanders come into it. I just thought, that this was a great idea and something that I’ve never done before.

Fill a colander up with bulb planting compost, position the bulbs on top, then top off with compost and gravel.

Then in a week to 10 days time, pot up another colander in the same way. And repeat with another colander in another week to 10 days time. As one colander of bulbs finishes flowering, you’ll have another to replace it with. This way you’ll have a continuous period of flowering Paper white narcissus, just at the time of year when everything else is resting.

First of November

First of November (at 7:57am)
Fog rolling in

First of November (26 minutes later)
Sunshine

Well what can I say? We had snow on the night of the 26th October. A very light covering, that was already melting by the early hours of the morning. Earlier that day (26th) I had been out at a National Trust property, taking these photographs. I love the autumnal colours.

I’ve started an amaryllis off. Already it has little leaves shooting up. Looks on target for a Christmas flower. And soon I’ll plant some indoor paper-white narcissus. Hoping for plenty of indoor colour and flower fragrance this winter. Many of the outdoor gardening jobs have stopped or slowed down. It’s mainly tidying and protecting what I have for me.

However, that doesn’t mean that November is a quiet month. Three birthdays are approaching in our family, a nieces first birthday, my 6-year-old will be 7 and mine. Then there is Christmas to start thinking about.

It’s half-term for us here and I know when the little ones go back to school, they’ll start making their Christmas cards and Christmas decorations in school, parents are invited to come in and help them, and then there’s the school nativity. Times that by two, having one small in reception and one small in year 2. It’s a busy one.

How to sterilise jam jars

Having made your chutney, (I’ve made green tomato chutney) you’ll need to know how to sterilise your jam jars. This will remove organisms (yeasts, bacteria, fungi) that will spoil your chutney.

First, I checked my jam jars for any damage, like cracks or chips, these jars must not be used. Cracks and chips might harbour organisms that will spoil your chutney or jam. They might also crack further during the sterilising process and break completely. Any lids that are damaged or rusty, also need to be discarded.

Method 1 Water Bath: Place the jam jars into a pan of warm water, so water just covers them and bring to the boil,  for 10 mins. Then turn off heat and cover, take out the jam jars when ready to fill them.

Method 2. Oven: Heat the oven to 180°C/ 350°F/ Gas mark 4. Layer the oven shelf with a double layer of newspaper. Place the jam jars on the shelf, but not touching each other for 20 minutes.  I put my jam jars on a baking tray, lined with cardboard.

My jam jars in the oven

Method 3. Dishwasher: Place glass jars on the top rack of the dishwasher and run a hot wash, no detergent or cleaning solution needs to be used.

Method 4. Microwave: Wash the jars out and leave a little wet, place in the microwave for 1 minute.

All of the above methods, may not be suitable for some jar lids and the rubber seals. For vacuum sealed lids or rubber seals, place in a bath of water at 82°C for 10 mins. Turn the heat off and cover until ready to seal the jars. This is what I did with my jam jar lids.

My jam jar lids in a water bath

Finally

Only sterilise your jars and lids just prior to filling.

Don’t add cold chutney to hot jars, or hot chutney to cold jars, this may crack the jam jar.

Wash hands and all utensils well prior to filling jars.

The information I’ve provided above on how to sterilise jam jars has been compiled from these three websites. You might wish to take a look to further clarify.

Kilner Jars  BBC Food Blog  About.com

All jars have been bought by me, for me, to make my own chutney.

Green Tomato Chutney

I mentioned to my mother-in-law, about the abundance of green tomatoes I had this year and she replied, “Oh, green tomato chutney.” I’ve never heard of or tasted green tomato chutney.

Well, it looks like that I’m not the only one with an abundance of green tomatoes. Reading other peoples blogs, it seems they have had the same experience. It’s the weather to blame. The cold and endless rain during Spring and early Summer, has probably contributed to the late production of flowers. And now I come to think of it, I didn’t see many flowers till August on the tomato plants. Many others have said that they have had a poor apple, plum and pear harvests due to the lack of flying pollinators (bees to you and me), flying around at the crucial time for pollination during all that rain. Hence the tomatoes haven’t had time to grow and ripen before the first frosts of autumn arrived.

So, rather than letting this be a disaster, it seems I have an opportunity to learn about something new. To do what my grand-parents would be more familiar with, to preserve food rather than throwing it away. Just need to find a geen tomato chutney recipe…

On this occasion Delia and Jamie Oliver didn’t do it for me, in terms of their chutney recipes. I found a couple of recipes on the internet that seemed similar and basic. While shopping for the vinegar, apples and sugar, there are many variations of these you can buy, I just asked myself, what would nan have access to. And this is what I’ve come up with. It has made 10 x 227g (8oz) jars

1.8Kg (4lb) Green Tomatoes

3 Large onions, finely sliced

3 Large cooking apples, chopped

500g Raisins, chopped

568ml Malt Vinegar

250g Sugar

4 Tbsp Mustard Seeds

8 Tbsp Cayenne Pepper

In a large bowl, layer the chopped tomatoes and sliced onions, sprinkling with a little salt. Leave over-night in the fridge.

In a large heavy based pan, pour in the vinegar and dissolve the sugar. Next add the chopped apples and raisins, simmer for 10 minutes. Add the mustard seeds and cayenne pepper. Stir.

Drain the bowl of chopped tomatoes and sliced onions (do not rinse),  add the tomatoes and onion to the pan, bring to the boil, then simmer for 2 hours or more hours.

Stirring occasionally. It’s ready when, you drag the spoon through the mixture, the mixture stays put either side of where the spoon was dragged.

Next, put into sterile air-tight containers and allow to mature for 3 months or longer.

I’ve made green tomato chutney because I had loads of green tomatoes and

this has all been funded by myself.

BBC Has rain ruined Britain’s fruit crops?