Hoping for chillies

DS has always had a passion for trying to germinate all kinds of seeds. Over the years various pots, containing apple pips, orange seeds or avocado stones have graced our windowsill, with varying degrees of success. One apple seedling did make it as far as the garden, but had a dry and dusty demise.

I cook quite a lot of spicy food and usually buy little packets of fresh chillies from the supermarket. I have often thought about growing my own, but never actually gone for it. Today DS took the initiative, and now I have a chilli nursery on my dining room windowsill. Like all good maternity units, the pots are carefully labelled. Pete, Toby and their siblings won't get mixed up!

He used seeds from a supermarket chilli, so I shall be interested to see if they germinate. If you look very carefully through my window, you can see our rabbit in its run. I will introduce him properly one day, because he is rather lovely.

The apples are in!

In our garden we have an old, gnarled apple tree. I have no idea how old it is; our house was built in the 1950s on the site of an orchard, so it is quite a venerable specimen. I love it; it provides blossom in spring, shade in summer and apples in autumn. After last year's dire harvest due to bad weather I have been watching with anticipation as the apples have been swelling and growing. 

Yesterday was officially designated apple-picking day! This is a major event for our family. We all join in and take turns with the fruit-picker thingummy jig. Everyone else tries to catch any fallers, or sorts out the good from the bad. This year, maybe because of the late spring, the fruit is good quality but small. Between us we managed to pick 25kg of fruit and we left quite a lot for the birds.

So now the fun begins! During the week I bravely defrosted the freezer ready for the onslaught of stewed fruit. Some fruit has gone to our long-suffering neighbours, but there is only so much I can palm off onto other people. There is also only so much apple crumble that we can eat, so we have splashed out on a juicer. We thought about this long and hard, as they are not cheap. In the end I think it will be worth it; we also have a pear tree which will need harvesting soon. The pears don't keep so well, so at least this way I won't waste any.

Yesterday evening we had our first baked apples which I stuffed with sultanas, cinnamon and brown sugar. They were baked in an ovenproof dish with a little water at 180C for half an hour. Yum!

Spring Fest

"Spring was moving in the air above and in the earth below and all around him, penetrating even his dark and lowly house with its spirit of discontent and longing."

Like Kenneth Grahame's Mole of "Wind and the Willows", with the coming of Spring I feel like I have emerged from a cold and dreary world into a place of sunshine, light and hope.

When I signed up for Spring Fest at Mum's Simply Living Blog I was unsure what to do, so I have just taken my camera with me as I have enjoyed this tardy but beautiful Spring. I started in my own garden...

Primroses thrive on my neglect.

Pretty, jewel-like miniature daffs

Grape hycacinths; fabulous colour.

Our pear tree, it was supposed to be a dwarf!

The bees are making up for lost time.

Apple blossom; this is the first time I can remember it being out at the same time as the pear.

I continued my journey in the domain of gardeners a lot more skilled than me. These were taken at Standen, a nearby National Trust property.

I love these bright, bold tulips.

A fabulous rhododendron

Magnolias are known as "tulip trees" in our house.

Finally I settled on a few animals to complete my tour. After all, who can resist baby animals? I am lucky enough to live near a nature centre that specialises in the conservation of rare farm breeds.

This kid is an "Old English Goat". Honestly.

I always love bunnies, these two look very cosy.

Something strange is lurking in the vegetable patch...

Last year DH planted two rhubarb crowns in our small vegetable plot. I had visions of rhubarb crumble with custard. Of course, we only had a few stems from them last year, just a taste of what is to come. They were cossetted through the winter with a straw mulch and, sure enough, started to burgeon with the onset of spring.

But now one of them is harbouring a strange growth...

I had no idea that rhubarb flowered! Well, I suppose I knew it must produce seeds some how, but I've never seen one do it. It is a very strange sort of flower, looking more like a romanesco cauliflower than anything else.

As a newbie rhubarb producer, I am a little baffled. What do I do with it? Do I cut it off so the plant can concentrate on producing stems? Do I leave it? Do any more green-fingered bloggers have any advice?

Flowers in November

I am not a good gardener. Every year in Spring I have excellent intentions; this year will be the year when my garden looks like somebody loves it. It will have colourful flowers and abundant vegetables; it will be a place where the family can sit and relax. I have an April flush of enthusiasm; seeds are sown and plans are made. However, other priorities take over and the garden is left to go its own way with the minimum of maintenance and care.

So, I was pleasantly surprised to find some flowers out there today.

Primroses are native, so presumably will thrive on neglect. I have quite a few that have self-seeded around the borders. I love them as they look so cheerful and resilient.

These roses are very prolific. They should probably have been pruned back a long time ago, but they just keep going, despite the frosts at the beginning of the week.

We have been quite under the weather in our house this week, so these blooms cheered me up. Maybe next year will be the year...

Where did all the apples go?

We have a venerable apple tree in our garden. It is a remnant of an orchard that was here before the houses were built sixty years ago. I love it; it is a central feature of our small garden. It provides shade throughout the year, and a bountiful supply of apples in the autumn. We usually pick enough for us, my neighbours and anyone unfortunate enough to come to the door during apple season. I spend October peeling them and freeze enough for a weekly crumble right through to the next summer. But this year we had a very meagre harvest:

I can only put it down to a freak hail storm that we had just after blossom time. Although I won't miss the peeling I will miss the apple crumble and apple cake! Perhaps it's just as well...

Raspberries!

Last year we planted a few raspberry canes and, spurred on by a tiny harvest, this year we put in a few more. Today we picked all these, held here by my lovely son. I couldn't believe how sweet they were. They tasted of sunshine, even though they haven't seen a great deal! The bowl wasn't full for long!