Happy Easter
I can never work out whether I prefer the Christmas holiday to the Easter break. Christmas, snuggling in front of a roaring log fire, Christmas stockings and making surprise presents. The carol services that always move me to tears. The indulgence, the feasting and the guilt – is anyone that I know sitting alone? A psychiatrist friend confided last Christmas that this period is a very busy time for his profession. Hopes and dreams can so easily be smashed. So many of us are seduced by the commercial dream and then left forlorn – it’s...
read moreTulips
I love flowers that open in the day when they are touched with sun and close when in shade. Somehow it seems as if they are even more alive. I was unaware that tulips do this as, until this year, they were just an occasional visitor in the garden. Last autumn I splashed out on tulips. I bought some rather pricey Thompson and Morgan collections. I know that tulip aficionados are a bit sniffy about ‘collections’ but I wanted a good show of early, mid season and late tulips. Basically I just needed to ‘Look and Learn’. If you don’t...
read moreWatch out Pugs about
Years ago when I was living with Seraphina,, a colleague of hers came to stay. At the time she had a black pug called Titus. Her colleague – who also owned pugs declared, “pugs have two overriding passions. Food and sex. Our pugs love a slice of apple, does yours?” We had never tested out apples on Titus. But agreed wholeheartedly on the passions. Pugs are generally very gentle and loving. They are not into conflict and I reckon tend to avoid fights and arguments. Ignoring aggression and just carrying on is a powerful stand to take....
read morePlant trees to invest in the long term future
Years ago my friend Sylvia said to me. “The Fosdykes have their 50th anniversary coming up and we’re planning to give them a Judas tree. What do you think?” My head whirled. I had just been given a weeping tree that I did not want. A tree can be a great present if.. a) The person has space and b) The person actually would like that particular tree. So my response was. “Do they have an established garden?” “Well yes.” “Do they have the space for a Judas tree?” “I don’t really know.” Recently my friend Jo pointed out...
read moreThe mystery plant is revealed in all its glory
Danny is puffed out with pride. He reckoned that the mystery giant curly leaved plant was a dock and he was right. And I’ve learnt a good lesson too – however much that you know there will always be learning curves with everything. Actually I don’t know very much at all so my learning curves are pretty constant however much I research a plant or project! That’s supposed to be one of the fun elements of gardening. I must admit that I was a bit miffed this morning when D had clearly identified an intruder. He has no interest in...
read moreCan you help us and identify this plant please?
“Did you know that you’ve got a giant dock weed growing in the herbaceous border?” “Well yes and no. I thought it might be a dock at first but its leaves are larger and curly.” Danny picked a regular dock leaf and compared them. Same colour, similar veins. The dock leaf was much smaller, without the grandiose frills. I nipped inside and searched online for a plant with dock like leaves and found several possibilities but I would really like to know exactly what this plant is. It needs to be moved as it is dominating a newly planted...
read moreTasty spring frittata with new potatoes, rocambole, cheese and parsley recipe
Well I finally cracked it. My meat loving partner announced with delight. “That was the best frittata that I’ve ever eaten. I’d be happy to eat it twice a week.” “Did you realise that it was entirely vegetarian?” “No. It was just sublime.” Thoughtful pause. “I don’t care about the meat and still would guzzle this twice a week.” A result! I’m trying to cut down on our meat intake. Healthier and cheaper meals. Delicious is a bonus. The magic ingredient was rocambole . I had never used this before but after I...
read moreDog poo/poop composting the easy way
I’m switching my worm composter from dog poo to food scraps. I was pleased with it at first, but the worms just couldn’t keep up with the amount of poo that the Min Pins generate. Perhaps I needed more worms or a bigger unit? To be quite honest with you the sight of the worms digesting dog poop is not a pretty one. I know that some people toss dog poo onto their compost heap but this is not a great idea as it contains many harmful pathogens. Not quite as bad as cat poo but still bad enough to halt simple healthy composting in its...
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