Change of plans and Playing Mud Pies

Well I did not make it into the kitchen as it was too nice in the garden.  However kitchen is on the cards for tonight.  

And the playing of mud pies!  Well not exactly but with my hands stuck in recyclable compost most of the afternoon using a riddle to get the best out of it to fill the lower half of plant pots I have spent a couple of pleasant and productive hours that reminded me of my childhood helping my Nan and my Dad in their gardens which were always plentiful.  In later years my Dad had a very productive allotment and he kept bees for a while.  A passion of my Granddad's, my Uncle B and my darling father and myself.  I still have not got my bees but one day. I have always liked to ground myself by getting my fingers dirty and growing and nurturing things.  It gives you peace and quiet and space to breathe and you are doing something productive in the longer term.  No wonder it helps people when suffering from bouts of depression.  I can sympathise as when the black dog gets me I go into the garden and just "potter".

My family has always gardened.  It has been a way of life on both sides of the family.  As children my brother and I were given little strips of land to grow veggies in. We were taught about seeds at home and at school.  So many children these days do not know how to grow stuff and it should be a life essential like cooking as these types of skills once they are with you are there for life and help you in very difficult times like being able to produce food for yourself and your family.  My brother has an allotment too.

I am not just using the riddled compost in the pots, fresher compost is going in the top but unfortunately I do not have enough to fill the pots so a touch of thrift has been introduced.  Bearing in mind that I also have a lot of seeds to pot on the compost I do have is precious.  It is time consuming task riddling the compost and gave me time to think and plot and plan.

This afternoon I have potted five green courgettes, four fence planters with trailing nasturtiums, prepared two pots for sowing mixed leaves.  I also have to prepare two large square planters for popping in my runner beans to produce two obelisk pots.  I have a load more to go into the garden.  The tomatoes and the cucumbers were potted up the other day and are doing very well.

I also have some more fruit trees to re-pot but I do need quite a bit of compost for those so they may have to wait a little longer but they are in pots and getting water and feed regularly so can hang on a little bit longer.

We have had a barbecue again for tonight's tea.  A steak each, and some minted lamb Kofta's both of which were delicious.  Served with a whole sweetcorn doused in butter, some spicy Couscous, lettuce leaves and it has gone down a treat.   We have had a Shandy each as well.  It has been nice just to chill.  OH is very tired after his late shift last night and is now out for the count so I have left him to it.

I think we will be having ham and chicken pie with some oven roasted potatoes for tea for tomorrow night.  I have some double cream in the fridge and so might well make a rhubarb fool as the rhubarb plant needs a few stems taking off of it.

Saturday's night's tea is going to be a Chinese pork steak with stir fried veggies.  Maybe a jelly and some fruit for pudding.  We do not have pudding every day just every so often and the jelly is a low sugar one.

Tomorrow if it is fine I shall go brambling again and see what else I can come up with. I absolutely love foraging and foraged foods.

I have started off some bramble syrup for pancakes and other puddings like cheesecake with the brambles I managed to forage today.  If I get any tomorrow they will probably be turned into fruit vinegar.  See how the berries are.  It is early days on the bramble front.  I did see a few elderberries so I may see if I can get some of those as well.  There are other places to go but for the jam and jelly I want berries that are not quite so pippy!

The cherry plums will be turned into wild Cherry plum jam probably tomorrow night and the Rowans will be turned into Rowanberry jelly.

I am also hoping to pot up a few more of my plants tomorrow.

My family is crashed out for the count at the moment.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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