Wet n Grey

 Well it was a wet old evening here in Peterborough.  I had planned on carrying on in the garden but then we had a heavy shower, and so I closed everything up for the evening with the intention of carrying on in the morning.  Sadly however that did not happen as it has been a grey and chilly damp morning so far.  I have therefore abandoned plans for the garden and am going to concentrate on the kitchen today.  I am also cooking a full roast meal i.e. Roasted Chicken with all the trimmings for tea this evening and a Gooseberry crumble and some custard.  

The Gooseberries are lovely and ripe and raw have a lovely flavour.  Reminds me of days when I used to go scrumping my Nan's Goosegogs off the bushes. If I remember rightly she had a red variety as well. Have not seen them for years. We were never told off, even though we were caught out several times, pinching the Goosegogs and would often be given a fresh stick of Rhubarb to munch on with a dab of sugar, which we both loved. Little did we know that it was a way of keeping us regular!  A little too much information, but the reason why, and it also kept us off other sweeties with just a tiny bit of sugar and a small stick of Rhubarb. Everything in moderation!

I would have liked to have bought some Gooseberries to bottle and to make jam as I do like Gooseberry jam, but unfortunately that is not affordable at the moment.  One of my first preserving memories as a child is watching my Mum make bottled Gooseberries and keeping them on the top shelf of the Pantry (away from my little hands as I was a holy terror).  I remember these pale green berries just hanging in the jar!  Seems to me all the bargains come when there are not too many pennies in the old purse. Aw well you can only do what you can do and one way to avoid it is to grow your own. Will have to look out for some Gooseberry bushes as well as other fruit bushes to see if can do anything about this and to ensure eventually a fresh seasonal fruit supply that I can do something with.

When we originally moved here I created a proper fruit garden, Raspberries, Strawberries, Redcurrants, Blackberries, Blackcurrants, Gooseberries, and Blueberries. I like Whitecurrants as well, they go well with fresh peaches. Then we have the two Ballerina apples and the Stella dark Cherry on a dwarf rootstock. They were lovely dark cherries with a wonderful flavour. Really miss them. There is nothing nicer in my mind to be able to go into your garden and pick either one particular berry or a mixture and then have them with your breakfast cereal or as a pudding  Absolute magic.  Then of course there are always the jams, jellies and bottled delights.

I am therefore hoping if we can get the bottom of the garden back, will then be sorting this with a good digging and some muck, leaving for a season and then replanting (just the end part of the garden might even get it done this autumn). The Cherry has long been dead although the stump remains in place, and local birds live in its branches; the apples may need digging up one has been predominantly more productive than the other, and one has some mould on it, but will see what can do to sort them out first.  I am not one to give in easily.

Little  update on the bottom of the garden:

G has fought his way through and cleared quite a bit.  He now has access to the greenhouse and although in a state and several panes of glass having been broken, we are going to try and recover it. He has even found the shredder (now I think he needs to dig that out to see if it works). Especially after he told me that he had found the new greenhouse staging that I had originally bought and thought I had lost, as well as a step-stool for the kitchen that I thought had also gone.  I recently broke the little stool I had and as I am vertically challenged these days (having lost a precious 3 inches in height) I really need a stool or steps to stand on to access the top cupboards and the top of the cupboards which are also used for storage.  These items may take some time in renovating, but I would rather recycle or upcycle where I can in any event.  Might need a bit of oil and also some enamel paint.

So today has primarily been a washing day in any event.  Trying to catch up in view of the fact that I have predominantly been gardening and not doing much else in the house.  Despite it being overcast and we have had some rain, it is warmish and windy out and clothes etc. are getting dry reasonably quickly.  Hopefully everything will get sorted today, but like everything else it is what it is!

On the gardening front, I am pleased to report that I have a couple of Cucumbers that have broken through, some Purple Sprouting Broccoli, and a solitary Marigold; so things are moving along a bit.

Looking forward to my tea, as am hungry and I have loads of stuff as usual.  We are having mashed potato, roast potatoes, peas, shredded cabbage, carrots cut on the angle, cauliflower together with a couple of chipolatas each and some roasted onion. Then of course there is the Gooseberry Crumble with custard!  A seasonal treat which am looking forward to!

Right am off to see whether tea is cooked.  Late tea tonight. 

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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