Hedgerow harvest

The hedgerows are abundant at this time of year, although I rarely see other people out picking. There is a profusion of different berries and nuts.

When our children were young I made rosehip syrup, as my parents had done when I was a child. My father gathered the hips and mother did the cooking. They made it because the bright red syrup was prized for its high vitamin C content. The recipe was provided by the Ministry of Food during WW2.

Rosehip Syrup.

4 and a half pints boiling water

2lbs rosehips, mashed/minced

1lb sugar

Add the mashed hips to 3 pints of the boiling water in a saucepan, bring back to the boil, stir then leave for 15 minutes before straining through a jelly bag.

Return liquid to the saucepan and add remaining boiling water, bring back to the boil again, rest and strain.

Add sugar to the remaining liquid in a clean pan and rapid boil for 5 minutes.

Pour into small, hot, sterile bottles and seal immediately. (Small bottles are best because the syrup will not keep for long once opened.)

My neighbours have been busy,  in competition with the squirrels, picking hazelnuts in their boundary hedge.

They gave me this basket of nuts, which I shall ripen in the warmth of the kitchen before storing.

The windy weather earlier this week has resulted in a load of windfalls -

 I am slicing apples for Britain!

I've made tray bakes of 

Apfelkuchen

6oz sugar

 6oz margarine

12oz flour

3 eggs beaten with 6 tablespoons of milk and 2 teaspoons vanilla essence.

Cream sugar and margarine, add flour and egg mixture to make a soft consistency. Press in sliced apple segments and bake for half an hour in a moderate oven.

makes 24 portions.

 which I freeze in small batches. It thaws out quickly if anyone drops by for a cup of tea.

Need I add that it's good with whipped cream!

Wood carvings by Peter Murphy.

In the greenhouse

The weather is wet and very windy and we've been threatened with a temperature drop and possible ground frost for the weekend. Time to tidy up the greenhouses and bring in the plants that will need protection. I've got two greenhouses, one is a dilapidated affair attached to an equally dilapidated garage. The other, built to overwinter the citrus trees that I've brought home from holidays in Spain and Greece, is attached to the house.

It was built a few years ago by our friend, Alban, with help from Himself. (As you can see, the dog was in overall charge!)

I designed the decoration on the roof ridge, where a fox terrier chases a hare and a pheasant. The theme came from the antics of Bella, our previous fox terrier.

In summer the citrus trees go outside and are replaced by a steamer chair.

But today I've folded the chair and stored it in the garden shed and the citrus are back in residence.

The garage greenhouse is very utilitarian, it's where I sow seed, bring on seedlings, root cuttings

 and grow my tomatoes.

Permanent residents include a very unruly jasmine and the delicate tea rose, 'Maricel Neil'.

I used to have a beautiful plumbago covering the rear wall, but weeks of bitter weather last winter proved its downfall. I had taken a cutting in the autumn and shall be watching over it carefully throughout the coming months. 

I hope that we are not going to have another big freeze.

Rare Plant Fair

This afternoon I went to a rare plant fair at Holt Farm in Blagdon.

Such restraint was needed! I went with Himself, which served the dual purpose of curbing my spending and of having someone to carry the purchases that I did make back to the car.

This isn't my car, although, on occasions, it has looked rather similar!

We wandered through the gardens heading for the tearoom, past waving grasses and a decorative vegetable area.

Holt Farm is an organic garden  www.theorganicgardens.co.uk in a beautiful setting, with gentle hills in one direction and views towards a lake in the other.

I left Himself at the tearoom, a happy man, eating jam, scones and clotted cream, and looked around the rest of the gardens at my leisure.

There were beautiful sculptural forms and pleasing small details to be discovered in plant supports, gates and latches.

There was generous planting; a carpet of poppies

and a meadow of wild flowers.

The farmhouse looks down onto a large gravel garden with a stream-fed pool.

When I returned to the tearoom, a trip to the ladies toilets put me in the company of Charles and Camilla,

although what Prince Charles is doing in the 'ladies' I do not know.

I wondered who would be hiding in the gents. Himself provided the answer - along with Monty Don, two favourites, Carol Klein and Alan Titchmarch.

This poster hung on the back of the door!

I was pleased with my purchases when I got them home, a dainty blue aster sedifolius, a white Japanese anemone, 'Honorine Jobert' and yet another tree peony, 'Blue Moon'. I can't wait 'til next spring!