We have wanted to build a Cold Frame for some time, we've had some timber for ages, along with a couple of pieces of plastic sheeting (from a fellow freecycler). Hubby has now used it to construct the cold frame for down the lotty - it hasn't been assembled yet, so we can transport it more easily, but it's all cut and ready to go, when we can find some space for it. It'll be better at the lotty as there is a little more space for it than in the back garden. He'll probably use the offcuts to make something else, a seat or something maybe, as it's good sturdy wood.
Need to take some pics of progress at the lotty and at home.
We have cropped a small handful of beans already, some deep purple french and some speckled french, they look amazing, but the plants aren't very large. I got confused with what I'd sown (didn't label them very well, lesson for the future, always label yer seedlings) so I think there are some dwarf frenchs at the lotty mixed in with the climbing runners, and some climbing frenches too hopefully. I also think I have a climbing bean in the dwarf bean bed at home, as its sending out tendrils... staked it and will see what happens. I am keeping my fingers crossed with the cannellini beans, the info says they grow easily, but our plants look a bit feeble to be honest. Still, we'll give them a try.
We have planted the Italian yard-long beans (I always thought they were footlong, but yard-long, crikey!) It's all an experiment, we'd rather have a go at growing things you can't get so easily in the shops, than grow stuff which is mega cheap in the shops, makes dinnertime a little more interesting :-)
And the two squashes (1 winter and 1 butternut) are looking healthy, with good roots, and sturdy leaves, they went in the ground at the lotty a couple of days ago. The courgettes need to do a bit more growing before they go in the ground, I'm just hoping that I haven't left it too late this year. So we should be able to put our final plants in at home and on the lotty in the next few days. Well, I say final, that's not counting all the braassicas that are growing in the greenhouse, ready for over winter.
Hubby and I recently reread all our 2010 posts, we have come a long way since then, for instance the hornbeam trees in the back garden are now a sturdy hedge, needs cutting back a bit, but it is under control, unlike the massive trees we had a few years ago. We also have less garden grass as we have filled a lot more of the back garden with raised beds. And the little pear tree that was dwarfed by the hornbeams is now growing happily and producing fruit. Also, we have given up on the idea of trying to grow tomatoes in containers, and this year they have gone in the ground instead.
We have further plans for re-designing the arrangement of the beds in the back garden; and removing the ivy from the back fence that has gone mental; and pruning the various fruiting trees as they have also gone mental. But those will be jobs for the autumn.
At the moment in our back garden we have 3 1x1 metre raised beds and 4 2x1 metre raised beds, and 1 small greenhouse (6ft x 4ft). The strawbs all migrated from one bed to another, and are happily fruiting away. I need to crop the redcurrants, and I will probably do like I did last year and freeze them as I go along, then make redcurrant jelly to go with winter meals.
The plan is to move the greenhouse from the back fence (where it is disappearing under shedloads of ivy) and rotate it through 90 degrees onto the side fence, where it will get a lot more sun, and will enable us to tackle the ivy. We tried using glyphosate but that didn't cut the mustard, so we are going to try a super strong weedkiller like Vitax's SBK Bushwood killer and see if that does the trick... the ivy was planted many many years ago when the garden was new but like everything else in the garden it has gone nuts this year and is now a problem. If the weedkiller doesn't sort it then we will just have to physically rip it out. There is a lot of it.
Thursday, 26 June 2014
Monday, 23 June 2014
Feeling in need of a Lotty fix
We go down there after work and water the plants and potter about, and check the progress of the plants and seeds, but now there are no structures to make or big jobs to do we both feel a little lost!
We would love to find a reasonably priced little tool shed for the lotty, to store our scruffy chairs and keep a few tools in, but unless we can find a suitable second hand one the cost will be too prohibitive. Neither of us are particularly handy at woodwork so we'd struggle to make something, but we may have to give it a go. Anything like this that appears on Freecycle disappears at hyperspeed! I'm sure something will turn up at some stage though, things usually do...
We'd been after a cheap hose reel to make coping with the hosepipe a lot easier, and sure enough, they eventually had one in Aldi for a tenner (instead of multiples of tens of pounds for a branded one.) It has been a smashing purchase, despite being somewhat fiddly to assemble - makes watering so much simpler - connect it to the tap using a short piece of hose and roll it out to the length needed, water, then roll it back up again, bob's your uncle, so simple.
In the meantime, everything is trundling along nicely, growing steadily, and looking good. We planted some leeks (Musselburgh) and sowed some Golden (yellow) beets and pink & white stripey beets on the plot at the weekend, we also planted out the Cannelini beans, but to be honest they are looking a little sickly at the moment, fingers crossed they pick up. The Italian footlong bean plants are looking ok, if a little small, I may need to pot them on before they go in the ground.
The courgette plants are coming on a treat, they will be able to go in the ground soon too, although I sowed more than we'll need, as per usual, so have passed some on to friends. Them and the two squashes we have ready and waiting will mean the plot is finally almost filled, except for the brassica seedlings we have in the greenhouse.
Oh and all the tomato plants are showing signs of flowering :-)
We would love to find a reasonably priced little tool shed for the lotty, to store our scruffy chairs and keep a few tools in, but unless we can find a suitable second hand one the cost will be too prohibitive. Neither of us are particularly handy at woodwork so we'd struggle to make something, but we may have to give it a go. Anything like this that appears on Freecycle disappears at hyperspeed! I'm sure something will turn up at some stage though, things usually do...
We'd been after a cheap hose reel to make coping with the hosepipe a lot easier, and sure enough, they eventually had one in Aldi for a tenner (instead of multiples of tens of pounds for a branded one.) It has been a smashing purchase, despite being somewhat fiddly to assemble - makes watering so much simpler - connect it to the tap using a short piece of hose and roll it out to the length needed, water, then roll it back up again, bob's your uncle, so simple.
In the meantime, everything is trundling along nicely, growing steadily, and looking good. We planted some leeks (Musselburgh) and sowed some Golden (yellow) beets and pink & white stripey beets on the plot at the weekend, we also planted out the Cannelini beans, but to be honest they are looking a little sickly at the moment, fingers crossed they pick up. The Italian footlong bean plants are looking ok, if a little small, I may need to pot them on before they go in the ground.
The courgette plants are coming on a treat, they will be able to go in the ground soon too, although I sowed more than we'll need, as per usual, so have passed some on to friends. Them and the two squashes we have ready and waiting will mean the plot is finally almost filled, except for the brassica seedlings we have in the greenhouse.
Oh and all the tomato plants are showing signs of flowering :-)
Getting things ship shape
We both had a week off work recently week, so we 'set to' down at the lotty. The weather was kind most of the time, and we got loads done.
We'd already dug a bed, and tilled it and planted in it, as mentioned in our previous posting; and the spuds from 2 years ago were growing away like mad, so they had to go. Basically there was a huge section that we hadn't dug over last year and we wanted to do it all, to uncompact the ground and make it usable again.
So we dug, and turned, and added manure, and dug some more, and tilled, and dug and dug and dug! But now the vast majority of the plot, all the current growing area, is dug over and tilled, and fed with horse, cow and chicken poo. We'd like to sort out the work area at the fence end of the plot, but we sprayed all the nettles and other weeds there, so need to wait for those to die down before tackling that section.
The problem we have is the clay soil, which after a day of sunshine turns into rocks - and we struggle to break it down into a fine tilth. Thankfully there is a water supply on site, a little addition of water makes the clay easier to break down, but too much turns it into a sticky muddy mess... Hopefully a few years of good horse muck and compost will help to improve the condition of the soil.
During our week off we also made some structures, to cover the brassicas - we bought red cabbages and cauli plants from Dundry, and planted them under debris netting to keep the Peskys off them, and we have sown winter cabbages and swedes and cauli in the greenhouse, and have made structures for them out of debris netting and blue water pipes cut to size.
After all our work the lotty is totally up to scratch, and the structures are in place ready for the plants that aren't ready yet. Feeling very satisfied.
I'd lost my little courgette plant to the slugs in the back garden so chitted some more seeds in the airing cupboard, I now have 8 healthy plants and space for 3... will see if anyone in work wants any. If not they will go into the compost bin. As long as I'm not too late... Hopefully things will catch up after our late start.
Chitting is a method I'd not used before, but I will definitely try it again, as it means I am only sowing live seeds. Take a sealable plastic tub (like takeaway tubs) and place some kitchen roll in the bottom, dampen it, place your seeds on there (bigger seeds are better, courgettes, beans, sweetcorn, etc) and seal tightly. Place your little parcel in a warm place (I use the airing cupboard) for a few days - after about 4 or 5 days you should have lovely chitted seeds with roots sprouting. Simply carefully sow them in compost and after a few days the seeds should be showing signs of life above the surface.
Oh and the peas and broad beans we sowed at the beginning of our holiday are appearing above ground :-) Happy days.
We'd already dug a bed, and tilled it and planted in it, as mentioned in our previous posting; and the spuds from 2 years ago were growing away like mad, so they had to go. Basically there was a huge section that we hadn't dug over last year and we wanted to do it all, to uncompact the ground and make it usable again.
So we dug, and turned, and added manure, and dug some more, and tilled, and dug and dug and dug! But now the vast majority of the plot, all the current growing area, is dug over and tilled, and fed with horse, cow and chicken poo. We'd like to sort out the work area at the fence end of the plot, but we sprayed all the nettles and other weeds there, so need to wait for those to die down before tackling that section.
The problem we have is the clay soil, which after a day of sunshine turns into rocks - and we struggle to break it down into a fine tilth. Thankfully there is a water supply on site, a little addition of water makes the clay easier to break down, but too much turns it into a sticky muddy mess... Hopefully a few years of good horse muck and compost will help to improve the condition of the soil.
During our week off we also made some structures, to cover the brassicas - we bought red cabbages and cauli plants from Dundry, and planted them under debris netting to keep the Peskys off them, and we have sown winter cabbages and swedes and cauli in the greenhouse, and have made structures for them out of debris netting and blue water pipes cut to size.
After all our work the lotty is totally up to scratch, and the structures are in place ready for the plants that aren't ready yet. Feeling very satisfied.
I'd lost my little courgette plant to the slugs in the back garden so chitted some more seeds in the airing cupboard, I now have 8 healthy plants and space for 3... will see if anyone in work wants any. If not they will go into the compost bin. As long as I'm not too late... Hopefully things will catch up after our late start.
Chitting is a method I'd not used before, but I will definitely try it again, as it means I am only sowing live seeds. Take a sealable plastic tub (like takeaway tubs) and place some kitchen roll in the bottom, dampen it, place your seeds on there (bigger seeds are better, courgettes, beans, sweetcorn, etc) and seal tightly. Place your little parcel in a warm place (I use the airing cupboard) for a few days - after about 4 or 5 days you should have lovely chitted seeds with roots sprouting. Simply carefully sow them in compost and after a few days the seeds should be showing signs of life above the surface.
Oh and the peas and broad beans we sowed at the beginning of our holiday are appearing above ground :-) Happy days.
Wednesday, 4 June 2014
We're Baaaaaack
Oh crikey, I hadn't realised it had been such a long time since I posted last, I guess life got in the way and I just got out of the habit of posting.
2013 was a bumper year for us, we got our local parish council (half) plot, and turned it from a weedy dry neglected chunk into a productive plot in a comparatively short time. We grew sweetcorn, toms, runners and french beans, broad beans, beets, peas, and found garlic and spuds left over from the previous plotholder.
We ate it all and enjoyed it immensely. Our plot is on the sunny side of the site, the soil is fertile, if prone to weeds, and the views across the open fields are stunning. We are very lucky to have such a super plot, for the grand total of £15.00 a year rent.
We ate a tremendous amount of home grown veg and fruit last year, and I made jams, jellies and chutneys, and tomato sauces for the freezer. My favourite is my seedless raspberry jam, which was so easy to make it was almost scary! (It probably helps if you know a bit about jam making before you start though.)
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Seedless Raspberry Jam
Pick the raspberries through the season as they ripen and freeze them as you go along.
Once you have enough (at the end of the season probably) defrost them all in a big bowl.
They will collapse and go squishy and juicy when they defrost.
This is the messy bit. Push the raw raspberries through a sieve into a large measuring jug bit by bit, until you have all the juice and pulp in the jug and a pile of dryish seeds. Discard the seeds.
You make the jam in the same way as a jelly, i.e. a pint of juice to a pound of sugar.
Raspberries aren't as high in pectin as brambles, so you may want to add some lemon juice, or some cooking apple peel & lemon peel tied up in a muslin bag to the mix to increase the pectin. Or you could use sugar with added pectin but I've never used this so have no idea whether it would work.
Bung the raspberry juicy pulp and the sugar (and the muslin bag of cooking apple peel/lemon peel if used) in a big pan and cook it until it gets to the setting stage.
Pot into sterilised jars, pop the lids on and allow to cool before labelling.
The resultant jam is a little sharp and utterly delicious.
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Then the winter came with all its rain, rain, rain, and our clay soil got compacted and neglected by us. We both work full time and when the weekends came the weather was usually unpleasant. So when we finally got some half decent weather this spring we got down there, watered the weeds with a double concentrate of glyphosate, and gradually got the plot back into shape.
And this weekend just gone I finally cleared the remaining dead weeds, we finished digging over the big first bed, tilled it, fed it with horse poo (from a good friend in work), got the runner bean frame up and finally planted!
So far we have - runners and french beans (couple of varieties) with pretty marigolds along the edge, sweetcorn (mainstay variety, same as last year, from Dundry Nurseries, a local independent near to Staverton Airport) and a couple of pumpkin plants that were spares off a chap in work. We've grown courgettes before but not pumpkins so that should be interesting.
We've also still got raspberries, a rhubarb crown, and a wee blackcurrant.
In the greenhouse and in the back garden we have some tomato plants ready to go to the lotty, and we have broad bean seeds to go in, and a few other bits and bobs.
The spuds we didn't manage to dig up last year are sprouting, but as they've been in the ground for a few years now we'll probably just dig them up and compost them.
It felt so good to finally get some plants in the ground. In the back garden we have a couple of fruit trees (apple and pear), a fecund redcurrant (seems to have gone mad this year!), a feeble rhubarb crown, and herbs, beets, carrots, strawberries, toms, dwarf french beans and a courgette. We have an empty bed where we'll probably sow peas although we haven't decided yet.
We feel very behind, other plotholders seem to be well ahead, and some plots are planted with military precision! Ours is a mess by comparison, but as far as I'm concerned we aren't growing for show we are growing to eat. There are some other messy plots on our site, and lots of neat and tidy ones, but we aren't fussed about neat and tidy - as long as we keep on top of the weeds and our plants grow that'll do us grand. And we will catch up, we did it last year, and we'll do it again.
Friday, 15 July 2011
Summer and the changing of the season
Okay, finally, a review of the shredder we got from Aldi last year.
This has been, without a shadow of a doubt, the BEST piece of garden equipment we have ever bought. We have tamed several massive hornbeams, by chopping them down to a manageable size, shredding all the twigs and branches (except for the very thickest, and the trunks) and fitted all the shreddings into our garden waste bin with ease. We are also in the process of taming the front garden, and again, the shreddings will be easily disposed of in the garden waste bin.
We haven't used a shredder other than our own, so don't know how it compares with other brands, but for our needs this one is fine; it is easy to use, the safety features are robust, and the chopped material is small enough to dispose of easily.
The operation of the shredder is a lot quieter than I was expecting it to be, so that was a pleasant surprise.
We have successfully shredded old/dry branches, and freshly cut green sappy ones, and the machine copes well with both, and also copes well with some surprisingly thick branches, thicker than I expected.
Overall, a big thumbs up from us.
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The garden is in full swing with summer. Hubby has made me several more raised beds, and the plants are growing very well indeed. We have already eaten Salad Leaves, Kale, Runner Beans, Broad Beans, Strawberries, Peas, Carrots; and we have Beets, Onions, Shallots, Courgettes, French Beans, 3 varieties of Tomato, 2 varieties of Chilli, Cucumbers, 2 varieties of Potato, several varieties of Garlic, Kohl Rabi and Cabbages growing.
The raised beds were made from decking boards. For each bed we used two of the 2-and-a-bit metre ones from Wickes, and hubby cut a metre off one end of each board to make two long and two short pieces. He fastened the ends together simply, with battens and screws. We put cardboard down on the grass as a weed suppressant, then the decking board frame on top - cardboard will eventually rot down. Then we filled the frame with compost and watered it to settle it in, and bobs yer uncle. We could plant in them straight away but we tend to wait for a few days to allow the compost to settle down. I have a new one, built this week, ready for some winter veg sowing, not sure what yet, cabbages maybe.
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Bad news about the allotment - we have given it up. Reasons below.
We were given the allotment earlier this year, but it wasn't what I would call a 'proper' allotment, it was simply a small area of land next to some houses in a village nearby, traditionally used only by the villagers. Our local borough council took over the management of the site earlier in the year, which is why we (as non-villagers) were offered a plot. We were delighted!
However, we soon found out that the site was just land, that's it, and didn't have any basic allotment facilities like a water supply(!) but we were so buoyed with the idea of actually having an allotment that we assumed that we'd 'manage somehow'. But the exceptionally dry spring we've had, combined with the dense clay soil on site, has meant that we were unable to plant what we wanted to, so we became utterly disheartened. It had become a millstone rather than a joy, it seemed that all we were doing every visit was weeding weeding weeding, and then we were not able to plant any vegetables, because the soil was so dry and unmanageable.
So we reluctantly decided to give it up. We went and collected our few bits and bobs, and I emailed the council to let them know we'd vacated the plot. They acknowledged, so we are now allotment-less.
We are still on our local parish council allotment waiting list, as they have two properly run sites with water, security, parking, and other facilities. And although the plots are smaller in our local parish, a smaller plot would be easier for us to manage. The waiting list is long, but we don't mind waiting for a decent plot. In the meantime, we will grow as much as we can in our small back garden.
We have been watering our garden most nights - so imagine how difficult (not to mention expensive) that would have been for an allotment that is a 10 minute drive away, transporting water there, and going home to fill up again... We had such big plans for the allotment, and are deeply disappointed that we were unable to continue with it. But we have made the right decision for us.
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Last autumn I made a whole heap of pickles jams and chutneys, I was on a very steep learning curve as I hadn't made preserves before. They have mostly been successful, some more than others, but my major lesson learned is not to use waxed discs on jams, as they went mouldy - fine on chutneys, but not jams. I will make more preserves this year, beetroot and orange chutney was great, green tomato chutney bit lacking in flavour, pickled beetroot was FAB. Jams and jellies were also FAB.
Most of the produce I used in the preserves was grown by us, or foraged, or given to us for free. We are planning on going foraging again soon, the damsons should be more or less ready. I'll have a try of some other recipes, maybe a damson chutney as well as a jam or two, depending on how much fruit we get. I want to make more bramble jelly too as that was simply divine. We never strip the trees, but always try to leave plenty for other people, or the birds.
I use recipes found in books or on the internet, except for redcurrant and crab apple jelly, I made that one up myself because of the ingredients I had... here it is... old fashioned measurements only...
Redcurrant & Crab Apple Jelly
8oz redcurrants
8oz crab apples
2lb cooking apples, peeled and cored
splash lemon juice
white sugar (quantity depends on volume of juice)
Make sure that all equipment used is as clean as possible, and all jars are properly sterilised, and the jelly bag is scalded before use.
Put all fruit in a big pan, with the lemon juice and enough water to just cover the base of the cooking apples, about 2 pints give or take. Cook until pulpy and all fruit has collapsed.
Strain pulp through jelly bag for several hours, overnight if poss.
Measure liquid, and add 1lb sugar for each pint liquid - I had 2 and 1/4 pints so added 2 1/4 lbs of sugar. Cook in a large pan on a rolling boil until jam temp (104 degrees on my thermometer) reached. Test on a saucer, if it sets quickly/strongly it's done.
Turn off heat, and add a knob of butter to the mix, this should reduce the froth. Remove as much scum/froth as you can. Pot up into warmed sterilised jars, quickly as it sets quickly due to the crab apples having a lot of pectin. I got 4x12 oz jars full.
---------
This has been, without a shadow of a doubt, the BEST piece of garden equipment we have ever bought. We have tamed several massive hornbeams, by chopping them down to a manageable size, shredding all the twigs and branches (except for the very thickest, and the trunks) and fitted all the shreddings into our garden waste bin with ease. We are also in the process of taming the front garden, and again, the shreddings will be easily disposed of in the garden waste bin.
We haven't used a shredder other than our own, so don't know how it compares with other brands, but for our needs this one is fine; it is easy to use, the safety features are robust, and the chopped material is small enough to dispose of easily.
The operation of the shredder is a lot quieter than I was expecting it to be, so that was a pleasant surprise.
We have successfully shredded old/dry branches, and freshly cut green sappy ones, and the machine copes well with both, and also copes well with some surprisingly thick branches, thicker than I expected.
Overall, a big thumbs up from us.
----------------------
The garden is in full swing with summer. Hubby has made me several more raised beds, and the plants are growing very well indeed. We have already eaten Salad Leaves, Kale, Runner Beans, Broad Beans, Strawberries, Peas, Carrots; and we have Beets, Onions, Shallots, Courgettes, French Beans, 3 varieties of Tomato, 2 varieties of Chilli, Cucumbers, 2 varieties of Potato, several varieties of Garlic, Kohl Rabi and Cabbages growing.
The raised beds were made from decking boards. For each bed we used two of the 2-and-a-bit metre ones from Wickes, and hubby cut a metre off one end of each board to make two long and two short pieces. He fastened the ends together simply, with battens and screws. We put cardboard down on the grass as a weed suppressant, then the decking board frame on top - cardboard will eventually rot down. Then we filled the frame with compost and watered it to settle it in, and bobs yer uncle. We could plant in them straight away but we tend to wait for a few days to allow the compost to settle down. I have a new one, built this week, ready for some winter veg sowing, not sure what yet, cabbages maybe.
------
Bad news about the allotment - we have given it up. Reasons below.
We were given the allotment earlier this year, but it wasn't what I would call a 'proper' allotment, it was simply a small area of land next to some houses in a village nearby, traditionally used only by the villagers. Our local borough council took over the management of the site earlier in the year, which is why we (as non-villagers) were offered a plot. We were delighted!
However, we soon found out that the site was just land, that's it, and didn't have any basic allotment facilities like a water supply(!) but we were so buoyed with the idea of actually having an allotment that we assumed that we'd 'manage somehow'. But the exceptionally dry spring we've had, combined with the dense clay soil on site, has meant that we were unable to plant what we wanted to, so we became utterly disheartened. It had become a millstone rather than a joy, it seemed that all we were doing every visit was weeding weeding weeding, and then we were not able to plant any vegetables, because the soil was so dry and unmanageable.
So we reluctantly decided to give it up. We went and collected our few bits and bobs, and I emailed the council to let them know we'd vacated the plot. They acknowledged, so we are now allotment-less.
We are still on our local parish council allotment waiting list, as they have two properly run sites with water, security, parking, and other facilities. And although the plots are smaller in our local parish, a smaller plot would be easier for us to manage. The waiting list is long, but we don't mind waiting for a decent plot. In the meantime, we will grow as much as we can in our small back garden.
We have been watering our garden most nights - so imagine how difficult (not to mention expensive) that would have been for an allotment that is a 10 minute drive away, transporting water there, and going home to fill up again... We had such big plans for the allotment, and are deeply disappointed that we were unable to continue with it. But we have made the right decision for us.
----------
Last autumn I made a whole heap of pickles jams and chutneys, I was on a very steep learning curve as I hadn't made preserves before. They have mostly been successful, some more than others, but my major lesson learned is not to use waxed discs on jams, as they went mouldy - fine on chutneys, but not jams. I will make more preserves this year, beetroot and orange chutney was great, green tomato chutney bit lacking in flavour, pickled beetroot was FAB. Jams and jellies were also FAB.
Most of the produce I used in the preserves was grown by us, or foraged, or given to us for free. We are planning on going foraging again soon, the damsons should be more or less ready. I'll have a try of some other recipes, maybe a damson chutney as well as a jam or two, depending on how much fruit we get. I want to make more bramble jelly too as that was simply divine. We never strip the trees, but always try to leave plenty for other people, or the birds.
I use recipes found in books or on the internet, except for redcurrant and crab apple jelly, I made that one up myself because of the ingredients I had... here it is... old fashioned measurements only...
Redcurrant & Crab Apple Jelly
8oz redcurrants
8oz crab apples
2lb cooking apples, peeled and cored
splash lemon juice
white sugar (quantity depends on volume of juice)
Make sure that all equipment used is as clean as possible, and all jars are properly sterilised, and the jelly bag is scalded before use.
Put all fruit in a big pan, with the lemon juice and enough water to just cover the base of the cooking apples, about 2 pints give or take. Cook until pulpy and all fruit has collapsed.
Strain pulp through jelly bag for several hours, overnight if poss.
Measure liquid, and add 1lb sugar for each pint liquid - I had 2 and 1/4 pints so added 2 1/4 lbs of sugar. Cook in a large pan on a rolling boil until jam temp (104 degrees on my thermometer) reached. Test on a saucer, if it sets quickly/strongly it's done.
Turn off heat, and add a knob of butter to the mix, this should reduce the froth. Remove as much scum/froth as you can. Pot up into warmed sterilised jars, quickly as it sets quickly due to the crab apples having a lot of pectin. I got 4x12 oz jars full.
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Tuesday, 15 March 2011
Spring
Blimey I hadn't realised it's been so long since I last posted... September... well a few things have happened, we've had a mega harsh winter, we've been gradually chopping the rampant hornbeams, we bought ourselves a greenhouse, and - dan dan daaaaan - we've got an allotment!!!!!
It's in a lovely wee village nearby, about an 8 minute drive away, and is in a very rural setting, has been well tended, so we can basically start sowing whenever we like! We have really fallen on our feet with it, it's a lovely piece of land, and the villagers that we've spoken to seem friendly and welcoming. Ace. Ours is the thimble shaped piece of land in the middle of the pic, it's bigger than it looks!
The lass from the council has been along today with a surveyor to mark out our actual plot, so the growing area is likely to increase, as she said it has been underutilised in the past. Our plot actually goes right up towards the hedge at the top of the picture. Excellent.
Oh I said I would comment on the shredder - it works fine, and munches up the branches well. I haven't used a different one so have nothing to compare it to, but it seems it was a good buy. It ate a load of branches, but I need to make sure that the lengths we put into it are shorter as it kept getting stuck in the collecting tub underneath. Still, bargain.
In readiness for the lotty we've popped a small greenhouse at the bottom of our garden - well I say popped - struggled with it for a fortnight more like, pesky thing. Still, it was only cheap, and will be more than adequate, so onwards and upwards.
This weekend I put some potatoes to chit, popped shallots into small pots, and sowed some seeds - beets, turnips, kohl rabi, french beans and broad beans. All are safely nestled in the old and new greenhouses.
Excited about our lotty!!!
It's in a lovely wee village nearby, about an 8 minute drive away, and is in a very rural setting, has been well tended, so we can basically start sowing whenever we like! We have really fallen on our feet with it, it's a lovely piece of land, and the villagers that we've spoken to seem friendly and welcoming. Ace. Ours is the thimble shaped piece of land in the middle of the pic, it's bigger than it looks!
The lass from the council has been along today with a surveyor to mark out our actual plot, so the growing area is likely to increase, as she said it has been underutilised in the past. Our plot actually goes right up towards the hedge at the top of the picture. Excellent.
Oh I said I would comment on the shredder - it works fine, and munches up the branches well. I haven't used a different one so have nothing to compare it to, but it seems it was a good buy. It ate a load of branches, but I need to make sure that the lengths we put into it are shorter as it kept getting stuck in the collecting tub underneath. Still, bargain.
In readiness for the lotty we've popped a small greenhouse at the bottom of our garden - well I say popped - struggled with it for a fortnight more like, pesky thing. Still, it was only cheap, and will be more than adequate, so onwards and upwards.
This weekend I put some potatoes to chit, popped shallots into small pots, and sowed some seeds - beets, turnips, kohl rabi, french beans and broad beans. All are safely nestled in the old and new greenhouses.
Excited about our lotty!!!
Friday, 10 September 2010
Shredder!
Yay we've got a garden shredder! I picked one up from Aldi last night, £99.99, bargain. I was on my way home from work so I didn't have Whitewolf with me to do the lifting. Boy is it heavy!! I was beginning to panic about how I was going to get it off the pile and into the trolley, when a very nice man asked if I needed a hand, and he put it in the trolley for me. He was just another customer, and it was very kind of him to do so. I thanked him profusely.
Fortunately I didn't need to put it onto the conveyor belt, the cashier could see the product code on the box, so that was a relief. I managed to manhandle the shredder out of the trolley and into the car, but I thought, even if I have to take it out of its box and put it in the car in bits, I'm having it. I didn't want to go home and get Whitewolf in case they'd all gone by the time we got back, you know what these bargain days are like, if you don't get in quick the good stuff disappears!
We've yet to try it out, but it should be a BIG help, and a major step forwards in our being able to clear the overgrown trees from the garden. Will comment on how effective the shredder is in a later post.
So, we've got the hornbeams to clear, and the apple tree to prune and train, and other shrub and plants to cut back, lots of work, which we'll tackle gradually. The thicker trunks that we can't shred will go to a friend who has a woodburner. We're planning on bagging up the chipped wood into black bin bags, and poking holes in the sides of the bags, and allowing the chippings to overwinter. They will become mulch, or the covering for paths between the new raised beds we plan on creating. The greener shreddings will go into the compost bin to add some bulk. And there is always the brown garden waste bin too, if the waste is shredded then more'll fit in the bin.
Fingers crossed for some dry days so we can crack on with the work.
And we now have roof bars for the car, so we can finally get the planking we want for the sides of the raised beds we're planning.
Lots of work to do, but we now have the suitable equipment, nothing can hold us back! Except maybe the English weather...
Fortunately I didn't need to put it onto the conveyor belt, the cashier could see the product code on the box, so that was a relief. I managed to manhandle the shredder out of the trolley and into the car, but I thought, even if I have to take it out of its box and put it in the car in bits, I'm having it. I didn't want to go home and get Whitewolf in case they'd all gone by the time we got back, you know what these bargain days are like, if you don't get in quick the good stuff disappears!
We've yet to try it out, but it should be a BIG help, and a major step forwards in our being able to clear the overgrown trees from the garden. Will comment on how effective the shredder is in a later post.
So, we've got the hornbeams to clear, and the apple tree to prune and train, and other shrub and plants to cut back, lots of work, which we'll tackle gradually. The thicker trunks that we can't shred will go to a friend who has a woodburner. We're planning on bagging up the chipped wood into black bin bags, and poking holes in the sides of the bags, and allowing the chippings to overwinter. They will become mulch, or the covering for paths between the new raised beds we plan on creating. The greener shreddings will go into the compost bin to add some bulk. And there is always the brown garden waste bin too, if the waste is shredded then more'll fit in the bin.
Fingers crossed for some dry days so we can crack on with the work.
And we now have roof bars for the car, so we can finally get the planking we want for the sides of the raised beds we're planning.
Lots of work to do, but we now have the suitable equipment, nothing can hold us back! Except maybe the English weather...
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