Rainy Saturday

No gardening got done today, it has rained all day.  It's perhaps a good thing really, we both felt a bit tired with all the physical activity that we haven't been used to for quite a while now.

So, instead I decided to start a quilt.  I saw a fabulous quilt on Laurie's blog and she told me that the pattern is Ohio Star.  I went over to Quilters Cache and found the instructions.  Here's my first block

It's not quite how I wanted it to look but I did enjoy making it.

Right, about the cake I made yesterday.  It was a bit stodgy and not very sweet but it was acceptable.  I didn't get around to icing it because I wanted to try it and it was still warm when I cut it (mmmm yummy).  I was glad that I'd added the orange to it, I think it would have been a bit too bland without it.  If you want the recipe leave a comment and I'll post it on my blog for you.  I will make it again as it is a good, no sugar alternative to my usual cakes.

Diabetic Cake

I have a friend who is diabetic and loves baking.  She will often bring cake to my house for Graham, who loves her sponge cakes with buttercream.  I always feel a bit sorry that she can't enjoy a piece of cake when she visits me so I thought I'd try to bake a sugar free cake, then I could offer her a piece with her cup of tea instead of the boring digestive biscuit she usually has.

This cake is orange flavoured, I used the boiled, pureed whole orange idea that I'd used for a non-diabetic cake I'd made recently.  Anyway, I just took the cake out of the oven and, so far, it looks good.  It rose beautifully but is rather pale (apart from one area, my oven is terrible for an uneven heat).  The paleness won't matter as I intend to cover the top with a low fat soft cheese, diabetic suitable, icing.  The sweetener I used was Canderel, I used this in particular because my brother was instrumental in developing this sweeter (the clever old thing!).  Later I will ice the cake and try it then tomorrow I'll report on the taste and texture.  If I think it is ok I'll put the recipe here in case anyone wants to try it.

Garden Report

I spent another morning in the garden.  The weather was so warm I actually took my jacket off today.  I now have five raised beds and it still leaves plenty of areas where I will be able to place tubs and pots.  I'm growing a few things from seed but next week I'll go to a local nursery where I buy my vegetable plants and see what they've got for sale.  It's still a bit early for a lot of things but last year I had success protecting the plants I put in early by using garden fleece around the bed.  Last year I only planted the big raised bed and one row of beans in another bed due to the situation with Graham's health.

Sewing Kit

Do you remember towards the end of last year I asked if anyone wanted to do a swap with me?  Well, one of the emails I had was from Marion saying she would like to have a swap.  As it was, by then, rather near to Christmas, we decided that we would wait until the new year before swapping.  This is what I received from Marion

A fabulous sewing kit

This is what it contained, how generous is that, I love the teacup pincushion.

The interior of the bag has compartments for everything.  I was so excited to receive this sewing kit - thank you Marion, I love it.

Garden Report

I spent another morning in the garden.  Another raised bed was refurbished and I pruned quite a bit off a contorted willow.  I didn't realise this tree would grow so big and now I want to poll the top of it or it will become a nuisance and start to block our driveway.  This has happened with several other so-called 'small trees' I've had, they get massive and take up loads more space than I expect.  My broad beans, that I sowed on the window sill, are sprouting well and should be ready to go outside soon during the daytime to harden off.  When they are off the window sill I'll be able to sow something else to give it a good start.

Another Lovely Day

I can't believe, that after all that really cold, frosty weather, that we are having such warm days.  It is so nice to be outside and not freeze to death.  I had my jacket on and got too warm.  It was lovely.  We got another raised bed sorted out.  This one needed the timber sides replacing as the originals had rotted.  I felt very satisfied with what we accomplished again.

They are the ones at the back with the black plastic covering.  Tomorrow we are going to tackle the one in the middle on the right.  The bricks surrounding this one have crumbled quite badly so we'll replace them with the timber boards.  It will also be slightly shorter, that way we can fit in another bed between the two at the far end and the two in the middle.  This part of our garden is very sheltered.  It can get quite windy where we live at the top of a hill but the veg plot is protected all around and it really cuts out a lot of the wind.

The rhubarb has survived and is growing well.

The snowdrops are still flowering, I've never known them so late.  These are from my great aunt's garden and must date back quite a few years.

This must have self seeded because I didn't plant it.

It seems that my Mother's Day request was taken seriously doesn't it, looks like my vegetable plot will be just how I want it within a couple of weeks.

Sour Dough Mk II

The Mk II version of my sour dough bread looks much better than the Mk I.  I didn't add extra water than recommended to the dough and left it quite dry.  It rose beautifully overnight and I used a bread tin to bake it in.  I also baked it at a higher temperature and for ten minutes longer.  Plus, I put a bowl of water in the oven to provide a more moist environment.  It did split along one end but I think that was caused by the way I'd folded it.  Next week I'll try another technique for the proving that is used at River Cottage.

I spent another morning in my vegetable garden.  The weather was lovely, even better than yesterday as there was no wind.  A robin joined us for a few minutes, he found a few insects in the soil we'd turned over.  I put the manure and some pelleted chicken manure onto the new bed, cleared the big raised bed and marked out another bed ready for making tomorrow.  I've covered the new bed with the black plastic, for two reasons really, to suppress weeds and to also stop the foxes digging holes in it.  I did notice that a fox has started to dig a tunnel under our garage!

Preparing For Spring

The weather is getting much better and I was able to get up to my vegetable plot yesterday and DH helped me to dig out an old shrub and prepare the ground for another raised bed.  He didn't have enough timber in his garage so he went and bought some.  Today we finished making the new bed and also went garden shopping.

The boots I usually wear had to be thrown away a couple of years ago so today I bought myself some Wellingtons.  I wanted black ones but nowadays it seems you can only get green or startlingly, bright coloured ones, I went for green as you can see.

Instead of going to a nearby stables to buy manure I bought a bag from the garden centre, it's easier for us to do this even if it is a bit more expensive.

I tried to find a roll of black plastic to use as a covering for the raised beds but the only sort I could see was the type you use under gravel so I just went for a roll of black plastic waste bags.

While I was at it I bought a few seeds too, chantenay carrot, boltardy beetroot (my favourite to grow) and marketmore cucumber.  For growing in the greenhouse I decided on the tubs of bell pepper and chilli pepper (Poblana, a mild variety).

Because my vegetable plot is quite small I thought I'd try some vertical growing.  I've used this sort of hanging planter to grow flowers in before but never to grow vegetables, apart from the miniature tomatoes that I grow in hanging baskets.  The Flower Pouches includes everything you need, the planter, feed, moisture gel and a gadget for easy watering.  The Hanging Flower Pouch is just the planters so I bought a packet of Nutrigel to go in it.  Then I saw the Reusable Growbags - what a good idea, just like a little raised bed type of thing, this will be very useful.

Apart from the manure, I bought everything from Wilkinson's and I only spent £20, not a bad bit of shopping I think.

This year I'm not going to let the weather put me off being in the garden.  I know last year was a bit different what with Graham being ill.  I intend to spend as much time as I can out there, tending to my plot and to not get carried away with craft activities in the house.  Being outside after spending so much time indoors this winter will do me good, I'm sure I need the vitamin D.

Mother's Day

I've had a lovely card, a beautiful bunch of flowers and a box of Black Magic chocolates from my son.  And from my husband I want some help to get my veg plot organised.  Is that too much to ask???  I've been growing my own veg for about 25 years, it's something I enjoy very much but, because of my 'bad back', I have difficulty these days and need a bit of help.  My DH and I have different ideas about what a veg plot should look like.  To me it is a piece of ground where I grow veg.  To him it is an area that is totally organised and good looking.  To me it looks good if there are lots of veg growing, it doesn't matter if there are no straight lines, the veg still tastes like veg.  You get the idea I'm sure - we have a difference of opinion so nothing gets done.  I wait and wait for that bit of help.  Half an hour a day for a couple of weeks would be great, that's all I want for Mother's Day.

So, a bit of nagging was in order today.  I'm not usually a nag but I felt entitled to complain as it is 'my day' today.  He's just left the house to check if he's got the timber edging and the plant pots I want to use.  I know he's got them but he still has to check.  I'll go up there in about ten minutes to see if it's all out of his garage (which is full of really good stuff) and ready for me to use.  I'm not allowed in his garage, I might move something!!!

Wish me luck, I've got to get a move on with this or I'll be too late again this year to have a really good crop of the things I want to grow.