anticipating a glorious glut!

Sorry for the pause in posting, its been a hectic few weeks, weddings, birthdays, funerals....

But I am here!

The other thing that has kept me from the computer has been the garden, Chris has been very busy on the terrace second from the top.  It was a patio with currant bushes down one side and rhubarb and apples down the other, slowly over the years we have been lifting the odd paving stone to make a veg bed.  Well this year we have gone #@$?!! it and we have lifted the lot! 

I say we, I should in all honesty say he, as my role was more supervisory.....

The whole terrace is now dedicated to veg,

we have four raised beds with bark chipping paths in between.

And vegetables coming out of our ears!  

Golden and candie striped beets, striped and globe courgettes, kalettes,

spinach beets, chard, lettuce, two types of pumkin, rocket, herb,

beans, peas, broad beans and borlottis.

Not to mention the soft fruit...

kalettes

borlottis

peas

broad beans

The toms in the hanging basket at the other end of the garden aren't doing badly either,

this year we have planted Tumblers (at the front of the photo) and Tumbling Toms,

the TTs are definitely better, as they are still flowering, so will have a longer crop.

Well my shopping bill has shrunk

and our consumption of veg dishes has risen,

we are getting very imaginative, green pancakes - using pureed beet leaves in the batter last week, and last night courgette and feta fritters, yum! 

But it doesn't look like we are the only ones enjoying feasting in the garden!!!!!

Autumnal colours

Its the season of gold, red and umbers, it makes me want to wear woolly socks,

cook stews and light roaring fires. 

I love the change of seasons,

could not live where its hot all the time, must be so boring!!!!!

But its not just the leaves that changes colour but also the food, last weekend we picked up these gorgeous beasts, a Butternut that we all know at the back, a Turks hat on the right..

And these two High Sugars that are beautiful roasted whole with a knob of butter inside....yum

 I maybe the wrong side of 40, but could resist one to carve aswell

 Not sure why, but my pumpkins always seem to resemble Slimer from GhostBusters...

 ....but really pleased with how he came out, though that evening when I went to blow the candle out, I found two slugs crawling out his mouth...vile....but very Halloween!

On a slightly more grown up level, nothing was wasted,

the flesh has been made into a puree to go into a soup later,

and the seeds were roasted in olive oil, celery salt and smoked paprika, so very, very morish.

 

a plethora of pumpkins

Immie and I headed down to Brookands Farm in Kings Mills to choose our pumpkins, and I think we can safely say we are self sufficient in pumpkins, they were all grown down by Cobo!

Think these are just abit too big for outside our house.....

Got some of these for super on Sunday,

 they are delicious roasted whole, with a nob of butter, s and p and nutmeg, yum.

All the edible and ornamental ones a beautifully displayed inside

the elegant Victorian lean too green house



Immie and Jeffry, really had no idea why she chose that name, or why its a he.....

Jeffery on the right and Bob on the left, and they did the trick and attracted loads of trick and treaters, had to go out and by more sweets...

Jeffery

Bob

Looking a Bob this morning, and I knew he reminded me of someone......

SLIMMER!

The Victorian Walled Garden a safe haven for pumpkins!

On Tuesday I got round to visiting The Victorian Walled Garden walled garden at

Saumarez Park which I have been meaning to do for ages. 

Sadly I was too late for the sunflower maze, but there was still a lot going on,

mainly in the pumpkin department

including these very odd trombone squash, not sure if they are edible, or just decorative? Does any one know?

and the more traditional

Then inside the beautiful Victorian lean too greenhouse they had stored all the ripe ones



arnt they gorgeous and they were for sale, so its pumpkin soup for super then!

And you remember I mentioned the sunflower maze?  Well here are all the seed heads drying from the grape and tomato vines, very ingenious, and almost like a modern art installation

Then back outside their rainbow chard had taken on a totally different scale to ours!  It is a biennial, and theirs was flowering, so it must be in its second year, so is this what we have to look forward too!

And some elegant cavelo nero

 what a clever idea for a bird scarer, this little chap is suspended by a cord from an arched pole, so he swings and bounces in the breeze, so he flies!

loads of cosmos enjoying the shelter provided by the old granite walls

then though the door at the far end looking back, definitely reminded me of 'The Secret Garden' by Francs Hodgson Burnett, a classic children's book

go on, any idea of how much his beast weighs?

And by the way I think he's sitting in a traditional Guernsey barrow,

 narrower to fit in through the doors of greenhouses, with no back for ease of loads,

always of wood, but really it should be blue or red.

Well the pumpkin I brought home really put the one on my patio to shame, come on grow!!!!!