Jardin au Crépuscule

The weatherman predicts 0° tonight. We have shifted the lemon tree into the greenhouse.

... and in the Weather

Temperatures today have been 'Orangers' and in the greenhouse there are some lemons ready to pick!

Foraging

I bagged a Beefsteak Fungus and some Chanterelles on our weekend walk. The latter so delicious I only remembered to record them with one bite to go. The fungus is more challenging or 'interesting', and possibly just a bit too glibbery texture-wise. I also collected enough sloes for a few bottles of gin and a bag full of rosebay willowherb foliage which I will ferment and dry to make 'Ivan Chai'.

Grape Harvest

This is my first grape harvest. Last year the birds or squirrels made short work of them while my back was turned. I got about 8 lbs. of very tiny, but perfectly formed grapes and spent a day reducing them into about 3 litres of what can best be described as 'slops'. Even using pectin-infused sugar and boiling it up to 'jam' on the candy thermometre, I couldn't bully it into setting.
Ah well, it's not bad dribbled over yoghurt. Next year I'll make wine.

*Footnote - Injury added to insult! The hour of squeezing grapes between my fingers has resulted in contact dermatitis. Grrr.

December Fourteenth

I've been in the garden today cleaning up and doing a little transplanting. So Mild! I found a few strawberries that will never turn red now, what with no sun. November was officially the dullest on record. It doesn't look like we'll be getting a white Christmas this year, maybe a lighter shade of grey if we're lucky...

Pomegranate

This year for the first time I had some blossoms on my pomegranate bush! It was a gift cutting from Dr. K back in 2012. They fell away before forming any fruit, but, hey maybe next year...

Ripe Strawberries!

Detail from William Morris design 'Strawberry Thief'

Der Bratapfel

Kinder, kommt und ratet,
was im Ofen bratet!
Hört, wie's knallt und zischt.
Bald wird er aufgetischt,
der Zipfel, der Zapfel, der Kipfel,
der Kapfel, der gelbrote Apfel.
Kinder, lauft schneller,
holt einen Teller,
holt eine Gabel!
Sperrt auf den Schnabel
für den Zipfel, den Zapfel,
den Kipfel, den Kapfel,
den goldbraunen Apfel!

A bumper crop of Keswick Codlins this year - actually most fruit crops have been good. These cook down to a beautiful frothy purée and when baked are truly scrumptious.

BlackCurrant Harvest

"The Black Currant, by it's viscid, sweet, aromatic juice (thickened over the fire), makes a 'robb' of capital use for relieving sore throat, or quinsy. This old-fashioned 'robb' or 'rob', is an inspissated fruit juice mixed with honey, or sugar, to the consistence of a conserve, and is to be preferred before the berries themselves."

Meals Medicinal by W.T.Fernie, M.D.

I didn't realize until recently that it is still unlawful to possess, propagate or sell the black currant bush in many states and inspectors are ordered to condemn and destroy any that they find. This would account for the absence of black currant flavoured product in Canada during my childhood - the exception being blackcurrant pastilles imported from Britain (yum!). This year we've put away 4 bottles of schnapps and a jar of jam.

Welcome to Britain

Dr.K has brought round a rooted cutting from her father-in-law's pomegranate tree in Greece. I think that right now it must be feeling a little sorry for itself. I have no idea if it's possible to get one to fruit (or even live) here as I've certainly not seen any around, but I'll do my darndest. Here are a few foreigners that are thriving in spite of the deluge...

* Dr. K has an exhibition of her prints coming up May 2nd to 6th at Stoke Newington Library Gallery!

'Wineskins of Brown Morbidity'

I harvested medlars today and set 125 of them, bottoms uppermost, in the greenhouse to blett. And then? Another round of sticky brown glorps?

Stop the Rot

"The decay usually makes it's appearance in the form of a spot on the surface of the fruit. This should be scooped out and the hole filled with plaster of Paris formed into a paste to the consistency of thick cream by the addition of water.This will set quite firm and arrest further decay. The contents of the fruit-room should be examined at least once a week."
The Horticultural Notebook J.C.Newsham 1914

Looking Up

This month is starting to look a bit more promising in the sunshine department. This is the third day in a row that we've woken to a blue sky. S. gave me a little lemon tree (pictured on the left) which she grew from a pip and it's been spending afternoons in the greenhouse where temperatures have been up to 20°. And the wild plum by the garage is in full bloom. The Met has now published figures for last month which show South East England to have had one of the dullest Februarys since records began.
Indoors, peppers and aubergines are forming their first true leaves.

Boscoop Glory

"Half a bunch of grapes, and a couple of spoonfuls of jelly (lemon, or wine) left over from dinner, do not by themselves look particularly attractive, one has to admit; but just melt the jelly, and set the grapes therein, using a small pudding basin, or brawn basin, as a mould, and see how glad some sick child will be of the morsel, though your servants would probably disdain to touch it."
Epicure 1898
I have just planted out a grape vine, Boscoop Glory, having thought about doing so for longer than I care to think. Single-handedly I might add, as my left (drawing) hand is in an ulna gutter slab due to a spiral fracture of the 5th metacarpal. Anyway I'm looking forward to some sweet black grapes in the future.


Sill Life with Cardoon, Francolin, Grapes and Irises by Felipe Ramirez, 1628

* On this day in 1780 "Brought away Mrs.Snooke's old tortoise, Timothy, which she valued much, & had treated kindly for near 40 years. When dug out of it's hybernaculum, it resented the Insult by hissing." Mrs. Snook died and was buried on the 15th of March and her nephew Gilbert White took over his care. A little biography of Timothy (actually a female) can be read here. Or listen to a reading of Mrs. Snooke's Tortoise here.

Marmalade Season

Seville oranges are in and I bottled up 3.5 kilos of very dark thick cut Oxford style marmalade last weekend. I used Delia's long slow cooking method to achieve the requisite depth of colour. Mine looks a good deal darker than that pictured on her site and it makes your teeth curl - in a good way. If I get energetic this weekend I may try making another batch of a lighter more syrupy sort. I have just found this recipe in my 'Friends of the Glencoe Museum' cookbook:
Marmalade for an Invalid
Put into a steamer and steam over water 2 lbs. Seville Oranges until the rinds are tender. Remove the rind and shred finely. Mash the oranges, remove the pips and any coarse bits, measure the pulp and rinds and add 1 lb. of wild bee honey. Cook very slowly, just to the boil, for about three quarters of an hour. Put in glasses or jars and cover with parchment, preferably pig's parchment.


*World Marmalade Festival takes place this year on February 14th! (in Cumbria)

Miscellany

A few final images from 2009. The medlar tree yielded nine kilos which we bletted - basically left to rot - and then made into a 'meh' medlar cheese. A good harvest of beets, especially Cylindra, but Egyptian Turnip Rooted were the finest tasting so I'll grow more of these next year. It was a first for Yacon and Oca, the latter seems the most versatile for cooking as it is very like a lemon flavoured waxy potato. Yacon is sweet and quite tasty raw, I just don't know what else to do with it. I'm overwintering the crowns in the potting shed so will hopefully have shoots for anyone wishing to try growing them. Thanks again to Belgian Frank and German Klaus Peter for sending me cuttings.

Plum Marmalade

Take two Pounds of Damsons, and one Pound of Pippins pared and cut in pieces, bake them in an Oven with a little Ginger, when they are tender, poure them into a Cullender, and let the syrup drop from them, then strain them, and take as much sugar as the Pulp doth weigh, boil it to a Candy height with a little water, then put in your pulp, and boil it till it will come from the bottom of the Skillet, and so put it up. Hannah Woolley 1670
A bumper crop of plums this year on the wild thorny tree by the garage, I've made a double dose of the above.


The Queen Mother Plum from Tradescant's orchard (Bibliodyssey)

On The Sick List

Once again the pear harvest looks like a freak show - actually textbook examples of the Stony Pit Virus, the control of which is the removal and replacement of the tree. This year the tree has also been a victim of Unsightly Pear Trellis Rust. The fungus which causes it needs a juniper as a second host, which I have kindly provided, but even if I remove our juniper any neighboring one within a kilometre would do just as well. Does anybody know of any miracle cures?


Madonna of the Pear Albrecht Dürer

First Apples

Keswick Codlins (pictured) are just coming ripe now.

Getting Pickled

There was a recipe came through the door this week in the latest HDRA newsletter. Called 'I Can't Believe It's Not Mango' Chutney - made with squash. So I decided that this would be a fitting end for the last of last year's squash (the Marina di Chiogga pictured). Where corn starts to convert it's sugars to starch directly after picking, I believe I've read that squash does the opposite. So, after all these months it's sweeter than ever. Well I'm not sure if the quantities were correctly printed, if it should have taken 5 hours to reduce or if the finished product should look like the devil's own poo poo. We can sample it in a month and let you know if it tastes like mango.


Red & Black Currant schnapps infusing.