Roses

I have just been deadheading my roses...they have nearly finished flowering but we have had a lovely display this year. Hopefully the pictures of some of my best roses do them justice....

Flowers

Look What I picked in my garden,

We have had the curly willow for some years and I can't think why I have used it before with flowers, the Cala lilies were a new addition to the garden this year so I am pleased they flowered.

I love picking flowers from the garden for my house x

Lavender

Yesterday I was doing loads of cooking. The main reason for being so productive in the kitchen and home is to try and keep myself occupied with non strenuous tasks whilst I am not very well.

I had made some strawberry and lavender sorbet, and this got me to thinking what can I do with all the lovely lavender I have in my garden.

I remember making corn dolls when I was you but the lavender stalks are too brittle and snap when you bend them to much. So instead I made the traditional lavender wands. Weaving the long stems with ribbon encases the lavender

heads. I do like to leave a few odd bits poking through to give a more rustic look. The wands will be great to put in the draws with my clothes and to leave around the house.

I have made some extra so if you don't have an lavender or no time then you can buy them from my folksy shop.

http://www.folksy.com/items/612397-Lavender-wands

Garden Goodies

I love this time of year...........

This weekend with my home grown goodies I have made starwberry Pavlova yum yum.........

Strawberry and lavender sorbet was my next treat. My lovely children bought me an ice cream maker a few birthdays ago I try not to use it to often, as I would eat ice cream all the time, but now I am experimenting with sorbets, I sort of hope they are better for me...........

Then I picked the Black currants, and made black currant cordial, it should have filled the bottle but unfortunately it didn't, not quite sure why but it is yummy, not as sweet as shop bought but nevertheless good.

As I also picked other goodies from my garden , The Mange Tout or sugar snaps are best eaten fresh. I like to use them in stir fry's but they are lovely as a dipping veg especially with caramalised onion humous.

Strawberries and other bits were then made into a summer fruit jam. I was worried it wouldn't set as it had lots of strawberries in that are low in pectin so sometimes doesn't always work. Luckily I think I had enough gooseberries, redcurrants and lemon juice to add that brought it together and it has set very nicely.

I also picked some lavender and am trying to do some lavender rattles, but that's another tale..........

Gardening- Strawberries

So its Wimbledon again!! I like the tennis but I LOVE the strawberries even more.

A couple of years ago we had an allotment and although we had some good crops and enjoyed it, it really took up too much of our time . As the children left we didn't need such a large plot. So 2 years ago we made the decision to dig up half our garden ( we are lucky that we have a quite large space) and have an allotment that was more manageable and we didn't have to travel to right on our doorstep.

But I had a fantastic strawberry bed. I would get 20 - 30 lbs of strawberries a year and give loads away and make jams, jellies and Ice cream ( heavenly) with the rest. I wanted to take it with us. But the weeds were terrible to manage at the allotment and so I took the decision to start again I bought new plants as I didn't want to risk bringing unwanted weeds with me with the runners from the allotment.

So last year was not brilliant, but wow this year we are getting a good crop. Yesterday I went out and picked this lot in the picture and am getting that amount most days. As its roughly a pound in weight per punnet then I estimate I have had so far picked about 8lbs, not bad considering I probably have another couple of weeks to go, before they stop producing so many and a smaller plot.

When I am picking them it always brings back memories of when I

was a child growing up in the vale of Evesham. They had just started doing Pick Your own. I was not happy as I lost a part time job picking them for local farmers after school, but I do remember on one occasion a couple arrived with a large ruck sack once they had picked a few strawberries they sat in the middle of the field and brought out 2 small stools, bowls spoons and a pot of cream, and sat in the field enjoying eating the ones they had picked, they then packed up and left without paying for anything, the farmers face was a picture when he was told what had happened, and he was threatening after that to weigh everyone as they went in and came back out again..... it did make us all laugh.