Gilbert and Stone

Spring through the square window

I'm overdue in posting the seasonal view from the window at the front of our house- I've been waiting patiently for a sunny day as I didn't want to dispel the myth that it's always sunny in Cornwall!
One good thing about all the rain is that the plants have gone into overdrive, everything seems so green all of a sudden. That's my cue to sow the less hardy seeds- beans, cucumbers and courgettes have all gone into pots in the greenhouse today.

Happy Easter!

Work on the burgeoning business has halted for the Easter holidays- we’ve been busy with the important job of Having A Good Time. This involved some lovely trips out and about, including a jaunt to Truro farmers market (every Wednesday and Saturday on Lemon Quay), walks on the beach and a ride on a mini steam train at Lappa Valley.

Even though the weather’s not been as glorious as previous weeks, we’ve still managed to get some jobs done in the garden, most importantly, the potatoes are in! I made the most of the free child labour available and set no 1 to work- we’re doing Anya and Duke of York this year:

 We’ve also been busy in the kitchen and rustled up Nigella’s Gooey chocolate Stack from ‘How to be a Domestic Goddess’ to go along with our Easter Sunday lunch. It didn’t look quite as refined as the picture in the book (cow pat springs to mind!), but it tasted fab and wasn’t too difficult to make.

 

 

The sap is rising...

The mild winter meant we’ve been seeing signs of spring here since the end of autumn, including daffodils in November and Camelias in January! Tomorrow is the equinox, so  it’s official- SPRING IS DEFINATELY HERE! It was a gorgeous day today and I ventured out with the camera to snap a few developments:

 

You can almost see the leaves on the currant bushes unfurl infront of you- each day they get greener and greener.  The rhubarb is looking more promising this year, though it definitely wouldn’t win any prizes. The leaves are supposed to be poisonous, so I’m stumped as to what’s nibbling them- any ideas?

The vibrant colour of all the new growth is quite alarming after months of brown and grey (not that I’m complaining!)

The thing I’m most proud of, and slightly smug about, is the purple sprouting broccoli. Previous attempts have been thwarted by impatience (year one I chucked them on the compost heap when they didn’t produce the goods by the autumn- a classic rookie mistake!) and caterpillar attack. I think we’ll have our first harvest later this week.

I stuck the smaller image of potatoes chitting in the greenhouse in there to ‘inspire’ me to weed their patch and get them in the ground (I’m doing Anya and Duke of York this year). I heard it’s traditional to plant potatoes on Good Friday, so we’ve got a few weeks yet!

New gardening motto for 2012: fewer, better things

Well, the start of the growing season is just around the corner- my collection of 'garden porn' is mounting and my enthusiasm for growing your own is approaching its peak. Faced with beautifully photographed pages of healthy, thriving plants (yes, Sarah Raven, I'm looking at you), I imagine sunny days in the garden, harvesting gluts of perfect produce. Before I know it I've spent a small fortune on seeds that are doomed to wither and die when my enthusiasm wears off mid-June.

This year, well this year will be different! I'll ditch the things I've never had any success with (goodbye aubergines, adieu sweet peppers and so-long celeriac) and resist the urge to sow entire packets of seed at once (my small greenhouse was never going to accommodate 100 tomato plants). I'll use the seeds I already have and vow not to have my head-turned by unusual varieties and tempting catalogue descriptions. Those pine berries do look tasty though...