What a load of rubbish

June 24, 2018

Actually this post is the exact opposite of its title, it demonstrates how rubbish can be repurposed and with some inventiveness can be incorporated into our gardens, without looking like a pile of old rubbish in the corner. And if you' haven't already worked it out from the pictures this post is another from Gardeners' World Live, and another of the Beautiful Borders.

You'll quickly spot the purple theme too.

I’m a fan of the bare lampshade which would be great with plants grown through it. It's a great way to add some height to a garden in a funky and unusual way. I think I'll have a hard time of it persuading MOH we should do this though.

A bike and a lampshade make an appearance in this beautiful border

I'm also not sure he'd be too impressed if I gave his bike this treatment. It is a “proper” bike though isn’t it, complete with basket.

Herbs are great for growing in containers and both of these photos demonstrate that, I particularly like the thyme tea below.

And of course for a cup of tea you need a kettle.

The purple and rubbish theme continued throughout this border with the red-purple lettuce in a vanity case.

I was impressed with the alliums, they're a favourite but mine anyway and mine have long finished, so it felt like a treat to see more in full bloom this year.

the vibrancy of an allium against the dark leaves of the heuchera

The purple gnome made me laugh - and in case you're wondering I don't want one in my garden - but his plant pot, complete with seedling, is fun (I still don't want one).

Most of the borders in this part of the show were densely populated and that's something I admire and aspire to, I'm sure it's a way of suffocating the weeds too, so an added bonus!

SAGE REFLECTING IN THE GLOSSY BLACK CONTAINER

The lettuce, another of my favourites - I really should grow some of this - in the fish tank seemed a good idea, although I'm sure mine would have silvery trails of snails and slugs all over it.

What do you think, rubbish or not?

A spot of baking: savoury, sweet and with gin

June 23, 2018

After a particularly busy week today has been a day of cooking and baking, and that's a great way to destress. The radio is turned up a notch or two, I have the house to myself and I'm in the process of making a lasagne for tea and while the rosemary focaccia cooks I'm already thinking about what's potentially up next.

It's been a while since I made focaccia though and luckily I had some yeast that was still just about in date and willing to do its thing. If you've got quick active yeast at the back of the cupboard like me then it's worth knowing that salt kills yeast and sugar helps it. So if you're not sure if it's going to do anything mix it with warm water and a smidgeon of sugar, if it froths use it, if not throw it away and head to the shops for some more!

I've the rest of the packet to use up so there could be plenty more focaccia to come, or even better pizza oven pizzas. Making bread always amazes me, so few ingredients but such a lovely outcome. The kneading is therapeutic too, and go some way to counter the stresses of this week.

I mean, from this:

To this, about thirty minutes later:

rosemary and sea salt focaccia ready to go into the oven

It smells good, and I'm looking forward to tucking into it later on.

The bolognaise of the lasagne is cooking away and there's just the cheese sauce to make. In the local supermarket earlier I was feeling lazy so thought I'd buy some but it was not to be as they only had carbonara sauce on the shelf. I was clearly meant to make my own.

Finishing with something sweet

Now that I've got into the mindset of baking today, I want to continue. You may remember I have a penchant for cake and would happily eat cake for breakfast. They do in Portugal, and so that means it's allowed. It's probably also why I like Portugal so much, in fact I even know the Portuguese word for cake (it's bolo in case you need it)

Thinking about what cake I could make I remembered a cake my SIL made on our last visit - a gin and tonic cake. I know, it sounds delicious doesn't it, I can tell you hers was and the flavours have been stored away for future use. There was also a strawberry and prosecco cake which I'm hoping will also reappear when we visit in the future.

THE MAIN INGREDIENTS - BUT WHICH GIN TO USE?

But gin and tonic cakes, they definitely work. But which gin? We already have a selection (as you can see) and I suspect that each will give the cake its own flavour, and there's plenty of scope to experiment. I think this is where miniatures, like these from Just Miniatures could come into their own. For example I think a more fresh and floral flavoured gin would work well in a cake, but we tend to be drawn to more robust, juniper styles to drink. Clearly I'd like all the gin, but that's not so practical.

In my quest to find a recipe I'd use, I've already found the following recipes:

But I'd be keen to know if you have recipe you stand by, or of course, ones to give a miss.

* This is a collaborative post but all views are my own.

Highlights from a day at Gardeners' World Live

June 19, 2018

I can't believe it's Tuesday evening already and I'm only just sitting down to write my highlights from Gardeners' World Live which we popped up to Birmingham for on Sunday. It was a long day, leaving home before 7.30am and not getting back until 9.30pm but we had a great day, were lucky with our train connections and saw lots. The day ended with a Chinese takeaway and some photo editing, with my highlights chosen that evening.

Would I go again? Yes. So if you've thought about visiting but haven't been sure I'd recommend it. For me, shows like this are all about the gardens and the displays. I tend to avoid buying too much, although we did leave with some cheese and some Whiskey and Toffee Vodka from the adjoining Good Food Show. There were lots of plants to purchase on those crates on wheel trolley things tackled me at least a few times while I wasn't expecting it. I was less keen on transporting plants home by train, but perhaps if I lived closer or if we'd driven then it might have been an option.

I've driven to the NEC before, albeit from Norfolk which isn't as straightforward as you think it might be, but even so after our train journey this weekend, it's safe to say I'm a train convert. The downside though is trying to predict when you're ready to come home in advance, and I think I was optimistic with that, which resulted in the longer than usual day. Although if the weather had been nicer I'm sure we wouldn't have noticed it quite so much, and would more likely have spent time making use of the plentiful outdoor seating areas.

So onto my highlights

One of the first show gardens we saw was this "Breath of Fresh Air" garden, and it certainly was. The helenium-type yellow flowers against the leaves of the hosta made for an unusual combination and well, as you know, I'm rather partial to a pop of yellow.

The Made in Birmingham garden was one that I'd seen on Gardeners' World before our visit and I was looking forward to seeing it. I love veg growing in rows nice and orderly like this and in my mind's eye my allotment would look like this, without weeds of course, just like this one. I think MOH was more interested in the train carriage, but declined the opportunity to see the garden from the other side.

You'll definitely be seeing more of this garden on the blog, and you never know one day I may be able to grow veg as neatly as this. It's a long shot, but definitely something to aim for!

Another feature of the show was the Beautiful Borders area, and there were many of these small plots of loveliness which I insisted we walk around every side of every single border. I've chosen a few photos from this part of the show as not only were they great to look at and full of inspiration, but they also used plants that you or I would have in our gardens and looked, dare I say it, attainable?

The first one represented one of my favourite books - The Chronicles of Narnia - and was complete with a wardrobe. I'm teasing you though as I'm showing an arty-farty pic, but it's so gorgeous I had to include it in a highlights post.

BEAUTIFUL BORDERS: THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA

The Marie Curie With Love pulled at all sorts of heart strings with its message pebbles around the pool, and while it was touching to read these messages, and I'm sure leave them, the bridge did make me smile for the designer's attention to detail.

BEAUTIFUL BORDERS: MARIE CURIE WITH LOVE

The Pyramid Garden was a jumble of beauty (with apologies to the designer if they're offended by my description), but to me it was the dense planting and plants that most of us recognise that was central to its appeal.

ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL BORDER: THE PYRAMID GARDEN

After we'd systematically admired each of the Beautiful Borders my eyes were taken by a row of wheelbarrows, which turned out to be a rather long row of wheelbarrows planted up by local schools. Each wheelbarrow was a "meal in a barrow" and it was great to see how the schools had tackled this, and the meals they chose. The stone bugs and painted wooden spoon plant labels of this one were the deciding factor on which of the many photos to include, but you may have seen my Instagram on Sunday where I shared a chicken in a wheelbarrow...

A MEAL IN A WHEELBARROW, JUST ONE OF THE COMPETITION ENTRIES

I've chosen the next few photos for their colour and form, and you'll not be surprised to see a succulent or two along the way I'm sure. But first up is this vivid reddy-pink phormium, which was also in a glossy red pot. If you want colour, this certainly delivered.

COLOUR AND COLOURFUL POTS IN THE WYEVALE GARDEN CENTRE SOLUTIONS GARDEN

In the flower marquee I quickly sniffed out the cacti and agaves and this one caught my eye.

We also stopped a while and admired the air plants, they really are quite peculiar and yet fascinating at the same time. I've a feeling there'll be more about these on the blog too, but I'd be interested to know what you think of them? I was almost tempted to buy one of these but found it hard to choose just one.

It wasn't long though before I stumbled across some more succulents, these ones having a picnic. Quite random, but pretty nonetheless.

The Floral Marquee was a mix of exhibits and plant sales and a hive of activity. There was a cafe in the centre but it seemed pretty low on stock compared to the many food vans around the show so we stuck to searching out the more unusual plants, like these carnivorous ones. Don't get too excited though as they're unlikely to solve any fly problem you might have as they are only likely to eat around six a year.

The markings are spectacular though, and it's easy to see why a fly might be tempted in.

My last highlight photo is one of a stand offering wedding floral arrangements and the fountain of champagne glasses filled with flowers looked spectacular. Probably a little too delicate for my clumsy self (and apart from the fact that I'm not in the market for wedding flowers) but an unusual, and pretty take on wedding flowers.

So, now you can see why - or part of why - it was such a good day. I'll be sharing more photos from my visit, interspersed with all the other photos I've already promised to share.