Cherry Menlove &#187; Growing Fruit & Vegetables

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Confessions of a Gardener

Cherry Menlove — Wed, 25 May 2011 08:27:03 +0000

Hello! Good morning! How are you?

I thought I’d do a wee update from my garden today. An update and a confession but more on the confession later.

I’ve got so much going on outside in the garden right now that it can get a little tricky to keep up with it all. ALWAYS one to bite off more than I can chew I feel a little like I’m plate spinning from time to time as I see things wilting and looking very thirsty before my eyes. Moving house has that effect on one’s garden especially when done in the Spring. It’s the time of year when all of the plug plants are delivered and the seedlings are poking their heads through. The beds need to be prepped to welcome a batch of tender shooted vegetables in to their earthy clutches and things start to grow upwards very, very quickly!

Here are my potatoes. Aren’t they looking great! But they are not in my new garden, they are at Grandma’s. When I knew we were moving I knew that I would not have time to get the Potato bed dug over and these fellas needed to be in the ground. So my MIL, who is herself a keen gardener, offered to house my Potatoes and my Onions for me in one of her beds for the season. And mighty grateful I am too.

I’ve already earthed them up and now I’m keeping an eye on them. I earthed up too late in my opinion and next year I’ll most certainly do that earlier, but they are growing really well. In fact as I dug around them yesterday afternoon I accidentally pulled up two of the Charlotte’s and the smell of potato wafted up through the earth that was covering them both.

That sounds funny doesn’t it? The “smell” of potato. Did you know that potatoes have a very strong smell to them when they are picked, fresh, from the ground? Neither did I until I grew them. But they do. Homegrown potatoes also have the most potatoey taste in the world. Very different to potatoes that are shop bought.

Has anyone else ever noticed that?

I had some observers in the gallery as I picked and prodded my tatties. Now, if you look at this picture carefully you’ll see two very distinct personality traits in my children. While Ned is hamming it up for the camera, Anaïs is very carefully plotting the removal of his left sock in one deft swoop of her tiny, chubby hand. They are ever so good at sitting and watching while Robert and I potter in the garden. They have been outside with us since the start…….

Picking veg…..

Or just having a cuddle. If it can be done outside I say do it.

Have babies, will garden.

On my way home from Grandma’s yesterday I pulled over to the side of the road as I wanted to take a picture of my neighbor’s farm. Usually the cows are in the section of the field that is closest to me but yesterday they were far over the other side. Which is a shame as there are some beautiful calf’s that I’d have loved to have gotten some shots of. Yesterday was a ‘big sky’ day in West Sussex. The big sky is the reason I love it the most. When I was working in London, in an office, I would walk across London Bridge every day to work and ‘Don’t Fence Me In’ by Bing Crosby would be playing on my iPod.

Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above,
Don’t fence me in.
Let me ride through the wide open country that I love,
Don’t fence me in.
Let me be by myself in the evenin’ breeze,
And listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees,
Send me off forever but I ask you please,
Don’t fence me in.

I don’t know how I got here, to this magnificent part of the country, but I did and every single day I’m grateful. I never forget how it felt to feel fenced in, so perhaps that forced me to pursue a life I would be happy living. If I’d have known how hard that would be at times I would still have done it. Because I get to behold skies like this and I know that it’s all worth it.

I keep arriving home with plants and then getting stressed because they have to go in to the ground. But I’m creating with lavender at the moment.

Two different varieties no less, but I’ll tell you more about that anon.

Now to the confession………

And then the update here…????

Well these two are all I have left of all of the herbs I planted.

The day before we moved out of our old house Robert and I both agreed that we should keep Boo, our cat, inside. We didn’t want her running off just as the removal vans were ready to take off for the new place. Of course by the time the next day rolled around Boo was desperate to get outside. So I shut her in a room for the last half an hour. She had food and water and she also had my loved and cared for seed trays on the windowsill. She jumped up in to them, trampled all over my seedlings, brought four of them crashing to the floor and tried to use one as a litter tray.

I was really crushed actually. My herbs were doing well and so were my Himalayan Poppy seedlings.

But it wasn’t that I was crushed about, it was the fact that there were so many of us who were growing together. I hope your herbs are still going strong, I really do, im not jealous of you at all *hic*

Don’t forget to click here for my Behind The Scenes.

I love you, have a great day and thank you so much for reading.

Cherry x

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Cherry

The Garden Gang

Cherry Menlove — Mon, 16 May 2011 09:21:25 +0000

Garden, garden, garden. From Friday afternoon until Sunday evening when I fell exhausted on to the sofa. The inside of the house is remaining woefully unpacked but the outside is taking shape. I said to Louise (my sort of sister – in – law) as I began to stack the dishwasher ” I don’t want to be in here, stacking dishes, I want to be outside getting my plants in the ground and enjoying a day in the English outdoors”. With that the dishes were abandoned and I made my way outside.

So, Friday started with the lawn. I love doing the lawn and always have. It’s thoroughly meditative and fun, going up and down up and down. It gives me great satisfaction at the end of it and it’s like a huge big tidy up but outside.

My kids were slightly more circumspect as I “whooped” and “yippeeed” my way around the garden on the mower. We’re going to have trouble with these two I can tell.

On Saturday afternoon, just before bath and bed time, Robert and I went out to do some final prep on the Pea bed. The Pea bed is the raised bed that will hold two wigwams full of Sweet Peas and my climbing garden Peas too. As we worked away, you can obviously see the grass in the bed that I’m dealing with, the kids played nearby. Ned has a fascination with wheels of any sort and so he’s happy to inspect the pushchair. Anaïs likes to get down and dirty.

She started by pulling herself up so she was level with the bed.

And then proceeded to try and empty it.

There goes another lump.

When it dawned on her that it may take a little longer than first anticipated to empty the entire area she just thought it best to jump right on in and see exactly what was going on.

I think Robert and I both feel that it’s quite nice for them to have an explore now and again even if means they get absolutely filthy.

And she did get absolutely filthy.

But as it was so close to bath time and I was putting on a load of baby washing anyhow we just kept an eye on the stuff that she was trying to put in to her mouth.

Who doesn’t like to roll around in the mud from time to time??

She had fun, which meant we had fun. But it also meant that we were back out there at the crack of the whip on Sunday morning finishing off the Pea bed.

This is how yesterday morning looked. Open, blue, promising and fresh. A day to give thanks for.

Loaded up with tea, very strong tea, drunk from flower pot mugs……..

We continued with the bed.

Building bamboo wigwams and planting out all of the plants. I’ll make a frame of bamboo canes that go across the bed width ways as the edible peas grow and will of course show you how I’ve done it. But if you’d like to build a sturdier frame here’s the one we built for our peas last year.

We watered them in well and stood back to look at what we’d manage to do in a short space of time.

Being short on time is the defining characteristic of my days currently. It can be overwhelming or calming. I can get stressed out or remember that I’m human. I can sweat the small stuff or give that up for the bigger stuff.

And as I truly believe that we are all meant to have lives that are big and huge and full of wonder then I think I’ll go for the latter. The peas are in, job done.

What’s next?

I love you and wish you a fantastic Monday. I’ve got some great posts coming up this week and I hope you’ll really enjoy them. One of my recipes is already making my mouth water and I hope you try it. See you all tomorrow.

Cherry x
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How To Grow Rhubarb

Cherry Menlove — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 09:09:10 +0000

Hello!

If you are thinking about growing anything then you couldn’t start with an easier vegetable than Rhubarb. It actually needs very little attention but of course, as with most things, if you go the extra mile with it you’ll get much better results. It’s fantastic for cooking and baking with and rewards you year after year.

This is a Rhubarb crown. I bought it from Dobies and I can recommend them if you live in the UK and would like to grow fruit, vegetables plants or flowers.

You can see the small shoots emerging from the crown and already they resemble rhubarb don’t you think?

I have dedicated half a raised bed to three crowns of rhubarb. Placing the crowns ten to twelve inches apart. You may want to plant one or thirty crowns depending on your love of the pink stuff.

I dug it over, removing every weed I could see and filled it with well rotted compost. I also sieved it to remove a lot of the stones that were in the bed. I didn’t manage to get all of them but will pick them off as and when.

I placed the rhubarb crown just below the surface leaving the shoots poking out.

And I firmed down the soil around it. You need to firm it down around the crown not on the crown.

You also need to have a son wearing red polka dotted tights as it brings good luck to the person planting the rhubarb. This is an ancient Chinese saying which in fact is the area that rhubarb originated from over 2000 years ago.

When you have finished planting your rhubarb water them in well. Also, keep the space clear of weeds as I read that they can damage the rhubarb.

Then stand, hand on hip, holding your garden implement of choice and stare off in to the middle distance.

Channel the farmer in you, it’ll give you the warm fuzzies.

I will update this post as my rhubarb grows and then this post will be your guide to growing this beautiful pink and green vegetable. You can wait for me to have completed my rhubarb journey or you can jump in now and we’ll all do it together!!!

What say you???

I love you and will see you back here tomorrow.

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Story from a Spring Garden

Cherry Menlove — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 12:13:52 +0000

I watched Gardeners’ World yesterday evening on the BBC iplayer. I’d missed the return of Monty Don when it went out and was desperate to catch up. The first episode of this series did not disappoint. The part I loved the most was when it showed Monty in his own garden. He spoke about the the love that he and his wife had put in to it over the last twenty years and how it was simply a field when they first purchased the house. So much of it had been grown from cuttings and seeds and I can’t wait to see what he does with his space when Spring & Summer are really getting going.

This quote by Mirabel Osler is a gardening quote that really speaks to me – “There can be no other occupation like gardening in which, if you were to creep up behind someone at their work, you would find them smiling.”

This is so true. You can tell that Monty, through the years, has found deep joy in his garden and I think it is where I too find deep joy. I find myself not only working through the soil but working through the things on my mind too. And when I’ve finished is when you see me smiling.

I smiled the other day as my daughter eagerly reached out for a daffodil. It is their first Spring and I believe that they know it is different outside. The fact that I wasn’t too worried about one lost sock may have something to do with their awareness. It was almost warm you see.

I didn’t have to look at a thermometer or realise that I was only in a t-shirt to know that it is getting warmer. My tea stays hot for longer on the potting bench. THAT is how I know.

It was Dahlia day.

I’ve chosen a different colour scheme to last year with vibrant lilac and pinks making an appearance.

Those colours will be peppered with cream…

…more reds and pinks…

….and flanked by this beauty.

They have been potted up and are now inside on a windowsill. A mere hint of frost will scupper them at the first hurdle and you can read all about how to grow BEAUTIFUL Dahlias by clicking right here. I had fantastic, beyond expected, luck with them last year and I urge you to plant even one of these tubers. You’ll get lots of flowers and you can pick them all summer long.

The potatoes are currently chitting on another windowsill.

And my herb trays are sitting in the laundry room.

I used a mixture of seed compost and vermiculite to sow them and I’m following the instructions given on each of the packets. They are labeled, looked after, warm and seemingly doing well. I hope. I will of course give you a full update as and when things start occurring. You must too! This is a grow along together after all.

Yes, Spring is here. In its pink blossomy way. Everything is new and everything has hope.

I’m going to ask you something tomorrow so do stop by in the morning. It is something I’ve never tried here before but I think it will be a good thing for us to do together.

See you then. I love you.

Cherry x
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Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Cherry Menlove — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 11:07:41 +0000

I feel like I’m being a bit cheeky today as I’m nipping in with another post that I want you to join in with. My thinking was that if you’re out and about this weekend buying herb seeds then you could also pick up some seed potatoes and grow you own tatties!

Last year we grew three varieties of potatoes in bags, they are the ones you see above. If you have a limited amount of space then you may like to do this. Click here for a how – to.

But this year we’re going a bit larger and growing five varieties of potatoes in the raised beds in the paddock.

The five varieties of potatoes we are planting are Lady Christl, Kestrel, Desiree, Maris Piper and Charlotte.

Lady Christl is a First Early (new potato) and is a waxy type. Great for Spring & early Summer salads.

Kestral is a Second Early variety which will be ready to dig up around the month of July or we can lift them a tiny bit earlier if the Lady Christl have all been used.

Desiree is what is known as a Maincrop potato. It is red skinned and is very good for using in cooking, with chips and potato wedges being a very popular way to use this potato. Great for bbq’s and cook out’s in the Summer.

Maris Piper is another Maincrop potato and is the variety that I buy the most. I think it’s because I once heard Heston Blumenthal say that it was the best for all sorts of dishes. It is a floury potato and large. Great for baking and roasting.

Charlotte is another salad potato and if you’re thinking of growing in bags then this is a great one to grow.

It is always a good idea to buy your seed potatoes from a reputable supplier or garden centre as they will usually be grown in conditions necessary to ensure that the seed is healthy and free from pests and diseases. Giving you the best possible results, which should be lots and lots of wonderful & tasty potatoes.

OK, first things first. When you have your seed potatoes in front of you it is best to ‘Chit’ them before they go in to the bag or the ground. To chit basically means that you are allowing the sprouts to grow a bit more before plunging them in the darkness of the soil. You’re giving them a head start and although it’s not essential to do this it does help a great deal.

Can you tell the sun was out yesterday when I took this picture?
Sorry, I’m getting distracted.

When you first purchase the potatoes it is likely you will see that the potatoes have very tiny little eyes / buds on them, the potatoes should be placed into a seed tray (or egg shells) with the buds facing upwards for them to chit. An example of a good chit is firm and green and one that will not knock off the potato easily.

Chitting conditions should be in a cool place but frost free with maximum available exposure to sunlight.

And as soon as they are ready to move on to the next stage I’ll write a further post explaining it all. I wanted to give you this head start for the weekend.

I can only urge you to grow your own potatoes. My dad grew them for us when we were younger and my one abiding memory of them is that they tasted so potatoey. I know that sounds a bit ridiculous but it’s true. They were so full of flavour that I think I was spoiled for anything else. They will also keep me in a great base for all the dishes I am currently making for the twins.

I was really pleased, REALLY pleased to see so many of you wanting to join me in growing herbs yesterday. I’d like to do it with you and we can chat about it in the comments section. So please feel free to join me in my potato journey also. I think that we’ll come up against some issues when growing them in the raised beds that we didn’t have when growing them in the bags. But we’ll see. It’s exciting all the same.

As the pictures of the potatoes were really kinda boring and dull I thought I’d leave you for the weekend with some scenes from my garden that I took this morning. I don’t meditate formally but when I was out this morning snapping away in the early morning with the grass making my feet wet I felt more alive than I had in ages. The air cleaned out my lungs and the quiet was good for my soul. Even if it was only for five minutes.

Do consider joining me and the others in growing herbs and potatoes this year.

It would be nice to do a post full of pictures of your successes. I’ll post them here on my website.

And perhaps we can share what we’ve cooked and eaten from what we’ve grown?

Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself.

But that would be nice I think. It’ll all feel less like me writing out in to a vacuum then.

Yes?

Whaddaya say?

Shall we plant, grow, cook and eat together? Then I’ll feel like I’m one step closer to having you all round for a garden party.

I love you, have a fantastic weekend and I’ll see you Monday.

Cherry x
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First Fruits

Cherry Menlove — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 09:57:21 +0000

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I stepped out this morning with my coffee, my feet in Birkenstocks with socks on (someone please save me from myself!!) and my pajamas on. I looked this way and that and tried to capture this moment of beauty in my backyard to share with you.

It was dead quiet and my babies were napping after their morning feed.

The light is now different due to the time of year and the dew lays like a soggy blanket on the grass. My feet were soaking by the end of my walk but my coffee still tasted gooooodd!

Last Autumn Robert and I planted two step-over Apple trees and two step-over Pear trees. I wanted to create a low hedge that contained fruit. My step-overs are slightly more unruly than I’d like them to be but that is my fault for not pruning the way I should. However, they are growing and have now reached the point where the two varieties of trees touch each other. This reminds me of the Michelangelo……

And now we have our first fruits. Well, fruit…singular. We have a grand total of one apple and I’m as happy as I can be about this. You see I believe that one can turn in two and two can turn in to four and four can turn into eight and before you know it you have more than you could ever ask or dream for.

And I really don’t see the point in keeping all that I have all to myself so I hope you don’t mind if I share my first apple with you.

Since opening up the comments function I have been so moved by those of you who take the time out of your day to leave me a message. I’ve always said this on Facebook and Twitter when folk have left me messages. Thank you so much.

Right now I only have the one apple to split with you but who knows how many there will be next time!

Thank you so much for reading and have a wonderful weekend.

I love you all and wish for your worlds to multiply.

Cherry xoxoxox

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Is It The End of Summer in the Garden?

Cherry Menlove — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 08:45:57 +0000

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On Sunday night, as the rain lashed against the windows, I asked myself if it really was the end of Summer. I’m not so sure it is. I often get caught out like this. I assume the long hot days are behind us so I dig out my jeans and sweaters and then September brings some deliciously warm days with it and I end up sweating out in the garden in dark clothing. So this year I’m not entering the chilly time too early.

One thing that will be coming to an end no matter how much I wail and scream is the garden. The Paddock, which we started to plant so many months ago, has been a real success, seeing as it was a bit of an experiment. All I knew was that I had a vision for a space. That was the easy bit. All I had to do was to plan how to bring it to life.

You’ll remember that this was the plan, drawn out roughly, and not quite knowing how it would all turn out.

Here we were in May. Lots of green and blue but not much colour.

That all changed.

I decided to plant all of my Cosmos in one bed. I did that a lot with flowers this year. Partly to see how they grew and partly to create a really easy to manage cutting garden.

Here they were a couple of months later. An explosion of colour, so bright and cheery. I will definitely grow these again but I’ll spread them out along the borders. They need deadheading regularly but they produce in abundance and I love their cheery faces.

I also put Salvia in the same bed. Salvia is of course a magnet for bees and is now one of my favourite things to grow. Beautiful shades of Silver and Purple make this a real show-stopper but once again I think it is lost, in this quantity, in a raised bed. I’ll certainly grow it again as a border as it’s too magnificent not to.

If I have one tip for you when growing Salvia of this variety its to grow it in large quantities. That’s when it starts to look majestic.

Stocks are another flower that we had great success with this Summer. I got it right with these and they were planted in the border along the entrance to the Paddock. The syrupy smell hits you as you wandered in and the colours were delicious. I’ll most certainly be growing them again next year and I would heartily suggest that you do the same. They are fantastic!

They also look lovely when they are cut and placed in jam jars. Any impromptu supper would welcome Stocks as a guest and I miss them already. See you next year, guys!

Aha! Sweet Peas. Now these DID do well in the raised bed. They tend to get so very tangled that giving them support is an imperative. Otherwise they’ll grow in to a tangled bush and I don’t think they flower as well.

In just a few short weeks we went from a brown bed to this mass of hysterical colour. Way to go Sweet Peas!

And here’s my corn. I grew some corn last Summer but it didn’t do so well. This year I bought more plants and planted them in rows. There were enough of them to pollinate each other and before long they were looking……..

…er, really quite tall.

And I can say with my hand on my heart that they were really quite tasty too. Robert the Husband bought me one for supper the other evening as I lay on my backside and surfed the Internet – there are some wonderful websites out there that I am only just discovering, I can’t wait to tell you all about them – and it was unlike any corn I have ever eaten. Apart from the fact that it was so fresh it almost made a pass at me it also tasted so much sweeter than shop bought corn. Definitely worth the space it takes up in your garden.

Just thought I’d throw this in the mix. Look at this baby……..and check out the Bumble Bee.

Here is the Dahlia bed. They have featured in my garden posts a lot throughout the Summer as I’m so proud of them. You can tell when I’m proud of something as I’ll feature it a lot but I really am chuffed with these flowers as I’d never grown them until this year.

Here they were just getting started……..

…And this is how they are right now.

We had a horrid touch of Black Fly at the start of the Summer which also got my Broad Beans and Sweat Peas but we dealt with that with an organic spray. We also deadheaded when we had to and they just kept coming! I’m going to miss these guys also. This colour explosion has been on my garden landscape for weeks and weeks and I really do not want them to go.

DON’T SEND ME IN TO AUTUMN YET, I’M NOT READY!!!!!!

*hic*

*breathe*

*compose*

The past weekend can be summed up in this one picture.

Food, shopping and wine.

Robert and I both ate food, you’ll be glad to know. In fact if you follow me on Twitter or are a member of my Facebook fan page (all the links are at the bottom of this post) you’ll know that we took the babies out to eat and had a lovely lunch on Saturday. “Have babies, will dine out” seems to be our current motto.
I shopped. Nuff said. I felt like a different person having raided Top Shop and even though I am older than most of the other shoppers I don’t care. I will regain some semblance of my youth and if that’s the only way to do it then so be it!!!!! *breathe….again*
And Robert drank wine.

There was some cooking done and by the end of Sunday evening the pans were worn out and slept haphazardly in the cupboard.

And there was also a whole pile of washing drying in front of the AGA…….

…and a whole pile more waiting to go in the machine. In fact this basket is still right there. Waiting to go in the machine. Oh, and there is another pile on the sofa in the kitchen waiting to go in. And another in my bathroom waiting to go in. And another on the floor on Robert’s side of the bed, waiting to go in. And I think there is some more on the floor in the dining room, you guessed it, waiting to go in. And let us not forget the HUGE pile waiting to be put away in the nursery.

Who would have thought that two babies this small could produce this much washing??? Perhaps one day they’ll stop puking and pooping on EV..ERRRRR…REEEE…THING

and we can go back to our neat and tidy one or two loads of washing a week.

But until that day arrives, on a Sunday evening in the month of August I shall be found flaked out, basking in the blue glow of the television with my favourite magazine by my side. I shall read it for about five and a half seconds and then I shall be asleep.

Gotta get some rest, I’ll be up to do another feed in a couple of hours!

I love you wherever you are and thank you so much for reading this.

Cherry xoxox

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Harvesting With Company Strapped To My Front

Cherry Menlove — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 09:26:17 +0000

It’s a lovely thing to pick vegetables with a baby, one of your own babies, strapped to your front. I walked around the paddock the other day and harvested some of our fabulous veggies for supper that night. It was the first proper meal I’d made since bringing the babies home. Due to my C-Section and having our body clocks thrown completely out of sync dinner time has suffered a wee bit but is finally reclaiming itself as a lovely part of the day when Robert and I get to look at each other and exhale.

I picked the Broad Beans first.

And then the peas. Sweet peas that I nibbled on raw as the baby I was carrying and I chatted our way through the grass and raised beds.

My little blue basket gradually began to fill up……..

….and I got a gentle workout done while carrying my precious bundle around. I’m not allowed to exercise properly for at least another week but I can feel myself getting stronger.

Small, tender Courgettes, picked before turning into Marrows and it would appear that Mummy needs to get herself a pedicure and pretty damn quickly! Dude!!!!

As it happened we also harvested the three varieties of potatoes that we have grown in bags this summer. I decided to use some of the Charlotte’s for our supper that night.

A whole meal made from produce I grew in my own backyard and with only a few other additions.

Cooking in this way has always been a dream of mine and I feel that this year I have only just scratched the surface. Seeing how well everything has done has boosted my confidence and I look forward to expanding our range even further next year.

To my basket of veggies I added pancetta and chicken.

As well as garlic and olive oil. I sautéed them all gently on the AGA….

….and added the softened peas and beans a few moments later.

The final taste hit came in the form of freshly chopped mint……..

….and then the whole lot was placed on top of the newly harvested and softly boiled potatoes and carried to the table.

We ate heartily and I was pleased that this marked my first real foray back into the kitchen after what seemed like an age.

I hadn’t forgotten how to cook, as had been my fear.

In fact the only change to the set up was that we now had two new guests for dinner.

And delightful they were too!

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In the Night Garden, almost

Cherry Menlove — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 07:46:39 +0000

Very new babies sleep an awful lot, don’t they? They sleep a lot more than I thought they would. When they are asleep there always seem to be things to do before they wake up for the next feed. Tidying up (not getting a whole lot of that done, I’ll be honest). Cooking and eating (anything that’s fast and easy). Laundry (Good Lord there’s a lot). You get the picture.

So last Saturday evening when the babies had fallen asleep after their 7 p.m. feed Robert and I were left with a choice; do something useful or do something that was good for the soul. We chose the latter and that was a simple walk around the Paddock in the sun before it went down for the night.

This is my favourite time of the day in the garden and has been since I was a child. I would stay out way past my bedtime and dance around with long lengths of fabric tied to a bamboo cane pretending I was Kate Bush in her Wuthering Heights video! My Mum would catch me sometimes and think I was an oddball. Great, but an oddball. She was right in the oddball department. I was. I had an overactive imagination which, as an adult, I believe has transformed itself into something that simply gives me the ability to know what I want from life and reach to get it. Nothing is impossible if it is right for you. The trick is knowing the difference.

Last Saturday I was in that sunlight with my husband safe in the knowledge that the babies were safely asleep, warm and fed. It was a lovely few minutes.

The Marguerite bushes are coming along so nicely. The secret is being very strict with the deadheading. They’ll be with us all Summer long.

Boo joined us on our walk. She is still there if a little more distant at the moment. We knew that she would take some time to get used to the new arrivals once she realised that they were staying forever and not just visiting. She hangs out with us a lot in the evenings and sits beside me where she used to sit when I was pregnant. We make a fuss of her and she brings us small furry animals from the garden in her mouth. We wish she wouldn’t do this as it can actually make me cry to see them but I have to remember that she is a cat and this is what she does. She is bringing us a gift, albeit one that I would gladly return if only she’d keep the receipts.

I got the chance to deadhead the Dahlias during our walk on Saturday night. They are doing so well and I’m so pleased that I can now safely say I know how to grow them from tubers. A real achievement for me as it was something I’d wanted to do for ages!

Our beautiful Courgettes. I can see deep fried Courgette flowers in my future.

Where there are flowers there are fruit….or in this case Broad Beans. I can see lots of tasty new recipes in my future also. It’s so good to grow your own food I would highly recommend it. Your patches of fruit and veg become like little children in themselves. You check on them, tend to them, feed and water them and feel so proud of them when they do well.

Our walk came to an end eventually. Robert and I had chatted (about the babies), we had had a giggle (about the babies) and we had discussed what we were going to be doing the next day (with the babies).

I think it’s safe to say that we’ve fallen in love in a way that I’m not even going to attempt to describe.

Even when the babies are not with us, they are with us.

Robert the Husband and I went back inside to make some supper and began to count down the minutes until they would wake up and we could hang with them again. Until then we had to be content to watch them while they slept.

Lots of love,

Cherry xoxox
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How To Grow Romaine Lettuce

Cherry Menlove — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 07:55:16 +0000

To follow on from yesterdays paddock update we wanted to show you some of the things that we have been growing in it.

There’s nothing quite like that feeling of satisfaction when you grow your own fruit and veg and the crop you produce is actually pretty decent. This year we are growing quite a lot in our raised beds down in the paddock, and we are very pleased to say that our Romaine (Pinokkio) Lettuce has done beautifully.

We planted our lettuce seeds all the way back in March from just one packet and this was what they looked like on 18 April. Tiny little green shoots doing their best to poke their heads out to say hello.

This was them on 30 April – growing bigger by the day.

And this is them now.

Looking amazingly green.

And wonderfully crisp.

So we did what anyone would do with their freshly grown crop….

We ate it.

Have a great day.

x
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Classic – Making A Frame For Climbing Peas & Beans

Cherry Menlove — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 10:06:52 +0000

Today we’re taking you through building your own climbing frame for any peas or beans that you may be growing this year. Climbing vegetables need a frame to grow up as they can get to quite a height and need the support.

Note: The size of your climbing bean frame will depend on the size of the area you have planted your beans in, therefore, measurements for your frame should be adjusted accordingly.

We constructed the frame for our climbing beans over a raised bed where we planned to grow the beans.

Way back in early Spring we prepped this bed and sowed our climbing garden peas in it. You can read how we did that by clicking right here.

Unfortunately due to the very late Spring and hard frost, insects and possibly the birds, we lost a few of our plants so we’ve supplemented them with some pea plug plants that we bought. This happens, it’s no great shakes, and as you well know you have to roll with the punches when it comes to gardening, as each and every year will be different.

To begin building the frame we positioned two wooden posts into either end of the raised bed, making sure that posts stood on the outside of the beds for extra support.

And then hammered them into the ground so they didn’t move.

We then added a further wooden post across the top of the two vertical posts and secured it in place with a couple of nails…

…at each end.

We then added the netting to the frame.

For this we used a standard garden netting (with a mesh size of approx 15mm) and draped it over the the frame to create a tent style effect, this way the beans/peas would be able to grow up the netting with the support of the frame to lean against.

We used plastic garden pegs to secure the netting into the soil.

Leaving a couple of inches space between the netting and the planted peas.

We secured the netting to the raised bed at either end using some hook nails.

In order to be able to weed the inner part of the raised bed area during the summer months, we left the ends of the netting loose and just secured the it to the posts with some garden tie to make it look a little neater.

And now we just wait for our peas and beans to grow.

….and grow.

Thanks to our baby brother Nathan (pictured) who helped us make this frame.

See you tomorrow. It’s been a busy weekend for Cherry and her tummy and it all looks like it’s very close to kicking off now. I hope for Cherry, and her minimal lung and stomach capacity that this is true.

Don’t forget to check back tomorrow, the winner could be you…

Jodie xoxo

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We will be updating my homepage with a ‘Baby Watch’ update as and when things occur so you can keep up with events. I expect things to happen fairly quickly when they do decide to kick off.

Paddock Plan – May 2010

Cherry Menlove — Wed, 19 May 2010 11:01:31 +0000

We’ve been out in the paddock for most of this week. I say “we” Jodie and Cathy have been out there for the duration, I have popped out occasionally to make it seem like I still have something to offer in my ‘beached’ state but mostly I’ve been on the sofa, writing posts for the girls when they have completed them.

Which is how I came to be able to draw this diagram of all the plants, veggies and flowers that we are currently planting out. It’s simple but it’ll give you some idea of how this space is coming along. There is also a lot more that is going to be done out there but I’m keeping that under my hat for a bit until I know how it’ll all work out.

See how busy it all looks.

We’ve been blessed with some great weather lately which makes my stay on the sofa with the occasional waddle outside even more galling. If you know me you’ll know I like the sun and don’t like any other types of weather, I’m nothing if not definite. This is great for my new plants as Spring was super late this year.

Ahhh, all the Sunflowers, grown from seed, lined up and ready to go in the ground. I’m having a ‘wall’ of Sunflowers of all varieties along the back of the Paddock. It will act as a nice frame.

Down the sides we are adding colour galore with some classic bedding plants.

And hopefully they will be pretty enough to cover up a little of the rabbit proofing that we have installed on the white wooden fence. Did I tell you that a rabbit tried its very best to break in underneath the other week? We spotted the tunnel it had burrowed. Alas, it wasn’t to be for poor rabbit……..

….which means the salad, grown from seed, get to live another day.

My mantra at the moment, apart from “you won’t be pregnant forever, you won’t be pregnant forever, you won’t be pregnant forever,” is “it’s only a plant, it’s only a plant, it’s only a plant, it’s only a plant,”

If you’re putting hours in to your garden at the moment I think it’s important to deal with the fact that you’ll lose the odd flower or veggie to insects or the elements. Nothing this rewarding can be gained without a wee price to pay in the form of the odd sacrificial lettuce or flower.

But we’ll soon be enjoying the fruits of our labour, pun intended, as I can feel a quickening in the garden and it all just may begin to go slightly mad!

I’m back tomorrow with another pregnancy diary entry……hopefully!

Cherry xoxox

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You can see how we cooked our potatoes here.

How To Grow Potatoes in Bags

Cherry Menlove — Tue, 11 May 2010 15:12:52 +0000

I have decided not plant potatoes in any of the raised beds but instead to plant them in bags on the terrace. I am very lucky as I have a large garden but I have also lived in an apartment and a house with a small garden so I want to do something that those of you without lots of space can do also. I’ll be focusing a lot on container gardening as time goes on and I hope it’s useful.

In March I had three varieties of seed potatoes delivered – Charlotte, Vivaldi and Swift. You can see the little shoots growing out of them. I placed them all in individual trays, shoots facing upwards as best I could, and kept them in a moderate temperature with some light.

Now they look like this…

The shoots have turned in to sprouts, they are larger and they are also now green in colour. They are officially ‘well chitted’. How nice!

I have one bag for each of my potato varieties and yesterday Jodie filled each of them with 10 cm of all purpose compost and placed the seed potatoes on top of it.

As you can see the sprouts are all facing upwards.

All you have to do then is cover with another 10 cm of compost and water with three litres of water being careful not to disturb the potatoes when you do so.

And then…………

Well, I’ll be back with a potato update very soon but as far as I can tell I’m going to really enjoy working with these bags. I bought the whole lot as a kit and I would highly recommend them if you’d like to have a go at growing your own but have limited space.

LATEST UPDATE!!!!!

These were our potatoes on 6 May 2010

And these were them on 24 June 2010…

We finally harvested our potatoes on 6th July 2010 – around 13 weeks after planting. To harvest we pulled all of the leaves from the soil and then emptied the soil out onto a large sheet of plastic and just picked out our crop of potatoes.

A good way to know if the potatoes are ready to be harvested is to look at the leaves, if they are starting to droop and turning slightly yellow in colour, they are more than likely ready. Depending on the variety of the potatoes, the plants may also start to flower and this is also a good sign to show that they are ready to be picked.

We were left with some very healthy looking potatoes at the end of our harvest and they tasted pretty darn good too.

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How To Sow Climbing Garden Peas in a Raised Bed

Cherry Menlove — Tue, 11 May 2010 15:08:41 +0000

On the 16th of March the first covers came off the raised beds as we prepared them for planting. I decided to sow climbing garden peas in this bed.

The bed was given a good rake over as this allowed air back in to the soil after a Winter of being under plastic. You can read here about how I put the beds to sleep for the Winter and the use of weed barrier and then plastic on top of each bed kept the bed beautifully rich and weed free.

Our lovely Cathy then gave the soil a good sifting. She now realises that I like the soil to be sifted before planting as it makes it so much easier to work with and it’s actually one of MY most favourite garden jobs. I find it strangely relaxing to sift soil. But I couldn’t really bend down for that long because of my bump and at that time one of the twins was still trapping a nerve. So Cathy got the job. I was a bit jealous really.

These are the peas before being planted.

And this is the drill/channel we made to place the peas in. It was about 6 inches wide and flat bottomed. You can flatten the bottom with your hand, patting the soil down.

The drill was then given a good watering…..

….and the peas were sown in a zig-zag pattern along the length of the bed. You need to allow about 24 inches between drills so we only sowed one more row in this particular bed….

The drills were then filled in carefully and now we are waiting for some shoots to come up.

As this took place about three weeks ago we are now seeing some small signs of life and this Sunday Robert and I are erecting the nets to go over the top of this bed so that the birds don’t get to feast on my tender bean shoots. I’ll take lots of pics of this process too so that you can all follow along. You still have plenty of time to plant your peas outside so if you’re stuck for something to do this weekend you can join me in the garden!!

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Shortly after that I planted some Tulip bulbs in this bed and you can read all about that right here!

A Sunny Garden Update

Cherry Menlove — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 10:44:34 +0000

This year has been so strange as everything in the garden is super late due to the prolonged cold spell. Well it feels like it is super late anyway. This is the circular bed in my front drive and last Summer, in the month of June, it looked like this…..

Then last September, after all of the annuals had died back I cleared and prepped it for some bulb planting…..

…it looked like this after I had finished it and you can read about the whole process here.

And right now, after a long cold, wet Winter it looks like this….

I have two varieties of Tulip in this bed and one blooms a little before the other and is taller. As you can see the tall yellow ones are out and proud. The shorter pink ones are on their way and I’ll take lots of pics as and when they show their faces.

I do love blossom. I think I love it because it’s so fleeting and so reminiscent of Spring. It stays there for a little while, allowing us to bask in it’s pinkness and then it gets blown away on to the ground to make way for leaves and perhaps fruit too.

Look at this little chap. That’s what I like to see, a nice plump Bumble Bee having fun.

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They’re All Growing Up So Fast!

Cherry Menlove — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:44:09 +0000

Although it’s March the temperatures are still well below the average for this time of year. This means that the Spring garden is probably going to be a little late in arriving. Has anyone noticed how the Snowdrops have only just really exploded on to the scene when they should have made more of an appearance in January?

But this hasn’t stopped us here. We’ve been potting up and planting seeds like crazy fools and now have large numbers of seed trays covering every inside surface available.

I’ve already started on my Sunflowers as I’m creating a wall of them along one side on my paddock kitchen/flower garden. I’ve opted for different varieties and colours as well as different heights. Can’t wait to see them all standing there proud. Do you want to see my Sunflowers from last year? Here they are!

These gangly chaps are my Broad Beans – I planted them a few weeks ago right here. They have shot up so fast and we’re staking them today. They are going a little crazy as you can tell.

I can’t wait to try out new recipes and re-visit some old ones such as this one around May/June/July

If you want Dahlias to show at this years summer fair then plant your tubers in to pots now, before putting them in to the ground, for early Summer flowering. I’ve got several varieties on the go and am trying Pinwheel and Pompom amongst others.

These trays all contain herbs. I’m creating a container garden like no other I’ve tried before and these will all be a part of it. Right outside my back door and on a grander scale than last year. I want the smell from the herbs to waft into the kitchen and inspire me to cook a feast.

And see how well the Parsley is doing. I started it here a few weeks ago and I hope that yours is doing just as well if you’re following along.

And here are the Strawbs. I have decided not to plant my Strawberries in one of the raised beds but instead to start them inside in the warm and in this rather awesome Strawberry planter.

They are designed to grow like a waterfall and tip over the edges of the planter, showing off one of the best features of a Strawberry plant which is that it cascades if you let it. Remember when we went Strawberry picking last year?

All of this work in the cold and the wind has to be accompanied by a vision of the future at this time of year. Especially when all you can see are rows of pots and trays, soil in your fingertips and seeds that look like they haven’t even started germinating when they should have. But keep the faith. Keep watering. Keep your eye on them and, at this time of year, keep them warm. With Jack Frost still lurking around every bend no one is safe yet!

Don’t forget to check back tomorrow for my weekly pregnancy update. These kids are moving more than a box of rabbits and make my tummy look like it’s bubbling from the outside!!

Attractive, I know!!!!!

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Let’s Get Growing 2010 – Growing Broad Beans & Verbena

Cherry Menlove — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 11:29:28 +0000

If you’re thinking about growing some of your own fruit and vegetables this year then now is the time to get your Broad Beans in to some trays or pots.

Broad Beans look like this when they come out of the seed packet. Obviously you should follow their instructions but the easiest way of growing them is a simple act of popping them into pots (that can go straight in to the ground ) watering them and planting them out when last frosts have passed and they are of a good size.

I planted mine out last year when they had reached about 2 inches in height in double rows like this.

Last year we built a frame out of bamboo and string that worked well for us but we are building another type this year and as soon as we start to build it I’ll promptly upload pictures in time for you to build one too. I just wanted you to see how the Broad Beans will look when they are producing pods for you to pick.

Here they are.

They aren’t really as tough to pick as I’m making out here. But this type of bean is a real favourite of mine and a staple in my vegetable garden.

All you need to do right now however is to buy your seeds and get them germinating in some pots or a tray. I’ll not forget to pop back and take you along with me while they are growing.

This is a type of Verbena – Verbena Bonariensis – I had a very small amount growing in my old garden which is where this picture was taken. Now is the time to plant this type of Verbenea if you’d like something like this in your garden in the Summer….

I am planting several seed trays full of this variety and will then plant the Verbena out in the paddock area creating a small hedge of Verbena. You should know that planting out Verbena such as this can be laborious and time consuming in the first year but it is a perennial and should come back bigger and better year after year if you don’t live in too cold a climate. Once again I’ll keep you fully updated on how to continue growing Verbena if youd like to follow along but just get your seeds in to the seed trays for now and begin to grow according to your seed packet instructions.

This was the paddock a few weeks ago in the snow.

Well, I’ve already pushed the button on work in this area and the first thing to be done was to get the arches painted white.

You’ll have to bear with me as the paddock comes to life but I have a real vision for this space and am looking to create a space full of flowers, vegetables and places to sit to enjoy the big open sky that sits above us. We want to cook out here and enjoy long evenings on the grass in amongst the raised beds.

As I stare at these arches, outside in 2 degrees, it doesn’t take that much of a leap to see them covered in red and cream Lofos.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh!
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Cherry x

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How To Grow Your Own Fruit & Vegetables – My Beginning

Cherry Menlove — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:06:01 +0000

How To Grow Your Own Fruit & Vegetables – My Beginning

On Saturday we begin building and filling four raised fruit and vegetable beds in the paddock that we are starting to develop. The beds are perfectly square and will be spilt in to four. That’s sixteen beds to play in. Let the growing commence

Dramatic, no?

O.M.G. it’s exciting!!!!!

I’ll be back tomorrow. Would anyone like to have lunch under the tree?

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Tomatoes – What My Garden is Currently Offering Me

Cherry Menlove — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:15:02 +0000

I only planted two of these tomato plants. In a grow bag in a part of the garden where the grill resides. I put them there as I figured that I would invariably set the table for a lunch outside and enjoy picking them off the plant only to be taken straight to the table.

And you know what???

I do just that!

See you tomorrow morning.

Cherry, xo

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