Looking forward to Christmas

 I hope you had a nice Christmas?  Despite it being very different this year to what we are all used to.

Instead of having family round for lunch, just the two of us and a turkey.

A nice quiet nap in the afternoon , with a walk in the fresh air.

Was it the Christmas we had hoped for? No.

Was it the Christmas we are used to? No.

Did we miss hugs and kisses? Absolutely.

But was it terrible? No, it turned out rather well in the end and there was virtually no clearing up to be done!

But despite it being better than we all feared, I am still looking forward to a more normal Christmas day 

next year.

Growing Mistletoe

 

We all have bit of Mistletoe and live in hope. However, we more than likely paid through the nose for it.

It is very easy to grow, but there is a secret to the growing.

The secret is to take the seed and leave it some where cool and dry  place till early February when it will become nice and mushy. At that point make a small cut in your apple tree and place the seed under the bark and press the bark back and wait.

Best to use about five seeds in five different place and you should get at least one growing. 

Keeping kale pest free:

To keep those nasty bugs away from your kale, you could sow flowering plants around your kale such as daisies and yarrow. The idea is that these plants will attract insect predators that will eat bugs that live on your kale.

Another idea is to under sow  red clover when you plant your kale. Doing sow will also feed the growing kale with nitrogen.

Kale and Pigeons

 Pigeons have been at my Kale.....They take out the new growth....best to put a net over them.

Harvesting kale

 Kale, in the main is a winter crop and most farmers get three crops off of one plant.

What they do is strip the plant to the top, leaving two or three leaves and a couple of months later they do the same again.

However what we do as gardeners, is pick a few leaves every now and then. Because I eat kale every day, I pick leaves every day making sure that I also remove any leaves that  are going yellow.

You can strip the plant, just like farmers do, and freeze the leaves. This is much better for the plant and you will get more of it.

 Do not cut the leaf, break the it off, this will stop disease.

Do some good this Christmas...

 Do some good this Christmas... 

Christmas doesn't need to be a festival of retail. The real spirit is to make it a time of genuine giving. So rather than tit-for-tat swapping of unwanted presents with friends, why not give time and thought to others, or donate to some good causes? Here are a few ideas...

13. Help feed the hungry for free, give to the homeless on the streets. 
     
14.  Why not agree to give to good causes in each other's name? Be it a goat to help a family, life-saving jabs for children or Christmas dinner for a homeless young person in the UK.
     
15. Foodbanks need help. Charity the Trussell Trust has forecast a huge 61% increase in foodbank demand this winter, due in part to the pandemic. There are links to find your nearest, plus how to help even if you're not flush with cash.  
     
16. Buy a toy for a child who might not get a gift. If you can afford to, why not double up on gifts, to ensure a youngster who won't get anything can get one too... 

Green Manure

 Green manure comes from plants cut down before they are ripe, smashed up with a spade and dug into the soil.

It has been said that  by doing this, it is an ideal replacement for using manure and compost. This is not the case.

Many green manures can cause nitrogen starvation when dug into the ground. This happens because the bacteria have to use the nitrogen from the soil in order to rot the green manure down.

So, not a good idea. However, there is one exception to this rule and that is to use lupins which have nitrogenous nodules on its roots. When lupins are used as green manure there is no serious nitrogen robbing. 

Protect stored crops:

 Just over a week to the shortest day of the year ,as it get colder, find a warm job to do in your garden, such as digging and tree pruning.I always start to cut up my fire wood for winter next year, certainly gets the blood flowing.

 Good idea to keep an eye on your greenhouse to make sure the heater is working. 

Insulate any outdoor water points.

 If you have a pound make sure there is an “ice hole” for the creatures that live there.

Also protect your stored food from rodents. I keep my in sacks in a old filing cabirnet.

Use Your Own Herbs

 I love using herbs, because they give me control of the flavour of my cooking. If I am cooking for children then I need a different taste than for adults. Also, I know what is in the dish rather than buying a jar of sauce which will contain fat and sugar among many other “unwanted” foods.

The herbs used in any dish will also give a hint of the dish that is presented, by its aroma.

Basil is known for Italian dishes and coriander says Indian.

Basil

Basil is a very useful herb and widely used aromatic herb. They are not hardy and do need protection to grow all the year. However, if you grow the plant in pots, you can then move it indoors in the deep mid-winter.   However, one of the most popular uses of Basil is for making the classic Pesto sauce. 

This can be used on pasta dishes, fish or meat, pizza etc. It is an extremely versatile and easy to make sauce.

 A recipe I use for Pesto. 

1 large bunch of fresh basil leaves

125g pine nuts

125g parmesan cheese, cut into small chunks

1 clove garlic, crushed

200ml extra virgin olive oil

salt and freshly ground black pepper

squeeze of lemon juice

Method

Method

1. First off, toast the pine nuts in a pan and just toss them around until brown.

Put the cheese, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil and basil in a food mixer until they all come together. 

Add salt and pepper to taste and a squeeze of lemon juice. 

You can store this in a jar for up to a week in your fridge.

Mint Sauce

Mint sauce is a thin savoury sauce made from chopped mint, vinegar and sugar. It is traditionally served in England as an accompaniment to roast lamb. 

Ingredients:

25g/1oz fresh mint, chopped

1 tsp caster sugar

1 tbsp hot water

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

Method

This sauce could not be any easier, but makes all the difference to a lamb dish.

1.Place all the ingredients in a bowl together and leave to steep for 30 minutes to allow the mint flavour to develop. 

For a finer sauce, put all the ingredients in a blender for a few seconds.

  

Do your bit.

 We have learnt throughout this very turbulent year the value of growing plants and being in the garden.

It cannot be said enough about the great outdoors and what a life line it is to all of us. However, we are on the point of losing it if we do not take care. 

So take care and do what you can to stop climate change, it is up to each one of us.

Winter digging

 It is often voiced that:" its winter and there is nothing to do in the garden" Well that is so far from the truth because fall or early winter digging is of incalculable value to the soil.

Soil that is turned over and left to the weather is purified and sweetened by winter rains and frosts.

When double-digging or trenching soils, it must not be forgotten the greatest amount of the soils goodness is in the top layer.

In addition, the bacteria that are so beneficial are responsible for the manufactures of plant food that abounds in the top six inches of soil; therefore, it is very important to keep the topsoil on the top and the subsoil beneath it.

Something else to bear in mind: soil pests such as eel worm and wire worm hate and cannot thrive in will aired soil, the bacteria helpful to plant life only flourish in well-worked soil. These two facts alone make it very important to keep your topsoil loose at all times of the year.

When you a digging up your beds for the first year, it is advisable to trench to a depth of three "spits". A "spit" is a foot deep, it most cases this is three depths of your spade.

The subsoil does not need to be brought to the top. The best plan is to break up the sub-soil with a fork and leave it where it is.

In subsequent years, at lease a quarter of the beds should be double-dig (that is a depth of two "spits") the aim here is to double-dig every part of the beds one year in every four.

Deep digging or tillage improves all types of soil because it ensures aeration of the land to a greater depth, and in doing so gives a deeper feeding area for the crop and also discourages soil pest, encourages friendly bacteria and also helps the crop in dry weather because their roots can go deeper to find moisture.

It is also very important to dig in the growing season, because no matter how deep you dig the surface soil, it is likely to contract and creak during hot weather.

When this happens, moisture from the soil is being lost through evaporation. And it is no good just pouring water onto the surface as this does more harm than good (germinating weed seeds, being one of them)

When you water the surface, the tiny root-hairs of the crop that are on the surface will dry out and cause your crop to have a severe check that will stunt the growth of the plant. This is because the water will evaporate in the hot sunshine, leaving the root hairs at the mercy of the sun and wind.

The beat method of conserving water is to frequently stir the soil with a Dutch hoe.

By this means, the cultivator creates a fine soil surface, which conserves the moisture already contained in the soil and more freely admits the atmosphere.

When water is given to the crop, it is far better to give a good soaking and then to mulch with straw litter or leaves than to apply occasional driblets.

Now go and give your beds a good old digging.

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