Here's Johnny...

If I didn't see this with my own eyes each year, I would scarcely believe it to be true. As I said last month David sets the pampas grass on fire every year when it gets past its best, and it goes in the space of a few weeks, from this burnt offering

to this

bursting through the charcoal like a phoenix from the ashes, or if you're not that keen on Pampas Grass, like Jack Nicholson in the Shining...

A Trip To Ikea

I can scarcely believe it, but apparently most men would rather have teeth drawn than go on a nice trip to Ikea.  Loads of  room plans to wander round, sofas to poke, drawers to open, and close again, and acres of useful kitchen stuff, plus as many swedish meatballs and Dime Bar cake as you can eat. What's not to like? Hmm, maybe it's just a man thing. Don't worry boys, the world cup's coming up.

Anyway, I went with my daughter to the Edmonton Ikea and came away with, amongst quite a lot of other things some of these lovely little vases.

 The smaller ones  with the usual weird Ikea name of Snartig were 49p each. It's always useful to have a vase or two with narrow necks, for when there's a dearth of flowers to cut, so that you can have a few elegantly restrained stems, as opposed to a big riotous middle-of-the-summer armful in a large jug.

You can see at the back of this picture the tall florist's bucket that I also bought at Ikea. According to Sarah Raven, who knows about these things, you should put your cut flowers in water up to their necks to condition them and make them last much longer in the vase. And you need a really tall deep bucket like this to do it in.

I think a few stems of Marguerites (these are May Queen) or Dog Daisies as my dad used to call them, from the garden look charming in my new Ikea vase. Free flowers and a 49p vase, don't say I'm not cheap to run...

Or a few stems of Iris Sibirica..

Or, if you happen to have a lovely husband around the place, you can leave a spare Snartig lying around the house and you might get a rose fresh from the garden with your cup of tea on your wedding anniversary morning...Ah, lovely.

Bird Deterrent Update

Just a quick update on the state of my cherry trees. I know how you worry about these things.

I'm not sure if it's because of the Whirring Blades effect of the plastic wire, or the plastic bags tied to the branches,but there is a definite sign of ripening on the fruit, ie it's still there, and hasn't so far been eaten by birds.  Not edible yet, but pinkish yellow, as opposed to greenish yellow which is about as far as we normally get.So progress on that front. I'm not about to count my chickens yet though, as I've done this in previous years, only to be disappointed in the end.

Some rain has fallen today, at last, but nothing like as much as was promised by the Met Office. I'm spending far too much time watering at the moment, instead of planting and weeding, especially weeding. After all these millions of years of evolution, you would think the weather would have worked out that it should rain during the night for an adequate period of time, and then be fine during the daytime. That would be much more convenient.

I have finally cleared away the last of the spring flowers,forget me nots have gone in the compost. Many spring flowers just fade away about now, snowdrops and primroses for example, but if you have any of the larger polyanthus, they tend to make large rather cabbagey leaves at this time. You can leave them in situ for next year if you don't need the space, but my Hose in Hose primroses are at the front of the border and I can put something more attractive in there for the summer. So I just dig up the clumps and plant them at the back of the border behind something tall, where they can spend the summer months. They are quite happy in a shady cool position provided they get enough moisture, and I will dig them up again in autumn and split up the plants and put them in their flowering positions ready for next year. Proper job, as they say in Devon.

Happy Birthday To Me

Amazingly, I've just noticed that I've been  writing this blog for exactly a year. I can hardly believe twelve months have passed so quickly, but then I do seem to think that about everything these days, and policemen are getting younger too...

Looking back at that first post I see that a year ago today I was worrying about finding enough space in the garden to fit in all the plants, whereas this year  - I'm wondering where I will find enough space to fit all the plants.... except truth be told,  I did get a bit of an organisational flurry going on last month, and most of the veg garden is now in and growing, and I've even started some new areas, such as the shade garden, and the wild flower patch, so, although there still seems loads to do, all in all I'm able to look around and see -wait for it- yes, an improvement over last year!

One of my ideas in starting the blog in the first place, was to make a kind of diary for my own reference, so that I could look back in smug complacency and see how I've improved, or as it's turned out in certain cases, in furious indignation at my own stupidity. But that was before I realised that there's a whole world of real people out there in the blogosphere, some are experts, some newcomers, young people, old people, slightly loony people, people round the corner, or on the other side of the world (which I still find incredible) and that, even more amazingly, some of them take the trouble to read my tedious ramblings and then at the end having managed to  retain the will to live, still have the enthusiasm to make kind, supportive or helpful comments. So thank you, I've learned masses of stuff about all kinds of things from you, so whether you're an old friend who drops by on a regular basis, or you're a one-post stand, (surely not, you're way too respectable...) I'd like to say I truly value all of your support and feedback and I thank you all for reading, and bearing with my ups and downs over the last year of growing, weeding, rearing, plucking, cooking, baking, and occasionally, burning, at Carters Barn.

I hope you will join me over the next twelve months for more adventures of my life in the pastoral idyll of rural Wiltshire, as I skip through the fields in slow motion with daisies in my hair. My life of harmony with all of nature...well apart from the foxes of course.

Oh and the squirrels

And the mice
And bindweed

And pigeons, I hate pigeons.....

My New Shade Garden

Lots of us have areas of shade in our gardens,  bits of space behind obstacles, fences, under trees and so on, and I have more than my fair share of shade, due to trees, as I've mentioned before. We have thinned out the trees to some extent over the years, but there is still a large area which will not accommodate plants requiring a "normal" amount of sun, and light. Additionally, areas under trees are often quite dry as the tree drinks up vast amounts of water, and its foliage acts as an umbrella to the ground below. This is a part of the scrubby bit of garden that I've chosen for my shade garden, where nothing much grows apart from weeds. So this is a "before" picture, the "after" picture will be a bit later...

Anyway, enough complaining, I have decided to make more of shade loving plants, and for the water requirements I will just have to bite the bullet, and make sure that I provide sufficient irrigation for them to survive.  If anyone's looking for planting ideas for such an area, the plants I've used so far are

Hosta  -Fire and Ice
Digitalis Lutea - the yellow foxglove
Sarcococca Confusa and Sarcococca Hookerianum, - Christmas Box, or Sweet Box in the US I think
Tellima grandiflora
Primula bulleyana - Candelabra primula
Primula denticulata - White Drumstick primula
Dicentra spectabilis Alba - the white form of  bleeding heart
Polygonatum hybridum -  no shady area would be complete without the wonderful elegant arches of solomans seal - one of my favourite plants, (I have it under some other trees)

All the above are plants known to do well in shady areas, but I have also planted a few things in slightly better conditions, in the hope that they will do ok. Concentrating mainly on white and lighter colours I have planted

Philadelphus, Belle Etiole - shrub with white scented flowers in summer
Physostegia Alba - vigorous herbaceous perennial, with spikes of white flowers
"Ground cover" rose - white, these are sold by most garden centres, and although not a choice plants for a rosarian, they are tough as old boots, grow in difficult positions, and are very trouble free and floriferous. Some of the colours are a bit garish, so white should be ok I'm thinking.
Viburnum plicatum "Maresii" a wonderful shrub with tiers of white blossom in early summer.
I already have the native viburnum opulus, or guelder rose,  which is doing reasonably well, in the mid-shade area.

Some of these are experiments, so I will have to keep a regular eye on them and watch the watering needs, especially over the first summer.  Updates follow in due course.

The Best Chocolate Fudge Sauce In The World, Ever

The somewhat convoluted explanation for having this recipe just now, is that I've got rather too many eggs at the moment, and I thought ice cream would be a good way to use them up, especially as double cream was on offer at Tescos at £1 for half a litre, instead of £1.70, so I bought several. There are  no eggs in the  sauce, but you can't have Chocolate Ice Cream Fudge Sundae without Chocolate Fudge Sauce, so here it is.

I take no credit/blame for this sauce, it's entirely Ben and Jerry's fault. I have Ben and Jerry's ice cream recipe book from a few years ago,and this is the chocolate fudge sauce they recommend for ice cream sundaes. And they should know. I'm not sure why you have to cook it so long and slow, I did mess about with it and tried to speed things up a bit, because I'm impatient, but I found that it just crystallised and spoilt, so now I've learned my lesson and stick more or less to the letter of the recipe, and it never fails. And although it takes a while, you don't have to stand over it all the time, so you can have it on the hob while you're doing something else and just give it a stir from time to time.

It makes quite a large amount, but it keeps in the fridge for a few weeks in a jar, but then it never has the chance in my fridge...

4oz/100g 70% dark chocolate
4oz/125gr butter

3oz/75g cocoa powder

8oz/450gr caster sugar

1/4pint/125mlcream

1/4pint/125ml milk

Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over simmering water.  Stir in the cocoa and the sugar (The mixture should be the consistency of wet sand) Stir over hot water for about 20 minutes.

Gradually stir in the cream and milk. Keep cooking over the hot water, stirring occasionally for 1 hour. It's ready when completely smooth and all the sugar is dissolved.

I'll leave you to think up your own additions like vanilla ice cream, chopped nuts, whipped cream, grated chocolate, marshmallows, etc etc, you get the idea.

The Whirring Blades

Isn't it amazing how, as you get older, everyday events bring to mind all kinds of memories of times past. I already mentioned my trial of the Buzz Off bird scarer product,

 and it does seem to be having some effect, since I still have some cherries on the tree.  So far so good. 

The downside, if there is one, is the sound of whirring that surrounds me as I go about my daily weeding, watering, planting and so on.  When my children were small they often  played an inexplicable (to me) game of The Whirring Blades, which as far as I was ever able to see, entailed a great deal of hurtling round the house at breakneck speed, accompanied by shrieking at high volume, "it's the whirring blades, coming to get you!" And so, although the whirring in the garden might have been a bit of an annoying  downside, in fact it just makes me smile every time I hear it and I'm transported back to those days all those years ago, when my children, who are now having children of their own, were just kids creating havoc and  having  fun.

Clematis Montana Rubens

I thought I would post a picture of the Clematis Montana rubens we have growing by the front gate. Not because it's special or unusual, in fact you see them everywhere at this time of the year, growing up fences gates, telegraph poles, almost anything. But it is quite big. Over the last several years I've climbed up this wall  at regular intervals to encourage the plant to grow up and along the wall as it now does, rather than behind the wall as it used to do.  This is the view from behind the wall, where my greenhouse is

I've given up climbing up now, as we seem to have the wall pretty well covered.

Also bear in mind that it's extremely easy to propagate this clematis. Internodal cuttings inserted around the edge of a 5" pot in sandy compost will usually root if you take them in June. I also find that layers root naturally on their own from branches which trail down and lie on  the ground. So if you live in your house long enough you could probably disappear completely in a veritable forest of pink without very much effort at all.

Winter Aconites In May?

Way back in March when the Winter Aconites were in full flower I mentioned that if you wait until the seed pods form, you can harvest the seed and spread it around on any spare bit of ground to increase your stock. Well this is what the ripe seed pods look like. I collected quite a large handful of seed today, and  was tempted to sow it in a seed tray, thinking it would be a useful way of increasing the stock of plants, but when I  looked it up, I found that it will take a year to germinate, another year before it's ready to transplant, and probably two further years before it flowers! No wonder it's taken a few years before I've noticed any increase in the number of flowers. I think I'll just sprinkle it around and cover with a bit of compost, and hope for the best.

I will however dig up a few of the plants before they die down completely, and split them up as with snowdrops, this will increase my stock and will be a bit quicker!

Ashes To Ashes

The Pampas Grass was looking a bit tatty so David set it on fire.

He does this every year around this time and this is what it looked like after the inferno

  I have to say, I would be less than heartbroken if that was the end of it, but amazingly it rises phoenix like from the ashes within weeks to grow and flower again. It's not my favourite plant, by any means, but it's impossible to dig out, and since it isn't apparently going to take the hint and just fade away, this is as good a  way as any of getting rid of the old tatty foliage.If foliage is the right word for the razor sharp blades it produces. You can't help admiring a plant that comes back from this though can you?

Speaking of Ashes To Ashes, did you see the last episode on Friday? Don't you just love the Gene Genie?

Home Made Ice Cream

I've been clearing the freezer of any remnants of last year's soft fruit crop, ready for this year's surplus (she said hopefully), and I've also had rather too many eggs. Since my depleted poultry numbers post fox, I've not been selling eggs at the gate, but I still have a generous supply for the house and friends, but just lately a rather too "excellent sufficiency"! And since there's only so many omelettes a person can eat, I thought a good way of using up both surpluses would be ice cream.

Let me say straight away that I think an ice cream maker is not a luxury but a necessity here. You can do it without, but it's a real faff, and ice cream makers are not all that expensive. I have a Magimix le Glacier, which lives in the freezer so that it's always ready for use, I think it cost me about £20 a few years ago. You can get expensive electric ones that have their own freezing capability, but they're for real ice cream fanatics and cost loads.  But is is nice to be able to enjoy something so luxurious, and yet knowing that it's full of good stuff, because you made it yourself.

Most ice cream recipes are based on a cooked egg custard, which is fine, but I have discovered that you can make it much quicker without making the custard first. This is based on a Ben and Jerry's recipe (and they should know) from a little book of  their recipes I've had for some years and which uses uncooked eggs. (Throw up hands in horror) So obviously only use it where you know your eggs are good and fresh, such as from your own birds, for example. Although I must say, you'd have to cook a dodgy egg a lot more than making custard with it to make it safe to eat, so use good fresh free range eggs and make your own ice cream, mayonnaise and so on, with an unfurrowed brow.

3 large eggs (I use duck eggs, because I have a lot of them)

6 oz/150gr caster sugar

3/4 pint/450ml double cream

1/4 pint/150ml full fat milk

Your chosen flavouring, I made

1.Vanilla using seeds from 1 vanilla pod plus 1 teasp vanilla essence

and

 2.Strawberry by using up some strawberry puree in the freezer ( never throw away strawbs that have gone a bit mushy, whizz them in the blender with caster sugar and lemon juice and freeze)

Beat the eggs and sugar with a mixer, until light and fluffy. Gradually pour in the cream still beating and finally the milk. Add your chosen flavouring to taste, bearing in mind that ice cream needs to be more strongly flavoured and sweeter than you would normally do to allow for the freezing effect.

Transfer to your ice cream maker and churn following the maker's instructions.

Et Voila.

Ben and Jerry's little book also has a very good Hot Chocolate Fudge Sauce recipe, which I will share with you another day (if you're very, very good)