Repotting Mint

Right on cue, the tulips flowered AGAIN for the third time on April 21st. Happy 92nd Birthday, Ma'am! Seems like warm or cool Springs matter little. The 'Heatwave' continues, with the local temperature peaking at 21ºC this afternoon. I found an adult starling recently deceased on the garden bed today. A reminder to us all that this unseasonably hot weather will be difficult for many of our garden friends.

Patio tasks today included repotting three plants: mint, strawberries and a clematis.

The reason I first started my blog this month was that I was impressed how Mark of Mark's Veg Plot could easily look back to records from previous years. It was he who helped me realise how to divide and replant my pot-bound mint.

I've had six varieties of mint growing in this planter for the last three years or so. Normally you know mint needs replanting when it sends fresh roots to spiral around the edges of the pot, and Spring growth grows against the edge.

To be honest, the damage wasn't that bad. The earth was loose and it was easy to pull out the separate root strands and separate them. Only a little needed to be discarded or cut down. A ground sheet did make the job easier, as I didn't really want any of this soil spreading to the garden or plot in case the mint spread.

I've heard that if you grow different varieties of mint together, they invariably return to one indistinct flavour. This is probably true here, although I did manage to retrieve the roots of two distinct types: a green leafed mint, probably MINT GARDEN - a generic English mint type - and a leaf that was tinged red underneath, which looking at the labels might be MINT CHOCOLATE. I separated the types and planted into two planters, spiralling the roots closely and planting about five fresh roots per growbag.

Never waste an opportunity to make some money for a good cause... Any spare strands I put up in small pots, ready for a school or charity sale later this year.

A Friend's Clematis

My friend Keri gave me her neglected DR RUPPEL CLEMATIS a few years ago. It had been kept on her west facing balcony that hardly ever saw any sun. It had never flowered. It took another two years before she flowered for me!

Today, she went into fresh earth, and a larger pot. I'm hoping to get more than one flower a year!

She was clearly pot-bound, and the orange coloured roots went down and then back up again. I washed off the old compost and separated the roots, and planted up into the larger pot.

I've even nailed up the trellis. This was the first time in years I've hammered a nail into ANYTHING! She shouldn't have any grumbles now, her roots are in the shade of a large hebe, plenty of trellis to climb up, and fresh compost...

Strawberry Planter

I hate Strawberries, I really don't like them. I don't like many soft fruit, but these are at the top of my hate-list. But out of gardener's curiosity, I still grow a few, but really don't want a big patch. So a planter will do... That's just enough to flavour some homemade summer fruits wine.

I grew these strawberries from seed last summer. They've been overwintered outdoors so should be quite hardy, but really they needed potting up today.

My planter for much of winter has only been home to a nettle plant. None of the strawberries from two years ago survived the winter. There weren't too many nutrients there at all. All tipped out into the council bin (NB I have since found out you should NOT put old soil in the compost bin...) and fresh compost replaced, with my strawberry seedlings.

Now, a few strawberries in my homemade rhubarb and redcurrant wine doesn't sound so bad...

Summer Squash

Only 11 days after I blogged about the arrival of Spring, it seems Summer has arrived! 26ºC today on the patio. I felt it was TOO hot to weed, so painted some garden fences and enjoyed the sunshine.

The Chillies continue to be hardened off. In fact, last night they forgot to come in. None the worse for it. Peito de Moça has recovered from its wilt and greenfly infestation. The aphids clearly don't like it outside. One of the unknown chillies blew over, and sadly snapped off a strong stem. 

Today I've been excited by thoughts of summer squash. Seeds were planted three weeks ago, and I might sow more soon. I've got twelve types on the go... that should be enough, eh?

I'll laminate the sheet, it should help me recognize what's growing. Here is a list of what's growing at the moment: Most of these seeds went to the School Staff Room sale. Thanks to anyone who bought them!

Turks Turban, W Robinson & Son

Yugoslavian Finger Fruit, Baker Creek

De Nice (Rond), Lidl

Red Kuri (Hokkaido), Baker Creek

Tromboncino, W Robinson & Son

Jaune de Vert, Sutton Seeds

Courgette, Wilkinsons

Junona Squash, B&Q

Fungo, Baker Creek

Marina di Chioggia, Sutton Seeds

Tondo di Piancenza, Real Seeds

Cucamelon, Sutton Seeds

I'm not really sure I'll have much space to grow anything else!

The Spiraliser came out today for the first time this year. Shop bought courgette, but it's given me a taste for what's to come.

Courgette spaghetti... courgetti or courghetti? And what on earth do Americans call it? Zucchini Linguini? Zuguini?? I'm off to Google it...

Hardening off Chillies

Finally, it feels like Spring and the thermometer hit 18ºc on the patio today. My first batch of chillies sown on Hallowe'en 2017 had their first taste of outdoors life.

ALBERTO's LOCOTO (below) from Real Seeds is proving to be my favourite chilli so far this year. It's a ROCOTO chilli from South America, and I'm hoping will add some spice to a few Peruvian dishes later this summer. The fruits are already in place, having been hand-pollinated indoors.

SHABU SHABU from Victoriana Nursery Gardens has grown prolifically. A few chillis have set and many more to come. The website suggests growing inside for extra heat. This won't be possible for me, so I'm hoping the patio will prove warm enough later on.

NOSFERATU also from Victoriana has black leaves and promises black fruits turning blood red. It's only today that I've noticed the upper leaves are mostly green. I'm not sure if this is a throwback or if they will slowly change colour later. The first flowers are now showing.

PEITO DE MOÇA from Victoriana has grown very tall, already the height of my living room windows, so it needs to go outside soon!  There is a bit of droop in the upper stems, so I will water, repot or support soon. No flowers have emerged yet, and it has been attacked by greenfly which I am treating with diluted detergent. I'm also getting some help from this ladybird. I hope he has some friends...

Finally I've got two unknown chillies. No matter how carefully you label or write up notes in a gardening journal, there's always some labels that go astray. Very annoying, but I will be watching those fruits grow very carefully. They both look like they could be cayenne types. (NB, in mid-June the first chilli developed fruits that look Padron-like, the second picture is of a Rocoto Chilli. As of mid-June, no fruits yet, so it is either an Alberto's Locoto or a Chocolate Rocoto)

SEEDS SOWN today:

Oca, two varieties red & white, 8 pots of each. I've learnt in the past they are difficult to separate if planted together, but I have matched up small and large in each pot here.

Wild about the garlic!

There are only two things I know how to forage: wild garlic and sloes. Turning the latter into a delicious, decadent Winter alcoholic delicacy hardly seems like foraging...

The WILD GARLIC near my home today is in full growth, the emerging flower stems are just below the leaf canopy. A few obvious caveats: don't pick more than one leaf per plant, leave some for others and for the plant to recover, don't dig up the bulbs to plant at home, check that it really IS wild garlic! The strong garlic smell as you walk down a damp Spring lane is usually proof enough.

It's also a good time of the year to scout out future Sloe berry harvests. Usually the best ones are those off the beaten path in obscure, difficult to access locations. As you need to wait until after the first Autumn frosts, the easier to pick ones often go too early.

RECIPES today:
some wild garlic went into the dehydrator. It's one of my favourite dried herbs. It's a good alternative to coriander or parsley. I'll also make a wild garlic sauce for a roast chicken tonight. Tomorrow, I might roll some homemade goats cheese in the dried wild garlic.

SEEDS SOWN today;
Radish Rat Tails (James Wong)
Radish Singara Rat's Tail (Baker Creek) - to compare
Purslane (Jekka's Herbs)
Liquorice / Korean Mint (Real Seed)
Safflower Grenade Mix (Baker Creek)
Dwarf Tamarillo (Baker Creek)
Roselle (Baker Creek)
Electric Daisies (James Wong)
Toothache Plant (Baker Creek) - again, for comparison
a few Dwarf Asters (from Lidl)

Pray you, love, remember...

My 20-year old Rosemary bush has taken over a corner of the garden and needs to be heavily pruned in the next few days. At the moment, it’s on a reprieve, as it’s covered in emerging Ladybirds.

Therefore, I’m looking for all things rosemary-related on the net. I made a delicious batch of shortbread the other day, so am trying a batch of ROSEMARY SHORTBREAD BISCUITS this afternoon.

I play loose with recipes and exact quantities, and invariably tweak those I find online. This has Lorraine Pascale’s BBC recipe as a base and then a few extra things thrown in according to this Waitrose recipe. However, I went with the 50g/100g/150g split of sugar/butter/flours. It’s just easier to remember!

I pressed the mix between two small loaf tins and chilled in the fridge. I was going for fingers, but if anything, it came out a little too thick and I had to increase cooking time. Flavour-wise, I think it could take a lot more rosemary and zest. One for the chef, and the rest to be packaged with a sprig of sugared rosemary and taken to friends mid-week.