Six on Saturday - End of August 2024

 The month has galloped by and I have only half attended to the garden,  I really enjoy observing though and making note of a few things, and the benefit of writing up a weekly post is that I will have something to look back on, in future years.  It is also an opportunity to share ideas and gain inspiration or further insight by sharing via Jim's blog.  Jim has vast experience and is a great plantsperson and gardener, and more so each week holds us together.  

1. Origanum Bristol Cross gets the medal for the most beautiful and also most insect visited plant this month.  

Origanum Bristol Cross

This is the original plant along the path.  It is now getting a little large.  Last year I divided another clump up and moved divisions to other parts.  They have all taken and were rejuvenated by the experience, so later in September this clump will have the same treatment.

2. As I harvest from the very small kitchen garden area, I place cuttings and divisions direct into the soil there, rather than have various pots which I have to look after through the winter.  I started this a couple of years ago with great success, and it has been gathering space.  So far I have placed cuttings of  Pseudodictamnus acetabulosus and Salvia microphylla Cerro Potosi, and this is where other divisions like the origanum will spend their winter until repositioned or potted up to take to club sales once spring gets going.

This past week I have continued to do much cutting back particularly in the front 'Mediterranean' garden.  In the back garden a few plants have needed chopping back if anything so that any fresh growth is hardened off before the onset of wet and cold winter weather.

3. In the gravel garden this little allium is also a favoured plants with visiting insects. I really recommend you follow the link as it describes so much better than I could the beauty of this late flowering perrenial .  

Allium senescens ssp. montanum var. glaucum

4. A couple of years back my friend Jean pulled out a seed head from her jacket pocket and asked if I could do anything with it.  It had three seeds left and this is what is now flowering in the garden. Jean and new friend came to lunch recently and now cuttings have been taken and hopefully there will be a plant to give to Jean some time next year. I have other Dianthus superbus in the garden but this is a rather fine shape and colour.

Dianthus superbus

5. Pseudowintera colorata Red Leopard has been happier this year moved to a shadier corner of gravel courtyard area. I expect a move to the sunny side in a couple of weeks time with see the red colour come through.

Pseudowintera colorata Red Leopard

6. Definitely bronzy red and starting to show its flowers is the recently bought Pennisetum advena Rubrum.  It is now in a big pot and hopefully will overwinter happily. I'm certainly happy to have this lovely arching grass.

I think when the Pseudowintera pot gets moved across, they will look good together. 

First time semolina sub rolls

 I often seem to end up taking out  bread late in the evening...

The recipe and technique is given in Bake with Jack in his home baker's club.  And it is the touch of semolina on the outside before slashing and leaving to rise that make them a super little bun.  The recipe division of dough would give a very large sub, probably for sharing so I went for 140g of dough which is still on the very generous size for me.  I must put down chicken thighs and get on and try to follow Jack's technique for making a delicious sandwich filling. 

In a Vase on Monday Bank Holiday

 The late August garden is having a bit of a wobble.  With a small back garden the difficulty if juggling the balance of plants so that it looks interesting and healthy throughout the year, shows up deficiencies about now.  

Here two shrubs come to the fore for In a Vase on Monday.  The vase is the perfect small heavy bottomed Caithness swirl vase.

This Fuchsia in the garden is low growing and with it white bordered leaves with a blush of pink work beautifully to form an understory in the border. Fuchsia 'Tom West', still  in tight bud will gradually open over the next few days   As for the deep red many petalled and scented rose, these are the last of a flush of Munstead Wood.  Having looked up this rose I accidently learnt that Munstead Wood was bought by the National Trust last year.  

I am joining Cathy and friends and linking my post over at 'Rambling in the Garden'.

What a bonus for me for having made an effort to make and post this vase, not only am I able to join friends again after a few weeks, but I have come up for an idea of a holiday. It is not yet open but I shall follow the progress and hope the National Trust will respect the importance of this site. I can feel a garden themed holiday in the air for next year with RHS Wisley which is not far away.

Lunch at The Clockspire in Milborne Port

Friday date day saw us heading out to our pre-booked lunch.  It is our first time visiting The Clockspire restaurant at Milborne Port.  We have had a few locally based date day activities, and after enjoying our special meal at the Michelin starred restaurant within walking distance when we were staying on the Gower, I had booked this special treat.  

We arrived early, well it would not do to be late, so we took a little walk into the village first and enjoyed looking round The Church of St John the Evangelist.  There are some lovely early arches and generally well worth a visit.

Always on the look out for Angels

In the restaurant Mr S had views of this beautiful painting of trees and of course myself!

For myself I had the muscles starter and the most excellent of sauces, which were mopped up with the delicious sourdough bread.

Mr S had the beetroot starter 

We both opted for the chicken and roasted lettuce, and had ordered some extra veg.

Again we both went for the same desert: an orange curd desert, with tea and coffee with some chocolates etc.

The building which started life as the Village School in 1864, is beautifully decorated which lovely chandeliers hanging from the tall rafters.

There were some other options but I have singled out our choices.

SET MENU

(Available: Wednesday to Friday lunch and dinner and Saturday lunch only)

(Set Menu offer not available on Festive days/Bank Holidays)

 

STARTERS

Roasted beetroot, pickled blackberries, dressed beans, sourdough crackers (v)

Cornish mussels, crispy Jersey Royals, lemon, butter sauce

MAINS 

Chicken thigh Kyiv, grilled baby gem, cafe de Paris butter

DESSERTS

Orange curd, Italian meringue, grapefruit sorbet

3 courses £29

Optional wine flight: £15

 

Six on Saturday - 17 August 2024

 I started to read some of the posts for Six on Saturday and read a description of a 'stealth drought' on One Man and his garden trowel, and although it is a little late in the day, I felt I ought to get down and write a little about what has gone on in the garden this week. I am linking into Jim's post for SOS. 

1. Butterflies and moths have been visiting the flowers in the garden, and I happened to notice this one on the glass of the conservatory early in the week: The Brimstone Moth

Brimstone Moth

2. Last weekend we visited one of my favourite Herb Growers in Somerset: Glenholme Herbs.  Their garden is lovely and I came away with a few purchases including three Echinacea pallida plants.  Nothing quite like a bit of gardening retail therapy to lift one's spirits. I had admired these in their garden last year and was so pleased they had some for sale.  A couple of Rosemary Tuscan Blue, and a Panicum virgatum Sangria, and a Pennisetum advena Rubrum seemed to sneak in with them too.

I am hoping these will be fairly drought tolerant.  It definitely feels like a stealth drought. I need to rethink my attitude to the garden, and also consider how I will alter the garden to make it more pleasing to me, and a little less dreary at this time of the year.  

3. This diminutive Sisyrinchium E K Balls which I first got in 2021 has taken to being divided very nicely and does not seemed phased by the sun or the weather we have been having. Being a sterile hybrid is just keeps on flowering. I find its thin leaves and blue mauve flowers quite enchanting.

Sisyrinchium E K Balls

4. Eryngium Silver Ghost has been a magnet for any passing bees and is also one coping well:

5. Arum Italicum's leaves have died away and now the seeds are ripening.  I've cleared the surrounding area in readiness for the cyclamen coming up.

Arum Italicum seed heads ripening

6. And since we have had a good share of flying objects how about this lovely Jersey Tiger Moth, which has probably been feeding on the large nettle patch just the other side of the garden wall.

Jersey Tiger Moth

As I found it when walking down the path, I was able to turn the dead moth over and here to reveal its lovely orange coloured under wings.

The stealthy fruit robbers aka Pesky Squirrels have now taken all the Darcy Spice Apples, and they must be strong as they are very difficult to detach from the tree

 

Simple Teacakes

 A simple 'un enriched' teacake, ie no milk or egg, or zest or peel, just a little sugar, currants and raisins and some cinnamon, from Home Baker's Club.  I made 10 x 110g dough buns  Very tasty toasted and I chose to top my buttered one with this season's home made Apricot Jam.  Our treat for Friday Bun Day.  Eight are in the freezer now, pre sliced so that they can come out of the freezer straight to the toaster.

They remind me of the buns baked by my Grandma when I was young.

Six on Saturday - 10 August 2024

The garden feels to me as if it is in the doldrums, and maybe I am too.  August is not the best month in my garden, the roses are over but waiting for their next flush, I haven't grown any traditional annuals the real autumn beauties are yet to shine, but the vegetables such as they are in my tiny veg patch are doing well.  There will probably be far more positiveness over on Jim's post where others gather too to chew of the cud of what six things they want to talk about concerning their gardens.  

1. Clematis 'Purpurea Plena Elegans' is finally reaching its purpose of clothing the bay tree with it beautiful many petalled purple flowers.  

2. With the fine cobwebs which to me spells the year advancing towards autumn, the plants too don't quite know what the season is as with this Primula auricula.  It is nearly time to split them and repot.

Talking of repotting, I decided that watering and looking after the individual pots of geraniums was getting a pain, and earlier I potted similar colours together in larger pots and hope with with fresh soil around the roots, they will fare a little better in the hotter weather to come.

3. Crepis incana is looking good.  This Greek perennial plant has pink flowers borne on branched stems which rise up from soft grey green lobed leaves. I had grown this a few years ago and then lost the plant, this one was obtained and is its third year in the garden.  It is like a many branched many petalled pink dandelion.  It is quite rare as the flowers do not seem to be fertile or need many plants in order for the cross pollination to work. However, having said that, we have plenty of bumble bees around, and I may let a stem set seed and have a go, why not?

4. Astilbe Chinensis Pumila has struggled with the hot dry weather and it has not been watered.  Next year as it emerges, I shall give it a good dressing of compost in the hope of making the soil more moisture retentive.  Just about one week in flower and with the hot dry weather it is already past its peak as it was in this picture taken a couple of weeks ago.

5. Today I cut down all the ripe pods of the self sown poppies.  I like to harvest the seed to use in my baking.

6.  Catching the low evening sun the flowering dill, I don't mean it is a special flowering dill, but a dill plant that has gone to seed, the hot weather has caused the bolting. It has just the colour of green which is one of my favourites. 

To finish again on the subject of roses, I need to work out what to do to make my roses grow stronger stems rather than the thinner weaker ones.  One of my shrubs of Grace is dwindling year on year, maybe I need to up the feed regime.  Any advice would be appreciated.

That's it for now, it is getting late and instead of bouncing off the computer for breakfast as usual, it is now coming up to dinner time. 

Smoked Chilli and Fennel Meatball Sandwiches

 Yesterday evening we sat down for supper, and we just needed a glass of beer to make this complete.  

I had prepared the meat balls in the morning together with its sauce, following Jack's recipe in the Home Baker's Club.  After ten years of watching Jack on YouTube, I paid my annual fee and joined Bake with Jack Homebaker's Club, and have learnt so much.  With his real time demonstrations he has plenty of time to pass on all those tips and expertise gleaned over his years of working as a chef.  

The amusing thing to me is as a good home cook for many years this is the first time I have made meatballs or even eaten them.  With their spices and minced pork these were the most delicious of things, and won't be the last meatballs I made.  I got 24 from the mixture, which will make us three meals.  I did not have any Smoked Chilli Flakes, so used some of my own dried chilis and some smoked salt that I have had lying around for yonks and did not know what to  use them in.  

Another new to me ingredient was Emmental melted....we don't tend to use cows cheese, but had had some on holiday and a little now I felt would be OK. There were two slices each side of the meatballs and the finished article certainly makes a very pleasing meal.

At first I thought it was strange adding 100g bread crumbs to 500g minced pork, but Jack explained that the bread crumbs absorbed all the juices which normally would flow out.  It just happened that one of the baked buns weighed around 100g and was blitzed to make the crumbs.

These 'sandwiches' was one of Jack's ....with bread recipes, to pair with the Hot Milk floured buns. Again with clear demonstrations and explanations all along the way.  

Mr S was quite aggrieved when one bun ended up as breadcrumbs.  These soft white buns are absolutely delicious, and as consolation he had one for his breakfast this morning!  The other buns and meat balls in tomato sauce are now in the freezer. These are ideal for a great bacon bap, and I may well have the meatballs with pasta another time.