The recent hot weather has been really nice but no rain, that’s creating problems for the garden and allotment. The back border, around the pond, had loads of forget me knots, and although they are pretty after a while, they have to be lifted as they swamp the perennial plants in there. They have had a good chance to reseed, later on we will see those seedlings, ready to flower next year. I learnt that the flower, has a yellow circle on its petals, when there is no nectar it goes white. Bees know this, so save time by not wasting effort going in those flowers. After clearing them, I put a mulch of well rotted farmyard manure that we sell at the store. I bought a few plants to fill some gaps and move dahlias that I have been growing on to try and avoid the slugs. We have some nice iris, and self seeded Welsh poppies too.
At the allotment, things are growing, I have been watering well every few days. Bindweed is still showing its hand. But I am keeping it down as best as I can. I have decided that in the winter I will rebuild some of the old raised beds and replace the rotted wood and use this as an opportunity to remove the bindweed under and in each of those beds. But the first produce! A single radish.
In a few weeks, the Pak Choi will be ready, it’s done really well. Next year I will try and grow it from seed in the greenhouse and plant in the raised beds again.
We are a little further forward in identifying the trees, I know one is a cooking apple, it has had loads of blossom and tiny fruits on it now. I think there is another apple and two pears, both doing well. One tree had no blossom and therefore no fruit, that might go I think. Another is possibly a plum, there is also a cherry, but not many small cherries on it. I might prune both this winter and hope I can bring them back to better cropping in future years. The fruit currants all needed severe pruning in the winter and will fruit next year I think on the new growth. While showing my friend around the plot, we spotted a huge hole, that’s now been plugged. The brassicas in the new raised beds are doing better, than the ones in the old beds, that is no surprise, those new beds have new manure/compost in them.
I was invited to a surprise birthday party, and we were all asked to bring something , so I elected to make a cake. I spent ages looking for something suitable and decided on a Mary Berry Chocolate Orange cake. It’s made of two sponges and it’s all covered with a Ganache icing. The Ganache icing is made of chocolate and cream, heated to melt the chocolate and then spread in two layers, leaving time for the first layer to harden before the top coat is added. It’s probably a bit like plastering a wall, as the icing goes slightly hard fairly quickly. I bought the coloured letters, the orange peel was simmered in water with sugar . The icing should have a bit more shine to it, but experience counts I think.
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