Holiday Wreaths - Make your own

I think I’ve covered most of the Christmas bases over the last few weeks. We’ve covered trees, houseplant gifts, outdoor colour, nuts and vegetables. That leaves us with just two topics to complete the Christmas festivities. How do decorate the dinner table and adorn the door with colour to welcome visitors. 

The Table

I like the idea of having colourful displays on a large table and there are plenty of ideas out there. We tend to put a few candles around the food dishes but they are very impractical and make reaching over the table to pick up the bowl of sprouts a dangerous mission. It usually ends up with someone getting scorched or at the very least singing their arm hairs. Some candles are disguised as birch logs which look attractive even when unlit and are a lot safer.

There are more practical things we can put on the table that doesn’t need a health and safety warning.  A few flowers go well in a centrepiece, especially the red and white roses and amaryllis. If you can’t find anything to suit try mixing some offcuts of pine twigs from the tree mixed with shiny baubles or crackers. Holly is always a favourite, especially with the berries in place. Dried orange segments go well and pine cones sprinkled with a bit of glitter always impresses. 

If you plan ahead you can get a wide array of fresh flowers from the shops or get dried flowers to add to the displays, you can mix these up with eucalyptus leaves or even some bay. We went to a wedding recently and the place names were written on small stones in gold glue pen and looked very pretty. This idea could be used but seeing as you’ll no doubt know everyone at the table you could put Christmas messages on them. How about a small poem or pearl of wisdom?

‘As green sticks hissed and spat into the ashes

And whatever rampaged out there couldn’t reach us,

Firelit, shuttered, slated and stone-walled.’

Glanmore Revisited (Seamus Heaney)

Maybe I’ve gone a bit off topic here and I might start suggesting we shovel in a few bags of fire ash  around the placemats from the garden so I’ll move on to door decorations.

The Door

Like our table, the door will be decorated mainly by things we have growing in the garden. A simple wreath can be made from twisting thin sprigs of willow together and then filling up with leylandii or Christmas tree offcuts again and then mix in holly, ivy and anything else that’s colourful. You can wire just about anything to the display to brighten it up. One of my favourites this year has ornamental goldfish attached to various pinecones sprayed white all wrapped around a heather stem circle. I’m not sure why it works; it’s maybe because it’s something a bit different. Artificial berries can be added too if you don’t have access to real ones. They last longer too and won’t drop off and be trodden into the carpet as guests arrive.

The wreath doesn’t have to be round either. Try making a star shape, it’s a bit more involved but can be a very dramatic piece. Try cineraria for a real silver look if you have some in the garden, this plant would also look well on the table centrepiece.

I’ve also seen quite a few wreaths made entirely from baubles this year you and if you don’t have time to go into the garden and make something up, this is always an option. 

All that is left for me to do is to wish everyone a very happy Christmas whatever you are doing. Remember if it all gets too much for you with the comings and goings then there’s always the grass to cut. That should at least get you outside for a while for a bit of peace and quiet. If you don’t have family to entertain then there’s still grass that could do with cutting.

Going Nuts at Christmas - And the Annual 'Get Rich Quick' Festive Idea

I had this great idea for making money from live plant last Christmas. It was yet another one of my “get rich quick” schemes that somehow has been taken away from me. It’s strange how I have these ideas and then the next thing you know someone on Etsy has the identical stuff. Either the universe has the ability to extract my ideas and give them to someone else so I don’t have to bother doing it or maybe there’s no such thing as a new idea and I saw it myself somewhere else. Or I talk too much.

  Whatever the reasons are I don’t mind because it frees me up to think about my next scheme.

What was the idea? I hear you ask. Well, I thought I could attach an air plant to an old smoking pipe (There are a lot of them about not being used now) and then stick this to an old vintage smoking tobacco tin. Hey presto a work of art, right there on your mantelpiece. I have thought of a few places to stick air plants but this one appealed to me more than a lump of driftwood.

There were two main problems though. The first is that most repurposed pipes really smell of stale tobacco, which doesn’t wash off. Secondly most air plants eventually die off which would leave the aforementioned smelly pipe sat on an old rusty tin on the mantle. Which isn’t exactly a work of art. You can get new pipes for 2 euro these days but where’s the fun in that?

Tiger Nuts

I was watching the UK version of Dragons’ Den last week and saw a bloke making milk out of Tiger Nuts (cyperus esculentus), which brought back a few memories of my childhood.  We always seemed to have a bowl of them in the house around Christmas and they made a really enjoyable snack. I missed the boat on making these a get rich quick scheme as I was a bit too busy polishing the lump of coal I got in Santa sack to think about anything entrepreneurial.   

These almost forgotten edible tubers have been cultivated for thousands of years and are generally considered weeds in most countries. They are also called water grass as they can be found growing next to rice and peanut farms. They have a distinctive sweet/nutty flavour and can be made into a milky drink or soaked in water before eating. They have a high oil content too so can be processed as well. The tuber is rich in energy content (starch, fat, sugar, and protein) and has a few minerals thrown in so it won’t be long before someone markets them as a “Superfood” It makes good fishing bait too.

 

Nuts

Nuts are a great snack and table decoration at Christmas, especially if you have a display of nuts that are still in their hard shells.  Peanuts (which are legumes that grow underground) are probably the most popular to have in a bowl at Christmas have a soft dried pod you can break open with your fingers (called monkey nuts). These give you something to occupy your hands instead of trying to smoke a pipe filled with an air plant and are great for popping open and eating as you witness a family member talking rubbish after too many cans of lager (other drinks are available) 

If you don’t have a nut allergy there are plenty more varieties to choose from. Some of the hardest shells like walnuts have a tendency to shatter into a thousand pieces when the nut crackers are applied. Try turning that into a game for the family, pick up a piece and after popping it in your mouth decide if its “Nut” or “Shell” The one with a tooth remaining is the winner. Walnuts are high in omega3 which can turn them rancid which increases the tension of the game. 

Christmas Nuts

Here are a few more gentle nuts to chew on

Almonds

Almonds have more fibre, protein, and other nutrients than any other nuts.

Brazil Nuts

Rich in selenium which helps digestion. Just the job for Christmas

Cashews

These sprout from the bottom of a cashew apple, the fruit of a tropical evergreen tree. Because their shells contain powerful, irritating oil, they are always sold shelled.

Hazelnuts

Mostly grown in Turkey, hazelnuts pair well with chocolate and coffee and are used in spreads.

Pecans

An especially high fat content helps give pecans their rich, creamy, buttery taste.

Pine Nuts

Also called piñon or pignoli nuts, these small, teardrop-shaped nuts are harvested from pine cones.

Pistachios

Originating from the Middle East, these nuts are high in calcium. The green colour is the result of chlorophyll that develops as the seeds grow.

All of the above go well with raisins.

Planning Ahead for the Christmas Dinner

How are you for planning ahead?  

When do you start thinking about the Christmas dinner?  I generally only think about it the day before when I have a bucket load of spuds to peel.  If you are organized and want to produce a lot of the vegetables yourself there will need to be a bit of forward planning. I should say there will be LOADS of forward planning as some vegetables you will need to plant in February to April to have them on the festive table.

One of my favourite accompaniments for the meal is bread sauce. It’s one of those simple things we can make and like pancakes for example, we only think about it once a year- which is a pity as they too are delicious.  (You can get Dairy, wheat and gluten free products too)

Most vegetables in a traditional meal are readily available in the shops all year but what make them special for me are those small accompaniments. Cranberry sauce, 4 different types of meat, a vegetarian option is added to the plate too. Instead of the regular brussel sprouts we’ll add sunflower seeds and breadcrumbs (at least I think that’s what they are as my mother in law puts those together.

 

Grow Your Christmas Dinner

A lot of the home grown veggies don’t need any special embellishment (apart from gravy of course) Here’s a list of the main types we can grow ourselves.

New potatoes. These are usually suggested first on the list of grow your own for Christmas but I have found them quite difficult to produce. I find they aren’t really new potatoes as such, just very small old potatoes. But that might be the type I grow. I have been known to put some tubers in a tub in late summer and dig them up later. 

Brussels. These are in the ground a long time and can get loose looking (like a baby open cabbage) depending on the variety. They are one of the most popular veggies to grow for winter.

Kale and broccoli. My two favourites. I’ll happily eat these all year. The cold has sweetened up the leaves and as the cabbage whites weren’t around this summer we have an abundance of fresh leaves to boil up. I’ll leave them alone after the new year for the plants to produce the lovely side shoots and spears.

Onions and shallots. These can be dug up and stored in nets for when you want them. They will be a very useful multipurpose bulb for the meal.

Celery. If you are making a soup for a starter, home grown celery will make a great addition along with the onions.

Red cabbage. I’ve never had red cabbage at Christmas and would normally pickl it but it does make a pretty addition to the plate.

Carrots. These can be dug up fresh or you can get early mature ones and store them if you want them to hand on the day.

Parsnips. Like carrots these can be dug up and put in the fridge ready for the day. If the cold didn’t get to them outside to sweeten them up then the bottom tray of the fridge will do the job nicely.

Cauliflower. I have never grown one successfully but if you do these small fluffy clouds can be used in small amounts and placed under the bread sauce… yummy.

You might have some squash or pumpkin left over in the fridge too and can be used in a soup as well as roasting.

Peas. These will probably be picked and frozen earlier and do freeze really. Runner beans freeze well to if you blanch them too and it’s handy to have a bag or two in the freezer.

My mother in law also makes Pavlova for Boxing Day which includes a lot of home grown fruit such as raspberries, strawberries and red currants. I don’t tend to eat that as the meringue sticks to my teeth but I will scoop off the fruit and put a huge dollop of cream on top. I’m sure we can add apple sauce to the list too.

There are probably a lot more vegetables to add to this list. Garlic, winter lettuce for the base of prawn cocktails or smoked salmon, swede or turnips as well but there’s only a limit to what we can get on the plate.

Remember to give the winter vegetables consideration when looking through the seed catalogues in January.

Festive Plants

I’m thinking about bringing in some pelargoniums into the house from the garden before the frost gets them as they are still in flower. I’ll be saving my rather nibbled, neglected cacti and succulents in too and sprinkle them with a touch of glittery festivity before placing them in the hallway. I like the contrast between the inviting glitter and the sharp spikes from the cacti. I really gives a mixed message to anyone knocking on the door. Is he friendly and fun or is he prickly and unwelcoming?   It normally depends on who calls around.

There are loads of festive plants we can buy to brighten up the house at this dark time of year and a lot of growers ensure we have plenty of colour.  There are both indoor and outdoor plants to choose from and some cope well on both sides of the glass.

Indoor Festive Plants

Azalea: Water carefully –keep the compost moist, keep cool, a hall or porch is ideal as long as the temperature is constant. Keep in bright, indirect sunlight. Can be put outside when the threat of frost has gone.

Christmas cactus: Water sparingly and keep slightly moist. They like it cool. The plants should flower for about six weeks. Try and keep the plant in one place once the buds have formed as they could drop off with the shock of it all. Will get bigger and better for next year with a bit or care.

Cyclamen: These plants do best if kept cool and kept in porches and conservatories. They tend to wilt in central heating, if they do dry out, stand the pot in tepid water and leave to soak. After the compost has soaked up the water shake off the excess water, hopefully the plant will recover. After flowering allow the corm, (the bulb bit in the middle) to dry out then store until late summer. Repot again in fresh compost and start watering.

Poinsettia: The fragile festive favourite: Again don’t overwater; keep at a cool room temperature out of draughts. They should flower for twelve weeks and even more if the leaves are sprayed with water and the pots are put on a pebble tray to increase humidity. Put the plants in bright light to keep the plant colour. 

Orchid: Increasing in popularity, these delicate-looking plants are not as fragile as they appear and will bloom for months with little care. Give them bright, indirect light. They generally prefer it on the cooler side indoors. Avoid sudden temperature changes, which cause buds to drop. Water once a week until water comes out the bottom of the pot. They're usually planted in a soil-less planting medium made from wood bark as this mimics their soporific environment in the trees.

Outdoor festive plants

 

Plants that flower at Christmas outdoors in the garden will help give the garden a lift and improve the view of the garden from indoors as well. You can even keep the plants in their pots and just bring them into the house for a day or two before planting them out permanently if you buy them near to Christmas.

Camellia sasanqua: These have a strong aroma and can flower from November until January.

Mahonia: These are tremendously easy plants to grow and many produce fragrant flowers, beautiful berries and shiny foliage in winter.

Viburnum bodnantense ‘Dawn’: A leafless shrub covered in flowers in winter is definitely a thing of curiosity and Viburnum bodnantense ‘Dawn’ is worth a close inspection. Walk up to this shrub in full bloom and take a deep breath of its sweet and delicious perfume. 

Winter heathers: Winter heathers are hardy, easy to grow, and unlike some winter flowering plants, their flowers last for many weeks even when sprayed with food colouring). 

Witch hazel: A glorious yellow colour. The name witch hazel comes from the word ‘wiche’, meaning pliable or bendy and the ‘hazel’ part refers to the plant’s leaves resembling those of the hazel (corylus).

Sarcococca: Known as the Christmas box or sweet box, Sarcococca are small shrubs with fragrant flowers and dark green foliage. 

Lonicera ‘Winter Beauty’: On gloomy winter mornings Lonicera ‘Winter Beauty’ is the perfect fragrant flowering shrub to add interest to your garden with little effort required.

Jasminum nudiflorum: Jasminum nudiflorum produces cheerful yellow star-shaped flowers brightening the winter garden. 

Helleborus niger: Known as the Christmas Rose, this is a low-growing evergreen plant which is perfect for brightening winter gardens with its attractive white flowers. It is named the Christmas rose because of a legend in which Helleborus niger sprouted from the snow where a young girl (who had no gift to give to the son of God) had been crying.

Hippeastrum (amaryllis)

The potted bulbs sold as ‘amaryllis’ at Christmas are really varieties of Hippeastrum. If you’re given one of these potted bulbs for Christmas, don’t be intimidated. It’s very straightforward to coax them from a bulb with a tiny green shoot to a towering plant producing large, colourful trumpets of flowers.