Gardening Matters

If I eat another one I’ll burst…….

I have been picking strawberries for about five hours now and the novelty of the delicate red fruits is beginning to wear off. I am fourteen and a group of four friends and I have cycled fifteen miles to a strawberry farm to make a bit of money as a rather short lived summer job (we didn’t have turf to get in) …I’m not doing very well though, as I have only managed to collect a punnet to hand in, in exchange for hard cash. The rest of the fruit is either in my stomach or on my trousers.
On a good day….
To give you an idea of what can be achieved at these farms; on a good day you could collect about fifty punnets and get enough money to spend on luxuries for the rest of the week. Our plan was to get the wages and then head on to the Wrangler Factory on the way home and buy a pair of jeans each. However, I have nothing to show for my labour other than a sore tummy, having fallen foul of the temptation of free eats. The rest of the lads are in the same boat.

We’ve had enough, in more ways than one, so we walk on the gaps in between the plants down the hill to the woman who is sitting behind a big wooden table at the entrance. I hand over the single punnet to the woman, as do my friends. These are met with a sour look of irritation and a mumble under her breath about not being able to get reliable staff anymore. It’s our first and last day at the strawberry farm as she tells us not to bother coming back tomorrow. That suits us….I don’t want to look at another strawberry until next year anyway.

The woman looks at the strawberries which were not the best quality and with barely disguised disgust, informs us that they were hardly representative of the farm so we may as well keep them. She hands over no money. We beat a hasty retreat, jumping on our bikes and heading off into the sunset down the road. As we were fed up to the eyes with strawberries the only thing left to do was to use the ones we had just been given as projectiles at any wall that was white enough to show the splattered fruit in all it’s glory, the occasional passer by got a taste too. It was very wasteful and irresponsible, but immense fun all the same.

Just a bit seedy…
I do still like strawberries though, even after the excesses of my youth and have them in the garden. We celebrated one year in our house this week and even though the strawberry plants were uprooted last year and re-planted, they have given us a good crop. We even have the wild alpine type hiding under the shrubs, which are sweet and juicy but a bit seedy, and some more of them growing from seed that won’t fruit this year. I have seen a lot of strawberries over the years but my lad has just come in with the biggest one I have ever seen today….It’s a whopper, and I must say probably one of the ugliest strawberries I have seen in my life….
Who are you calling ugly?
What exactly makes a fruit or vegetable ugly? There are gourds actually called Ugly Fruit, but they are so colourful that they are used as table ornaments. Occasionally we get an odd looking carrot or a potato that looks like baboons bottom, but none of those are what we would call ugly. Odd perhaps, but not ugly.

The factor that probably makes us think that certain fruit and veg are ugly is when we humanise them and give them personalities as we see faces. It’s our nature to find human form in things. My brother used to show me faces in the wood grain on the wardrobes in our bedroom at night, then scare me with stories of blood and gore. This would then result in me having to pay him to sleep securely in his bed for the price of my weekly pocket money…I had nothing to spend for years.

This strawberry that I am on about has the angriest grimaces on its face and gave me the impression it’s looking for a fight. It didn’t put up much resistance though…it was chopped up and drowned in orange jelly then put in the fridge ready for teatime.

If it had arms and legs it would have fought back I’m sure.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Dirty hoes

Photo: Just in…my two hoes will keep me occupied in the garden for quite a while…..

FIRST DAY ON THE JOB
I have just left school and started my first job as a parks gardener for the local council. “There’s a patch of ground just near the pavilion that needs a bit of attention.” Alex, my co-worker tells me as he gives me my first job to do. “It’s a bit of a right of passage as it hasn’t been touched for years.” He continues.

Alex wasn’t joking. We walked over to the spot in question to see that in between the shrubs and dotted perennials there are mountains of creeping buttercup, nettles and ground elder. “If you can clear that, you are one of the boys.” He tells me walking away to concoct more ingenious ways to build up his productivity bonus whilst drinking tea in the cricket pavilion. I was happy with the arrangement as some of my friends started working in engineering companies and their induction ceremony consisted of far worse treatment, usually involving the nether regions and copious amounts of old grease…...

I try to pull out the unwanted plants with my bare hands, but they have too much of a hold on the ground. More drastic measures are needed. I decide to head over to the shed for some tools.

COMPANY VEHICLE
I jump onto the works tractor that was offered to me to get around the park. The tractor was actually a ride on mower with the blades taken off and a 5foot by 3 foot trailer attached to house all of the grass clippings, tools.

I start it up and set off to the shed and soon have the trailer filled up with a spade, shovel, hoe, mattock and anything else that I could lay my hands on to make my life a bit easier. I soon get distracted from my quest on the way back to the unruly bed. It’s the summer holidays and the park is full of young children looking for a bit of excitement.

EGGED ON

“Hey mister.” A young lad stops me by jumping out in front of the tractor. “That bloke over there (he points to Alex, who is sunning himself near the bowling green and scribbling tall tales onto his bonus sheet) always lets us on the back of the trailer…. go on, give us a ride.”
This is pre- health and safety common sense for me so I find myself saying yes without much persuasion. Within a second the trailer has six very excited young lads in it who have just appeared from no-where. They are all scrambling around for a bit of room. I am powerless and continue down the park paths on the company vehicle.

“Faster!” I am being egged on. “Come on mister…we usually go loads faster than this.” I put the machine into top gear and put my foot down…. this is fun. The lads love it, there’s a lot of whooping and hollering as we feel the wind in our hair.

All is well until the final corner. There is an almighty crashing sound from behind me. I hear screaming and look around. The mix of tools and top-heavy children have pushed the trailer to its limits and over it went. I stop and run behind to see that the tools are not damaged…. It’s my first day - and I don’t want to get into trouble.

NEW DELIVERY
I have just been testing put my latest new tools, which is why these memories have been awakened. It’s not very often that I splash out on new things so it’s a bit of a ceremony when I do. I have bought two hoes, one for small areas around the developing plants and a larger oscillating hoe for clearing larger areas. Both have fantastically sharp edges for a clean cut and extra long handles so that I can work without bending my back. John and Mary from Greenhill Farm in Malin sorted me out with them and they should last a lifetime as long as I don’t use them for prizing rocks out for the ground. The sharp edges slice cleanly through the stems of the unwanted plants and I have just left them on the soil surface to dry in the sun and let the worms take them.

It’s always a good idea to buy the best tools you can afford. There are a lot of substandard tools available and some are actually dangerous as they are not strong enough to do the job. Even good tools will need looking after so after use, clean them and hang them up if possible so they are out of the way, especially if there are children about…. sometimes the two don’t go together very well…….

Monday, July 6, 2009

BLACKCURRANTS

OUR OWN LOCAL SUPERFOOD.

I’m picking our blackcurrant bushes today. It’s been a really good year for fruit and one type that really does well in our climate is the blackcurrant. Easy to grow in most soils and versatile, you will never be short of vitamin C if you have a bush or two in the garden.
Blackcurrants have been used in jams, juices, yoghurts, pies, wines and ice cream for a long time and have grown in Europe for over five hundred years. Herbalists used them since the middle ages to treat bladder stones, liver disorders, and blended into syrups for coughs and lung ailments.

Blackcurrants don’t just taste delicious, eating them can provide your body with vital nutrients and help to protect your body against loads of ills including cardiovascular disease and ageing.
Let me show you some of the fantastic things you can do with this Superfood that doesn’t have to travel the world for you to get its benefits….

BALCKCURRANT RECIPES
Here’s a Victorian recipe to start with;

Currant water.

Use a ratio of 3-1 of currants to raspberries. Crush them and press the juices out and add 2 pints of water with about 0.5 kg of sugar. Pour into bottles and as the recipe goes- stand them in iced water… We can just put them in the fridge….

More up to date recipes are:

Blackcurrant, apple and elderflower mix

This simple concoction is light, fruity and a perfectly refreshing drink for summer afternoons, full of lots of protective antioxidant power from the phytochemicals in blackcurrants and apples.
Ingredients for each glass:
· 45g fresh blackcurrants
· 160ml good quality cloudy apple juice
· 10ml elderflower cordial
In a nutshell: Press the blackcurrants through a sieve, leaving the pulp to go into the compost bin. Add the blackcurrant juice you have made to the other ingredients and stir them together.

Ooh it’s windy
This one is ideal drink to sip if you're feeling nauseous or have excess wind. Fennel is the ingredient in baby's gripe water that relieves flatulence. It is thought that the high level of certain acids in blackcurrants also help to inhibit the bacterial activity of Salmonella and E. coli, and enhance the activity of friendly Lactobacilli. It’s perfect for getting back on your feet.
Ingredients for each glass:

· 30g of fresh blackcurrants
· 180ml chilled fennel "tea" (made with 200ml hot water and 2 tsp fennel seeds, brewed for 10 minutes and then sieved)
· 2 tsp sugar
In a nutshell: Press the blackcurrants through a sieve, again leaving the pulp. Stir the blackcurrant juice you have made into the fennel tea, and add the sugar.

Build you up
This drink contains a quarter of the RDA of calcium, so is perfect for helping to strengthen your bones. The probiotic yoghurt can also help to ease minor digestive troubles whilst the vanilla is incredibly soothing too.
Ingredients for each glass:
· 30g of blackcurrants
· 120ml vanilla flavour probiotic low fat yoghurt
· 80ml apple juice
Directions: Press the blackcurrants through a sieve, leaving the pulp again. Add the blackcurrant juice you have made to the other ingredients and stir them together.
Blackcurrant Smoothie
Serves 1
· 115g/4oz fresh or frozen blackcurrants
· 1 small ripe banana
· 200ml apple juice
· 2 tbsp plain yoghurt
In a nutshell: Put all of the ingredients into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a glass and serve.
Blackcurrant Ice Cream
Ingredients:
· 250 g blackcurrants
· 3 tbsp orange juice
· 1/2 cup + 1 tsp (75 g) 3 oz icing sugar (confectioners sugar), sifted
· 284 ml whipping cream blackcurrants and whipped cream to decorate
Cooking Instructions:
1.Puree the blackcurrants and orange juice, then stir in the icing sugar.
2. Whip the cream until fairly thick and fold into the blackcurrant mixture.
3. Spoon the mixture into a 500 g loaf tin. Cover with cling film or foil and freeze until firm
4. Turn out on to a plate and decorate with blackcurrants and whipped cream before serving.
Serving Amount Serves 6…OR 3 if they want loads….
BLACKCURRANT FACTS
· Blackcurrants promote antioxidant activity. They also have high concentrations of the beneficial nutrients of Potassium, Magnesium, Iron, Calcium, Vitamins A and B amongst others.
· Blackcurrants are especially rich in Vitamin C - containing more than three times as much as an orange.
· Blackcurrants can even help prevent joint inflammation, eyestrain and urinary infections.
BLACKCURRANT TIPS
· Make Blackcurrant tea: Dry the leaves and add to your normal tea or use a few fresh leaves.
· Birds can be a problem. Various make-shift ways of preventing fruit damage by birds have been concocted over the years but none works as well as a fruit cage.
· Harvesting and Storing Blackcurrants. Blackcurrants are ready for harvest when the fruits are very nearly black. Always try and pick them in dry conditions - wet blackcurrants store very badly and will quickly go mouldy. If the intention is to store the currants for a few days, it's best to pick an entire truss, which will keep for longer. Blackcurrants will keep best dry in the fridge and will last for five or six days.

Gardening Matters

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Eco Domains for sale

Eco Domain Names for sale

Sunday, July 19, 2009

STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Dirty hoes

Monday, July 6, 2009

BLACKCURRANTS

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