Toby Buckland – His New Plant Nursery

Tags

bare root plants, cottage garden, mycorrhizal fungi, online plant nursery, Powderham Castle, Toby Buckland, walled garden

Toby Buckland in his garden in Devon

The gardener, author and TV presenter Toby Buckland has a new project – he has set up an online plant nursery, but this isn’t just any other plant nursery. Toby wants to get people buying bare root plants, a more eco and wallet-friendly way to garden. In the first of 2 posts Toby told me a bit about his new nursery.

Most gardeners will have planted at least one bare root plant whether it be a rose, raspberry canes or hedging but how many have planted bare root perennials. I didn’t realise it was possible to treat perennials like this but according to Toby it used to be a popular way, prior to the 1960s, of acquiring new plants, digging up plants in their dormancy and swapping with fellow gardeners. Bare root plants can be planted between November and the end of February.

It is also a much cheaper way of purchasing new plants and kinder on the environment. With no plastic containers or compost, bare root plants can be up to a third cheaper than the potted version.

Toby says “It’s one for the early-bird, for gardeners who like to plan ahead. While putting this year’s borders to bed, gardeners are already thinking about next year. The advantage of planting bareroot in the dormant season is that roots have time to establish over winter, ensuring large, healthy plants next spring. Personally, I love the interaction planting bareroot offers. It’s the difference between buying a ready-meal and one you prepare and cook yourself. It might even go some way in helping reduce the estimated 500 million plastic plant pots we throw away in the UK each year.”

I love this idea, especially since my challenge for next year is to use less plastic in the garden.

Toby has specially selected a collection of roses that are good performers, even in difficult wet conditions such as the west of Britain. He has also used his extensive knowledge and experience to put together collections of his favourite perennials, some of which are great for wildlife and some to create special looks such as a naturalistic theme or a cottage garden look. Plants include Asters, Geraniums, Grasses and Sedums.

Outside of the bare root planting season Toby will be selling container plants. He says they are 98% peat free and are working on improving their own potting mixes.

Toby is also selling ‘Toby’s Planting Powder’ a mix of mycorrhizal fungi, biostimulants and nutrients to get your bare root plants off to the best start.

Toby’s nursery is based in the old walled garden of Powderham Castle in Devon and although the castle and grounds are open to the public Toby’s nursery will only be open for special events and talks. So keep a look out on his website for open days next year.

For more information go to Toby’s website http://tobybuckland.com/.

To come in the second post Toby answers a few gardening questions.

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Warming Winter Recipe – A Tasty Tagine

Tags

BBC, casserole dish, Great Food Revival, Matt Tebbutt, tagine, warming stew

The weather here is pretty miserable. High winds and torrential rain. It was fine this morning so I put some washing on the line and then went out. By the time I got back 2 hours later it was blowing a gale and raining. My washing was strewn across the garden and needed to go back into the washing machine. I got soaked bringing in some logs from the wood store and sorting out the recycling was interesting as a gust of wind lifted most of it out of the trug on its journey to the shed. So I was running around my garden chasing bits of paper and plastic before they were carried away on the wind.

I know the weather is bad in many parts of the country today so I thought I’d post one of my favourite recipes at the moment. A warming stew is just what is needed on days like this. Moroccan tagines really are just like our own stews but use an interesting mix of spices. I came across this recipe on last years Great British Food Revival on the BBC. The chef Matt Tebbutt was championing mutton and used it in this recipe.

Chicken tagine - not the greatest photo but it is very tasty

We’ve found it really versatile, cooking it with the suggested mutton and also lamb and chicken. It is so easy to make and really tasty. The preserved lemons might sound a bit strange but they add an amazing flavour to the dish.

Chicken Tagine Recipe– Serves 2 people

Ingredients

4 chicken thighs skin removed

1 can of tinned tomatoes

1 medium onion

300 ml chicken stock

1 preserved lemon

1/2 tsp coriander seeds

1/4 tsp cumin seeds

1 star anise

1 cinnamon stick

4 fat garlic cloves

To make

1. Chop the onion and gently fry in the bottom of a casserole dish until they are soft and translucent. We use a Le Creuset which can go directly on the hob but if you haven’t got a casserole dish that can go on the hob just do this bit in a frying pan and then add to the other ingredients in your casserole dish. You don’t need a special tagine pot, a casserole dish does the same job.
2. Crush the coriander and cumin seeds and then add to the onion, along with the tinned tomatoes, the cinnamon stick and star anise.
3. Remove the papery skins from the garlic and place whole in with the onion and tomato.
4. Wash the preserved lemon. Slice into quarters and remove the flesh. Then chop the rind up finely and add this to the casserole dish.
5. Finally add the chicken stock and chicken thighs. Give everything a stir and then put on the lid and place in a preheated oven at 180 degrees C. It should be ready in 1 and 1/2 hours.

You can see the mutton recipe at BBC Food. In our recipe we omit the saffron (too expensive) and the chillies (we don’t like them) so feel free to tailor the recipe to your own taste.

You’ll need to fish out the star anise and cinnamon stick before serving. If using lamb (we use shanks) you can scoop the sauce into a jug and then skim off the fat. You shouldn’t need to do this with the chicken.

We love to serve this with couscous and roasted Mediterranean vegetables.

 

The Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Tags

Andy Goldsworthy, Donna Wilson, Henry Moore, Jaume Plensa, the Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Alabaster Heads by Jaume Plensa at the YSP

On a trip up north last week for a Christmas present drop off to family we stopped off at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. I have to admit it was mainly because I’d discovered it had a nice place to eat and was just off the motorway. These places are hard to come by when you’re getting from A to B.

I’m a bit embarrassed at the number of times we must have driven past this place and never stopped off before. My previous experiences of sculpture parks generally haven’t been great. Some places have been damp squibs where we have been left wondering where the sculptures were and more often than not what were the sculptures. There is one near to us that is worth a visit but the YSP was a bit of a revelation.

The beautiful parkland of the Bretton Estate would make for a lovely walk in it’s own right with majestic trees and lovely views but the YSP use the parkland as an enormous outdoor exhibition space. Dotted through the grounds are sculptures including works by Henry Moore and Andy Goldsworthy.

Then there is the main complex with the excellent visitor facilities and indoor gallery spaces. The main exhibition on at the moment is by the Spanish artist Jaume Plensa. I hadn’t heard of him before but was blown away by his work. There were outdoor sculptures using the human body and this theme was continued in the indoor galleries. He managed to make me smile, made me jump and made me gawp open mouthed in wonder. The sculpture that made me smile was a 50 metre wall of metal letters suspended like a curtain. As you walk along the curtain and move the letters they make a beautiful noise like a windchime. From the youngest children to the oldest adults everyone had a smile on their faces as they walked past making the sounds. The sculpture that made me jump was the gallery that had a circle of large metal gongs which you could strike and fill the gallery with sound. Wellyman hit one of the gongs a little harder than he meant to and the sound created was incredible.

And the sculptures that made me gawp were a group of albaster carved human heads with light shining on them . This created an incredibly powerful and beautiful effect.

The other exhibition I loved was that of Donna Wilson who has been inspired by nature to create knitted sculptures. She was named Elle Decoration Designer of the Year in 2010 and her exhibition at the YSP is fun, quirky, bright and cheerful.

Alec Finlay Poem on display at the YSP

In the lee of the red brick walled garden is a greenhouse. Just a normal greenhouse that you might find in your average back garden. This is a work of art created by Alec Finlay called Propagator. Inside are terracotta pots arranged on the greenhouse staging. Planted in each pot was a plant label on which was typed a mesostic poem relating to a plant. I know I  hadn’t heard of mesostic poems before. It is where a vertical word intersects with horizontal words which relate to or describe the vertical word. I thought they were so quirky and interesting it made me want to incorporate something like it into my own garden.

I can highly recommend a visit to the YSP. It is only 1 mile from junction 38 of the M1 which makes it an excellent place to stop off, stretch your legs, see something different and the food at the cafe is excellent.

For more information go to http://www.ysp.co.uk.

The Jaume Plensa exhibiton runs until 22nd January 2012 and the Donna Wilson exhibition runs until 26th February 2012.

Wildflower Seed Winner

I would like to announce that Petra at the Oxonian Gardener has won the ‘Wildflower Seed Giveaway’. Congratulations, I’ll get them in the post to you this week. Look forward to hearing how they do.

Still no frost

Tags

Christmas, Clematis, frost, Hellebores, Mother nature, Primroses, Spring, winter

November flowering Geranium

They said we’d have a frost on Tuesday. It was saying 4 degrees C when we got back from swimming at 9.30pm and it was a beautifully clear night. We were convinced that on Wednesday morning there would be the final act of winter decline in the garden. But no, there was no sign of a frost and there are still Verbenas flowering and Heleniums and Geraniums. It’s December next week. A part of me wants the frost to come to allow the garden its seasonal sleep. It’s just unnatural to have these plants flowering now. What will happen to them in the Spring? Will they have the energy to put on a show then or will they be too exhausted by this strange autumn we’ve had? A Spring without Primroses, well that would be unthinkable.

The other part of me however, the part that doesn’t really like Winter, wants this mild spell to last as long as possible. Cheaper heating bills, washing drying on the line and tasty lettuce growing on the allotment.

I love a snow covered scene, the chance to make a snowman and the beauty of a frost covered countryside. But the snow never stays looking crisp and even for very long, we rarely have enough snow (the past 2 winters being the exception) or the right snow to make a snowman and living in Wales there seems to be less frost covered countryside and more soggy foliage and muddy paths.

But the weather is one thing we can’t control, even though as gardeners we want to. So there is nothing else to do but wait and see what Mother Nature gives us. Who knows maybe I’ll still be picking stocks from the allotment at Christmas.

Having read this post I’ve realised it sounds a bit melancholic so to leave on a more cheerful note. I was reading through my gardening diary last night and was heartened by my entry on Tuesday 11th January 2011. It reads:’ I do get so excited when I see new life appearing in the garden. Snowdrops at the back are appearing and big fat hellebore buds. Scraped back some grit on the bulb pan and there’s a bud there too. So the baby irises should come up. Loads of buds on the Clematis. I don’t know why but I always worry the garden won’t actually regenerate in Spring. So I go around poking and pushing back the soil in the hope I will find signs of new life. I also found big fat Dicentras buds. Yey!’

Book Review – Home-grown Harvest

Tags

allotment, Christmas, Home-grown Harvest, recipes, vegetarian cookbook

I’m always interested in finding new recipes, especially now that I have an allotment. Sometimes I just run out of ideas as to what to do with my produce. So I was particularly interested in this book, Home-grown Harvest when it arrived from the publishers.

The book is a collection of recipes designed to inspire people to use their home-grown fruit and veg in new and imaginative ways.

I liked how the book was divided up into sections which included ‘Root Vegetables’, ‘Fruiting Vegetables’ and ‘Tree Fruits’. Within each section there are several recipes for each of the fruit and vegetables mentioned. If, for instance you had too many courgettes (and who hasn’t been there!!) you could just go to that section and all the recipes would be together, rather than having to find the various recipes scattered throughout the book.

The book covers a good selection of ideas from main dishes and accompaniments to desserts and pickles. I particularly like the sound of the ricotta and cherry strudel, the apple and carrot bread with walnuts and a parsnip, chorizo and chestnut soup. The photography is gorgeous and everything looks yummy.

There are a few recipes that felt a bit like fillers. Most people who enjoy cooking have probably tried roast potatoes with some garlic and rosemary or roasted tomatoes. However, there are only a few of these and there are more than enough new ideas to interest the experienced cook. There are a good selection of completely veggie meals but it is by no means purely a vegetarian cookbook so will keep meat-eaters happy too. My main gripe was the sweetcorn, asparagus and goats cheese frittata. For a book promoting seasonal produce it seemed odd to include this recipe as it would be quite a feet to get asparagus and sweetcorn cropping at the same time!

I have yet to cook anything from the book but I am thinking of ideas for Christmas and I’m sure I’ll use some recipes from this book.

Thanks to Sarah at Ryland Peters and Small.

Available now from your local bookshop or on Amazon.

National Bean Pole Week

Tags

allotment, coppicing, garden, habitat management, National Beanpole Week, twiggy peasticks

Beanpoles (image from gardenstandard.com)

I have been thinking more and more recently about how I can garden in a more environmentally friendly way. I have been spending time on the internet searching for ways I can limit my impact on the environment. One of the ideas I have come across is using coppiced products in my garden and on the allotment.

Coppicing is a traditional way of managing woodland in Britain where trees are carefully cut to ground level and the new shoots that emerge are managed until they are the right size to be cut down again. I always thought it was only trees such as Willow and Hazel that were coppiced, but most deciduous trees and shrubs can be coppiced including chestnut and oak. However, the time between coppicings can vary greatly from 1-3 years for Willow and up to 20-40 years for Chestnut and Oak. Coppicing is an excellent way of producing timber without having to replant and it is also incredibly important way to manage habitats. The cutting down of trees in small areas of woodland allows light to reach the woodland floor encouraging herbaceous perennial plants to grow, this in turn supports a whole ecosystem of mammals, invertebrates and birds. As the shoots grow from the coppiced stumps the open glade is gradually shaded out but then in another part of the wood a new glade is opened up as a different section is coppiced. Creatures such as woodland fritillaries and dormice thrive along with bluebells and primroses. Unfortunately, Britain lost 90% of its coppiced woodlands during the 20th century (figure from http://www.beanpoles.org.uk).

This is where gardeners can come in. What gardener hasn’t got a stash of bamboo canes in the shed? I have, although I have never been much of a fan of bamboo. I appreciate it is an amazing plant that has many uses but it doesn’t really blend into a Welsh cottage garden. I have always been envious of various TV gardeners and their supply of Hazel poles or twiggy pea sticks but I don’t have any trees to provide me with these alternatives. Then I came across the website http://www.beanpoles.org.uk, which was set up to support the coppice business in the UK. The people behind the website want gardeners to buy locally grown, ecofriendly beanpoles instead of bamboo canes. By buying coppiced products you can support the local environment, wildlife, rural jobs and ancient skills and traditions.

To promote knowledge of coppicing and the products that can be purchased for the last 4 years there has been a National Beanpole Week. Next year this week is to be held from 21st April to 29th April. I have found a local coppicer who is holding special events during that week that the public can go along to and best of all I can get hold of my own supply of beanpoles and twiggy peasticks. Even better than just minimising my impact on the environment I will actually be helping it by supporting an important part of habitat management.

For more information and to see if there are any National Beanpole Week events taking place near you take a look at the following websites: http://www.beanpoles.org.uk/ and http://www.coppice-products.co.uk/.

Microgreens – Update

Tags

Christmas, microgreens, radish, salad cress, salads

Seed trays filled with microgreens

I posted a couple of weeks ago about growing microgreens for the first time. Well I just thought I would post an update on how they’ve done.

Despite the decreasing light levels I was surprised to see they germinated quickly and a week after sowing all the seeds had germinated. They grew quickly and less than 2 weeks after sowing I cut my first microgreens. You can cut them when they are about 5cms tall. I have found that the shorter days combined with a lot of dull weather has meant the seedlings have become very leggy. This isn’t really a problem though because I’m not growing them on to become proper plants.

So what do they taste like? Well they have a surprisingly strong taste. I didn’t expect things so small to pack such a punch. The radish in particular had a really good radish flavour and a good amount of heat and a kick that you would expect if eating a fully grown radish. It was quite strange. I used them just sprinkled on a salad.

Would I recommend trying them? Well I think its worth giving them a go, even if it’s just because you are able to grow something at this time of year. If you like salad cress then I think growing these are better because you are getting more variety of flavour and they all look a little different which looks more interesting. It does seem a little strange cutting these plants off before they get to make proper size plants but at this time of year they wouldn’t really grow much more anyway. So as a winter project they are ideal. At any other time of the year I think it would be a bit of a waste of seed though. You don’t need a lot because they have a lot of flavour which is just as well really if you wanted to feed a lot of people you would need quite a bit of space. I have 2 half seed trays on my kitchen window sill which will provide us with about 5-6 servings or should I say sprinkles.

I think they would be nice to do if you had a dinner party or maybe people round for Christmas and used them sprinkled over a starter or canapes.

I plan to try some more, maybe even mixing my own blends. I definitely like the idea of beetroot and herbs such as purple basil and coriander.

If anyone else gives them a go I would love to hear how you get on and what plants you’ve tried.

 

Grow Your Cut Flowers – Part Two

Tags

allotment, biennials, cold frame, cut flower patch, cut flowers, Sweet peas

I posted the other day about the successes and failures on my cut flower patch this year. In this post I thought I’d share with you my plans for next year. I’m getting excited already!!

Sweet Williams at the plot

Back in July I sowed some Sweet Williams, Sweet Rocket and some Honesty. These are all biennials, so you sow one year, they put on some growth and then the following year they flower. I love biennials, you can sow them between July and September, at an otherwise quiet time of the year. You then plant them up where you want them to grow next year and then they sit there through the autumn and winter tantalising you to the prospect of what is to come. If you’ve never grown biennials before and you’re worried about the state they’re in after the winter, don’t. Mine looked pretty sorry for themselves after last winters snow and minus 16 degrees C but they soon perked up when spring came.

I’ve also planted some bulbs, some Anemone coronaria and some Gladiolus colvillei ‘The Bride’.

This year I definitely lacked enough filler flowers and foliage so my plan for next year is to improve this. I found Alchemilla mollis to be a brilliant filler. It’s lime green flowers contrasted beautifully with so many other flowers and it lasted well once cut. An added bonus is that it self seeds very freely so I am moving little plants that have self sown in the garden up to the allotment and I am edging all around one of the beds with Alchemilla. In the centre will be the early flowering Gladioli and once these finish flowering I will have some later flowering plants waiting in pots to go in.

Hardy Annuals in my cold frame

I have sitting in my cold frame a whole array of hardy annuals that I sowed back in September in the hope I will be able to get an early supply of flowers. These include Scabious, Nigella, Orlaya and Bupleurum. Although the mild autumn has meant they have put on more growth than I would have liked. I just hope they don’t succumb to botrytis. But there’s nothing really lost if they don’t make it, I’ll just sow another batch in March and have slightly later flowers.

My main aim is to make the space work as efficiently as possible. Any flowers really have to earn their place, which means they produce over a long period of time and  have a good vase life. So with this in mind I won’t be growing any Calendula or Dahlias at the allotment. I love both but they just don’t last very long when cut. I’m sure I’ll be able to find a spot for them in my garden though. I’m trying some Larkspur next year and some annual Asters. The Zinnias I grew this year just flowered and flowered but it was a mix and some of the colours were difficult to use with other flowers so I think I will go for single mixes next year, there are some particularly beautiful colours in the Plants of Distinction seed catalogue along with a great choice of Antirrhinums. I will definitely be growing Didiscus ‘Blue Lace’ again, it took a while to get going but was so unusual.

Didiscus

And of course there will be Sweet peas. There vase life is not great but they produce so many flowers over such a long period and their scent is so amazing that they are a must. I had 3 teepees this year which was a good amount. There was a period when I had so many I couldn’t pick them fast enough and I was having to give them away at the allotment but nobody complained.

My netting support system with biennials waiting to grow up through it

I will also be extending my bean netting support system to a third bed. I only used it on 2 beds partly because of expense and partly because I thought the other plants (rudbeckias) would be strong enough to support themselves. And for most of the season they were but then we had quite a stormy patch at the start of September and the rain and heavy winds meant the plants flopped over and some stems broke. It’s always hard to resurrect plants after this has happened. Some I’m just going to bite the bullet and net the third bed.

Growing cut flowers this year gave me so much pleasure. I can’t wait to see what I can do next year. If anyone has any suggestions for great cut flowers let me know.

The Year of the Tree – My Crab Apple in November

Tags

bird feeders, blackbirds, crab apple tree, goldfinches, robin., The Year of the Tree, wren

Last month I wrote a post about the blog The Tree Year, which encourages people across the world to blog about a tree that is important to them.  I chose to write about my crab apple tree. When I blogged in October about my tree the weather was beautiful and we were basking in an Indian summer. Today is completely different. It really feels like winter is only round the corner. The change in weather means our tree is now a home for bird feeders. We have one feeder filled with a sunflower seed mix and another filled with Nyjer seeds which are particularly tasty to goldfinches.

My Crab Apple Tree in November

I love the tree at this time of year. It becomes this great meeting point for so many birds. Starlings, sparrows, blue tits and great tits, chaffinches and robins. I spotted the first goldfinches of the year yesterday. Occasionally I will catch a glimpse of a wren flitting through the branches. Blackbirds love the tree, mainly because of the crab apples, they don’t seem bothered by the apples’ tartness. The harsh winters of the the last 3 years have meant I have been treated to some unusual visitors to the tree. Bramblings, fieldfares, redstarts, blackcaps and long-tailed tits have all kept me interested whilst I stare out over a snow-covered garden from my seat in the kitchen, clutching my warm cup of tea. I’ll venture outside in the hope I can get close enough to take some good photos but invariably the birds are spooked and fly off. Sometimes I’ll hole up in the shed doorway hoping the birds won’t notice me and will come to the feeders. Sometimes they do but generally I get cold and so I return indoors to watch them through the binoculars. I haven’t got the patience to be a wildlife photographer.

Blue Tit in Crab Apple Tree

The leaves are now starting to change colour and some are starting to fall from the tree but the apples, glowing red, will remain on the tree well into January.

Sparrows coming in for a feed

We had to have a birch tree removed from our garden last year and 2 trees in neighbours’ gardens have been removed this year, so I really appreciate my crab apple, the height and shape it creates, the perch and feeding point for a myriad of birds and the interest it provides in my garden throughout the seasons.