October 1, 2020 by gfreedman2013 - 0 comments

October 1st and autumn has arrived

Plenty of green tomatoes on the vines so it’s time to prepare the green tomato chutney

Slice the fruits and sprinkle with salt and leave for several hours. Tonight I’ll drain off the liquid, get out the preserving pan and get to work.

Jeremy brought four plump aubergines in from the poly tunnel. This year has produced the best crop of aubergines at The Gables to date.

September 30, 2020 by gfreedman2013 - 0 comments

More self seeded plants – too pretty to remove

There’s a field or two of borage in the village and the seeds have migrated to The Gables and settled in some of the raised beds. They have a medicinal use and the leaves are edible. Bees love borage and it makes for delicious honey. But I’ll just admire its blue flowers and pull it up when we need the space (knowing that it will have seeded itself elsewhere in the garden).

September 30, 2020 by gfreedman2013 - 0 comments

As we were decorating the Succah, across the sky flew a prehistoric looking winged creature

September 30, 2020 by gfreedman2013 - 0 comments

Three shades of blue and a purple

My companions on the Wednesday walk were all wearing something blue

We were talking so much that we walked past the footpath we needed to take and had to retrace our steps

As we walked back to the village the vivid purple flower of the common mallow caught my eye. Common but extremely regal

September 30, 2020 by gfreedman2013 - 0 comments

Cucumber cat and all the colours of the rainbow

Often mistaken by guests as rhubarb it’s actually rainbow chard – self seeded and overwintering and delicious cooked or in salads

September 29, 2020 by gfreedman2013 - 1 Comment

A beautiful late afternoon and some visitors from Bedford

We had a visit from a family who, some years ago, gave us some chickens and quails and a hand built hen house.

The green, hand crafted hen house that was gifted to us with the chicks that we rehomed

At the time the family lived in a house with a small garden. The children have grown and they have a new home with a very big garden and they can now keep and breed hens and ducks as well as grow fruit and vegetables. The dad has built a super deluxe hen house in the Scandinavian style. I want one!