January Bliss

Amaryllis Alfresco

Russian Blues Merlin (l) and his Mum Delia

Tasty & colourful salad from my potager today

My tree is still there to brighten up my day

Harvested last October and still going strong

Winter Jasmin

Colour your garden with vegetables

The potager today

. Hellebore Emma, named after my beloved Russian Blue kittycat

Cheap and cheerful!

Witch hazel

The greenhouse lives up to its name

Jeeves taking a snooze in my toasty greenhouse

January dull and grey? Cold even?

Not today! During a sunny spell temperatures reached an almost summer-y 17.6 C (63.68F) in the unheated greenhouse.Not bad eh? Jeeves & I spend a pleasant few hours there, he mostly snoozing, me mostly pottering. So you see, a colourful and gardening filled January is possible. Sometimes!

Before I forget: a very happy and healthy New Year to you and yours! XXX

copyright 2012 Y.E.W. Heuzen

Christmas 2011

Merry Christmas from all of us at Bliss: Vita, Pippa, Dolly, Willow, Delia, Merlin, Surprise, Kadootje, Macavity & Jeeves, doggy Tara and me. XX

copyright 2011; Y.E.W. Heuzen

Capering Capers, Batman!

Comedy culinairy capers are very easy to make and you do not even have to have a Capparis spinosa aka a Caper bush growing in your garden. Just plain old Nasturtiums will do. You do grow them, don't you? Nasturtiums are dropdead gorgeous,

even more so when you add a beautiful Maine Coon kittycat like my Dolly Daisy into the mixture, and by doing so crank up the comedy capers content a notch or two.

 Nasturtiums can be very in your face colour-wise but subtle as well.

 Tasty they are too, both the leaf and the flower will spice up your salad, so not growing any Nasturtiums in your garden or on your balcony is definitely of the sense that is non.

In short: grow Nasturtiums! And make capers out of them, the seed pods that is coz it's soooo easy. Here's the recipe:

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup Nasturtium Seeds (still firm and green)
• 1 Cup White Wine Vinegar
• 1 Teaspoon Salt (or to taste)
• 5-8 peppercorns (slightly crushed)

 

Preparation:

1. Rinse and drain the nasturtium seeds and blot them well on paper towels.
2. Pour the seeds into a 1 pint canning jar.
3. Bring the vinegar, salt and pepper to a boil and pour over the seeds.
4. Seal and refrigerate the jar and let them sit for about 3 months. Then enjoy!

The basic recipe is very simple. You can use them as is, on salads and in vegetable and fish dishes. Or you can create your own blend by adding a few additional spices.
To spice things up try adding: A clove of smashed garlic, a pinch of celery seed or pickling spice, a couple sprigs of thyme or a bay leaf.

copyright 2011 Y.E.W. Heuzen

Splash!

After waiting for 10 years, I finally have my pond. Huzzah! *does Snoopy Dance Of Joy* Next up will be fish, I cannot imagine a pond without them. I've missed the fish in my old pond very much as the little whatsits ate out of my hand. That's right, not only am I a cat whisperer and a dog whisperer but a fish whisperer as well. *takes bow* What can I say? I love animals and the feeling, as they say, is mutual.

copyright 2011 Y.E.W. Heuzen

An Utterly Delicious Fence

What a difference the new fence makes. Where once there was an extremely ugly and very, very large Leylandii hedge there is now a fence. An edible one. Pretty too.

Before

After

All in all, the bit of the fence that borders the potager is about 20 meters long and in a strip of soil that's no more than 40 cm wide there grows an amazing amount of stuff. Most of it edible, some of it just because it's pretty and sometimes both.

Since June I've been harvesting purple runner beans

and lately yellow ones too, all growing against my new fence.

Nasturtiums are running riot,

pumpkins, sunflowers and hollyhocks are reaching for the sky,

s

Zinnias trying their hardest to fry your optic nerve,

sugar snaps melting on your tongue .....
In short this new fence of mine is a wonder to behold, taste and smell.

Smell? Of course there is scent, this is Bliss, don't you know? The Sweet Peas have been having a scented ball for months now, not only in the potager but in the house as well.

It's simply amazing how much you can grow up against a fence in a bit of soil no more than say 8m2: pumpkins, hollyhocks, sunflowers, nasturtiums, fennel, red & white currants, raspberries, sweet peas, sugar snaps, Italian runner beans, purple runner beans, yellow runner beans  and inbetween all that zinnias, beetroot, lettuce, lady's mantle, ivy and even the odd weed or two.

Who in his or her right mind would want a Leylandii hedge or a plain wooden fence when you can have all this instead? So what are you waiting for Constant Reader? Get cracking and create your very own edible & delightful fence.

copyright 2011 Y.E.W. Heuzen