Could we call this "middle winter"?

It is as if we get a bonus additional winter in the middle of the year? It sure as hell feels like winter - the wind has been crazy for over 2 weeks now, what hasn't been burnt by the wind, blown away, or washed away, is certainly not keen to grow much in this weather.

Coupled with getting a really shite haircut and I gotta admit I got the blues. Bad.  So apologies for the lack of posts, I'm wallowing in other blogs and nondescript chardonnay.

But I shall share this OUTSTANDING sun drenched recipe with you in case you are also feeling the wet weather pain.  Gran & Granpa Native have gone to Portugal. We declined joining them as Baby Native would probably have spent the whole holiday trying to leap bravely fearlessly into the ice cold pool from a high balcony.  So instead we had a mini Portuguese dinner party for two as a consolation prize. MYOHMY but these Portuguese tarts are better than their Lisbon ancestors!

While we're talking recipes & alcohol, I would have been very excited by these exquisite Elderflower cocktail recipes...... if all the local elderflower blossoms HADN'T BLOWN AWAY already!!!

Dream Gardens - Blair Estate, Dalry

Just before the storms really hit, and in a rare break from thundering rain, Baby Wild & I spent a great morning exploring the private gardens of the Blair estate in Dalry.  The castle dates back to 1105, & is the oldest continually inhabited mansion house in Scotland that has not been rebuilt, and is still privately owned by descendants of the founding family.  The gardens are normally closed to the public although you can walk around the grand estate all year round.  Once a year however the holds the Annual Garden Open day, a charity day raising funds for the SGS Charities, CLIC Sargent and The Glasgow Passion.  There are marquees hosting teas & coffees, a plant stall, kids face painting and home baking, but unfortunately we were too early for these!

I was keen to go simply to see what grew locally, as some of the plants I am trying to grow in my own garden are not doing well at all, and I am struggling to work out more exciting plants that will thrive in our weather.  In this respect the gardens let me down a little, as it stuck resolutely to traditional hostas, poppies, bluebells, peonies, beautiful rhododendrons etc. Although very beautifully planted with great care and consideration to location, there were few plants that I thought 'wow I need to get me some of that for my place!'.  There were a few exceptions of course, a few fabulous shrubs which I have not come across before, but overall this is clearly not the aim of the gardens - they are making best use of the grounds and landscape in a natural style.

So off we troddled, setting out early to try and avoid the inevitable rain.  We were the first to arrive which gave us the pleasure off having the gardens all to ourselves.  I thoroughly loved imagining living there myself and having such stunning grounds complete with swimming pool and the croquet lawn as my own playground!

 Baby Wild was nuts about the Bombo Burn (which was more of a torrent due to all the rain we're getting this month) so we spent quite a lot of time throwing leaves & sticks in from the quaint various bridges crossing at intervals.

 While I wandered around looking for the fossilised tree, dog's grave and other hidden treasures, Baby Wild could not be tempted away from the puddles, splashing around in her brand new wellies, as toddlers do I guess.

 I really admired how although overall the gardens are quite manicured, there is a great harmony between the cultivated and wild, growing alongside each other in complimentary colours.

Having spoken to both the owners of the estate and playing with their dogs, Baby Wild takes a break from the long walk on their door step.

Baby Be of Use

This fantastic book sums out how this weather is making me feel this week.  You can buy it here, as seen first by Jo.

We have great big winds and A LOT of rain, that have blown away my (lame) cold frame and flattened some of my baby veg. Those who survived are well & truly hardy now! I guess I'm a fair weather grower/forager as there ain't no way I'm going out there to thin no seedlings or search for morels!

And last week was all about getting the house and garden presentable enough for the annual Eurovision Song Contest party here - highlight of my calendar.  Go on - admit it - you watched it too.....

But did your toddler mix the martinis?

Where are all the blue bells hiding?

I thought we were supposed to have the best ever show of blue bells this year?

I have ONE solitary flower, and am so saddened that I am not even going to show you the poor lonely creature.

I love blue bells.  Has anyone else had this failure this year? Just as I was feeling crappy about being such a lame gardener I came across this stunning image, which made me feel even worse! Still, there are a few bluebells growing alongside the wild garlic round here, but no such displays as captured here.....

May in my Garden. A record for me to look back on.

Bear with my poor photos for a while.  I'm afraid I am between cameras at the moment and am making do with my Sony Ericsson Satio. My photography degree is rather wasted on me at the moment.  But I really want to have record here of what is growing, where and how so I can refer back to it this time next year.

My babies - peas, mangetout, mixed leaves, pumpkins, beetroot - honest I swear they're there!



 My main veggie patch looks so tiny in this picture. And now you can see why I am so frustrated by feeling as though we are an entire season behind the rest of the UK here on the west of Scotland!  Everything is still so small!



Ha ha! Check out how badly our grass needs a trim

This is the smaller veggie patch.  From the bottom there are 3 rows of Celariac, interspersed with scarlet red radishes (sown today); then 3 rows of beetroot & 3 rows of rocket (also sown today).  At the top are 3 small but happy courgettes, a few rows of spinach with lettuce planted between.

Some things are doing fantastically, for instance this planter with spicy leaves and pea shoots by the front door.  I didn't have high expectations for this spot as it doesn't get as much sun as other areas and yet these babies are far stronger than any others in sunnier spots in the garden!

 The pot grown lettuce is much happier than it's siblings in the veggie patches.

 And then some others are sadder stories.  Only 2 out of the 4 fruit trees I planted last Autumn have survived.  Both the cherry trees seem to have died, but the apple trees are starting to shoot a few tentative leaves and buds.

Today I had grand plans to thin and transplant my carrot seedlings into their proper homes in the larger veggie patch.  I have been saving toilet roll tubes to grow them in to see if they grow longer since I think my soil is quite heavy.  I'm also going to grow a few in a large planter to see which is more successful.  If I ever get the time to do so!  I hate thinning so keep putting it off....

 And then there are the surprises!

Despite trying  (and failing) to stick to my plans and sketches I keep fnding random seedlings in places I don't expect them.  Now either I am sowing things under the influence of the vino blanco on Saturday nights and not remembering or something else is afoot here.

Then today I had an idea.... the compost heap.  I had thrown a pumpkin into the compost heap last winter that we never got to eat and had started to decay.  I reckon this is where some of the seedlings are coming from. As you can see these babies rather dwarf my wee beetroot seedlings (still to be thinned also!) so I knew that I hadn't intended for them to be bed buddies.  So I have moved them to the furthest corner of my patch so they can spread out over the grass if they wish to mature and stick around.



The mushroom invasion ....

The shrooms that have taken residence in my front garden are much bigger now.  Here are few more images in the hope that they might help someone advise me whether they are edible or not!

I would also like to take this opportunity to lament over my once lovely, perfect nails. Now caked with mud and scrubbed rigorously most evenings to make them more presentable for office meetings, I used to take such pride in matching the colour of polish to my work outfits. Ha! Maybe I'll enjoy such pampering come the winter again.

What is this mushroom?

Can you help?  I have looked through Roger's identification pages and can't find it.... And I so want to know what it is. Is it a St George's mushroom, or an early field mushroom do you think?

Oh dear, in my haste I haven't turned this round.... will do tomorrow!

There are quite a few growing amongst the few flowers I have convinced to grace my front garden.  I've never really talked about the front garden on here, mostly because it is still not living up to my expectations & I am slightly embarrassed.  As you can see, I have no problems growing lots of unwanted weeds.
But more about that later, for now I just want to know if I have accidentally grown my first edible crop of the year?!

Too dark for St George's? And the gills are all tucked away. Smells lovely & mushroomy...

Dream Gardens : Greenfort Private Garden

I had the luck to pass this garden on one of it's open days and of course screeched the car to a halt and reversed in with high enthusiasm.
And I can announce it is now my utterly favourite piece of Donegal to be in. 

Now that is saying something.

The proud owner let us look around his walled garden too, much to Baby Wild's sheer delight.

Exploring the peaceful Nepalese Temple, complete with prayer flags hanging from the roof

What a view! From the front of the grand house, overlooking Inishowen

The girl knows what she likes

If you fancy trying to find it, here are the directions to Greenfort, Fanad. x

Dream Gardens : Rathmullan House Hotel

I mentioned that while I was in Ireland we went to see some fantastic gardens, well I have finally found the time to post them on here for you.  These are completely my own opinions and reviews as I have not been sponsored in any way for the following write up.

Fantastic Wisteria!

I haven't been to Rathmullan House for many years, and remember it as being an old fashioned stuck in the last century kinda place. Well that must have been the sulky teenager in me, coz this place is more beautiful than I had expected! It is bang on trend with the amazing walled gardens from which the chef gathers their ingredients and serve in the stunning restaurant & Cellar Bar pictured below.  Regrettfully we had already had lunch, I wich we had known to wait to eat here but we only had time to nosy about the gardens (and rob a few handfuls of ramsons for dinner!).

The Cellar Bar

Daddy Native gazed jealously at such a huge tomato plantation

Perfectly illustrating how to attract friendly insects to the garden

Sign reads Do Not Pick, very tempting though...

Well mature lovage

 I look forward to visiting again next spring/summer and this time shall arrive hungry!

Growing Wild in May

Carragheen Moss. Also known as Irish Moss, grows abundantly in Ireland, the Channel Islands & Hebrides but can be found on almost any western shore.  Is at it's best to be gathered now & can be used immediately or dried.  My family in Ireland eat a lot of the stuff, but I'm not such a fan I must admit.  Here's recipe for pudding similar to what my family eat with cream, although this recipe uses dried carragheen.  There are some interesting recipes about too, such as Carrageen Chocolate Jelly, and Carragheen Peppermint Cream!
Dandelion Flowers
Fairy-ring champignon
Hawthorn leaves. I must also admit to not particularly liking these either, too bitter for me. Am going to make tea with flowers instead.
Morel I think I may have just found a fantastic new walk to take Baby Wild on nearby where we can start searching for these in earnest.  The weather is perfect right now.
Nettle.
Ramsoms/Wild Garlic. In bloom now.  I find the flowers so pretty I have them in small vases in my house - they don't stink the house out of garlic!
Sea Beet a bit like spinach. 
St George's mushroom Got it's name by appearing so close to St George's Day (April 23rd). It appears in March in Italy, a warmer country, and is there known as marzolino, where it is very popular to eat.
Sweet Violet A cure for sore throats?
Tansy Leaves First recorded as being cultivated by the ancient Greeks for medicinal purposes. In the 8th century AD it was grown in the herb gardens of Charlemagne and by Benedictine monks of the Swiss monastery of Saint Gall. Tansy was used to treat intestinal worms, rheumatism, digestive problems, fevers, sores, and to “bring out” measles. During the Middle Ages and later, high doses were used to induce abortions. Contradictorily, tansy was also used to help women conceive and to prevent miscarriages. In the 15th century, Christians began serving tansy with Lenten meals to commemorate the bitter herbs eaten by the Israelites. Tansy was thought to have the added Lenten benefits of controlling flatulence brought on by days of eating fish and pulses and of preventing the intestinal worms believed to be caused by eating fish during Lent. Tansy was used as a face wash and was reported to lighten and purify the skin. In the 19th century, Irish folklore suggested that bathing in a solution of tansy and salts would cure joint pain.  Although most of its medicinal uses have been discredited, tansy is still a component of some medicines and is listed by the United States Pharmacopeia as a treatment for fevers, feverish colds, and jaundice.

“You cannot forget if you would those golden kisses all over the cheeks of the meadow, queerly called dandelions.” - Henry Ward Beecher

Baby Wild and I have been trying to eat our garden dandelions in an effort to stop them from increasing too much in numbers!  She loves them - loves picking them, loves eating them in fritters, loves blowing danelion clocks.  Of course each of these presents a problem - how to explain that while she is welcome to pick daisies and dandelions, she is most certainly never again to go anywhere near my gorgeous black tulips or the babies in the veg plots! Also, she is only allowed to blow dandelion clocks in Donegal or in other people's gardens!

I thought I'd share how simple it is to whip up a quick toddler lunch of dandelion fritters with enough left over for mama to pick at too.  They are super healthy, full of nutrients and vitimins and as my recipe doesn't involve much cooking most of these stay intact. 

First get your toddler to pick you the biggest dandelion heads on a sunny day, a cereal bowl full will be more than enough.  Take them in and give them a good rinse to get rid of the bugs.  In another bowl add 1 ladel of self raising flour to half a ladle of milk and 1 egg and give it all a good whisk with a fork.  Then simply holding the flowers by the short stem dip them into the batter before dropping onto a hot non stick pan on a medium heat and plopping a spoonfull of batter on top and allowing it all to settle and cook looking like mini blini pancakes. 

 Give them maybe 2 minutes before flipping them over for another minute and serving with a light sprinkling of sugar, like french toast!



Ok, maybe a bit more than a light sprinkling but this was my plate, not Baby Wild's!

 See how well they went down!

But now Daddy Native has cut the lawn so although my garden may look neater, we've less "golden kisses" to plunder!

Oh here is a more American and vegan recipe that looks crunchier if you fancy something different and are vegan inclined and can be bothered!

“If dandelions were hard to grow, they would be most welcome on any lawn.” Andrew V Mason