Monthly Archives: September 2019

One cane many fruit

Posted on September 30, 2019 by Helen

Never having grown raspberries before, I had no idea how many fruit I would get this year from the one cane my mum gave me for my birthday. I’m not sure I’ve ever picked them at the farm where I … Continue reading →

Posted in forest garden | Tagged | 9 Comments

Ripe enough?

Posted on September 29, 2019 by Helen

Do you have difficulty deciding when crops are ripe enough to pick? As a general rule, yes I do, except in the case of fruits such as raspberries and strawberries. A case in point is the fat hen which decided … Continue reading →

Posted in edible weeds | Tagged | 2 Comments

Harvesting begins

Posted on September 26, 2019 by Helen

One minute the fennel seeds seemed not to be ripe, the next moment they were starting to fall off the plants. Now, I don’t want my garden to be full of nothing but fennel and I think a herbalist might … Continue reading →

Posted in forest garden, herbs, trees | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Elephant in the wood

Posted on September 24, 2019 by Helen

Today, I’ve managed to use up all my energy on a walk through local woods, so gardening will have to yet again be postponed. I did however pick some tasty apples from our village community garden and some amazing rosehips … Continue reading →

Posted in Days out, foraging | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Demise of the worm

Posted on September 23, 2019 by Helen

This post is principally to give you the link to a recent article in the Independent, regarding the effect of microplastics on worms. Basically, it is not good news for worms and in turn it is not good news for … Continue reading →

Posted in In the kitchen, soil management | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Stank Hall Barn

Posted on September 22, 2019 by Helen

This Saturday, we visited another property on the Heritage Open Day list: Stank Hall Barn in the Morley area. It’s almost opposite the White Rose Centre and couldn’t have been a more different cultural experience. As you can see in … Continue reading →

Posted in Crafts, Days out | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Collecting runners

Posted on September 20, 2019 by Helen

Earlier in the year there was an advert on Freegle requesting strawberry plants or runners. I replied to offer some of my runners in the autumn and today I duly dug out a bagful, ready for their recipient tomorrow. The … Continue reading →

Posted in forest garden, Gardening, Pond and bog garden | Tagged , | 9 Comments

National Food Strategy – Call for evidence

Posted on September 17, 2019 by Helen

Twitter has come in useful again! Whilst scrolling through the tweets, I saw one from Hodmedod which introduced a consultation which Defra has set up. The aim is to use evidence to inform a better food policy, which feeds all … Continue reading →

Posted in Good for the environment, Health | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Heritage Open Days

Posted on September 15, 2019 by Helen

A bit late to the party, I was only recently introduced to Heritage Open Days, which are a ‘festival of history and culture’, according to the aforementioned website. In other words, they are an opportunity to be given a guided … Continue reading →

Posted in Crafts, Days out | 9 Comments

A gladioli in the bog garden

Posted on September 13, 2019 by Helen

Earlier in the year, one of the other members of my Knit and Natter group gave me a plant for my bog garden. It had been in her garden but she couldn’t remember what it was. Over the past few … Continue reading →

Posted in Pond and bog garden | Tagged , | 4 Comments