Serendipity

Garden pics July 2nd

2011-07-02T08:06:00.000+01:00

Who put the Chi in Chicken Soup

2010-12-13T15:40:00.011Z

In my enforced "retirement" my good lady wife has decided I shouldn't be idle & is very happily providing me with "tasks" to stave off boredom. Today's task was the annual check of vittles to ensure that the store cupboard contains all the goodies necessary for a stonking Christmas.

This generally means throwing away anything with a pre 2010 use by date (mercifully little) & wondering how it is that we have 5 opened packets of cloves, nutmeg etc.

This packet,

which by over a year, fell into the category of "beyond best before date" caught my eye. It is everything you need to make chicken soup except of course the chicken.

If my knowledge of Mandarin Chinese went beyond ordering prawn balls at the local takeaway I might have felt qualified to make fun of the "soup stuff" on the label on the packet. It isn't so I won't.

But, before disposing of the "stuff" (& this is where this blog crosses from culinary to horticultural) &, bearing in mind it did look rather unusual, I had a quick scan of the ingredients & disassembled the packet.
Some ingredients are familiar, most are not - however, without exception they seem to have more medicinal than nutritional properties.
so here we go.
Tuckahoe

- a bit like a poor man's truffle. It is the underground sclerotium* of the fungus Poria cocos. The fungus is mostly parasitic on the root of Pinus densiflora (Japanese red pine) or Pinus massiniana (masson pine)
It's properties are listed as "Inducing diuresis, removing dampness, strengthening the spleen and tranquilizing the mind"

Feeling slightly drier & with a numbed brain we move on to

Astragalus Root -
Milk Veitch. A common enough plant even in the UK but not one I'd normally associate with chicken soup.
Properties - "Tonifies the spleen, especially in cases of fatigue. Boosts and tonifies qi (chi). Cardiotonic; lowers blood pressure and blood sugar; improves circulation".

with a vastly improved chi we move to
Fructuslycil -

the wolfberry or more familiarly in the UK the goji berry. A superfruit with antioxidant properties.
well if it's a superfruit it must be good for you.

Chinese Yam rhizome -

I don't think there is anything for which chinese yam is not efficacious. "It serves to tonify and augment the spleen and stomach; augment the lung yin and tonify the lung qi (chi); and stabilize, tonify, and bind the kidneys. It is used to treat weak digestion with fatigue and diarrhea, general weakness, frequent urination, decreased appetite,
leukorrhagia (excessive vaginal discharge), premature ejaculation, the symptoms associated with diabetes, and chronic wheezing (whistling sound caused by breathing difficulty) and coughing.".
Arillus Longan -

Dragon Eye Fruit. Credulity being stretched to the limit. "The longan has many uses in Chinese medicine. one touted, is for those with premature gray hair.

Dried longan fruit soaked in hot water is used for loss of appetite, ulcers that do not heal, wounds and bleeding, ringworm or other scalp itches,even for relief of armpit and body odor."

Lotus seed -

The seed from those rather attractive pods often found in dried flower arrangments.

Properties : When cooked in clear soups, lotus seeds are believed in Chinese medicine to "clear heat" (清熱)

Golden and euryale seed

- the fox nut - an annual water plant native to East Asia

Euryale seed is associated with the Spleen And Kidney meridians. Its main functions are to tonify the spleen and stop diarrhea, to strengthen the kidneys and control the essence, or jing; and to dispel dampness.

There we have it the Jewish penecillin Chinese style.

Footnote - all ingredients are dried so I'm guessing (hoping) that the use by date is only a "guide". Should this be my last blog, please assume I was wrong and that aged lotus seeds are indeed very toxic.

The Constancy of Quinces

2010-10-08T09:54:00.001+01:00

The Constancy of Quinces (3)

I know I’m not the only one for whom second-hand books hold a fascination. I like the idea of holding something which someone else has used,getting a sense of continuity & of something shared.

What in particular attracts me to books of this ilk is when previous owners/readers have personalised them in some way.

I was looking through this book as I must have done many times before

It may well be 70 years old and the word "modern" in the title may be stretching the truth somewhat, but much of it’s content is as relevant today as it was in 1939 . O.K. perhaps the chapter headed “spraying & dusting” & instructions about post-war use of DDT (1) are best left in the historical dustbin but much of the rest is still current (or should that be currant?)

As I said this book has been used for reference on many occasions but I’d not previously looked inside the front cover (2).

The lady to whom Desmond addressed this poem had inscribed her name on the facing page

The poetic inscription from Desmond is one of devotion to Kathleen but what struck me was the book in which it had been written. Let’s face it, romantic prose inscribed in what can best be described as a dry if slightly fruity academic tome is a little odd.

Who were Desmond & Kathleen ? Fellow students at Malling, lovers, partners; maybe all three. Was this a parting gift or the start of an enduring romance.

I'll leave you to ponder

Footnotes

1) - inc preparing for the use of DDT in post-war Britain.

2) Constancy

By Ella Wheeler Wilcox

I will be true. Mad stars forsake their courses,
And, led by reckless meteors, turn away
From paths appointed by Eternal Forces;
But my fixed heart shall never go astray
Like those calm worlds whose sun-directed motion
Is undisturbed by strife of wind or sea,
So shall my swerveless and serene devotion
Sweep on for ever, loyal unto thee.

I will be true. The fickle tide, divided
Between two wooing shores, in wild unrest
May to and fro shift always undecided;
Not so the tide of Passion in my breast.
With the grand surge of some resistless river,
That hurries on, past mountain, vale, and sea,
Unto the main, its waters to deliver,
So my full heart keeps all its wealth for thee.

I will be true. Light barques may be belated,
Or turned aside by every breeze at play,
While sturdy ships, well-manned and richly freighted,
With fair sails flying, anchor safe in bay.
Like some firm rock, that, steadfast and unshaken,
Stands all unmoved when ebbing billows flee,
So would my heart stand, faithful if forsaken --
I will be true, though thou art false to me.

3) The quince of choice is Vranja & has been duly ordered.

The day of reckoning arrives.......

2010-09-11T07:35:00.001+01:00

Deeay (?) in the Cucumber House

Today is the day - Cucumbers 1 & 2 (affectionately known as cuc1 & cuc2 - no prizes for originality then.) will be removed from the vine, examined, & if fit to eat turned into a Mexican cucmber salad.

In the meantime, ponder this pic. Do I detect a hint of a gloat in Mr B's demeanour. I do hope not.

2010-09-06T08:40:00.003+01:00

The Great Cucumber Experiment (Day 10)

Forgive me St. Werenfridus for I have sinned. It is five days since I last reported the progress of the Great Cucumber Experiment........ but I have been keeping a record (honest).

What has happened in the intervening 5 days ? Well I can report dramatic(1)changes.
These changes can be seen in pics below, but for those of you who are not skilled in the art of "spot the difference" competitions I will explain. .

Cuc1

Length - unchanged
Circumference (cut end) - increased from 16 to 17 cm
Overall condition of cut end deteriorating & yellowing although still firm and dry & more importantly it still appears edible.

Cuc2

Exposed part of flesh dry & showing no signs of deteriorating
Main body of cucumber (above cut) has swollen disproportionately
Overall length of the cucmber has remained unchanged

(1) In the cucmber growing world "dramatic" obviously has a very different meaning.

The Great Cucumber Experiment (cont)

2010-09-01T11:43:00.006+01:00

Deeay 5 in the Cucumber House
Little has changed; the dimensions, length & circumference of the severed cucumber (cuc1) are still the same. The only barely discernible difference is a slight yellowing of the skin near the cut end.

but.......following a controversial hypothesis from NewShoot (a closet scientist if ever there was one) the experiment has taken a new lease of life. The theory postulated is that by cutting a cucumber in half its growing tip will have been removed & will not therfore continue to grow. What would happen if a juvenile cucumber (cuc2) was semi-severed ? Would the half with a tip continue to grow ?

...to be continued

The Great Cucumber Experiment (cont)

2010-08-31T10:20:00.004+01:00

Deeay 4 in the Cucumber House (sponsored by IKEA)

I've been inundated with literally one request to continue with this seemingly pointless quest to solve the "severed cucumber" question. (one request to continue & one rather obscure twitter comment "that way madness lies" from a Mr. Buckland)

It would seem churlish not to continue, however the degree of change from one day to the next is, to put it mildly, minimal.

So here goes.

Neither the cut end of the cucumber nor the main part have changed.

Introducing some "metrics" into the experiment at this stage may be a little tardy but better late than never. With help from IKEA (& if that doesn't get me a complimentary Billy bookcase nothing will) the circumference and length of the stub have been measured; coincidentally both came in at 16cm.

to be continued.

The Great Cucumber Experiment

2010-08-30T17:46:00.004+01:00

Deeay 3 in the Cucumber House

Well, I'd like to report a dramatic change but this is becoming more a "watching paint dry" exercise. The only significant change has been to the two cucumbers next in line, both of which are showing worrying signs of withering.

A coincidence ? Maybe. Anyway the cut end of the severed cucumber has dried perfectly but only time will tell. Judgement reserved

to be continued

2010-08-30T05:08:00.020+01:00

The Great Cucumber Experiment

Perhaps "Great" is pushing it a bit but in essence what kicked this off was a comment made by Toby Buckland in a recent BBC Gardeners' World programme. (Fri 27th Aug)

I quote
"a natty trick; instead of cutting off a whole (cucumber) fruit, is to cut half at a time.....the cut end will develop a new skin & heal. After a week or a fortnight you can enjoy a fresh cucumber all over again..."

The GW world programme is available on BBCiPlayer here for those who would prefer to listen to Mr.B's dulcet tones (around the 20min30sec mark.)...and from a previous GW presenter (the Lord of Cord), covering a very similar topic here

....anyway back to the experiment
Instinctively, it just doesn't sound right. If you wound a plant in a hot & humid atmosphere which, after all, is what cucumbers love, the last thing you expect the cut end to do is heal over. Go rotten and putrify, yes, but heal over no way.

So armed with an unhealthy disdain for TB's advice and a very sharp knife, the only way to prove GW wrong (or maybe right - ED) was to try it.

The following pics show the whole & the dismembered on day1 and update on day2
Day 1 - The whole

Day1 (severed)

Day2 (severed)

Day2 (cut end)

...to be continued

The tree which isn't a tree

2010-06-01T08:14:00.006+01:00

This is a tree which isn't a tree

Well it was a tree & probably could be again but for the time being it is a "messy" hairdo of dead and alive -

clematis cirrhosa & gypsy queen

honeysuckle(s) - both winter & summer flowering

wild rose.

With minimal pruning the dead & the live co-exist.

It is a home to both blackbird and dunnock nests and since it is almost impenetrable to cats & squirrels is also a perfect roosting spot for hordes (or is that flocks) of other birds.

So the birds are happy, the bees & bugs are happy; the one loser I guess is the tree.

... and the tree - well under everthing is a holly which, even smothered as it is, still manages to flower.

A brief history of l'agretto (part 3)

2010-05-01T05:31:00.004+01:00

So, after 3 weeks, things are looking quite promising. The shoots have coloured up and are approaching 5cm in height.

Dry, albeit warm weather, has probably slowed the growth rate but some welcome May rain should soon change that.

As a footnote, we made a second sowing on an allotment where the soil is considerably heavier.

Germination was equally successful and possibly a few days quicker.

T.B.C.

A brief history of l'agretto (part 2)

2010-04-08T12:02:00.003+01:00

8th April - update.

I've always found germination of l'agretto to be very hit
& miss.
It seems (fingers crossed) that 2010 could be a hit year.
Germination so far appears to be both successful & consistent.

"A brief history of l'agretto (part 3)
will of course prove whether I have
to eat my words and not the green
shoots of the l'agretto.

(to be continued ......)

A brief history of l'agretto (part 1)

2010-03-25T10:45:00.020Z

What is l'agretto ?

Quite simply it is a hidden secret, one of the tastiest summer vegetables you could grow and eat.

L'agretto is similar in texture and taste to samphire although without the incumbent saltiness and gritty texture, and, since it is only ever seen served in high end restaurants (see River Cafe) in the UK and not available in either supermarket or foodie farmer's market the answer has to be to grow it yourself.

Served, lightly steamed, with olive oil or lemon juice it is a perfect accompaniment to fish or a summer salad.

Once it has germinated (of which more later) l'agretto is not a particularly demanding plant. A reasonably fertile moisture retentive soil is all it asks for. The reward is a "cut & come again" vegetable which will continue to delight through summer into late autumn and the first frosts.

How to grow

Providing the seed with as early a start as possible, by covering the soil in early/mid March with plastic (& thus raising the temperature by a few degrees) will increase the odds of successful germination.

A word of caution; even taking these steps, germination can be a bit hit & miss. This is not so much a fault of the gardener or the seed supplier it's just a fact of life. One year germination may be a near perfect 95% and the next only 5%. This is compounded by the fact that the seed only has a shelf life of a few months. The answer is to "oversow". Should you then be lucky enough to get a high success rate, thin out to a distance of of a couple of cms between each plant (early thinnings provide a perfect crunch in salads).

The seed in the photo has been sown in shallow (2cm) drills 30cm apart.

The seed is covered and the soil tamped down & watered .

... the row is labelled

....and fingers are crossed. (TBC)

What they do to pass the time in Australia

2010-02-03T08:27:00.012Z

I will freely admit that is unadulterated plagiarism - but since I couldn't find it anywhere else on the interweb I feel it is my duty to publish and spread the word.

Preparation:
1. Kill a few flies.
2. Put them in the sun to dry for one hour.
3. Once they are dry, take a pencil and paper...
and let your imagination rip
A few examples...

Pig Business

2009-10-05T08:00:00.010+01:00

Rt Hon David Miliband MP

Secretary of State.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)

Nobel House

17 Smith Square

London

SW1P 3JR

Dear Secretary of State,

My friend, who is in farming at the moment, recently received a cheque for £3,000 from the Rural Payments Agency for not rearing pigs. I would now like to join the "not rearing pigs" business.

In your opinion, what is the best kind of farm not to rear pigs on, and which is the best breed of pigs not to rear? I want to be sure I approach this endeavour in keeping with all government policies, as dictated by the EU under the Common Agricultural Policy.

I would prefer not to rear bacon pigs, but if this is not the type you want not rearing, I will just as gladly not rear porkers. Are there any advantages in not rearing rare breeds such as Saddlebacks or Gloucester Old Spots, or are there too many people already not rearing these?

As I see it, the hardest part of this programme will be keeping an accurate record of how many pigs I haven't reared. Are there any Government or Local Authority courses on this?

My friend is very satisfied with this business. He has been rearing pigs for forty years or so, and the best he ever made on them was £1,422 in 1968. That is - until this year, when he received a cheque for not rearing any.

If I get £3,000 for not rearing 50 pigs, will I get £6,000 for not rearing 100? I plan to operate on a small scale at first, holding myself down to about 4,000 pigs not raised, which will mean about £240,000 for the first year. As I become more expert in not rearing pigs, I plan to be more ambitious, perhaps increasing to, say, 40,000 pigs not reared in my second year, for which I should expect about £2.4 million from your department. Incidentally, I wonder if I would be eligible to receive tradable carbon credits for all these pigs not producing harmful and polluting methane gases?

Another point: These pigs that I plan not to rear will not eat 2,000 tonnes of cereals. I understand that you also pay farmers for not growing crops. Will I qualify for payments for not growing cereals to not feed the pigs I don't rear?

I am also considering the "not milking cows" business, so please send any information you have on that too. Please could you also include the current DEFRA advice on set aside fields? Can this be done on an e-commerce basis with virtual fields (of which I seem to have several thousand hectares)?

In view of the above you will realise that I will be totally unemployed, and will therefore qualify for unemployment benefits. I shall of course be voting for your party at the next general election.

Yours faithfully,

(Half of the garden) Plum tart

2009-08-16T05:41:00.010+01:00

A small distraction whilst feeding the chickens turned into .........
.....which once it hit the kitchen became ....

.....and ended up as ........

Bees, boxes and harmless helpers ... update

2006-07-17T09:48:00.001+01:00

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Growing Degree Day 278 is upon us

2006-07-11T11:20:00.001+01:00

GDDs are calculated by taking the average of the daily high and low temperature each day compared to a baseline (usually 10 °C). As an equation; GDD=(((High+Low)/2)-Baseline) GDDs are typically measured from the winter low.
For example, a day with a high of 23 °C and a low of 12 °C would contribute 7.5 GDDs. Any temperature below the baseline is set to the baseline before calculating the average. For example, a day with a high of 13 °C and a low of 7 °C would still contribute 1.5 GDDs. Likewise, the maximum temperature is usually capped at 30 °C because most plants and insects do not grow any faster above that temperature. However, some warm temperate and tropical plants do have significant requirements for days above 30 °C to mature fruit or seeds. Well what's all this got to do with the price of fish.

The Catalpa tree (catalpa bignonioides) starts flowering after 275 GDDs; this one started flowering three days ago, so in this part of leafy England we are on GDD 278.

What is the significance of this ? Well GDDs provide a means of predicting when a particular plant will crop or flower in any country in any part of the world. So if a packet of seeds had a GDD value printed on it you would be able to plan when to sow to provide a successional crop rather than the familiar summer glut.

I am told that commercial growers rely on GDDs but as far as I am concerned the pleasure in gardening is it's capricious nature so I'm sorry agronomists you can keep your GDDs - it's back to guesswork & glut for me.

Bees, boxes and harmless helpers

2006-07-05T20:02:00.000+01:00

You've probably seen "bee boxes" for sale in your local garden centre and dismissed them as an expensive gimmick. If so then think again.

We bought this box because it was damaged and hence in the "bargain" section of a DIY warehouse (sometimes you just can't resist a bargain and I'm sure the bees aren't too bothered.)

This would appear to be a leaf cutter bee. I say this not through any profound knowledge of bees but simply because this is what it has done. i.e. cut leaves

In fact these weren't the first bees to take up residence and if you look closely at the picture you will see that one of the cavities in the bamboo cane has been blocked with earth courtesy of some previous visitors.

The female bee will have layed her eggs in the cavity, provided sufficient food for the soon to be larvae to mature into adult bees, plugged the hole with protective leaves and lastly had a tidy up and given the leaves a final trim.

Useful links; if this has whetted your appetite English Nature have produced a pamphlet "Helpful Bees and Wasps in your Garden" which provides instructions should you wish to make your own "bee box"
or
if you want to try the bespoke version Wiggly Wigglers sell a wide variety of homes for an even wider variety of bugs & bees.
and
if you want to know which bee is which there is a very useful site dedicated to solitary bees produced by Nigel Jones here.

Hummingbird Hawkmoth ....cont

2006-07-05T19:00:00.000+01:00

I took a couple of photos of a hummingbird hawkmoth last week, published them on this blog and promptly (albeit accidently) deleted the originals - needless to say I was none to chuffed.

My moth book at least gave some hope "having found a food source, moths tend to return". Unfortunately the abnormally hot weather we're experiencing in the south of England means that the food source (salvia/sage) has only lasted a couple of days and is now a mass of seed heads not a moths banquet.

Well this moth seems to be happy enough to vary his diet.

In the same flower bed as the sage we have growing a Giant scabious - (Cephalaria gigantea), a magnificent plant which is now well over 6 feet tall and popular with bees and butterflies alike.

Let's just hope this food supply last a little longer.

Hummingbird Hawkmoth .....

2006-06-28T15:45:00.000+01:00

on kitchen sage

The biter bit (a.k.a. friend or foe)

2006-06-26T05:21:00.000+01:00

Ugly little blighter isn't he (she)

..a ladybird larva of course.

All the good gardening books tell you to nip the tops off your broad beans to prevent an infestation of black fly and every year yours truly forgets. Oh well it keeps these little chaps fed.

Apologies for the picture quality on this but I only had one chance to take it.

It's not easy to judge the scale on this, suffice to say she (well it is a ladybird) is one of the larger UK species at 4-5mm. (melanistic black form with red spots of two spot ladybird Adalia bipunctata)

Goldfinch

2006-06-23T11:02:00.000+01:00

Carduelis-carduelis
For Claire - coincidentally as I was looking at your post with the photograph of goldfinches, a family of them landed on our bird feeder. As always I was too slow grabbing the camera and didn't get a picture of the whole family group (the young birds are very drab anyway) but here's a couple of snaps of them dining out on thistle seed.

A new personal best......

2006-06-23T10:27:00.000+01:00

...have been out looking at the "ladiees" trying to work out which is the John Wayne look alike walking with an uncomfortable gait..... it's perhaps not clear in the picture but our normal egg weight is between 55 & 65 grammes, a comfortable size for you average Rhode Island. 102 gms must however bring tears to the eyes of even the most robust layer

18/6

2006-06-19T04:42:00.000+01:00

Crab spider (Misumena vatia)
"Crab spiders make up the Arachnidae family Thomisidae. They are also commonly called "flower spiders" because they are most often found on flowers, lying in ambush for prey. Crab spiders do not build webs to trap prey, but are active hunters.
There is just a single species in Britain belonging to the genus Misumena. As the common name suggests, it is reminiscent of a crab, with its wide, flattened body form and habit of sitting with the first pair of legs held apart. This spider has the remarkable ability to alter its colour to match its background, usually a white or yellow flower, allowing it to become beautifully camouflaged."

Well at least that's how this spider is described - this one appears to have a problem with camouflage however. Pictured with its prey (Bombus Sylvestris ?) on a foxglove flower .

3/6

2006-06-03T07:34:00.000+01:00

1/6 (after rain stopped play)

2006-06-01T15:04:00.000+01:00

"Cluck" or "Broody" that is the question ......

2006-05-26T05:32:00.000+01:00

For Al....

14/5 part II

2006-05-16T10:32:00.000+01:00

Cherry (dessert type)

Plum (Victoria)

Strawberries (various varieties)

Nectarine (Lord Napier) - protected from rain but otherwise open to the elements

14/5

2006-05-16T09:23:00.000+01:00

Foreground two pyramids of sweet peas; between the sweet peas Hestia dwarf runner beans. Behind these, the last of the winter crop of Cavalo Nero (Black Kale) and purple sprouting broccoli

Dwarf broad bean (forget the variety) behind this are sowings of dwarf french beans and further back two wigwams of climbing french.
Mixed bed from left to right Kohl Rabi (1 row), multi headed broc. (2 rows), hybrid broc. (2 rows), red cabbage (1 row) borlotti beans (2 rows), wegisser pea (2 rows on frame)
Mixed bed of pots. (Red Duke of York, Pink Fir Apple, Shetland Black, Lady Christl) & to the right runner bean frame

7/5

2006-05-08T11:07:00.000+01:00

30/4

2006-05-08T10:54:00.000+01:00

23/4

2006-04-23T15:09:00.000+01:00

Easter w/e

2006-04-19T08:57:00.000+01:00

....more misc pics.....

2006-04-16T14:58:00.000+01:00

... when will it end....

2006-04-03T16:07:00.000+01:00

....and more....

2006-04-03T15:33:00.000+01:00

..a fairly random selection of photographs

2006-04-03T15:06:00.000+01:00

2006-03-17T12:55:00.000Z