It will not always be summer; build barns. The potting shed goes on...

[echt]

Please ignore my first, illiterate thread. I'll try again.

I hope this quotation from Hesiod captures the moment of movement from high summer to the splendours of harvest and the planing for the new year.

:o

[Bramshott]

Glad you are on the road to recovery funnyperson!

Lovely day out at Wisley on Saturday - it was so hot. And then my PILs presented me with my birthday present of £50 in garden vouchers so I was like a child in a sweet shop in the plant centre! I was quite restrained and came away with just a new summer-flowering clematis 'Madame Edouard Andre' to go against the fence, and a gorgeous dahlia called 'mystic enchantment' which has chocolate-coloured foliage and scarlet flowers. I have winkled out a space for it in my rather over-crowded border. I think next spring I will have a serious go at the border and do some major cutting back/digging out to make more space. I also saw a lovely daylily that I wanted called 'Cynthia Mary' but they didn't have any in stock. Which was lucky really because my heuchera bed is already full...

[funnyperson]

bramshott what a perfect present! I do like the sound of your purchases!

I will have a serious go at the border early this autumn. Some of the less attractive but thuggish hardy geraniums are going to go, keeping only the most attractive and longest flowering types. The Veronicastrum and Agastache need to be planted at the back of the border, and space must be found for the Myrtle. Room must be made for the Garrya Elliptica to actually thrive, and for the roses, so the non flowering non fruiting Lidl plum is definitely going to be dug up and potted. And I am determined to make space for a crambe cordiflora somehow. Mme Alfred is going to be cut back as she is getting quite out of hand. Then there are the smaller grasses which need to be planted for winter interest. I must decide where they are best going. Deciding involves sitting in the garden and looking at it, which is, of course, pleasurable, though not being able to dig is frustrating. The butterflies are so pretty: Holly Blue, Cabbage White, and yellow ones. No Red Admirals as yet.

shove the holly those borders are so well done. Sometimes it is the simplest combinations which work well like the hostas and geraniums. I'm glad to hear Hebden Bridge retains its character. It used to be very good for vegetarian food. And pubs.

I have a small garden and when I look at the very impressive herbaceous borders in larger gardens. I realise that each magnificent clump of flowers would probably take up nearly a third of my border! So do I have fewer plants and keep them in large clumps or do I have more plants in smaller clumps?

[Blackpuddingbertha]

I have a water lily flower! I love the way it tucks itself away at night. Found lots of baby newts in the pond too.

[MyNightWithMaud]

I have the same dilemma, funnyperson. I tend to go with smaller clumps, but do wonder whether to have more of fewer plants.

That waterlily is gorgeous, Bertha! Mine has produced only leaves.

[TheCountessofFitzdotterel]

Love the waterlily, Bertha ! So, so pretty .
I have just done a census of my fruit trees. 9 apple trees! I really hope there will be an Apple Day this autumn so I can take some apples and get them identified.
Agree re problem with small borders, also simpler ones often looking best. I think my tendency as a beginner is to want to try everything but hopefully as I get more experienced I will be better at narrowing down to a few things. Also I will know what grows really well in all the different places.

[TheCountessofFitzdotterel]

It wouldn't be really anal to allocate all my apple trees a number, would it? We need to figure out not only what varieties they are but also when to best eat them, which store well etc. So if we store the apples in separate labelled areas it will be easier to keep track until they have names and we can go 'Ah, that one is from the Darcy Pippin by the wall.'

[MyNightWithMaud]

Sounds sensible to me, Countess!

[Blackpuddingbertha]

Sounds a good plan to me too, but then I'm a bit anal as well.

The deer came in the garden overnight and stripped the edible teepee of all beans and peas. It now has only some squashes/cucumbers and a cap of beans that they couldn't reach. Looks very odd. They also munched through most of the cut flower plants too.

[Blackpuddingbertha]

Anyone got any good recipes for courgettes (other than cake) & cucumbers?

[MyNightWithMaud]

I can't help with the recipes but my commiserations about the damage caused by the deer.

[funnyperson]

Courgettes I always think ratatouille and cucumbers I always think gazpacho: both from that Elizabeth David book, which dates me!
Googling brings up a courgette rissotto, a courgette feta and mint salad, and baked cheesy courgettes, all of which sound nice.

That lily is stunning.

[Callmegeoff]

I like raw courgettes dipped in hummus.

Dds school fete was yesterday, she got a 1st for cherry tomatoes and 3rd for specimen rose. Parents were aloud to enter too. I got 2nd with cape gooseberry and 3rd for sweet peas. It was such a buzz entering the tent and seeing that we'd placed in a few things, might actually have a go at a proper horti show, although I imagine the competition will be much tougher!

Poundland Gladioli that didn't flower last year have reappeared and are flowering. Quite frilly -pink and yellow, I like them

Last day of school today so I won't be getting much gardening done I guess.

[TheCountessofFitzdotterel]

Congratulations Geoff!
I am in awe of the people who actually win horticultural shows.

[Bearleigh]

Congratulations to Geoff and mini-Geoff!

Bertha have you a copy of the Vegetable Book by Jane Grigson? There are quite a lot of excellent recipes in there for both, including some surprisingly nice recipes for cooked cucumber. Along with excellent recipes for all sorts of other things, although I don't think Oca had been invented when she wrote it!

I used to have a Cranks cookbook which had a good recipe for cold cucumber & tomato soup involving liquidising some of each with quite a lot of plain yoghurt and a bit of garlic and spring onion, then serving with quite a lot of chopped parsley. And another good cranks recipe was for courgette salad, involving very firm courgettes, sliced really really thinly, then covered with boiling water for a minute till a little bit soft, chilled, then dressed with oil and lemon and parsley.

[Bearleigh]

Isn't the internet wonderful part XXVII: Cranks recipe...

www.megabeth.net/2010/07/veggin-cookbook-chronicles-chilled-cucumber-and-yogurt-soup/

I must make it again, as it's so nice on a hot summer day. It's very similar to a soup I had in a restaurant in Corncarneau in about 1990.

[funnyperson]

Oh those recipes sound good!
That reminds me in Italy we had a courgette pear and walnut salad with the courgettes prepared the way Bearleigh says above

Congrats to big and little Geoff on the prize winning!
I'd be much too scared to enter any show in case people laughed at the entries!
The onion man and his grandson at Tatton Park were wonderful inspiration that way too.

[Bramshott]

What a beautiful water-lily Bertha!

No gardening here today - just wall to wall rain. At least I managed to cut the grass (well the weeds, the grass isn't growing much) and do a bit of weeding last night.

[funnyperson]

Thats interesting Bramshott: I've been surprised by how slowly my grass is growing. I've literally been mowing it once a month.

[Blackpuddingbertha]

Thank you for the ideas, I will definitely try courgette risotto. I do a nice courgette pasta sauce which is just finely grated courgette cooked with garlic & capers with some lemon juice then mixed with cooked pasta. DH likes to add chorizo to his. I also do a salad which is grated courgette, mint, feta and white wine vinegar. But need to add to the repertoire to keep DH interested. The DDs only really like them in cake. I currently have two more courgette cakes in the oven...

I have a deeply ingrained dislike of cold soups born from some horrific cold soup experiments my mother tried when I was little. I should try and get over it and give one a go as an adult.

Very wet today but the garden really needs a good soak. I popped out to pick courgettes and sweet peas but didn't have the staying power to pick the beans & the peas today. They'll have to wait until tomorrow.

Our grass also quite slow growing but the weed tree things that grow through it grow at a phenomenal rate this time of year so it needs cutting just to keep them at bay.

[Bramshott]

We do a similar grated courgette pasta Bertha, but with smoked salmon added. It's delicious. Also eat a lot of courgette slices tossed in oil and griddled on a griddle pan. But the DDs are still suspicious!

[HumphreyCobbler]

Just had a lovely catch up with the thread. Have cucumber envy!

So glad you are home and well funnyperson.

My staple courgette recipe is soup with parmesan - just cook with some stock, blend and add parmesan, cream and some chopped basil. We freeze the base so we can just add the rest of the ingredients and go. There is a nice flan with bacon recipe on here somewhere too.

[HumphreyCobbler]

Also thread title v appropriate here as the cider shed renovation continues. We are at the plastering stage now. DH is allowing me some desk space as I start my MA in the autumn, how generous of him!

[MyNightWithMaud]

Wow, Humph, an MA? I don't recall you mentioning that before. Go you!

There are some lovely sounding recipes here. We should eat more courgettes.

[echt]

Beautiful water lily, bertha.

[MyNightWithMaud]

It's been a very long time coming, but I finally have a (very small) vase of sweet peas.

Is anyone growing agapanthus? I have several large pots of named varieties, with one flowerhead between them. I may give up on them.