johnadams.org.uk

The main garden job of the Bank Holiday weekend so far was building a cold frame so that we don’t have to keep running out to the greenhouse in the morning to take all the plants out and the evening to put them back again. It also creates more space in the greenhouse for more plants!

The cold frame sits nicely in front of the greenhouse, and takes seven seed trays. The sides are attached using wing nuts so that we will be able to dismantle and store it in around a month’s time. We built the frame from scratch using wooden planks and battens and painted it a nice chalky green colour.

Unexpectedly for Glasgow at the end of April, we have had two consecutive days with bright blue skies, endless sunshine and 16-18 degrees C. I’m glad I took a flexi day yesterday!

As there were only the two of us for Christmas dinner this year (don’t worry, all the family descend from Boxing Day onwards), we went for food we really like rather than the traditional approach.

Starter:
Goats cheese coated in brioche breadcrumbs, fried and served with Serrano ham and tomatoes in balsamic, honey and white truffle oil dressing.

Main course:
Pan-fried scallops with spicy sausage meat, served with salad leaves picked from the garden earlier.

Pudding:
[comes much later in the evening, after we've relaxed for a while and made some room]
Jacqueline’s Mum’s own-recipe Christmas pudding and creme anglais.

Jacqueline picked what we expect to be the last flowers of 2005 this afternoon, just as dusk was falling. The flowers include dahlias, cosmos, salvia, cerinthe, calendula and rosemary, and have been flowering since the middle of June.

We expect a frost tonight, so we don’t expect many of these annuals and half-hardy perennials to survive the night. Still, it is remarkable that they have continued so long into the autumn.

We got home from holiday on Sunday to a bumper harvest:

Courgettes and tomatoes:

The courgettes (variety Zucchini) come from three main plants with two or three smaller plants. The tomatoes are from six greenhouse plants (three cordons in large pots, three Tumblers in hanging baskets) and two Totem plants in outdoor pots. Outdoor tomatoes have been very successful this year, which surprised me at this latitude.

And a single pear from our Conference pear tree:

We did not expect any fruit this year, so were surprised by the single pear. We hope for more next year.

Although we had intended to go for a walk on Bank Holiday Monday, we ended up slumming around in the garden all day. Jacqueline was planting dahlias, I was planting out new salad crops and sowing more beans.

Here are a couple of pictures taken in the evening, with the sun on the houses opposite

And of the veg plot. I’m trying Square Foot Gardening this year, and it makes the veg plot look much more organised. The big area of bare soil is set aside for my courgettes and squashes.

A very relaxing way to spend a day.