(1050) Coming up to elevenses. (1119)
The Garden of Isilme
… and her Beloved, Reader Bob
Life in the garden has been crazy. A couple of weeks ago, while the weather was still reasonably good, I went out to survey the harvest. We had recently experienced a bit of a gale, so all the apples picked themselves and strayed all over the garden. Mainly under the tree in, and between, the raised beds.
They will most likely go to making cider vinegar, although we’ve been having apple crumble, baked apple and apple sponge desserts just lately. And I’m preparing to make some curried parsnip and apple soup (very yummy).
A lot of our eating apples went to various local events to use for apple bobbing, and for toffee apples. I would have a go at making toffee apples but I’m not sure my teeth could handle it. I don’t want to pull out all my fillings. Besides, I’m trying to cut down on sugar.
Meanwhile, the flowers are still flourishing. The nasturtiums either side of our steps have had a sudden new lease of life and are trailing like mad. They didn’t do that in the summer; they were weedy little things. And the wallflower next to the beans has flowered again.
We have tyres on the old patio out the back. My Beloved drilled holes round them into which to stick bamboo poles and filled the tyres with soil. So each tyre is its own little wigwam for the beans. Well, the wallflower decided it liked this (it turned up out of nowhere) and has rooted itself in a crack in the paving and we thought it was rather cheeky, so we left it there. It’s enjoying its life by all accounts!
I went to investigate one of the tomato plants that had draped over the raised bed and was working its way across the lawn. I guess we forgot to give it a stake (we clearly thought it was a bush tomato when we put it in!) Anyway, I found a lot of tomatoes on it. Green ones. But we know we can do things with those (Toodles gave me ideas last year I think it was).
Soon, there’ll be nothing left in the garden except twigs and decaying leaves. Except for the holly tree – it has berries, but I have to keep that a secret because the local ladies have wreath-making workshops and are always on the lookout for trees to denude.