Stripy strømpe

PPP-lite . . .

My Grandma's heavy steel sock needles have been put to work,
they've not met funky Danish sock yarn before,
just sensible 'green lovat fingering'!

Monster munch

PPP-lite . . .

While my back was turned . . .
munch munch munch munch munch munch munch
caterpillars ate the Cavolo Nero for lunch!

Zingy Zinnias

PPP-lite . . .

Zinnias – my favourite summer cut flowers,
in a little green glazed pot from Languedoc.

The best thing . . .

PPP-lite . . .

The best thing that I did today was to walk to my vegetable garden in the sunshine and to pick three ripe Cambridge Gages for my lunch.

Magic Cochin takes it easy

Purple Podded Peas is about 'what's going on in and around my studio'. That includes my garden and the heritage vegetables that I love to grow, I also include adventures that give me inspiration for projects in both my studio and my garden. The studio assistants and under-gardeners make an occasional appearance.

After next week activities in my studio and garden will be restricted to light duties only, that's because I will be recovering from a major operation. Purple Podded Peas will not become a medical drama, it will stay 'on topic' but you may notice a change of style . . .

. . . normal service will resume when I've fully recovered.

In praise of pea pods

I remember an art college summer holiday design project where we were asked by the tutor to write and illustrate a brochure to promote an animal or plant. The example they showed us was for an egg, so we had to choose something different. I selected a horse (goodness knows why I did that, talk about biting off more than I could chew!), I still remember one of the other students amazing diagrams of a horse chestnut case splitting open to reveal the conker inside.

Now I'm a lot older and a little bit wiser I would choose a pea pod. What a genius design solution – a little purse, available not only in shades of green but in fashionable purple too; which neatly pops open to reveal a neat row of peas, each a potential new pea plant.

The peas that I am saving for seed for next year's crop (and for seed swaps – let me know if you're interested) have now been harvested, so here is a round up of their attributes, good and bad . . .


Marks are out of a maximum score of 10

Purple Podded (home saved seeds, originally from Heritage Seed Library member Chris Knight)
Looks: 7 – tall, attractive flowers and pods
Flavour: 6 – very slightly bitter after taste when eaten raw, good cooked pea
This was my first 'purple podded pea' and for sentimental reasons I'll always continue to grow it.


Victorian Purple Podded (Heritage Seed Library selection 2008)
Looks: 9.5 – very tall, flowers and pods carried on long strong stems; pods long and pointed
Flavour: 3 – bitter and mealy textured, OK when cooked
This is a stunning plant, I'll continue to grow it in the decorative borders. I will have to try cooking the dried peas – who knows? it may be a great mushy pea!


Clarke's Beltony Blue (seed swap with Rebsie of Daughter of the Soil)
Looks: 7 – the plant itself wasn't vigorous and pods are fairly small, but they are a rich deep dark purple
Flavour: 6 – nice flavour, slightly sweeter than 'Purple Podded'
I'm interested to see if the plants grow stronger next year, snails were a problem at their end of the bed this year but they started to put up a second flush of shoots which did well.


Carruthers' Purple Podded (seed swap with Rebsie of Daughter of the Soil)
Looks: 8 – fairly long stems carry the lovely bi-colour purple flowers followed by the purple pods; a vigorous and productive plant
Flavour: 9 – beautiful sweet peas, definitely the best flavoured of all the purple podded varieties I grew this year
Rebsie selected this pea for some of her pea breeding experiments because of its sweet flavour and I know why - it's delicious!


Golden Sweet (home saved seeds, originally from the Heritage Seed Library 2006)
Looks: 6 – this pea plant wasn't very strong and tended to flop and straggle about, however the young pods are a lovely golden colour
Flavour: 8.5 – a good sweet flavoured pea, and good cooked when mature
This is reputedly one of the varieties grown by Gregor Mendle for his peoneering experiments in genetics, so I'll keep a little corner of the veg patch for this historic pea. The snails seemed to love it – so there weren't many left for me! As with 'Clarke's Beltony Blue' it had a second flush of growth so I have some seed after all.


Salmon Flowered (seed swap with Rebsie of Daughter of the Soil)
Looks: 9.5 – this is an amazing pea like nothing else I've grown; the structure is like a pantomime set tree which bursts into a bouquet of salmon pink flowers followed by dozens of tiny fat pods packed tight with peas
Flavour: 7 – good flavour but mealy texture, maybe another candidate for mushy pea stardom!
I'm definitely growing this again, it would look amazing in a decorative border and it's surprisingly productive and easy to harvest as all the pods are clustered at the top of the plant.

Growing 'The Three Sisters' – part 4

In early July I showed photos of the sweetcorn, squash and climbing beans in the 'Three Sisters' bed and wrote about how they were growing rapidly. I promised to show you the beans and sweetcorn in flower – sun, heat and rain have resulted in massive growth over the past month . . .

Here is part 4 of Magic Cochin's method of growing The Three Sisters . . .

(Continuing from part 3)

xi)
This is what 'The Three Sisters' look like today – the climbing beans 'Poletschka' have reached the top of the wigwam and some are using the sweetcorn stems for support, the 'Honey Bantam' sweetcorn plants have grown tall and strong and the squash plants are spreading out across the grass surrounding the mound. Apart from watering the plants when they were first planted out we haven't needed to water them since. I know we are having a rainy summer, but here in West Suffolk we have had at least a week of temperatures around 30C and strong drying winds, 'The Three Sisters' have thrived and even when the squash leaves wilt slightly in the afternoon sun they soon recover in the evening.

xii)
Sweetcorn 'Honey Bantam' – the flower spikes at the top of the plants are the male flowers, the wind shakes the pollen out and it sprinkles down onto the female flower tassels which are on the top of embryo corn cobs in the leaf axles below. You can see that some of the beans climbing up through the strong stems of the corn.


Here is one of the embryo corn cobs with the silky female tassels emerging from the top.


xiii)
Climbing Bean 'Poletschka' – these Ukrainian heritage beans can be eaten as green beans but I think that the mature beans are so beautiful that it's worth holding off until they are mature. They have grown extremely fast, I took this photograph of one of the pretty mauve flowers a few weeks ago.


When I searched under the large green bean leaves this morning there were bunches of long pale green pods swelling with the maturing beans.

xiv)
Squash 'Winter Festival' x courgette – Last month I was convinced that I had mistakenly planted a yellow courgette in 'The Three Sisters' mound. But now I'm not so sure, here are two 'Gold Rush' courgettes on the right and one from 'The Three Sisters' on the left. After some research in the Seeds of Kokopelli manual I realise that 'Winter Festival' squash and courgettes are both varieties of Cucurbita pepo and could easily cross pollinate.


I've left the remaining friuts to mature – Squaurgette or Coursh 'Magic Cochin'! You can see how I slip a tile under the fruit so it isn't sitting directly on the damp grass, this keeps the fruit dry and relatively unblemished. Sometimes a root grows from the underside of the node on the stem where the leaf and fruit stem emerge, allow this to grow down into the soil so the plant can gain extra water and nutrients.


The other two squash are varieties of Curcurbita maxima and were grown from seeds collected from last years crop, these are likely to be hybrids too. This is the un-named large dark orange variety, it is developing a lovely stripy central boss.


This is the plant grown from seed saved from last year's 'Marina di Chioggia' squash. Not quite as warty and reptilian as she should be and with a stripy centre like the orange one. There are more smaller fruits on all the plants, so it looks like we'll have a good crop this autumn.


xv)
And here's an added bonus – a breakfast bouquet of honey perfumed squash flowers and freshly picked chives to chop finely and add to our scrambled eggs for breakfast.


Part 5 will show our harvest of sweetcorn.

Country house pursuits

A few weeks ago I suggested to The Cottage Smallholder that we should give ourselves a well deserved 'day off' and visit a garden or country house for lunch. We selected Audley End, a large country estate owned by English Heritage; recently the Victorian Service Wing of the house has been opened up to show the 'real life below stairs' as it would have been in 1880.

We looked around the kitchens, actors play the part of the kitchen maids and cooks making elaborate pies and pastries. The shelves are stacked high with gleaming copper pots and pans, we loved reading the handwitten recipes and menus. Next door was the scullery and the laundry, where a clever projected film of two laundry maids chatting as they worked set the scene as we looked at wash boards, dollies, irons and mangles.

Outside in the back yard the authenticity continued, wooded crates from deliveries of produce were stacked by the door, mops were propped up to dry, a huge meat safe complete with amazingly realistic pig carcasses has been reconstructed as has the game larder . . .


We then walked through landscaped gardens to the Walled Kitchen Garden, a showcase for Garden Organic's heritage vegetables. We both loved the Vinehouse built along the length of one side of the walled garden, it dates from 1804 and is one of the oldest in the country. It is divided into sections, this one contained dozens of different varieties of tomatoes . . .


And further along in the Vinehouse are vines which are over 200 years old! Meticulously trained inside the roof the bunches of grapes hang down among the sunlit leaves . . .


We had packed a picnic to share and we timed our lunch to coincide with a falconry display in the park – smoked salmon sandwiches, courgette frittata, olive and herb focaccia and strawberries and cream – yummy! We hadn't expected to be completely captivated by the falconry demonstration showing some different styles of hunting game birds, but the 'Master of Falcons' and 'His Lady' were engaging speakers and the stunning birds put on fantastic aerial displays – this was an unexpected treat.


Thank you Cottage Smallholder for joining me for a day away from the studio and garden, with so many inspiring things to see I think Audley End was a great choice for our 'Bloggers Day Out'.

Summertime

Partial solar eclipse

10.15am in the garden.

Viewing the partial solar eclipse in a dish of water.
The little glowing blue shape is a reversed image of
the crescent sun reflected from the base of the dish.

Garden report - July

July in the garden – between the fresh growth and abundant blooms of June and the fruitfulness of late summer – here it's often a time of heavy rain. Abundant rain sodden foliage collapses and weeds grow rampantly. There are lots of distractions from gardening at this time of year and seemingly overnight the garden looks less than pretty. What a month to have visitors to my studio open days expecting to see a lovely English walled garden in full bloom. I've made a effort to grow some blowsy blooms to detract from the rampaging undergrowth, splashes of bright colour against the backdrop of green . . .

here's the July jamboree . . .

Green wigwams of beans tower over a jungle of vegetables. The peas are now finished; the cavolo nero goes on and on; there's a constant supply of courgettes; the vine has dozens of developing bunches of grapes; there are still artichokes to pick even though we've eaten more than ever before.


In the morning the cucurbit flowers open and attract the pollinating insects – so exotic like flowers from a tropical eden. This one is on a squash plant in the 'Three Sisters' mound – look at those frilled and textured petals and molten gold colour!


We're growing tomatoes in large pots this year, I planted nasturtiums in the edges of the pots and now they tumble and scramble around the edge of the courtyard, the blue green foliage dotted with orange and yellow flowers of complex beauty.


I've noticed cabbage white butterflies idling around the courtyard, a check under nibbled nasturtium leaves reveal their caterpillars. I thought the under-gardeners would find these an irresistible treat – but no! Maybe the caterpillars taste like the peppery leaves they've feasted on?


And finally here are some self-sown or half-forgotten plants that have come into their own this month with fiery flowers that catch the eye and say "this is summer!"

Hollyhocks – my mission to introduce the quintessential Suffolk village flower into the garden is paying off this year, the flowers are enormous dishes of shimmering colour in every shade from white and pale primrose, soft salmon pink, deep pinks and reds to the darkest burgundy.
Verbascum – once introduced they stay and plant themselves were they are happiest, then put up spires of golden flowers.
Dahlias – spiky blooms on a plant left in the garden over winter, a reminder to grow more next year.
Roses – so abundant this year, this beautiful relaxed apricot bloom reflects the sun between the storms.

Discovery of the day

Out of habit I take a quick look at the River Cottage forums before I have my breakfast. I usually just look at the 'Fruit and Vegetables' and 'Poultry' sections, but this morning I also had a quick scan through the 'Chat' forum and my eye was caught by one contributer's sign off line "Join me watching grass grow and nailing jelly to a tree" – and yes I clicked on the link and learnt from Atomic Shrimp how to nail jelly to a tree!

Atomic Shrimp may be an English eccentric but he's one who likes to bake – he's even made a cute little instructional film demonstrating just how easy it is to bake bread. After watching it I realised I had all the right ingredients (even the exact same large jug with a plastic lid!) so I put Atomic Shrimp's challenge to the test.

Ta-daaaaah!!!!

Home baked plaited loaf and a garlic and herb focaccia. My slight variation was that I used organic 'light brown' flour (that's sort of in between white and wholemeal) produced by one of our local flour mills, Marriage's, who are also the suppliers of excellent layers pellets and mixed corn for our hens.

By the way, the bread tastes as good as it looks!

Pickle factory

Yes the gallery was turned into a Pickle Factory. But what was being pickled? Thank you for all the suggestions, which included
• some sort of heritage tomato
• plums
• plum or greengage
• those funky 1,000 year old eggs from Chinese cuisine
• Italian prunes
• tomatillos
• stone eggs
All way off the mark!

Threadspider said "as for the green things – I wondered if they might be walnuts at first, but in the interests of being different I'm guessing a variety of plum!"

Oooooooo – you should have stuck with you first instinct there!

Gina suggested "some type of giant seed or nut – do walnuts look like that?"

Yes absolutely, they certainly do Gina, but you didn't guess what was going on.

Silverpebble said "Unshelled walnuts ready for pickling?? Do they have to be washed and dried first?"

And Dottycookie said "They look a bit like fresh walnuts to me - are you pickling?

Well done those two! I think you should share the accolade – I'll send you a pack of my cards and some of the lovely badges I received from Terry, that clever cook and author of The Hen Cam blog. And Gina, as you were the first to guess and were so so close to getting the top prize, I'm sending you some badges too!

Yes, Cliff has been pickling walnuts. They have to be picked green and before the shell inside begin to harden (test by sticking a darning needle or skewer through the green walnut). Early July is the perfect time in our part of the world. The process is a long one as the green nuts need to be pierced (a messy procedure as walnut juice stains brown everything it touches!) before being soaked in strong brine for three days then rinsed and soaked again and again. After this the nuts are dried for three days – and this is what's happening here. Over this time they turn a deep bronze-black colour.


Then they are packed in jars and a strong hot pickling vinegar is poured over them and the jars are sealed. After storing in a cool dark place for three months they will be ready. "Ready for what?" you may ask if you are unfamiliar with this delicacy. Pickled walnuts are perfect with a slice of ham or boiled bacon, or some good strong mature cheddar cheese. Something to look forward to at Christmas.

A dream summer's evening

The weather forecast predicted a perfect warm sunny and dry evening – we had to put our plan into action, now or never!

A few years ago we discovered the Cambridge Shakespeare Festival, and although tickets can be booked we realised that if you arrive early with a picnic there's are always enough tickets available on the gate. This year we had been waiting for the perfect evening and last night it looked like this was it, so I cooked some picnic food – home-made pasties (feta, cavolo nero and pine nut, and curried squash, green bean and pea); ham; gherkins; tomatoes; some nice bread; home-made banana, raisin and pecan muffins; cold beers and lemonade – and packed it all in a basket. I also found the picnic rug (a Christmas present yet to be used!). We grabbed a shawl, thick jumpers and socks for later when the temperatures would fall.

It's difficult to choose which play to go to, our system is to eliminate the plays we've seen performed before, and then eliminate the venues we've been to. So last night we plumped for 'The Taming of the Shrew' in the gardens of Robinson College. Many years ago it was possible to wander in and out of Cambridge college gardens and quads and use them as short-cuts to cross the town, now in days of more vigilant security they are mostly closed to visitors) so to spend an evening in one of the beautiful college gardens and have high quality entertainment too is a dream treat.



The play was performed on the stage of the open air theatre, the surrounding trees and grassy paths providing the backdrop and entrances. The Shrew has been a deeply unfashionable play to be performed and one to be avoided by any company not wanting to to be embroiled in a heated debate. But this performance brought out the feistiness of Kate and although she was tamed, I think she had also tamed Petruchio, and there was some great slap-stick and verbal banter to keep young and old in the audience happy. "Don't you get any ideas!" the lady behind us whispered to her husband as the actors took their final bow.


The performances continue until 6th September – check the forecast, grab a picnic, select a garden – have a dream evening!

Annual trip in the car

This morning I had to take the studio assistants for the annual trip in the car (to see the vet and to have their vaccination booster injections), we locked the cat-flap when they came in for their breakfast and then it was into cat carriers and into the car. They behaved very well when they saw the vet – she remembers them being brought in as tiny foundlings so always makes a big fuss of them and tells them how pleased she is they have a lovely home.

"I'm so pleased to get back to work in the studio! My sister's gone out for a walk, she says there's some magic leaves in the garden which turn her into a tiger! Girls – always making stuff up!"

The Ginger One

"Grrrrrrrr"

The Tabby One

The gallery is now a . . .

At the weekend the sun shone and lots of people visited and chatted and walked round the garden and studio. So thank you everyone for visiting, I know that on Saturday afternoon the main road to Cambridge was closed because of a very serious road accident – so I hope your journeys home weren't too difficult.

Once again I met some familiar bloggers – on Saturday Sarah and Jon of For what is Chatteris called in after a day exploring Suffolk. They are both enthusiastic printmakers and like me they sell some of the work on Etsy and belong to Printsy: Printmakers of Etsy. And on Sunday Fiona, The Cottage Smallholder herself, drove over from her cottage – I love following her recipes and tales of her beloved 'min-pins' and the ducks hatched by Mrs Boss the bantam. All weekend the hens had attempted to accompany visitors into my vegetable garden, I warned people NOT to let the hens through the green door in the wall! But with two weekends hatching a plan, the under-gardeners spotted that Fiona was easily distracted and side-stepped her into the vegetable garden and headed straight for the lettuce and sorrel! It took some well practiced manoeuvring with the aid of a long curved stick to herd them back!

Today things are returning to normal – or are they? This morning Cliff asked me if he could move my display baskets of unframed prints and cards so that he could replace them with these . . .


. . . what are the green things on the table and what's going on? I'll put correct answers into a hat at the end of the week and the lucky winner will receive a pack of assorted cards.

Cambridge Open Studios 2008 – weekend 3

The studio is open again this weekend. After a huge deluge of rain early this morning, the sun is out and it's a bright but breezy summer's day.

You'll have to imagine the sound and movement in this image - the miscanthus grass makes a fantastic rustling sound in the wind and the shadows cast on the patio are constantly moving. The tabby studio assistant is watching goings on, she'll disappear when a stranger arrives – but will be watching!


It's on sunny days like this that I love working in this room – with the studio door open I can hear the rustly grass and the hens quietly chatting to each other. The large frames on the walls display some examples of my digital illustration work – commissioned house 'portraits; one of my current projects, illustrations and diagrams for a GCSE Geography course; and some examples of work for a series of history books.

Identity crisis – help!

Last Sunday we found two cunningly camouflaged caterpillars on our small shrubby willow. They've been there all week, in the morning we wander down to the end of the lawn to see if they are still there, how many more leaves they've chomped through amd how much bigger they've grown.

This evening the smaller of the two looks like this . . .


I was chuffed when Dean of Mostly Macro confirmed my ID of these as Sallow Kitten Moth caterpillars.

Well, now I'm not so sure – this is what the larger caterpillar now looks like . . .


Has the kitten grown up? Is it a Puss Moth caterpillar after all? Any moth experts out there – help!



Saturday 19th July pm . . . BREAKING NEWS . . .
Now I know why even Dean was fooled! Those clever little blighters are wearing 'Sallow Kitten Moth look-alike' costumes and then they shed them to reveal the scary-monster Puss Moth caterpillar outfit complete with false eyes and whirly twirly pink whips which protrude from their back legs – yes, the twin tails are adapted back legs - how wicked is that!!!!

Here is the younger caterpillar doing his quick costume change . . .