The Day the Earth wouldn't move…

Back at the beginning of our vegpatch adventure, after we'd cleared the tiny walled rose garden for planting, we laid down raised beds over the newly cleared earth to kick start the Veg Patch into some sort of growing season.  The area around the beds is (or was) earmarked for fruit trees surrounded by other herbs and vegetables but, frankly, the soil needs a lot of improving. Recently re-discovered lurking under the surface are back-breaking clumps of pure clay.  Why I thought they would somehow mysteriously disappear goes some way to illustrating what an optimist I am.  Still, there we are.  Now I have something else to obsess over.

 My intrepid camera lens goes under the skirts of our beetroot crop

Nevertheless we have enjoyed, dare I say it, a modicum of success in our first veg patch this summer, and we're now all abuzz with preparation for the next stage:  choosing seeds for winter planting and clearing Veg Patch 2.  In Veg Patch 1, our Johnny-Come-Lately beetroot continues to grow - at this stage it's more of an experiment than a crop - all show and no substance;  the salad leaves are still delicious and abundant and the radishes continue swelling into enormity but are, curiously, still exceptionally tasty.

 Now that's what I call…  Ugly

Having tidied our tools away after our Sunday afternoon dig, we agreed the promised hour had arrived for a reviving libation down at our local hostelry.  As luck would have it,  whilst there I was able to corner our local gardening guru about our soil problem.  I now have it confirmed (on the highest authority) that we have to treat the soil with horticultural sand and revive it with well-rotted manure or at the very least recycled compost.  Righty-ho, then.  Well that's my spare time this week sorted.

The Last Hurrah of the English Summer…

I'm unashamedly going to do the Brit thing and chat about the weather because what an absolutely great weekend we've had here in London.  Beautiful clear cloudless deep blue skies, the sort that make you lift your face towards the sun with your eyes closed to better bask in it, losing where you are in the warmth of the moment (and, admittedly, looking as if your brain has been abducted by aliens as you stand there wobbling with an idiot grin on your face).

The photos above were snapped when I went for a stroll around the flats with my camera on Saturday.  Everything seemed to have it's best party clothes on as the sun was shining.  Looking at sunny images of our fruit and flowers makes me feel happy so this could well be my inspiration in the long months ahead.

And another plus is that when I'd done basking and snapping, the sun had recharged my batteries and Things Got Done.  A few of us ventured into the Veg Patch for weeding and digging and afterward produce from our various growing spaces was used to make batches of  soup*, oven roasted tomatoes* and fresh bread - leaving me with just enough energy to pop down to the Regent Street Festival in the West End where a huge stack of pink and purple cupcakes had been set up - happy birthday Regent Street! (Even though it seemed you could look but not touch - boo! hiss!)

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* Some of our team have very kindly said they thought these recipes sounded good, so I'm going to share the love on these later in the week.  Watch this space …

Bring on the tarts!

Best enjoyed warm and crisp from the oven …served with a jug of maple syrup and cream

Time to down tools!  Well it can't be all dig, dig, weed, water, prune, now can it?  If there's one thing I find as satisfying as watching seeds grow into food, it's cooking.  Usually that's of the necessary feed-the-family kind (soups, roasts, stews, stir-frys, the occasional pudding - salad doesn't count) which I'm not knocking - hey, if something has to be done, you may as well enjoy it.  But, every so often, I get a real urge to do some slow-down-cooking, the kind that you have to not rush, the cake-y non-essential, put some feelgood music on kind (current fave is Norah Jones), and pour the love into what you're creating. These custard tarts definitely tick that box – and luckily I don't have to eat them all by myself otherwise I might have a teensy problem squeezing back into the greenhouse.

I know you'll be tempted so I've added a printable recipe here  – assuming you won't want your laptop covered in flour.  

Here comes the confession:  This is not my original recipe! - can anyone lay claim to that? However, over time I have fine tuned it from a number of sources to finish up the way I like 'em.  Really good ingredients will add to the whole happiness factor:  organic flour and milk, fresh laid eggs, cream, natural unbleached sugar, high quality vanilla extract – but I'm guessing you've all got these already, huh?  Occasionally I cheat with this recipe and use Bird's Custard Powder instead of cornflour, but that's okay in my book because Mr Bird created his custard powder out of love for his wife who longed to eat custard but was allergic to eggs.  (Sigh! What a lovely man.  I guess making millions had nothing to do with it… )

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Don't be put off by the length of the recipe - it's just making the custard and rolling out the pastry.  It takes a little over an hour, leaving plenty of time for a sit down with a good book or magazine and a cup of tea.  And the finished result looks (and tastes) just beautiful - even if it has nothing to do with gardening.

Make your own Seed Packets…

 This is a little overdue, but I hope you'll forgive me.  Two months ago I knew nothing about blogging and, since then, I've had huge fun learning how to tweak and fine tune this site.  There's a wealth of helpful advice from other bloggers about how to do this but this week I've had a problem finding a way of getting a pdf template to you all.  Hopefully I've now managed this.

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So… following on from last week's promise of creating seed packets, I've made an A4 template (the size of a sheet of printer paper) which can be printed and cut out to make a blank seed packet for the kids to draw on.  (The template includes instructions.)

Because I wouldn't let this loose on my lovely readers without trying it myself, I've done some experimenting.  Most of you will have glue to hand for sticking the sides and be using that rather than tape, so I've made a few packets using different glues.  I found that PVA (white glue) left the paper a bit damp and 'blobby'.  Next I tried stick glue (such as Pritt Stick) but I think this will dry out over time, leaving you with a muddle of spilled seeds.  Finally, (my favourite) I used a gel all-purpose glue (UHU glue in UK) and this worked perfectly, although I had to rub the residue off my fingers.  Also, it's best to smooth the glue out to a thin layer and keep it towards the fold - it's best if the inside of the packet doesn't stick together!

Before filling the envelope with your seeds, your children (or you ~ I like to think there's something here for everyone!) should write down on the back all you know about the plant seeds that will go in the envelope.   Information such as when to sow, when they'll flower, how big the plant is, whether the plant prefers sunshine or shade, etc.  If you still have the kids attention,  the activity can be extended by taking a stroll down to your local library and check what else you can find out about your seeds.

The front of the packet has been left blank for a lovely drawing - or a photo, if you prefer.  Seal the packet when filled with a little bit of sellotape for easy opening in the springtime. 

My seed packet template can be downloaded by clicking here.  (I hope this works, please let me know if it doesn't!)

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P.S. If I have any readers who would like this in a size other than 8 inches by 11 inches, I'll be happy to oblige.

Coming up…

As I won't be posting again until Tuesday, here's a little taster of what's in store for next week:

• Seed packets to make yourself
• Felted art inspired by seed pods and nature
• A recipe for Portuguese Custard Tarts
• Recycled watering

All this and photos!  Really, I spoil you.

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In the meantime, here's a meditation of the garden variety to take with you into the weekend:

He who shares the joy in what he's grown,

Spreads joy abroad and doubles his own.

(Author unknown)