8 Nov 2016

On autumn days like these ...

Gold leaf

At this time of year my inner bear wants to start hibernating. With sunset currently at around 4.15, even after the clocks have been returned to Greenwich Meantime, there's very little gardening that can be done after dark.  Maybe I'm being shortsighted and should be potting up seedlings by candlelight in a greenhouse or digging by the light of a few well placed torches. Or maybe not.  It's tempting to get bogged down emotionally by the shortened days, darker evenings and damp misty mornings which, for those having to go out and earn a crust during the week, means less gardening. Throw in a few rain soaked weekends and it's enough to bring on a severe case of the glums. But, just occasionally, we're given a gift from the gods of a perfect autumn day (or morning) and we've had a few of those this past week. I woke up to another of those days on Sunday which meant I could get work done in the garden and allotment. A slight "WooHoo!" moment ensued as I opened the blinds, even though it was quite chilly outside. By mid-afternoon the rains came down and I returned home, unused strimmer in hand, soaked through. Welcome to the British autumn.




But even a short burst of blue skies is enough to put a smile on my face; the colours of autumn on a sunny day make me want to reach for my paintbox.  One day last week, I think it was Wednesday, I was wandering around the neighbourhood marvelling at all the berries and fabulous autumn colour against a blue, blue sky.  On days like these, it can take me a long time to get where I'm supposed to be going as I'm dragging my iphone out to take pictures every couple of steps.  Yes, even in London.  Or, perhaps, especially in London (or any urban sprawl) where splashes of autumnal colour can alleviate the city monotones of concrete, glass, metal and tarmac.

Pink Rowan berries

Splashes of colour are mostly seen in private gardens or from street planting - Hampstead Heath is still mostly green and gold although there are lots of berries.  At home, there's coppery gold seen from my window as an ornamental cherry loses its leaves but, in the veg patch, the strawberry leaves and pineapple sage flowers win the day.  (Which reminds me, I must have a look to see what else is still flowering.)

And while autumn slowly tightens its grip on nature, I'm whiling away the darker evenings with planning for next year and some crafting: painting a new seed box, twisting gathered creeper stems into quick wreaths and knitting an essential pair of fingerless gloves.  And there's always reading; has anyone got any recommendations for a good page-turner? I'm currently reading 'An Orchard Odyssey' by Naomi Slade; part story, part reference, excellent read for any fruit grower and inspiration for wannabe fruitarians. I'll be reviewing it soon here.

There was frost on the rooftops this morning for the first time. I wonder if this is going to be a harder winter than last year?  I can't remember seeing frost this early in November in London in recent years. I don't mind frost but it would nice if we didn't get the winter storms of last year.  Let me leave you with a few warming moments on this chilly day.

(Top to bottom, left to right)
Strawberry leaves, blue (now purple) hydrangea, quince and borlottis
Sweet potato and garden beetroot soup (delicious!), garden gatherings (very odd double radishes), cornus against ivy
Pumpkin (obvously), Creeper berries, quince crumble with a lovely nutty topping


And, finally, I'm in awe of this sumach tree (Rhus typhina) - could there be anything more beautiful? It reminds me of a woodblocked Indian print.


26 Oct 2016

Five practical reasons why Muckster boots are the best (imho)

Disclosure - the boots in this review were gifted to me by the Muck Boot company for review. As ever, my reviews are an honest reflection of my opinions and experience of the product.

A good pair of wellies (rubber boots) can fulfil many functions - for dancing at a summer festival, running through the rain or, like Meghan Markle, stylish footwear for welly wanging in New Zealand! As a gardener, my needs are more practical. In all these cases, Muck Boots could fit the bill. Here's why.


Muck Boots


Earlier this year I was sent a pair of wellies to try out.  Naturally, as a gardener, this was a thrilling prospect as my old and very loved pair had been pushed into service one season too many and had cracked along the seam where my foot bends, allowing the elements access to my socks.  Nothing worse than wet socks on a cold day, even if the ancient but beloved wellies had a cool Orly Kiely designer print.

I loved those old wellies so completely that I seriously considered trying to fix them with a tent repair kit (as you do) but somehow never got around to it.  So they sat at the bottom of a cupboard for the past few years while I searched for a suitable replacement.

Warm

Top of the agenda for a new pair, after the cost factor, was a neoprene lining. Why? Because, as with wetsuits, neoprene will keep your tootsies (and other extremities) warm and dry regardless of the weather. I'd discovered this as my old pair had a gorgeous orange neoprene lining. Mmmm, cozy, even in snow and ice.

Comfortable

The new pair had to be comfy too, without one of those silly and impractical heels, with a non slip sole and fit for purpose. Enter the Muck Boot.  I'd given serious thought to these a couple of years ago - yes, the search has been that long - but convinced myself these were for mucking out (makes sense, no?), i.e. the horsey brigade. But now several styles have been endorsed by the RHS which puts them firmly into gardening territory and very well they fit there too.

I was sent the ankle boots (the boots are also available with a taller leg) which are better for movement than my previous knee high rubber wellies; I'm tempted to buy a taller pair of Muck Boots for winter as the uppers are made of flexible neoprene and therefore fabulous for the walker's calves that I've been blessed with. As soon as I slipped them on I was won over.  Oooh, so comfy.  They have a shock absorbing inner sole, flex-foam insulation and breathable air mesh lining - which all adds up to all day comfort.  This has been a boon time and again since I've been known to garden for eight hours without a break, especially up at the allotment, and my feet were just as fresh and perky at the end of the day as at the start.

Lightweight

They're lightweight as well, something I'm grateful for when I've been on my feet for a while. In fact one day I forgot I was wearing them and went straight from the allotment to the supermarket. Hey, colour me stylish.

Speaking of which, during their recent tour of New Zealand, the media noticed that Meghan Markle and her husband, Prince Harry, both wore Muck Boots. Need I say more?

Reliably waterproof

I put the boots through their paces on a long country walk up in the Chiltern Hills, accessed by a very muddy bridle path.  In a dry summer this wouldn't have been a problem but it had been raining heavily the day before. In some places the only options were to slither up the bank or squelch through inches of wet mud. These are situations where the boots coped splendidly; yes, they were caked in sticky mud but my feet and, more importantly, socks were dry and I simply hosed the boots down at the end of the walk as they're entirely waterproof.

Self cleaning and non slip soles

The boots are marketed as having a 'self cleaning and high traction outsole'. The high traction I can attest to but I found that the claim to self-clean worked only in part. After a day digging on my enriched but clay-based soil, I felt the need to pop the boots into a bag for storage as there were remaining bits of mud embedded in the sole, even after a short walk home. Okay, so that was on days when I didn't rinse them at the end of the day - who does? In the time honoured tradition, I took them off at the door and left them there.

December 2021: I originally wrote this review in October 2016 and, just to let y'all know, they're still in daily use! Over the past five years, I've regularly gardened and walked in them in all weathers, and still find them comfy, waterproof and, as already mentioned ~ahem~ stylish. (Maybe not so much that last one.) They're still going strong - no signs of wearing out any time soon.  

And that's when having a fantastic boot scraper comes in handy!


I saw this tree the other day and thought it would make an excellent boot scraper; tiny problem, it's not near my home.


Luckily, I've since discovered a marvellous piece of kit for boot cleaning - simple and effective, I've been trying out the Mudbuster.  It's basically a one-size fits all footwell with plastic spikes - fill with water, stick your boot in, do a little dance around on the spot and the mat does the work of cleaning for you - sides as well as soles. Brilliant.  I wish I'd had this when my son was younger and played football every weekend; on the other hand, I think it could still be very useful for post-festival trainers (as well as gardening!).  Not for me, I hasten to add, but for my festival going son - you can see from this photo that one size fits all!




My thanks to the Original Muck Boot Company who gave me a pair of RHS Endorsed Muckster II ankle boots to review. They are available from the company's website here.

My thanks also to Pennine Manufacturing who kindly sent me a Mudbuster to try out. Mudbusters can be ordered direct from Pennine via the phone number on the website or email sseddon@pennineindustries.com  The unit retails at £10.99.
You Tube video of Mudbuster mats in action here.

9 Oct 2016

#UpandAutumn

... to borrow a hashtag phrase which I keep seeing on Twitter.  I love it, it's so appropriate, especially given the sunny weather we've had this week to start the season off.  There's nothing quite like blue skies to make me feel motivated and now is not the time to start slacking off in the garden. (I've done enough of that already this summer!)

Veg gatherings

There's bulbs to plant.  I have a large basket full waiting to be planted; alliums, daffodils, snowdrops and crocuses can go in now so that they have a chance to develop roots while the soil is still warm - that's particularly true of alliums - and I also have about 250 tulip bulbs which I'll plant next month when it's a bit colder. That's nowhere near the thousands of bulbs that are planted in public gardens but I know my limitations - kneeling pads, restorative yoga and Deep Heat at the ready.

Every year I add to the previous year's tulips; I never lift the bulbs when they've finished flowering but nip off the flowering stalk and wait for the leaves to die back. Most of the bulbs have proved reliably perennial so far - fingers crossed for this year as well, although realistically they'll be less vigorous year on year.  Bargains are a necessity as my work in the communal gardens here is not funded.  This year, I'm very taken with 'Sherbet' bulbs from Morrison's supermarket. I grew them last year and there were some absolute beauties in the mix. I paid £2 per bag of 12 which I think is quite good, even with no budget to speak of.

Another job waiting for my attention is the planting of several grasses in the middle garden. Remember that space?  Yep, big plans, not enough time. It's mostly been used as a holding/nursery area for plants this year while I flesh out a plan and watch how the light falls across the garden throughout the year.  As luck would have it, I collected a car load of plants from the T2 tea collaboration with Rich Landscapes last week and autumn is a good time to plant perennials.  I'm hoping to dedicate a large part of my weekend to weeding, planting and pruning; it's much needed.




The veg patch is ticking over at the moment. Braeburn apples have ripened and are, amazingly (touch wood), still on the tree.  I usually pick one a day to munch on.  A few pears need to be picked and ripened indoors and, huge excitement, I've got five quinces ripening! This is a first and I'm really looking forward to cooking with those - or even just being able to smell the famous perfumed quince at last.

Borlotti beans have coloured up beautifully and are now an astonishingly vibrant red.  I don't know yet what they taste like as I'm saving any ripened pods until I have enough to cook with.  Likewise with the tomatoes.  Remember my despair a few weeks back? I needn't have panicked, I now have bowls of beautiful yellow plum shaped tomatoes - and no sign of blight.  I'm still going to choose my tomato seeds with better care next year though.  It's worth noting that Banana Legs (the yellow plum tomatoes) were prolific, each fruit 2 to 3 inches long and each plant growing several clusters of 5 to 6 fruits. I bought the seeds from Pennard Plants at one of the early RHS shows.

I've still got to plant out Cavolo and curly kale but it's a question of where? The patch is still stuffed with chard, beetroot (small leaves of both excellent in salads), broccoli, rhubarb and radishes that I'm letting flower so I can try the pods - supposedly a restaurant delicacy, don't you know!


orache + fennel
~Orache (Atriplex rubra) aka Mountain Spinach and Fennel - both self seed enthusiastically at this time. ~

And then there's seed saving ... and sowing for next year's annuals ... and mulching ... and, and, and. Onwards, always onwards.

Like I say, up and at 'em.

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