Busy Bees - On The Importance of Bee Suits

Plucked up courage and opened the beehive last night. I needed to add some more storage space before the blossom appears in the orchard and the honey flow starts in earnest. I have invested in a full bee suit this year having tried the slightly more glamorous jeans and jacket approach which led to multiple stings in sensitive places. I also made sure I was wearing a thick layer underneath! The smoker has new fuel this year as the dried grass and cardboard approach wasn't working well and you do tend to panic if you are surrounded by angry bees and the smoker has gone out whilst being stung.

The girls have glued the hive together with propolis and it took some prising to get the lid off. Propolis is derived from plant resins and sets hard, the bees use it like a glue to plug any gaps in their hive - its very effective. I had a quick look in the hive and all seems well with lots of bees and stores. The storage I have added is called a "super" - a shallow box full of frames of foundation wax from which I hope to harvest honey this year. 

Tulip Festival - Leeds Castle

Had great fun yesterday arranging Tulips at the castle. Here is the arrangement I put together in the Queen's Gallery - In my defence I would say that tulips continue growing after they have been picked and yesterday this looked completely different! Over 10,000 tulip bulbs have been planted and you can find further details here.  Many of the tulips have been grown in the gardens here and its been nail biting waiting for them to flower given the extremes of weather this year.

My favourite tulips are the Darwin Hybrids as they are almost unbelievably huge and this arrangement in the castle library features Pink Impression which is an enormous flower and I will have to order some bulbs for my garden. The bulbs were supplied by deJager bulbs.

Colourful Containers & Chooks

Ranunculus and Aubretia

I went plant hunting at my local Homebase and found some purple Aubretia and dark pink Ranunculus (both reduced). I have used them to replace the dead french lavender in a couple of containers. One by the gate to the Kitchen Garden is a lovely dark blue pot, and the colour combination is very rich. The second is the focal point at the end of the path sitting in front of a black elderflower (black beauty).  Last year this was planted with purple penstemmon and trailing geraniums, the penstemmon has not survived the winter either (fortunately the cuttings have). Also found in Homebase were some cottage garden perennials for the bee border and some bargain strips of veg plants (globe artichokes, mini sweetcorn, peas and leeks.

Spice the poorly hen has recovered from her eye injury, though sadly has lost the use of the damaged eye. She has decided that my job is to provide her with lots of lovely slugs and snails and now follows me around the garden hoping for a handout. She comes and hides behind my legs in the hen run as a couple of the other girls are picking on her (hopefully this will sort itself out as she becomes more confident).

Today in the Kitchen Garden

Oh dear, the North wind doth blow, and blow. Its cold still despite some lovely sunny days, the wind is whipping across the Downs and keeping us chilly. Things are stirring in the kitchen garden, although slowly and evey day something new is appearing. Looks like there might have been some losses, the myrtle bush is looking very dead, although I haven't given up hope as it is always slow to come into leaf. I have also lost several potted french lavenders and the Rosemary bushes have taken a beating and are not covered in masses of flowers this year. No signs of life from the Olive trees either but the small cutting in the greenhouse is beginning grow away.

Positive notes are the greens under the cold frame are looking very well, here is an updated photo. The Hispi cabbage are beginning to form hearts and the radishes are well on their way. I have just pricked out another tray of cabbages in the greenhouse to provide a succession.

I also have seedling little gem lettuces waiting to be planted out, won't be too soon as they are attracting greenfly in the greenhouse.

Lady birds have been appearing with the sunny days and I have transferred a few into the greenhouse salads! The grapevine which I put in the greenhouse last year is now coming into leaf and is covered in flower buds. Last year when I planted it, this vine was just 12 inches high, I am training it across the greenhouse roof to provide summer shading and hopefully, some grapes. 

I have bought the strawberry tower into the greenhouse and its starting to grow away. It has a mix of varieties including Florence, Hapil and Cambridge Favourite. I am planning on digging up the strawberry beds in the fruit cage and making a strawberry table instead using the folding staging and a couple of grow bags. Last year the strawberries growing in containers produced much better fruit and it would help my back to raise them off the ground. I could put brassicas in the strawberry beds for the autumn and they would be kept free from the dreaded cabbage white butterflies which can sniff out the cabbage family wherever I hide them!

Broadbeans are starting to develop flower buds and the crimson flowered broad beans have just starting appearing in the greenhouse. I think its still to cold to start off the tender summer veg such as courgettes and squashes but I have started tomatoes to give them a long growing season and some have started germinating.

Flower Arrangements in Vintage Containers

I often use antique china for table decorations in the house. My latest find has been a vintage bentwood sieve which would have been used originally in the kitchen for flour. I have waxed the wood and lined it with plastic then filled it with potting compost. So far I have planted it with narcissus and hazel twigs and plugged the gaps with moss I dug out of the meadow. These were followed with coloured primroses. I have now acquired a few in different sizes and am planning to fill them with roses and marguerite daisies in the summer - when it finally arrives. 

I have a collection of tureens which I have acquired over the years since student days trawling junk shops in Southampton. It doesn't matter if they are in vintage - ie damaged - condition as long as they don't leak! Here, I have used a pretty turquoise and white footed tureen which has certainly seen better days being stuck together with glue in several places. However, planted up with pink daisies it looks lovely. Put some gravel in the base of the container to help drainage and don't overwater.

Rhubarb, Rhubarb Everywhere

I have Timperley Early in the garden (and also in old dolly tubs) which I have started picking for stewing and crumbles. Mind you, "stewed rhubarb" sounds very institutional - how about "rhubarb compote" instead! I blast it in the microwave for a couple of minutes until it has collapsed and add brown sugar to taste. You can also make a very posh rhubarb & custard flan by baking a rich egg & cream mixture flavoured with marmalade in a short pastry case, on top of which you have artfully arranged rhubarb pieces. If you really want to impress, when cooked, you can brulee the top of the tart with brown sugar and a blow torch (beware: I have discovered to my cost that the blowtorch in Himself's toobox is much fiercer than the kitchen variety!).

My neighbour is the jam & chutney company Sugar & Spice, and they use any rhubarb I can't cope with. The recipe below is yummy, one of my favourites, and something to keep the rhubarb mountain at bay when its no longer a novelty. I'm afraid I use this in cheese sandwiches too as a chutney alternative - sweet tooth - moi?

Rhubarb & Ginger Jam

Ingredients
1kg trimmed rhubarb, chopped , 1kg granulated sugar
Juice of 2 lemons, 25g root ginger, roughly chopped
100g crystallised ginger, finely chopped or experiment with preserved ginger

Instructions
Layer the rhubarb and sugar alternately in a large bowl, adding a sprinkling of lemon juice to each layer. Cover and leave overnight for the sugar to draw out the juices of the rhubarb. Put the rhubarb and sugar in a preserving pan. Tie up the root ginger in a piece of muslin and add to the pan. Bring the mix to the boil, skim off any scum, then boil rapidly for 15 minutes. Remove the muslin, add the crystallised ginger and boil for 5 minutes more or until setting point is reached (to test for this, drop a blob of jam on to a cold saucer, push it with your finger and it should wrinkle). Pour into sterilised jars and seal with jam pot covers or screw lids.