Paved Paths

We recycled a stack of bricks from a crumbling garden wall which we've earmarked for several garden projects. Around the end of March, we laid out 10 or so bricks to try out a perpendicular herringbone paving pattern on a path alongside the raised beds. Pottering about, we've become aware how immediately the resident critters make any and every nook and cranny their home so we have an all-out policy of never stepping on any logs or loose bricks in the garden. The paving project was stalled by other commitments and we had taken to leaping over the bricks whenever we've needed to access the far ends of the beds (as you do, right?). This weekend we started the paving project over.

First we trans-located the beasties to the permanent brick pile.

We lifted the bricks gently without dragging them. One by one, we exposed the critters and then placed a cocked, dark, damp muddy flowerpot immediately next to them. We busied ourselves levelling another path. We returned after a couple of minutes to find the critter had taken refuge in the pot. We used this method to carry them (making sure they couldn't leap out of the pot in transit) to the permanent brick pile we built as a wildlife habitat under the medlar tree.

Do make an effort not to touch amphibians as the acid, salts and chemical residues on our skin can damage their permeable skin. Picking up a fleeing amphibian can cause fatal stress and injuries.

We worked on the two inner paths - we levelled the ground and spread a 3cm layer of sand to help level the bricks, some of which were chipped or had lumps of concrete adhering to the backs of them. We'd not planned to pave the paths when we positioned the beds so we had to space the bricks to cover the area evenly.

We used a lump mallet and a bolster masonry chisel to remove old concrete and to halve bricks.

We infilled the gaps by sweeping in and compacting a mixture of clay soil and sand and then sowed creeping thyme and lawn camomile.

We didn't use an underlay of weed barrier fabric as we feel this is a "contaminant" even though inert. We're hoping the creeping thyme and lawn camomile will create an effective weed deterring blanket and that the mass of fine roots will bind the paving together. Fingers crossed.

We've got the outside two paths to pave yet.

Edible Cheltenham

We travelled to Cheltenham to attend the amazing Uke Fest GB. We arrived early on the Friday and had time to explore.

Sandford Park has a productive edible community garden of predominantly leaf and salad crops where anybody can help themselves to a bit of the produce (so long as they don't uproot any of the plants). Whilst we were admiring the well-labelled bounty it was evident that residents really were passing by to pick a few choice sprigs and bundles of herbs and greens.

What of Uke Fest GB? We could wax lyrical about the astounding talents and showmanship of the international line up, the homespun hospitality and congeniality of the organisers, the fun and enthusiastic uke community. Instead, we'll just post this snap of the The Hot Potato Syncopators purely on the merit that they're jolly, homegrown and headline a vegetable thereby are in keeping with ... things.

Rhubarb, Rhubarb

It rained so we had a quiet weekend indoors.

Pickled rhubarb, we'll report back when we break the seal.

Rhuby G&T

Rhubarb ketchup. We followed the recipe from our well-used "Preserves: River Cottage Handbook No.2 Hardcover" by Pam Corbin. (here is a similar recipe).

In all honesty the sieving of the roasted pulp necessitated breaking out a box set - bathed in the the flickering light of the telly box, a rhubarb-infused gin on the go you could be forgiven for thinking that you were shimmying at your very own house party. All efforts told the recipe yields a substantial quantity of ketchup. We filled a 0.25l jar and then froze the rest in ice cube trays our preferred strategy for portioning sauces, stocks, purées &c.

We tested it out as a sweet/sour relish on a favourite beetroot and black bean burger dinner. DELICIOUS. We will be repeating this before the season is out; we don't foresee our frozen batch lasting out for long.

First Pickings

♥ Carrot thinnings and the first of the broad beans for dinner tonight. ♥

@Kewgardens Picnic

With great anticipation we made a trip to the Kew Gardens Lily House to see the Victoria Amazonica lily. The expanse of the raise-rimmed leaves with their spikey defenses never fail to awe. The red-blushed, veined and puckered underside of the pads suggest a perturbing hybrid between strange vegetable and alien animal.

We admired the submerged terracotta potted plants and might try something similar in our puddle back home.

We ate our picnic on a bench shaded by an alder and watched the wildlife make the most of a sun-drenched day.

We were lured in by the delectable rose garden where we spent a good couple of hours elbowing our way amongst the bumblebees to plunge our noses into the very middle of the blooms to breath great lungfuls of the scented roses.

We of course made our way to see the 'Kew on a Plate' beds and were impressed by the student beds especially those that were experimenting with interplanting.

The Spuds Are Go

The spuds are go - which is a relief as we thought we'd got them in too late. Now to keep on top of the earthing up regime.

The London Pippin seems to like its new home - we snipped off the fruit as we want it to spend its energy in growing taller.

buff-tailed bumblebee, Bombus terrestris

speckled wood butterfly, Pararge aegeria

a hover fly, sun fly(?), Helophilus pendulus

We aren't sure we liked the green of the new pond liner. We'd convinced ourselves that it wouldn't be too aesthetically jarring since the Barbican elects to dye the waters of their lake green (rather than black) to reduce algal growth and we ♥ the Barbican water features. One thing we noticed immediately is that it is so much easier to see the pond critters against the green - we're totting this up as a good thing. Our verdict is still out.

♥ Tadpoles! ♥