Serpentine Detached

Serpentine Detached 2020 - 100 posts

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Celebrating and taking a break
06/10/2020
This is the one hundredth post we have loaded on to this blog and, for a while, the SCG Members ...
Seeds for the Future
02/10/2020
We have now gathered a wide range of seeds and this is an example of what happens next. These are seeds of the Heritage Climbing French Bean Mrs Lewis's Purple Podded. They stayed on the plant until the pods were "crisp" and were then shelled and fully dried off ready for the next stage. We then outsorted any which we didn't think were of sufficient quality to use as future seed - too small, too wrinkled, split, brown etc. We also removed any that didn't "look right" - potential " [...]
This month....
29/09/2020
At harvest time, it is easy to forget how many other activities go in to a good growing season, and an enjoyable gardening experience. We have made notes of each session since the beginning of 2017 to inform our growing activity and remind ourselves of some of the non-growing highlights. Here are a few snippets from our records of three Septembers.2017: spreading woodchip on the paths; first delivery of leaves from the Parks Department (27th September); spreading ferret bedding in the gre [...]
Preserving Herbs
25/09/2020
There is still time to preserve herbs for use over the winter. The "woody" herbs are best dried - sage, thyme, mint, balm, rosemary - and the softer herbs are best frozen. We hang bunches of the woody herbs until they are bone dry and "crunchy" then strip off the leaves and store them in a dry container. We freeze the softer herbs in ice trays, chopping them first. Here we have chives, two varieties of parsley and basil. Then when we need some for flavouring the cooking, we just drop in a [...]
Autumn on its way
22/09/2020
Harvesting at SCG continues apace and harvesting is itself a sign of autumn with the hedgerows filling with fruits and nuts and the colours changing and fungi appearing. Here are a few images we have collected (along with several pounds of elderberries, blackberries and sloes).
Woodlice
18/09/2020
Gil was a founder of Sawtry Gardening Club and one of the first members was "DaisyDee" who works as a gardener and grower and has an organic and wildlife friendly garden in Conington. The posts on her Facebook site are always interesting and informative and she posted recently on woodlice which led me to do some research.Often complained about for eating strawberries, they actually only eat fruit damaged already, such as by slugs. They are a crustacean, like crabs, and there are 45 specie [...]
Tomatoes - harvesting, and saving seeds
15/09/2020
We are now harvesting tomatoes and our records show this is about a week earlier than in 2019. There is a good range of shapes, sizes and colours as shown in the slide show below (and that is just a selection).Tomatoes are easy to save seed from because if they are ripe enough to eat, then the seed will be ripe enough to germinate. So you can pick a tomato, slice it, remove a few seeds and then eat it! We arrange the seeds on pieces of toilet paper, suitably distanced and with the variety [...]
Battle of Britain Day 15th September
11/09/2020
Not to do with gardening but I couldn’t resist sharing some images to commemorate the 80th anniversary. In 1968 ...
Harvest
08/09/2020
A reminder of some of last year's harvest. Granddaughter Elizabeth entered a school competition for a harvest picture. This is her photograph of the things she gathered at SCG. Every year is different. We wonder what this year's harvest photo might look like. Anyone up for sharing one? [...]
Using bean seeds
04/09/2020
Beans are starting to become available at SCG, especially the climbing french and fava beans. Here are some ...
The Potager
01/09/2020
The potager is one of the first things visitors see when they reach the site. This is the first year ...
Harvesting seeds
28/08/2020
The weekly report on Wednesday mentioned that seed harvesting was getting in to full swing as well as the continuing ...
Achocha
25/08/2020
We have been growing achocha for a number of years but this year Heritage Seed Library sent us ...
Serpentine in bloom
21/08/2020
Despite some very changeable and sometimes wild weather, the Garden is bright with flowers. Here is a selection ...
Fennel and Coriander Liqueur
18/08/2020
The challenge of online shopping meant we ended up with twice as much vodka as we needed for ...
Blue Heaven
14/08/2020
It has been a bit hot to work in the garden, but not too hot to enjoy the flowers especially ...
The Pea Harvest
11/08/2020
We have grown six varieties of peas this year, all Heritage varieties other than Mangetout Golden Sweet which ...
National Allotment Week
07/08/2020
National Allotment Week starts on 10th August, its 18th year. Its theme aligns well with Serpentine – Growing Food for ...
Electric Daisy Liqueur
04/08/2020
Now the balm wine and the mixed herb wine are fermenting away, it is time for something stronger ...
The Fuchsia's bright ...
02/08/2020
You may like to join the 13 August 2020 zoom talk hosted by Transition Buxton: the past, present ...
The garden is lovely and full of life
31/07/2020
Wednesday’s weekly e-mail update this week recorded just how productive the Garden is at the moment, a tribute ...
Heritage climbing beans
29/07/2020
The climbing beans in poly2 have now reached the top and been pinched out. The beans are growing ...
Borage - seed saving
24/07/2020
The borage plants in poly2 are starting to set seed so this is about how to tell when ...
National Hyacinth Collection
21/07/2020
Our Saturday posts focus on updates on the progress of the Heritage seeds we are growing. But on ...