Then & Now

One of Samuel Pepys 'Cries of London' via Spitalfields Life and a vendor at the Fredericton Saturday Market ('north shore' being that of New Brunswick).

First Day of Spring?

Ugh! More cold wet weather. Last year at this time the temperature was in the 20s! Indoors, however, the tomato seeds I sowed last Friday are an inch high now and leeks have just germinated.

Update - even worse!

... And the Clones

Here is the assortment of tubers that I have saved for growing on this year. All grown from open-pollinated seed saved from earlier TPS. They have been chitting for the past 6 weeks and will probably get buried Easter weekend. It might be time to assign names to them to make labeling a bit simpler. Click on pic for better view.

The Whaler's Wife

Robert Poulter's New Model Theatre blows in to town for two shows only at the Art Worker's Guild. While your seat will be only ten feet from the stage, it is still a good idea to bring your opera glasses!

TPS for 2013

Four weeks after sowing, I've just buried my TPS seedlings up to their necks into the next size up (8 inch) cubby-holes. A great variety of leaf shape, colour and growth habit - woolly purple leaves to green savoy-cabbage-like ones. The first two rows on the left are F2 No.6x?, only dark seeds selected! Then some seed from last year's Minnie's Pig, then (all from Tom @ New World Seed) this year's Minnie's Pig, then ten Fiesta Gold and 10 F3 Skagit Magic. Soon I hope to be taking them out for afternoons in the sun!

Front Gardens of Note No.4

            Dundas Street near Euclid Avenue, Toronto

R.I.P. Stompin'Tom

Click here for Bud the Spud.

Wrapping Pigeons

The approved method for wrapping pigeons to be dropped from an aircraft (via retronaut) Click on picture to enlarge.

Green Shoots of Recovery

Snow's all long gone and it's a blustery but sunny 10° outside. Yesterday I started two trays of seeds - one assorted peppers and the other 7 types of true potato seed. They are resting comfortably on the radiator in the dining room.

From KimIlJongLookingAtThings

Pigeons in the snow, to and fro

Snoo

"An intense frost usually befalls in Jan: our Saxon fore-fathers call'd that month with no small propriety wolf-month; because the severe weather brought down those ravenous beasts out of the woods among the villages."
Gilbert White The Natural History of Selbourne

The snow ( about 6 inches now) reveals the path that the ravenous fox takes through the yard.

Tea WITH Milk

Refreshment stall in St. James Park c.1910 (via Spitalfields Life)

Teapots of Note No.3

Saturday. Rose at eight o'clock in the morning. Sat down to my toilet.

From eight to nine. Shifted a patch for half an hour before I could determine it. Fixed it above my left eyebrow.

From nine to twelve. Drank my tea and dressed.

From twelve to two. At chapel. A great deal of good company. Mem: the third air in the new opera. Lady Blithe dressed frightfully.

From three to four. Dined. Miss Kitty called upon me to go to the opera before I was risen from the table.

From dinner to six. Drank tea. Turned off a footman for being rude to Veney.

Six o'clock. Went to the opera. I did not see Mr.Froth till the beginning of the second act. Mr.Froth talked to a gentleman in a black wig. Bowed to a lady in the front box.

Between twelve and one. Dreamed that Mr.Froth lay at my feet and called me Indamora.

Sunday. Indisposed

From the Diary of a lady of fashion, reported in Bath by Edith Sitwell

The Shape of Potatoes

This year I am resolved to keep better records of my potato 'breeding' program, starting with more accurate descriptions and observations. As well as taking photos of blossoms and tubers (whole and cut), I'm going to make a note of growth habit, berry production, yield, cooked texture and flavour, and how well they store.

Diagrams from 'The Potato' by W.G.Burton

So, for example, the tuber pictured on the left December 15th would be described as obovate red-skinned with yellow eyebrows and yellow flesh.

Smashing Pumpkin

This splendid pumpkin is a Golden Delicious although it isn't teardrop shaped as they normally are. But just look how thick the flesh is, a very small seed cavity! I've found a website which has a few hundred varieties to choose from - KCB Samen . I may have to find a bit more space in the garden next year for a couple of Yuxijiangbinggua.

Four Eggs!

Egg judging at the Poultry Club of Great Britain Annual show via The Guardian. Below is our take for today. The dark bespeckled one is Miss Havisham's first ever.

The Spiritual Parts of the Tea

"The Jesuite that came from China, Ann.1664, told Mr.Waller, That there they use sometimes in this manner. To near a pint of the infusion, take two yolks of new laid-eggs, and beat them very well with as much fine sugar as is sufficient for this quantity of Liquor; when they are very well incorporated, pour your Tea upon the Eggs and Sugar, and stir them well together. So drink it hot. This is when you come home from attending business abroad, and are very hungry, and yet have not conveniency to eat presently a competent meal. This presently discusseth and satisfieth all rawness and indigence of the stomack, flyeth suddainly over the whole body and into the veins, and strengthneth exceedingly, and preserves one a good while from necessity of eating. In these parts, He saith, we leave the hot water remain too long soaking upon the Tea, which makes it extract into it self the earthy parts of the herb. The water is to remain upon it, no longer that whiles you can say the Miserere Psalm very leisurely. Then pour it upon the sugar, or sugar and Eggs. Thus you have only the spiritual parts of the Tea, which is much more active, penetrative and friendly to nature. You may from this regard take a little more of the herb; about one drachm of Tea, will serve for a pint of water; which makes three ordinary draughts."
Receipt from The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelm Digby Knight Published by his Son's Consent 1669

Last of the Late Late TPS

Wednesday night's -3° finished off my TPS experiment for this year - an early August sowing. But two of them show great promise I think just for the sheer number of tubers set. And they look big enough to save (see coin) and plant out in the spring!

Tree Dressing, Some Alternatives

... And No.4

Minus 3 last night and staying frosty until Friday. Rime over all and water is frozen within the greenhouse. I put a duvet over the bees and a curtain in the hen house.

Cauld Frosty Morning No.3

The ice was about half an inch thick on the hen's water bowl this morning and the ground is crunchy. The cab driver the other night told us this will be the coldest winter in 100 years. I'm not sure where he gets his information but I'm thinking I might construct a styrofoam surround to help the bees retain warmth throughout. Hmmm, I'll just put the kettle on and give it some more thought...

Late Late TPS

Back in August I decided to test the viability of the seed that I had collected from some of last year's potato fruits. They germinated quickly and I potted a dozen of them on and on and on... Then I moved them into the greenhouse late October to see how long I could keep them going. Now after the second night of hard frost I decided to start to dismantle this experiment. I'm hoping that some of the tubers are big enough to set out in the spring (that is a 1 inch grid) and the little ones I'll taste test tomorrow. There are four more which I will grow on until they show signs of expiring.
The top row are grown from seeds of last year's No.11 plants. Each one is unique. The two outer ones have very white flesh and the one in the centre is quite yellow fleshed. The far right one has lovely markings on the skin. Below are offspring of No.6 plants.
The one on the left has a white ring around a very purple centre, the third one over has yellow flesh and the other two are flecked with magenta/violet marks in white flesh.

(as always, click on picture to see it properly)

Potato Harvest

Both Roseval and King Edward which I grew from bought tubers had to be lifted mid-August due to continuous attack of blight. It would have been a magnificent haul if they could have been left to bulk up for another month as the average tuber count per plant was over 10, so about 400 from just 36 plants. The potatoes that I grew from TPS fared better and I left them in the ground until early October. Below are three that did very well and I will be growing again next year. Of course the Landrace seeds are a mixed bag so very unpredictable but I'm going to save a few of these tubers to grow on as well. And the bottom picture is a selection of some of the ones that I've grown on from saved spuds of previous Tom Wagner trials.

Comparing & Contrasting

Beetroot grew reasonably well - not brilliant - this summer in spite of the weather, slugs and my neglect. I guess there are enough to see us through the winter. I think that 'Cylindra' may possibly be the better keepers so we've started making our way through 'Rhonda' first, but as to taste they are much of a muchness.

Squash 2012

One grand-daddy (21 lbs.) and a whole lot of under-achievers!

Ah...

...is this not Happiness?

Yesterday, sat in the sun with the hens and shelled my bean harvest. Today, went for elevenses in the woods at Mrs. Bun's truck/café.

First Egg!!

The months of waiting are finally over, Miss Moneypenny has laid an egg.
Image via AgenceEureka

Comparing Apples to Cucumbers

"Young broods of swallows come out. Cut 171 cucumbers; in all 424 this week. Sweet moon light!"
Gilbert White in The Natural History of Selbourne September 10 1791

Cucumbers were late in coming this year but now abound and they are all mine to eat as him-indoors won't touch them. As for texture and crunch, 'Suyo Long' could be likened to a McIntosh (Boy Scout) apple, 'Kyoto 3 Foot' a Granny Smith, 'Hmong Red' a Cox Pippin and 'Kaiser Alexander' an Egremont Russet.

Teapots of Note - No.2

"It is very strange, this domination of our intellect by our digestive organs. We cannot work, we cannot think, unless our stomach wills so. It dictates to us our emotions, our passions. After eggs and bacon it says, "Work!" After beefsteak and porter, it says, "Sleep!" After a cup of tea (two spoonfuls for each cup, and don't let it stand for more than three minutes), it says to the brain, "Now rise, and show your strength. Be eloquent, and deep, and tender; see, with a clear eye, into Nature, and into life: spread your white wings of quivering thought, and soar, a god-like spirit, over the whirling world beneath you, up through long lanes of flaming stars to the gates of eternity!"
Jerome K. Jerome Three Men in a Boat

The 'Stay-Hot' pot, with inbuilt cosy.