Monday, May 18, 2020

Autumn tasks



This week I have been working my way through some autumn tasks, some of which are concerned with using up our citrus harvest. The mandarins are all gone now. It turns out that when your three grandchildren move close, you have a ready market for all the mandarins you can grow! DGS#2  (2 and a bit years old) delighted in taking a small basket of mandarins home to Mummy when he visited, and Mummy tells me he was capable of eating three of them in an afternoon!


I have now given 4 large boxes of Meyer lemons away to the neighbours through our local Buy Nothing FaceBook page, but I reckon there are at least two more boxes full left on the tree. They have also gone to my DDIL and her mum too. The Meyer, being a sweeter and bright yellow fruit, are a bit of a magnet for fruit fly. The crop comes in a huge wave, over about 4 weeks so it is important to try to get them off the tree before the fruit fly finds them. I freeze affected fruit before disposing of it. We have a rigorous baiting regime and a practice of never leaving fallen fruit on the ground, and as a result we are not getting too many spoiled fruit.



Everyone is amazed to discover the delights of the Meyer lemon: thin skinned, sweeter than the Eureka and very juicy, they are a big hit. I made 4 jars of preserved lemons, one for me and others to give away to friends.  How to preserve lemons here 

The pink grapefruit and the tangelos are a delight to add to our breakfast juice. We feel like we are staying in a posh hotel, with freshly squeezed juice every morning!

I made a tangelo cake for Mother's Day lunch. It is like a whole orange cake but you boil the tangelos and cool them before use. This is the recipe I used.  Instead of the syrup, I warmed up some spiced tangelo marmalade (one of DH's specialities)  and used it as a glaze on top of the cake. It went down a treat with some cream on the side.





There was a special occasion this past week. DH and I celebrated our 44th wedding anniversary! DH decided not to go with the gifts set down in the 'modern calendar of anniversary gifts" which declared that the 44th was the time to give groceries! Instead I got some pretty candle bowls. The Ellenbrook family came over for lunch and DH did a barbecue.



This is a chalk drawing of me, complete with white hair and dragonfly earrings! Drawn by DGD (aged 8), with a bit of help from her little brother.




 I am continuing to make over the front garden around the bird bath. I have been moving irises, cannas, a gardenia and various groundcovers from other parts of the garden, to create a sort of central bed under the fruit trees. These trees are mostly deciduous -apart from the olive- so the bed will get lovely winter and spring sunshine before being protected by the leaves from our hot summer sun. Most of the things I have moved have settled in well. I have a couple of pots of annuals coming up -anemones and calendulas, which I will add in a few weeks, along with some bluebell bulbs. It should look good in about 4 weeks or so. I keep having to remind myself to grow flowers -so much of what I do is about growing food!



The 'Glamis Castle" David Austin rose is doing well at the end of the front garden central bed. It has been here for years. I have plans for moving some other roses away from it to the back -so they can get more sun, and so this one can be less crowded.

I am slowly working on my next quilt, which has a gardening theme too. 



The other things I have been doing include continuing to refine my compost making skills -I am convinced that they are the backbone of the garden- and attempting to improve my skills in growing and saving seed and taking cuttings. This week I have started saving basil seed for next year.

Thanks for visiting my blog. I hope you are all safe and well wherever you are. Leave me a message - I love reading them.

6 comments:

Debbie V. said...

I would definitely take some of those Meyer lemons off your hands! I spent most of my life in southern California so citrus was always around. One house we rented had several trees in the backyard. Here in Indiana citrus is around in the grocery store but you miss the scent of the blossoms.
Beautiful and inspiring photos. That white rose especially. We have one rose bush - Grandma's blessing - that is just getting ready to bloom. As a rule I don't think roses do as well here in southern Indiana as it gets pretty hot during the summer, but we ended up planting this one in shade and it worked. My mother-in-law chose it for us one time when she came for a visit. Out of the three we planted - it was the only one that survived.

TheAwakenedSoul said...

Your David Austin rose is stunning! I swear by composting, too. (That and mulch.) I have two containers full of fruit and vegetable scraps to add to my compost pile today. The compost tea has amazing effects on the plants, too. I love your flowers!

sustainablemum said...

What a wonderful post! I love reading about the things that people grow in their garden in different parts of the world especially when they are growing things that I cannot. Thank you so much for sharing.

Congratulations for your 44th wedding anniversary, your candle bowls are lovely. I am so glad that you were able to celebrate with family.

Meg said...

All our mandarins are gone now too. I have had no success with growing lemon trees. I am preparing a spot for a banana though. I love the chalk drawings that have been appearing on driveways and footpaths everywhere. They make me smile! I have lots of basil growing; it just self seeds in my garden. Your rose looks so gorgeous! MegXx

Nil @ The Little House by the Lake said...

Happy anniversary earthmotherwithin 💐

Nanna Chel said...

Happy Anniversary from me too. That rose is just beautiful. I don't seem to be able to grow roses very well so won't buy any this year. They are in pots mainly so perhaps that is the problem. My husband is a hoarder so to find a suitable place for them with enough sun is a tad difficult.