Thyme after Thyme



Lemon Thyme

 I thought I would contine on the herb theme this week and show you a few of the Thymes that I have in  the Rosebank garden.

Lemon Thyme is my favourite it is fruitier than Common Thyme and less pungent.  All Thymes prefer sun and a free-draining soil and do very well in containers of potting compost with grit added.  It goes well in chicken and fruit dishes and I also infuse it in olive oil to give extra flavour.


Golden Thyme

 Golden Thyme with its variegated leaves is less strong than Common Thyme and is very attractive to look at.

Silver Thyme

Another variation is Silver Thyme

The neat, wiry shrubs are reliably evergreen and their leaves can be picked fresh all year round.   Common Thyme used for flavouring stews, roast lamb and stuffings and Lemon Thyme goes well in fish and pork dishes.

Common Thyme

If you trim them hard back after flowering they will grow back vigorously but don't cut back into old wood  - a bit like pruning lavender.  Soft wood cuttings can easily be taken.

It's worth growing a few varieties as they look good in the garden and attract millions of bees when they are in flower.   

Herbylicious

 There is not a lot going on in the kitchen garden at the moment as, although the sun has been shining, the wind has been cold, and I'm not risking planting out just yet as we have been having heavy frosts.  But the  best thing about this time of year, is that the herb garden is coming into its own and there is a lot of new growth on the mints, chives and thyme.

This is my small herb garden, which features a sink sunk into the ground filled with oregano, variegated sage and chives, surrounded by pots of thyme and mint and parsley.  But I grow herbs dotted about the garden as well - I can't get enough of them and when they flower the bees love them.

This Apple Mint is grown in a flower border and the foliage looks wonderfully green and fresh at the moment.

The Eau de Cologne Mint is grown free-range in this border and brings a unity to it with its grey-green foliage which spreads in and around the other plants.  I know you are meant to keep Mint in check by keeping it in pots, but I have broken the rules in this case, and it doesn't seem to cause any problems and is easily dug out and removed.

The Peppermint looks healthy and glossy leaved and is the one I use for Mint tea, clipping it regularly keeps it bushy with plenty of new leaves.

spearmint

The other two Mints that I have are Spearmint which I use for Mint Sauce and adding to new potatoes and
Chocolate Mint which is used in desserts.

Chocolate Mint

I was going to go out this morning and photograph all the different Thymes that I have, but this will have to wait for another post, as it is pouring with rain at the moment. 

Do you have many herbs in your garden - are there any that I have not mentioned that you think are worth growing?

The First Rhubarb of the Season



Rhubarb

 In the pouring rain this morning I picked the first few sticks of Rhubarb.  I love to eat the young stalks, tender and pink in crumbles, pies and tarts.

The Rhubarb Tart Song

I want another slice of rhubarb tart

I want another lovely slice

I'm not disparaging the blueberry pie

But rhubarb tart is oh so very nice

A rhubarb what? A rhubarb tart!

A whatbarb tart? A rhubarb tart!

I want another slice of rhubarb tart!

John Cleese



via pinterest

It has an interesting history and its roots have been used medicinally as a laxative for at least 5,000 years by the Chinese.  The expense of transportation across Asia caused rhubarb to be highly expensive in mediaeval Europe where it was several times the price of other valuable herbs like saffron, cinammon and pepper.


via pinterest  - rhubarb and strawberry pie



A measure of the value of rhubarb can be got from Ruy Gonzales de Clavijo's report of his embassy in 1403 to Timur in Samarkand

The best of all merchandise coming to Samarkand was from China: especially silk, satin, musk, rubies, diamond, pearls and rhubarb


Tall stems of cream flowers are produced on mature plants, these are very decorative, and won't harm the plant in any way.


rhubarb - gone to seed

 I have also found out that the leaves of the rhubarb plant can be used as an insecticide.  Just boil up a few pounds of leaves in a few pints of water for 15 mins.  Strain the liquid.  Dissolve soap flakes into this liquid and use it to spray against aphids.

girl carrying rhubarb

If you can keep the plants wet in summer and dry in winter this is all to the good.  Water liberally, and mulch around the stems with manure or grass cuttings to retain moisture.

rhubarb illustration

About every five years plants need dividing - the most vigorous offshoots are generally those that have formed around the edges of a clump.  When pulling stems always leave about four on the plant and it is best not to pull any after midsummer which gives the plant a chance to replenish itself.



Carl Larsson - karin peeling rhubarb

 The plants are very decorative and look good planted in a border.  If more than one plant is grown they should be planted about 3ft. apart.

Vertical Edibles

Strawberries are the angels of the earth, innocent and sweet, with leafy green wings reaching heavenward - Terri Guillemets.
For those of you who follow my blog regularly, you will know that I like my garden to be ornamental as well as functional, and one of the ways in which I do this is to plant vertically using hanging baskets which transforms a small space into an attractive yet efficient growing area.



Hanging Basket Strawberries

Not all veg are suitable for this treatment, but  strawberries, bush tomatoes, salad leaves and herbs are.

Herbs and flowers

I use a 50/50 mix of potting compost and John Innes loam, a handful of bonemeal, a bit of grit for drainage and some water-storing granules.  Regular watering and feeding is essential  - but other than that - they are work free.
 

via pinterest


The good thing about vertical gardening is that it keeps the plants free of pests, slugs and snails can't reach and the birds haven't figured it out yet.



Tumbling Tomatoes

 I generally put five strawberry plants or three tomato plants into a large basket.  Three strawberry or one tomato into a medium size basket. 

Once strawberries have finished fruiting they will stop growing for a few weeks, and later on they start making new crowns for the following year.  They only fruit well for three seasons so I pot up the runners to have a succession of plants.

The baskets, when planted up, are kept somewhere warm, till the last frosts are past, then I hang them in a sheltered spot where they can get plenty of sunshine. 

I think I may try some new varieties this year - I have been propagating from my own plants for so long that I can't remember what they are.

Maybe you could help me decide which new varieties to choose - which are your favourites?

Fusion of the Seasons

Let's face it, for most of us, the weather has been glorious - more like summer than spring.  Some years summer is nowhere near as good as spring is at the moment.

So, what have I been up to during the past week?  More seed sowing I'm afraid - I have had to erect my new mini-greenhouse to take the overspill.

I am hardening off my broad beans in there ready for planting out very shortly.  But mainly, I have been thinking about winter crops - seems a bit crazy thinking 9 months ahead, but Brassicas need a long growing season.

Nero di Toscana Kale

Sprouting Broccoli Red Arrow

Calabrese Sampson



Cauliflower Romanesco

All of the above have been sown, plus ordinary Cauliflower, Early Purple Sprouting and Curly Kale.

More beetroot and chards

Bright Lights Chard

White Silver Chard



Burpees Golden Beetroot

I wont be sowing any summer cabbage this year as there is always plenty of other veg around and the cabbages tend to get left in favour of beans.

Can't stay long - the warm sunshine beckons.
Is anyone else thinking ahead to sowing for winter?

Before I forget, I should like to thank Jane at Tidy Gardens by Jane check out her blog here for passing on an Award to me


When I have time I will pass this on to 7 deserving bloggers plus give you a few previously unknown facts about myself.  Watch this space.  Thanks Jane.

Sowing Sparingly

What have I been doing every afternoon this week - seed sowing - that's what.  Trying to catch up after my holiday.  Of course there's no rush - it's just that I like to get a few things underway in March - little and often is my sowing motto.

Boltardy Beetroot

This morning I sowed a row of parsnips and beetroot in the allotment garden

Tender and True Parsnip

The trick is not to sow too many at a time.  I try and space them thinly so that I don't have the job of thinning them later on.  It is quite easy with the larger seeds like parsnips and beetroot, but a little more difficult with carrots, say, as the seed is quite small.  I will sow more beetroot each month till July so that I have a continuous crop right through the year.  Then, to extend the season, I will sow some in containers, that I can bring them in to the greenhouse when the weather gets colder again.   That's the theory anyway.

I have sown five types of lettuce in modules, three to each station:-
   

 

Iceberg, Little Gem, Webbs Wonderful, Lobjoits Green Cos and All the Year Round.  The first four are crispy lettuce, All the Year Round is a Butterhead.  I love the crispness of  the first four but will grow salad leaves as well to mix in with the others to give different textures and colours on the plate. I tend to use each lettuce by breaking off the leaves rather than pull the whole plant - that way they keep growing and producing more leaves.  Lettuce do over winter well , so I will keep sowing little and often right through the year, giving the plants protection later on.  Even in summer I protect them with some shading mesh when it gets too hot.

Lettuce look pretty good in the flower garden too, used as edging plants - and if they bolt, and throw up spires, they look even prettier.


The last job for today was to transplant Broccoli and Cauliflower seedlings which now have two true leaves.  So far I have transplanted a dozen of each, but again, I intend doing a bit of succession sowing.  Broccoli did well for me last year, enabling me to pick for quite a few weeks.  But with Cauliflower it is best to harvest them quite small as they all produce heads at the same time.

So, I am slowly getting to grips with the growing season, Leeks have been transplanted , more Broad beans and Peas sown, and  a row of Charlotte potatoes put in the ground - I feel I am making a little progress at last.  If this weather holds and I am able to carry on doing a bit every day I'll be a happy bunny.

There's a Whole Lot of Sowing Going On!

It's that time of year again - but, I seem to be a little behind with my seed sowing.  I can't get myself into gear and get on with it.  You know how it is - I have just come back from holiday and feel all relaxed - now I need to rev up and get cracking.  So - after inspecting everything in the greenhouse to check on progress whilst we have been away - I sowed some more peas (Douce Provence) and broad beans (Aguadulce) and three types of dwarf bean (Rondo, Delinel and Tendergreen).  Only half of the pink flowered broad beans germinated, the rest rotted in the pot, due in part I think to over-enthusiastic watering. 

Broad bean - Karamyzn

Add caption

Peas - Hurst Green Shaft

The tomatoes are coming along fine, snug in their mini-greenhouse within the big greenhouse - I still have the Black Russian to sow yet, but I am leaving those for a while so I get a later crop.



Tomatoes - mixed

 And the Anya potatoes are just poking through



Anya potatoes

Anya

And except for a few herbs, that is all I have done so far


Chervil - Bronze Fennel - Sorrel and Hyssop

 How are you getting on with your seed sowing?

A Bounty of Beans

Now is the time to start thinking about sowing my first batch of Dwarf or French Beans.  I like to extend the growing season by having a few plants in containers in the greenhouse.  They come in all shapes and sizes each having their own special flavour.  I particularly like pencil thin beans, slim pods that hang in bunches from low-growing plants.  'Delinel' is a French 'filet' bean with a distinct flavour and heavy yield.

Delinel

I won't be sowing outdoors till late April/early May, once the soil has warmed up and the chance of frosts is less.  The thing about sowing in pots is that you have to make sure the seeds don't rot in the wet compost.  To make sure this doesn't happen I mix in equal amounts of perlite to compost - this ensures the soil is free-draining.


Prince

 Each year I add a different variety to my collection - last year it was 'The Prince' which is a heavy-cropper with good flavour - this year it is 'Delinel' - of which I have heard good reports, but beans come in a few different colours to add a bit of interest.

Purple Teepee

Mont D'Or

After the initial sowing - if I can remember - I will sow a few beans each month outdoors from April to July - to get a continuation of crops.  If I sow them at 2in. intervals it means that I can thin out the weaker ones and also if the slugs decide to make a meal of them I will still have enough left for good crops.  Dwarf beans only produce for a short period so it is important to make several sowings.

It helps to pick the beans regularly when they are small, as soon as the beans start showing in the pods they become tough and stringy, and it helps to keep the plants producing.  All the beans require is a good, rich, soil and plenty of water.

Towards the end of the season I will plant some in pots in the greenhouse again to extend cropping into October.  I can't ever remember having a bad season with French Beans, as, unlike runner beans, they are self-fertile and don't rely on pollination.

August 2011

When do you start sowing your French Beans?

All photos Google images except the last one