tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28081930791017830312024-03-14T17:59:10.554+00:00Herbs and HedgerowCooks Lane Herbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619018143628588847noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808193079101783031.post-85619804673045600252012-12-29T19:09:00.000+00:002012-12-29T19:09:45.058+00:00Rain, rain, go awayIt's been a fairly miserable holiday so far, hasn't it? Rain, rain and more rain leave the to-do list growing ever longer and me suffering a severe case of cabin fever wanting to get outside and do stuff. Not to mention the garden starting to resemble a giant puddle.
It doesn't help that both of us here at Cooks Lane has been struck down by the lurgy for more than a week, so there's only a few days left to start work on projects before it's back to work!
Still, on the bright side that's lots of time for plans and schemes for 2013 and we've got a few ideas up our sleeves for making Cooks Lane better than ever. It's all very exciting in a slightly scary way...
In the meantime, here's a sunny picture to cheer us all up from the rain:
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Cooks Lane Herbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619018143628588847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808193079101783031.post-31412429590434796742012-12-02T21:42:00.000+00:002012-12-02T21:42:09.133+00:00It's beginning to look a lot like ChristmasWho knew there were so many versions of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer? Spend any time at craft fairs in the run-up to Christmas, and you'll be AMAZED.
It may be only December 2, but we are pretty near the end of the Christmas fair run for this year, believe it or not. Which is good in a way, I always end up spending more than I intend to because there's so much lovely crafts around!
Our Christmas soaps have been going well this year, which I'm really pleased about, and we are just about to get the appalling website sorted, thanks to the very lovely Alex.
New year, new look!
Here's a glimpse of a couple of our new soaps - our next fair is at Stamford Christmas Market on Sunday, December 9, and then we'll be at Ashby Farmers' Market on Saturday, December 15. Come and say hi! And if you can't make it, then just send us an email at cookslaneherbs@googlemail.com and we'll get back to you.
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Cooks Lane Herbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619018143628588847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808193079101783031.post-87017081437617641842012-08-01T21:51:00.000+01:002012-08-01T21:51:32.066+01:00Wordless Wednesday: meadow<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Cheers, St Swithin. Now, we just need to get rid of all the snails and slugs...Cooks Lane Herbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619018143628588847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808193079101783031.post-54913810472557142322012-07-14T19:02:00.000+01:002012-07-14T19:02:03.554+01:00mud glorious mud<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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If someone says, "there's no such thing as the wrong weather, just inappropriate clothes" once more I will have to resist the urge to swear loudly. There is such a thing as the wrong weather. It's called days and days of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3J5d4duoGAU">rain </a> when it's supposed to be summer. July? Pah, I want my money back.
We're back from a few days in the south west where the three-day Healing Festival - our first time there, lots of tarot reading, cool stalls and very nice people - turned into a bit of a mudbath, as you can see:
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This is the ground outside the main marquee on the third day:
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Despite all this, our stall - complete with new cabinet which Richard made, doesn't it look good? - was looking packed and we had lots of compliments about the soaps (sooo relieved!) and the herbs, too. They weren't minding the rain a bit and the meadowsweet, for one, was in its element.
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Although the miserable mud did, quite understandably, put some people off visiting it was a lovely event and there were even a few brave souls camping in the field/swimming pool next door. I met the brilliant Lynn Round of <a href="http://www.twisted-willows.com/">Twisted Willows</a> and saw these cheeky chaps from the wildlife rescue next door:
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We spent the next couple of days after the festival visiting Glastonbury nearby - the Chalice Well Gardens had the most amazing relaxing feel to them, so much so I almost drifted off while there, and the view from the windswept Tor was worth the wobbly legs on the climb up:
The tower:
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The view:
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At Chalice Well:
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Another favourite was Lyte Carey Manor, which once belonged to a herbalist and is now preserved by the National Trust. I'm not usually a fan of the super-formal gardens but this approach worked a treat. The sun even came out:
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Inside, there were a series of 'rooms' most of which were sadly closed that day owing to flooding. We did, however, see the borders and this magnificent clary sage:
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It's St Swithin's Day tomorrow. According to legend if it rains tomorrow, it'll rain for the next 40 days. Seeing as we've already had that, would it be all right for some sunshine? Please?Cooks Lane Herbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619018143628588847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808193079101783031.post-60941702833208558502012-06-21T08:14:00.001+01:002012-06-21T08:14:37.934+01:00meetings with remarkable treesOne of the nicest things about doing craft fairs is that you get to visit places that you'd normally never go.
Castle Ashby, in neighbouring Northamptonshire, was one - a stately home (not open to the public) and a garden (which is, hurrah). The craft fair was in huge marquees in what was the walled garden, now just a massive lawn. It was enormous, so goodness knows how many mouths it had to feed once upon a time!
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The gardens themselves were formal affairs: lots of clipped box and yew, long, blooming borders peppered with heavily scented roses. But my favourites were the trees. Enormous, gnarled and genuinely awe-inspiring. Fab fact: It's home to the UK's largest weeping beech tree which is so large it has chains holding it up, which you can't see on this picture.
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And I just loved the horse chestnut with its branches reaching to the ground:
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Spring arrived on Tuesday morning, although far too early for me - at 5am I was still in the land of nod.
But it's amazing how much has just burst into life in the garden.
There's the primrose...
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The damson has burst into bud, on Tuesday
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The bees are out...
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And the frog spawn is back in the pond! Hurrah
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As you can probably tell, the obsession with seeds is not likely to go away any time soon. We already have seeds everywhere in trays in the house and our little polytunnel, and now there's going to be a whole lot more! The reason? We were at our first sale of the year, a seed swap at Foxton Village Hall, near Market Harborough, today. It was the first time I'd been to a seed swap but we made sure to bring along plenty of herb seeds like angelica, hyssop, camphor, fennel to name but a few.
The seed packets were all sorted and put into alphabetical order - which turned out to be a good idea, as once the doors opened there was a bit of a scrum as everyone headed straight for the boxes of seeds. There were packets people had got free with magazines, the heritage seed experts from Ryton, Coventry, and envelopes of seeds labelled with neat, fountain-pen copperplate handwriting from elderly gardeners.
We had a great time, talking about herbs and wildflowers with people who came along. It was great to see so many people interested in herb gardens.
Richard's a big fan of Harry Dodson, star of the 1980s BBC series The Victorian Kitchen Garden, and this year he wants to try to grow as many heritage varieties as we can.
And look at this little haul!
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Cardoon from 1885
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Cabbage from 1821
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Salsify from 1860
Hopefully we can add these to the vegetable seedlings we'll be selling from the market stall alongside the herbs and soaps. I love the descriptions of the old varieties, too. "A newer variety which is positively the largest Tomato ever produced," sys the 'Oxheart Giant' label. "The skin is purplish scarlet. The individual Tomatoes weigh as much as a pound and a half each. Although not a heavy yielder - excellent flavour." Can't wait!Cooks Lane Herbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619018143628588847noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808193079101783031.post-3162023356869220142012-01-24T13:06:00.002+00:002012-01-24T13:06:46.825+00:00Couch grass<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A weed, goes the popular convention, is any plant growing in the wrong place. Personally, I can’t think of a right place for couch grass to grow. Having pretty much eradicated it from part of the garden where I was putting our raised beds a couple of years ago (and nearly doing my back in in the process) I’d forgotten about its pervasive, snaking habit and how you find the stuff EVERY BLOODY WHERE you dig.
You can’t leave on tiny bit of it in the ground without knowing that it’s there, laughing at you ready to grow as soon as your back is turned.
So imagine my delight at discovering it had set up home precisely where we’ve been planning to overhaul what I laughingly call our borders. The truth is we’ve kind of neglected them over the past couple of years as we have concentrated on growing the herbs in our poly tunnel further up the garden.
Digging in one spadeful looked like I’d just pulled up a load of evil albino spaghetti from the ground. Richard, who reads up on these things, has discovered it is edible and has turned up recipes. He's on his own with that one.
Three hours later, we’d got this little lot out:
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I’m sure we have missed bits…..Cooks Lane Herbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619018143628588847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808193079101783031.post-13306702441650638432012-01-06T16:28:00.000+00:002012-01-08T15:47:23.681+00:00Twelfth Night"Down with the rosemary, and so
Down with the bays and mistletoe;
Down with the holly, ivy, all,
Wherewith ye dress'd the Christmas Hall"
"Ceremony upon Candlemas Eve"
Robert Herrick (1591–1674)
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Twelfth Night (January 5) is upon us and it’s time to take down the decorations.
There’s lots of wonderful history attached to decorations dating back to Pagan times. I’ve always been fascinated by old customs and decided to look a few of them up, and it’s amazing what you find out.
People would bring in greenery – including live trees or strings of ivy – into their homes because they believed the plants were inhabited by spirits who needed somewhere warm to stay during the cold winter. Bells would be hung in the trees (when one rang, you knew a spirit was there) along with food and treats for them to eat.
Good spirits were also associated with the holly plant, and ivy – despite associations with Bacchus, the Roman god of living it up – was thought to be able to protect against plague and evil.
But if you left the greenery in your home after Twelfth Night – and therefore, by default, the spirits – then they would cause trouble in the home until they were released. Others thought that if the greenery was not returned to the countryside spring would not appear, and neither would the crops.
This year we put some of our stacks of ivy climbing the fence to good use, cutting it down and hanging it in bright swags around the front room. Far, far, better than tinsel. Dried rosemary sticks were threaded with chillies, orange slices and bay leaves and hung around, giving off a fabulous scent when the fire was in full flow and they heated up.
And the scent got even stronger when we put it on the fire last night to burn the last of the decorations. Bonus.
Twelfth Night is also associated with the draining of wassail bowls of a drink called “Lamb’s wool” made of sugar, ginger, nutmeg and beer. It would be drunk by wassailers. Looks good, too. That's my weekend project sorted...
Lambswool Recipe
Recipe Ingredients:
• 1.5 Litres (3 x 500ml bottles) of traditional real ale – or traditional cider
• 6 small cooking apples, cored (Bramley apples)
• 1 nutmeg freshly grated
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 150g brown sugar (demerara)
Recipe Method:
Preheat the oven 120C
Core the apples and get rid of the pips. Cook at 120c for an hour.
In a big saucepan, add the sugar and pour enough booze in to cover. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add spices and stir, adding in the rest of the alcohol
Leave on a gentle heat for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, scoop out the flesh of the appeals and mash it up, adding it into the saucepan. Heat through for 30 minutes then whisk quickly until everything froths up. The idea is that it looks like lamb’s woolCooks Lane Herbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619018143628588847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808193079101783031.post-4132556126271334702012-01-04T09:08:00.001+00:002012-01-04T20:52:13.286+00:00wordless wednesday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvuYICyWT0jBAcembzVgVIc6gkJz-B77KjLOHiwsjP6a-M6cMOTyPlLYVg_MjHfdvIXOdTUcX7LRT0sMQDWq0t93oqV1zpEuiW43FQkjp4qgmgbMh5syGYPWQ7U2Ir5w6E3rwTvvruS7ij/s1600/decjan+020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvuYICyWT0jBAcembzVgVIc6gkJz-B77KjLOHiwsjP6a-M6cMOTyPlLYVg_MjHfdvIXOdTUcX7LRT0sMQDWq0t93oqV1zpEuiW43FQkjp4qgmgbMh5syGYPWQ7U2Ir5w6E3rwTvvruS7ij/s400/decjan+020.jpg" /></a></div>Cooks Lane Herbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619018143628588847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808193079101783031.post-6601960761392287032012-01-01T19:43:00.001+00:002012-01-01T19:44:51.703+00:00SeedsIt’s difficult to believe that wonderful plants come from such tiny things as seeds. They are full of promise, a whisper of spring and summer to come, another year exciting and new and unseen.<br />
We’ve already done one sowing of seeds such as chamomile, elecampane and sweet cicley in the autumn, and they are starting to come up. But we’ve got much, much more to do. <br />
Here’s just some of the 20+ packets we’ve got. Much of it we collected from our garden this last year, but others like Mandrake (from the wonderful Nicky’s Nursery) we are trying out.<br />
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This week, we’re continuing to sow seeds that need stratification - that is, a period of cold weather before they start to sprout. I know it’s been a mild winter so far, but you can bet that colder temperatures are round the corner. <br />
Angelica, Calendula, Viper’s Bugloss, sweet woodruff, sweet cicely, self heal and wood sage, together with vervain and soapwort will all be sown in trays, covered with vermiculite and a sheet of glass, and left outside in all weathers.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyfsCPhwEHFifhzRBhhRI2n-szDGBppxx-vYnpWdQurOVMv_xWTy8r1L7ld0KMWCnRz51qpaGsfNtXR_wYqlNjA138cUPwLrUQCTe6_WTlpicEX_pucaKB1Pmr8aa7HyA9oQmiwjpOqTxo/s1600/054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyfsCPhwEHFifhzRBhhRI2n-szDGBppxx-vYnpWdQurOVMv_xWTy8r1L7ld0KMWCnRz51qpaGsfNtXR_wYqlNjA138cUPwLrUQCTe6_WTlpicEX_pucaKB1Pmr8aa7HyA9oQmiwjpOqTxo/s400/054.JPG" /></a></div><br />
Viper's Bugloss<br />
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Others, like toadflax (Linaria vulgaris), Meadowsweet, St John’s Wort and Agrimony, we’ll sow and leave in a cold frame to get a bit of extra protection. <br />
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Toadflax<br />
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There’s just one thing…. Anyone know where I can borrow a greenhouse?Cooks Lane Herbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619018143628588847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808193079101783031.post-51806981389829011282011-12-18T20:35:00.000+00:002011-12-18T20:35:32.254+00:00Fairsfrom this...<br />
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to this... bliss.<br />
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Now all we need to do is the Christmas shopping.Cooks Lane Herbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619018143628588847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808193079101783031.post-57714889667813502512011-12-07T10:03:00.000+00:002011-12-07T10:03:31.625+00:00The Icky PondToday I finally had a day off work (after 27 days straight!) and decided to end the gardening drought by heading off outdoors to see what needed doing. There was so much it nearly sent me screaming back inside to call in and beg my boss not to let me have any more holidays. But then I gave myself a good talking-to (and bribed myself with a gin at 4pm on the dot) and headed off to tackle the most hideous job: the icky pond.<br />
I started it four years ago with fond hopes of it becoming something like this<br />
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But it hasn’t. Instead, here’s the slimy, leaf-ridden mess I’ve just spent an hour and a half clearing out. <br />
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There’s leaves, leaves, and more leaves. And the water mint which just took everything over and smothered all the nice marginal plants which I’d carefully sunk round the sides in pots. Not that the frogs seem to mind, in fact one of them happily sat and watched me yanking all the knotted tangle. <br />
The pebbles which were put round the liner have all fallen into the pond and needed hauling out, to be replaced by slabs to cover them. And hurrah! There’s a marsh marigold which has survived and a yellow flag water iris underneath all of it, as well as a water lily which was thriving.<br />
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Finally, it’s done. The plan is to have loosestrife - yellow and purple - and meadowsweet around the sides, and lots more marsh marigold. <br />
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Pictures of plants in summer are ALWAYS cheering, aren't they?Cooks Lane Herbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619018143628588847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808193079101783031.post-65218932475353640202011-11-16T21:42:00.000+00:002011-11-16T21:42:52.101+00:00wordless wednesday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4uf3sui3prVcngn6ZPowjK-XEC6QBZ3oyH1z7vHxa-iaMZil-Dj2ct0pTOT_NxxrlPDiXy39X6fe4-ENoBJel7AGEpctYrYLTXhZZM7SGryR7KmQbzODDaV9fVVXqo6ZQmKGQo69006Fz/s1600/nov1+076.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4uf3sui3prVcngn6ZPowjK-XEC6QBZ3oyH1z7vHxa-iaMZil-Dj2ct0pTOT_NxxrlPDiXy39X6fe4-ENoBJel7AGEpctYrYLTXhZZM7SGryR7KmQbzODDaV9fVVXqo6ZQmKGQo69006Fz/s400/nov1+076.jpg" /></a></div>Cooks Lane Herbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619018143628588847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808193079101783031.post-44221807855506767872011-11-02T22:35:00.000+00:002011-11-02T22:35:55.076+00:00wordless wednesday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM_2bUX4lrhiEHFYe2rL2HY9j7Ntes2LXM0jjo8Dlcomon8YPtpDBqSO-vGLJ_dp_kW4Nk79_iF1w4MQEEKyTyQjB0GjpyGBZuu7NsZnXaC6wb8Vo4hwv4OCRA0UtFJUY1_WxaXf9Pkh7O/s1600/DSCF1176.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM_2bUX4lrhiEHFYe2rL2HY9j7Ntes2LXM0jjo8Dlcomon8YPtpDBqSO-vGLJ_dp_kW4Nk79_iF1w4MQEEKyTyQjB0GjpyGBZuu7NsZnXaC6wb8Vo4hwv4OCRA0UtFJUY1_WxaXf9Pkh7O/s400/DSCF1176.JPG" /></a></div>Cooks Lane Herbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619018143628588847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808193079101783031.post-52778842998307230482011-10-30T19:40:00.000+00:002011-10-30T19:40:11.595+00:00TardinessI’m hopeless. There, I’ve said it. My life is full of things which I started in a rush of enthusiasm, only to abandon them a couple of months later - or weeks, even - in favour of something shinier and new.<br />
There’s the garden journal, which I faithfully pledged to keep updated. I found it the other day - I managed to write most of January before it got forgotten. There’s the stepper I bought from QVC. It seemed brilliant. Step my way to fitness while watching the TV, I thought. Where is it now? Gathering dust under the spare bed upstairs.<br />
There’s this blog. Ooh, I thought. A Blog. I will write all about our herb garden, our sales, soaps, recipes, and my herb projects. And what’s happened? I’ve put up a few - admittedly cute - pictures of our cat. It’s like looking at the snaps on my fridge door.<br />
All this is a very roundabout way of admitting how remiss I’ve been on the blog front. No more. From now on, there will be lots of posts about all things herb related and our continuing efforts to turn this hobby into a way of life. And if anyone reads it, it’ll be a bonus.<br />
Here's a picture of a marigold, for no other reason than it looks cheery.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCanPhayv5Wgd5qkoaoez7ForJhyKR4YPZCS3t6aYEtgjxWY8Z7XhAe9GCoS7ePqTxlhvpPQ-CFXyqS7DKckkEufN1BzntBBjl18H97nzdFTplVL0JesbT-1XQSAtY4VMXDYEF2i9i9ugH/s1600/IMG_0249.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCanPhayv5Wgd5qkoaoez7ForJhyKR4YPZCS3t6aYEtgjxWY8Z7XhAe9GCoS7ePqTxlhvpPQ-CFXyqS7DKckkEufN1BzntBBjl18H97nzdFTplVL0JesbT-1XQSAtY4VMXDYEF2i9i9ugH/s400/IMG_0249.JPG" /></a></div>Cooks Lane Herbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619018143628588847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808193079101783031.post-86215884755786774252011-07-20T13:55:00.000+01:002011-07-20T13:55:56.958+01:00Wordless Wednesday: Rosa Gallica 'Rosa Mundi'<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_7s4XIA5HyNAQ15MeMqvoACFn8jfc7Ln8XyOfEny9syqynURXnms-X3jxha62bML2RyjnYZjyn-7_b1ESTRIGIu8HaTaNFzw2joi5X-Ug4NlPKiPNBfRdLlcROXKl685TkYJORTkB6UcK/s1600/097.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_7s4XIA5HyNAQ15MeMqvoACFn8jfc7Ln8XyOfEny9syqynURXnms-X3jxha62bML2RyjnYZjyn-7_b1ESTRIGIu8HaTaNFzw2joi5X-Ug4NlPKiPNBfRdLlcROXKl685TkYJORTkB6UcK/s400/097.JPG" /></a></div>Cooks Lane Herbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619018143628588847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808193079101783031.post-31321183316947824042011-07-17T20:31:00.000+01:002011-07-17T20:31:35.852+01:00daisy, daisy..."I love daisies. They're such a happy flower". So says Meg Ryan in You've Got Mail and I agree. Our herb patch is full of plants with daisy-like blooms at the moment and they are, quite simply, a delight.<br />
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This one's a double chamomile. I love its shaggy appearance.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIR3CD4HkTYeFjPdXPdHov_PVGfKu9HVdg7MeA_PmCVR8KDLaxqoMaDVw8gVhJSURxf5X229G_hF0cI1c3LEWWvDa3rgNgdKKUB59AnTJNCW9bA7Ix5qcw8jK-WSutazY-px6dwD0O6qbQ/s1600/160.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="150" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIR3CD4HkTYeFjPdXPdHov_PVGfKu9HVdg7MeA_PmCVR8KDLaxqoMaDVw8gVhJSURxf5X229G_hF0cI1c3LEWWvDa3rgNgdKKUB59AnTJNCW9bA7Ix5qcw8jK-WSutazY-px6dwD0O6qbQ/s200/160.JPG" /></a></div><br />
This is a camphor plant. Its leave smell of, yep, camphor. I'm hoping to dry a few and use in pot pourri over the winter.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbaI8znjzUV4zBMbAxQzgwFaPYZotAEWe3XEGd6mQQoJmlbdrhlzuOmFL4WvPttFkL0gZe-Nb11s8BSGZOCWnzOCgN3KSkbabUaqETdUZxug6Kegx50nWinOI2dqiPPPJYxBqtd-V9UCOS/s1600/156.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="150" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbaI8znjzUV4zBMbAxQzgwFaPYZotAEWe3XEGd6mQQoJmlbdrhlzuOmFL4WvPttFkL0gZe-Nb11s8BSGZOCWnzOCgN3KSkbabUaqETdUZxug6Kegx50nWinOI2dqiPPPJYxBqtd-V9UCOS/s200/156.JPG" /></a></div><br />
This is a poor picture but it is a wonderful flower. Creamy white petals surrounding a neat, butter-yellow centre. This is English Mace and it has grown tremendously well this year. It's an often overlooked herb, we often get bemused looks from people at our plant markets but it's actually great in soups and warming casseroles.<br />
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And now for something completely different....<br />
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Viper's Bugloss. The bees have been all over it today (in between the downpours). It's a biennial so we'll soon be collecting seeds.Cooks Lane Herbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619018143628588847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808193079101783031.post-42881980965769201022011-06-21T22:17:00.003+01:002011-06-26T20:53:42.804+01:00You wouldn't know it to look at her....<script type="text/javascript">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimusMfF_tvFulQ2b0r6nHaogWoDSpUqxU5hdFMSdv1l27Vvz4_1_dhiCEkqFOgoOyLbJ4Na4AI-Xro_z0Jw4NJQoG3arTpx336JL4tfp_6PYuO34l7btabTQTMvzPCbRq5jMepSPZ3TOdm/s1600/myrtlegarden.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="200" width="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimusMfF_tvFulQ2b0r6nHaogWoDSpUqxU5hdFMSdv1l27Vvz4_1_dhiCEkqFOgoOyLbJ4Na4AI-Xro_z0Jw4NJQoG3arTpx336JL4tfp_6PYuO34l7btabTQTMvzPCbRq5jMepSPZ3TOdm/s200/myrtlegarden.JPG" /></a></div><br />
When I bought the Observer Book of Birds earlier this year as a present for Richard, I rather fondly hoped we would finally be able to identify the birds we spot while walking around the canals and countryside.<br />
Some hope. It is, instead, being put to macabre use identifying exactly which species has been brought in today by our Myrtle. <br />
For such a small cat, she can drag in surprisingly large birds. She has now broken the cat flap by hauling a blackbird and a toad in, at the same time. It is impressive, yet sickening. Not helped it has to be said by Richard feeding her and being delighted at the “offerings”.<br />
This year she is averaging at least one a day. The alleyway across from our house is becoming an avian graveyard. At least it is not like Pet Sematary and the birds come back to life and make their way over here to extract revenge.<br />
If only she could graduate to pigeons, currently savaging our young cabbages and, worse, munching my sweet peas which have so far failed to flower. I wonder why.<br />
Happier news on the fruit front: we have finally had a bumper crop of cherries this year, four years after planting it. The gooseberry bushes are groaning under the weight of all the goosegogs and the blackcurrants are flourishing. <br />
We’ll be giving this recipe for gooseberry wine a whirl at the weekend. I don’t have much of a track record with home made wines, normally I end up pouring them down the sink, but we shall see….<br />
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6lb of gooseberries <br />
3lb of sugar <br />
1 tsp of yeast nutrient <br />
1 tsp of brewers yeast <br />
1 tsp of pectic enzyme <br />
4 ltr of water approx <br />
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1. Wash and crush the gooseberries, place in suitable sized bucket. <br />
2. Then pour on the water, stir three times daily for three days. <br />
3. Strain the liquid through a sieve into a demijohn, then add sugar. <br />
4. Mix thoroughly until all the sugar has dissolved, then add the rest of the ingredients. <br />
5. Fit airlock and leave until fermentation has stopped. <br />
6. Rack off when clear, then rack again 3 months later. <br />
7. Bottle or drink<br />
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(with thanks to allotment.org)Cooks Lane Herbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619018143628588847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808193079101783031.post-65324656313036414902011-06-09T20:55:00.000+01:002011-06-09T20:55:35.647+01:00The Swarm<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir7-vRGKzKXH-zZ7IDgyXoJzu33oBXO0Semd5pfvXi42lMrFgThw4Db_fNjJyCYco9aof_95zUyUYjh4F27zykPSvRJ5OSuO6EPT4IDHlkFAGn-fr4Homu-hwEcqbtWUqNDp4A7AieXcuA/s1600/swarm1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="120" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir7-vRGKzKXH-zZ7IDgyXoJzu33oBXO0Semd5pfvXi42lMrFgThw4Db_fNjJyCYco9aof_95zUyUYjh4F27zykPSvRJ5OSuO6EPT4IDHlkFAGn-fr4Homu-hwEcqbtWUqNDp4A7AieXcuA/s200/swarm1.png" /></a></div><br />
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And everything was going so well. There we were, happily chatting to the bees, watching them flitting about on our herbs, dreaming of all the honey they'd produce, and then they've gone and swarmed.<br />
I was out in the garden yesterday when all of a sudden I realised there were bees buzzing. Rather a lot of them. They were swirling around and around, flying here and there, in a spiral pattern. Then they left.<br />
Stupidly, we had not bothered to artificially swarm our colony - a process where you get another hive and trick some of the bees into moving there and thinking they have swarmed. No, we blithely thought, we don't need to do that, we'll do it later.<br />
And the result? The queen has legged it, taking most of the bees with her. We have had a look and left a couple of queen cells to hopefully hatch out and become new queens. <br />
In the meantime, I've had a couple of shame faced chats with bee experts who were lovely and full of advice. Although I couldn't quite shake the feeling they were inwardly tutting. <br />
So we have to wait a week now and find out if the little bees have made another colony. Fingers crossed!<br />
Looks like that honey will have to wait.Cooks Lane Herbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619018143628588847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808193079101783031.post-32359745526107842982011-06-05T20:39:00.000+01:002011-06-05T20:39:06.809+01:00the big smoke<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivatVO3u4mrq57ojxgLD2oVwpq1VxbC5W1hCLdzQH3a6MJmwZ2KpCDUZ1J6Jaq2ZagJESclZd3ueu8qIO5Q-dLGXqEmWi2Xo1WFFDVejyjO2BuFcq-LcAApBTsRGE2AKK2sOXWXQTKpeMS/s1600/bb+1+008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="150" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivatVO3u4mrq57ojxgLD2oVwpq1VxbC5W1hCLdzQH3a6MJmwZ2KpCDUZ1J6Jaq2ZagJESclZd3ueu8qIO5Q-dLGXqEmWi2Xo1WFFDVejyjO2BuFcq-LcAApBTsRGE2AKK2sOXWXQTKpeMS/s200/bb+1+008.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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Road trip for us yesterday to London, for the Herb Society's herb festival at the Garden Museum in Lambeth. <br />
It is a gem of a place, in a converted church with a churchyard garden crammed with herbs and wildflowers. You couldn't tell you were in the middle of London.<br />
The herb festival was lovely and instructive too. We met Judith Hann and had garden envy at her immaculately designed garden with mature plants and 150 varieties of herbs; made tussie mussies with wonderfully potent southernwood and lavender sage (I'm hoping they will all make cuttings too); and once again spent far far too much on plants and seeds. But hey ho. I finally managed to get hold of some tree spinach, which I've heard lots about and am keen to try - and I've set my heart on getting some Rosa mundi for the garden. They are gorgeous.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnxOLCGs7V0HnG9T_6P6zUy19_fPTsySs1CsEJ5udbmtwUs89yfjG0yb1apVPoE_QochVZ3ixohdbtvkyCIaJ-bo1Do-aaOhR5z0o5Bk5xp9M9Czt5KVaVZUFmsWo7ggbNmK4mp2MEzDa_/s1600/bb+1+010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="150" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnxOLCGs7V0HnG9T_6P6zUy19_fPTsySs1CsEJ5udbmtwUs89yfjG0yb1apVPoE_QochVZ3ixohdbtvkyCIaJ-bo1Do-aaOhR5z0o5Bk5xp9M9Czt5KVaVZUFmsWo7ggbNmK4mp2MEzDa_/s200/bb+1+010.jpg" /></a></div><br />
After, we visited the Old Operating Museum and Herb Garrett near London Bridge. Here were the old apothocary treatments, bowls of dried herbs and flowers hanging from the ceiling. My favourite picture was this one, with all the bottles glowing in the sunshine. Fab.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYiuWsVvwP4w8pXWFEQjzsj7mzHipsEuJps-7H7bqq6Y-VuJ1wEbA3HmKAxdoLweIlzYoGQLbHtO0HLZnQg18Fcveu-qHkAllS_05Vdfl1u7SgCFIWR4aTOlkpepbkHxp5u3Hi7_L0ZGAR/s1600/bb+1+013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="149" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYiuWsVvwP4w8pXWFEQjzsj7mzHipsEuJps-7H7bqq6Y-VuJ1wEbA3HmKAxdoLweIlzYoGQLbHtO0HLZnQg18Fcveu-qHkAllS_05Vdfl1u7SgCFIWR4aTOlkpepbkHxp5u3Hi7_L0ZGAR/s200/bb+1+013.jpg" /></a></div>Cooks Lane Herbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619018143628588847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808193079101783031.post-14599286749338370432011-06-02T21:30:00.000+01:002011-06-02T21:30:20.368+01:00this made my day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgal1fTZY301XG1Hs1ZK-8GUNP5Ifelpo3fDXao2nth2CBhQAGk67EoBjd2hrwwH26fjWek_CClMS9LxSiBDDwjyXlkwUV6Ap-8v1HfT2BJe9hOgUf-fytzwhqZK7Fb8asfzMKQzmZ1CQJU/s1600/IMG-20110602-00004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="150" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgal1fTZY301XG1Hs1ZK-8GUNP5Ifelpo3fDXao2nth2CBhQAGk67EoBjd2hrwwH26fjWek_CClMS9LxSiBDDwjyXlkwUV6Ap-8v1HfT2BJe9hOgUf-fytzwhqZK7Fb8asfzMKQzmZ1CQJU/s200/IMG-20110602-00004.jpg" /></a></div> <br />
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My purple sage has floweredCooks Lane Herbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619018143628588847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2808193079101783031.post-51821361303569359162011-04-15T20:32:00.002+01:002011-04-15T20:48:57.332+01:00oh happy dayWent out this morning and found seedlings! Lots of them. Eyebright we had had already, and borage, but now we have angelica, purslane, par-cel, betony, wormwood, clary sage and lots more, including, best of all, comfrey.<br /><br />Add that to lemon grass indoors, and mandrake, which has been in our bathroom for the past month - to the bemusement of the fitters putting in our new kitchen.<br /><br />Tarragon has come up everywhere, cuttings of southernwood have taken well and we are well-stocked with beautiful old favourites such as lady's mantle and viper's bugloss.<br /><br />Stock levels are beginning to build up, which is crucial commercially as well as gratifying personally. <br /><br />It has been particularly satisfying to talk to customers from last year who have reported how well plants they bought from us survived the winter and are thriving in the early warm weather.<br /><br />We are going to have our widest and most interesting range of herbs yet this year - just as well given we are doing more plant fairs and markets than ever.<br /><br />We will be at plant fairs in Market Harborough throughout the summer, the University of Leicester Botanic Garden and - the furthest we have ever been - Market Deeping, as well as our usual Leicester and Kibworth farmers' markets and Leicester Food Festival on May 29.Cooks Lane Herbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15619018143628588847noreply@blogger.com0