Addicted to Gardening: The Detling Garden Show...

This weekend was the first time I visited the Detling Garden Show. It was also the first time I realized I have a serious addiction to gardening. Although my outdoor space is limited I couldn’t resist buying a few more plants for my Magical Fairy Garden. Over the next few weeks I’ll be learning about them and sharing my findings here with all of you.

For those of you that have never been to the Detling Garden Show it is a must! There are over 300 exhibitors selling a wide variety of plants, stalls from various wild life trusts and all sorts of wonderful garden ornaments including chimes, fantastic children’s play houses and gigantic wooden Gorillas (just what every garden needs!) I have also discovered there is a 2nd garden show in the Autumn! Hurrah!

My new plants are all settling happily in my garden. Here is a quick peek at some of them:

Heart Ease or Wild Pansy

Lupins

Cat Mint (A Treat for Nutmeg)

A Japanese Maple Tree (I LOVE these trees!)

Growing An Apple Tree From Seed...

Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.

Martin Luther

I have become obsessed with the idea of having my own orchard. There are garden centres all over Kent selling a wide variety of apple, pear and cherry trees and I could easily buy myself a ready made orchard. However I don’t want to take the easy option. So I have taken the bold (and very possibly insane) step of growing my very own apple tree from seeds.

Now seeds and I don’t tend to get along. We definitely have a love hate relationship. I lavish them with love and attention and in return they either do nothing or they sprout and then promptly rot. So I know I am doing something wrong.

This is my 2nd attempt at growing my own apple tree. The first attempt ended in bitter disappointment. I managed to get 2 seeds to sprout and then in my youthful exuberance planted them outside (way too early) where they withered and died. I learned my lesson and spent more time doing research on the best way to grow apple trees from seed. This article by Steve Snyder is one of the best I have found.

For this attempt I am using local Braeburn apples.

What I have done so far:

– Enjoyed eating 3 lovely, juicy Braeburn apples – cut into slices

– Used the tip of a knife to carefully extract the seeds from the core

– Placed the seeds on wax paper in a small dish so they can dry out

My next steps:

– Wait patiently for the seeds to dry out (this can take 3-4 weeks)

– When they are dry enough they will have a light almost grey/silver colour

– I will then add them to a small Tupperware box filled with soil and place in my fridge for 3 months

– Every 2 days I will open up the box to give them some air and extra TLC

– Keep my non–green fingers crossed and hopefully start to see some sign of growth after the first 2 months

It really doesn’t matter if I am successful or not (although I would love for this to be a success). What’s important for me is the process and learning more about my garden and how plants grow. I will keep you posted on my progress – wish me luck! (and please send some loving thoughts to my apple seeds)

Thanks Everyone!

Luna xx

Bacon and Avocado Sandwiches...

Today my husband and I went for an early morning country side walk. The sun was shining brightly, birds were singing, we even saw a large hare bounding up the path. It was the perfect start to the day. All the walking and fresh country air got our appetites going. By the time we got back we were more then ready for lunch. As a treat we had bacon and avocado sandwiches. This is a dream combination and goes wonderfully well with a big mug of tea.

Luna Raye’s Bacon and Avocado Sandwiches (for two)

Ingredients

4 slices of really good quality smoked streaky bacon (we buy ours from our local butcher)

1 ripe Hass Avocado

Mayonnaise

4 slices of thick whole wheat bread

A pinch of salt

Generous amount of freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Cook the bacon in a frying pan until just crispy (but not burnt)

While the bacon is cooking spread some mayonnaise on 2 slices of bread that will serve as the bottom half of each sandwich

Cut the avocado in half and remove the stone

Scoop out the flesh of the avocado and layer it over the mayonnaise on each slice of bread

Add a pinch of salt to the avocado

Once the bacon is cooked layer it on top of the avocado (I don’t drain the bacon on paper towel but you can do so if you wish)

Add a generous amount of black pepper before placing the other slice of bread on top

Cut in half and serve with a big mug of tea

Enjoy!

Deep Fried Brie with Cranberry Chutney...

I absolutely love cheese! A wedge of mature Irish cheddar on a slice of warm soda bread, a generous portion of Roquefort with a chilled Sauterne or smooth creamy garlic and herb Le Roule spread thickly over oat cakes – I love it all! One of my all time favourites though is deep fried Brie or Camembert with homemade chutney. This is top of my list of things to order when I dine out.

Before I watched Simon Rimmer prepare this dish on Something for the Weekend I thought it was well beyond my capabilities. The idea of deep frying cheese made me nervous – maybe because I am so accident prone – but really this is such a simple dish to make. I don’t have a deep fat fryer but I did use my wok – it worked very well but it is important to be careful (especially if you’re accident prone like me) as hot oil can be dangerous.

The best thing is now I don’t have to wait to go to a restaurant to have it – I can make it at home easily whenever I have a craving – which unfortunately for my waistline is often.

It’s perfect for lunch or elegant starter and will definitely impress your dinner guests. I serve mine with a simple salad of rocket (arugula) with red peppers and a lime vinaigrette.

Here is Simon Rimmer’s recipe from the BBC Food website.

Deep Fried Brie with Cranberry Chutney

Ingredients

For the chutney

1-2 tbsp vegetable oil (I used olive oil)

1 red onion, finely chopped

1 red chilli, finely chopped

200g/7oz demerara sugar

150ml/5½fl oz red wine vinegar

250g/9oz fresh cranberries (the supermarkets have these in abundance in the lead up to Christmas so buy a few packs and freeze them for later)

100g/3½oz dried cranberries

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp ground cloves

For the deep-fried Brie

100g/3½oz plain flour

2 free-range eggs, beaten

125g/4½oz polenta (I have used both regular bread crumbs and gluten free bread crumbs and both work just as well as polenta)

1 lime, zest only

4 x wedges Brie or Vignotte cheese (I have also used Camembert)

Vegetable oil, for frying (I used olive oil)

Directions

For the chutney, heat the oil in large saucepan and fry the onion and chilli for 4-5 minutes, or until softened.

Add the sugar, vinegar, cranberries, seasoning and cloves. Bring the mixture to the boil and cook for a further 15 minutes, or until the mixture has thickened.

Meanwhile, for the deep-fried Brie, sprinkle the flour onto a plate and beat the eggs in a bowl. Mix the polenta and lime zest together on a separate plate.

Dredge the Brie pieces first in the flour, then dip them in the egg, then coat them in the polenta mixture.

Heat the oil in a deep heavy-based frying pan until a breadcrumb sizzles and turns brown when dropped into it. Alternatively, use an electric deep-fat fryer heated to 180C/350F. (CAUTION: Hot oil can be dangerous. Do not leave unattended.)

Deep-fry the coated Brie pieces for 4-5 minutes, or until golden-brown. Using a slotted spoon, remove the Brie from the pan and set aside to drain on kitchen paper.

Serve the deep-fried Brie piled onto small plates with the chutney in ramekins alongside.

Enjoy!

Best Sherry Cake….Ever!...

There really is nothing like a glass of sherry especially after a hard days work. I know it isn’t to everyone’s taste but I do have a real fondness for it. Usually when I am cooking I’ll have a spatula or wooden spoon in one hand and a large glass of sherry in the other.

Not only is sherry a lovely tipple but its also great for cooking! Harveys Bristol Cream is an essential ingredient and star of the show in my mom’s famous trifle. A generous splash of Amontillado to sautéing onions and garlic will add a lovely flavour to sauces and soups.

NOTE: I have never ever used cooking sherry and wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole. Generally cooking sherry has a lot of salt added to it and it is definitely not something you would want a glass of. For most of my cooking I use a leading UK supermarket brand of Amontillado sherry which is slightly drier and less sweet. It’s lovely to drink and cook with and not that expensive. If you are going to cook with sherry then it is worth it to get the real deal.

I thought I had experienced all that sherry had to offer when my cousin surprised me with her Grandmother’s recipe for sherry cake.

My original plan was to make this cake to celebrate the Royal Wedding but my husband and I ended up using most of the bottle to toast the happy couple (which wasn’t such a bad thing after all). Anyway the drinks cabinet has now been replenished and I was finally was able to make this amazing cake. Trust me this is a winner!

Here is the recipe courtesy of my lovely cousin (and her Grandmother!)

Grandma Reid’s Sherry Cake

Ingredients

4 room temperature eggs (you can put them in a bowl of warm water to warm them up if you don’t have time to let them sit out)

3/4 cup salad oil (my cousin uses canola while I used olive oil)

3/4 cup sherry (my cousin uses Harveys Bristol Cream while I used my favourite Amontillado)

1 package yellow cake mix (I used a Madeira cake mix)

1 package instant vanilla pudding (my sister brought me some Jell-O Instant Pudding from Canada. In the UK I think Angel Delight would work although I don’t think they have vanilla but banana or butterscotch would work well. Size wise the Jell-O is 102g which is what you would need for the recipe) Don’t mix up the pudding. Just add it straight to the bowl!

1 Tbs ground nutmeg

Glaze

2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup sherry

1 tsp ground nutmeg

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a large bowl with a wire whisk beat together the eggs, oil and sherry

Gradually mix in the cake mix, pudding mix and 1 Tbs ground nutmeg

NOTE: I was told electric mixers are a no no – good old fashioned muscle is what’s needed. Also as there may be lumps in the cake mix it’s a good idea to use a sifter

Place the batter in a well greased tube or Bundt pan (a pan that is round, deep with hole in the middle)

Bake for 45 minutes

Remove from pan immediately

Mix together the glaze ingredients with a whisk

Allow the cake to cool cake for 10 minutes and place on large plate or large chopping board covered with aluminium / tin foil

Spread glaze on top of cake. It will melt and run down sides in a lovely gooey mess

Cool completely, cut and eat cold

Enjoy!

Bird Baths and Brownies...

I haven’t been writing as much over the past few months mainly because my mum was visiting from Australia. During her stay we had a great time scouring charity shops for treasures, visiting the lovely town of Faversham several times and of course cooking up many delights in the kitchen.

My mum is a master of organization! I, however am the complete opposite – although I do have ‘a system’ (it usually doesn’t work very well and results in mega tantrums). Anyway, while she was here she very kindly took it upon herself to sort through and organize my collection of recipes. There were clippings from newspapers and magazines as well as print outs from websites stuffed and stacked in various cupboards and shelves in my kitchen. It took a full 2 days (and 3 bottles of Pinot Grigio) but she did it and the result is;

• I can actually find the recipes I am looking for

• I rediscovered some long lost recipes I had always wanted to try

One of these rediscovered recipes is a Jamie Oliver one, snipped years ago from a magazine. It’s for chocolate brownies, something I enjoy eating but have never made. Well this past weekend I gave them a go and they are absolutely scrummy! However they are definitely NOT low in fat. I doubled the recipe so my husband could take some into work and let me just say that when you see a whole pack of butter disappearing into your brownie mix you know you’re in trouble!

So to balance things out (in my own mind anyway) I have been putting extra time into my garden. Over the past few days there has been a lot of pruning, re-potting and general sorting out. I was actually just enjoying one of these brownies in the garden (with a large mug of tea) as a reward for assembling my newly acquired bird bath. It was bought from the RSPB and I also become a member at the same time. Wildlife is very important to me and I love watching all the life going on in and around my little garden.

In fact I think I may have another brownie and watch to see if any birds decide its bath time!

And Thank You MUM for all your love, help and support!

Here is the original Jamie Oliver recipe:

Chocolate Brownies (Serves 4)

Ingredients

• 100g dark chocolate, broken into small pieces

• 125g butter

• 4 large organic eggs

• 300g caster sugar

• 100g self raising flour

• Pinch of salt

• 125g shelled walnuts

• Icing sugar, for dusting

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 190C (375F, gas mark 5)

• Grease a 20x20cm baking tin with a little butter, then cut a square of greaseproof paper to fit neatly in the bottom

• Melt the chocolate and butter in a glass bowl over a pan of simmering water. Remove from the heat and set aside

• Mix the eggs, sugar, flour and salt together in a bowl. Add the melted chocolate and butter mixture. Sprinkle in the walnuts. Stir and fold together being careful not to over-mix

• Spread evenly into the cake tin and bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 15 – 18 minutes, or until a crust has formed but they are still a bit wobbly (you don’t want them to be really cooked through like a cake)

• Allow the brownies to cool slightly and then cut into squares. Serve with icing sugar dusted over the top

Jamie’s top tip: If you don’t like walnuts, try the recipe with dried cherries, apricots or pecan nuts.

Luna Note: As I doubled the recipe I used 125g of walnuts and 100g of dried cranberries. It was a great combination!

If you are interested in the RSBP then please visit their website to find out the many ways you can help protect our natural world.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/

Sweet Peas: First Bloom of the Year...

“Here are sweet peas, on tip-toe for a flight: With wings of gentle flush o’er delicate white, And taper fingers catching at all things, To bind them all about with tiny rings.”

-John Keats

Botanical Name: Lathyrus odoratus
Family: Leguminosae
Ruled by: The element of Water and the planet Venus
Magical properties: Friendship, courage & strength

This morning I awoke to the sound of rain. Along with the rumbling purr of a happy cat, falling rain is one of my favourite sounds. As I pulled back the curtains to look out on the day I was delighted to see my sweet pea is now in bloom.

This was especially important to me as last year I bought some sweet pea seeds from a local garden centre. I planted them and was shocked when sweet peas actually emerged! Not knowing how the whole propagation thing worked (duh!) I assumed I would have to buy more seeds this year. Imagine my delight when 2 months ago I started seeing the beginnings of a whole new sweet pea poking through the soil.

It has now shot up to almost 1.2m and is a beautiful sight in my garden. Basically the seeds from some of the late blooming flowers last autumn went into the soil and presto….a whole new life began. Hurrah…….the magic of nature! Not being much of a gardener I am really pleased at how easy it has been to grow sweet peas. They are stunning plants which can bring magic to any garden.

Here are some important and interesting Sweet Pea facts:

• It is an annual climbing plant that can reach heights of 1-2 metres. Make sure you have something to support it. I have a stick but it has also wrapped itself around my Kilmarnock Willow Tree
• Sweet peas come in a wide variety of colours; pink, red, white, purple and lavender
• They like full sun and good deep, well drained top-soil
• They benefit from regular deadheading but towards the end of the season keep some of the flowers to seed for the next year (that’s what I unknowingly did and it worked)
• Sweet peas have been cultivated since the 17th century and the first sweet pea was introduced to England from Sicily in 1699
• Their sweet fragrance is what gives them their name
• There are different varieties including;

Old Fashioned (these should be very fragrant)

Spencer Cultivars (hardy with bright, bold colours but not necessarily fragrant)

Bijou Group (Sweet scented variety that are suitable for containers)

• Many gardeners call Sweet Peas the Queen of Annuals
• Sweet Peas are long lasting as cut flowers but personally I prefer to leave mine in the garden!
• They help attract bumblebees and butterflies to your garden

IMPORTANT NOTE: Unlike most peas, the seeds of the sweet pea are poisonous, and should not be eaten. Sweet pea flowers are also not edible and are poisonous. According to the brilliant book ‘100 Flowers and How They Got Their Names’ by Diana Wells ( Published 1997 by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill) , there is a medical term to describe sweet pea poisoning – lathyrism. Symptoms can include convulsions, paralysis in the legs and unconsciousness.

So best leave the sweet peas to the bumble bees and butterflies!




If you are interested sweet peas here are some helpful and informative sites:

http://www.sweetpeas.org.uk/how.htm

http://www.theflowerexpert.com/content/giftflowers/flowersandfragrances/sweet-pea

http://www.howtogrow.co.uk/how-to-grow-sweetpeas.html

http://gardening.about.com/od/plantprofiles/p/SweetPea.htm

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