Onions

Dug up some onions this afternoon.



White and red.

The Most Delicious and Healthy Dessert Ever!

If you want to serve something extraordinarily healthy and yet delicious, this is the pud for you.

You need a ripe avocado and some cocoa powder.



Cut the avocado and discard the shell and stone, then place the avocado in a bowl and smush with some of the cocoa powder. Keep a teaspoon handy for taste testing to make sure you use enough cocoa.



When it is combined you get to choose what you would like to sweeten this with, I used a banana, you have to be careful not to use too much banana, or you get banana flavoured pud, or you could use honey or agave or just icing (confectioners) sugar. 

Mix then serve. It is like a chocolate mousse and wonderful if chilled.
What a great way to eat your avocado.

Butterflies On Buddleia

The butterflies just love the buddleia flowers, perfect time for photographs.

Here are a peacock butterfly,





a comma butterfly,



and my nemesis, the cabbage white!

Changing Scenery

The countryside is undergoing its late summer change as the farmers begin to harvest their crops.
The combines are out, the dust is about and when the grain is collected the straw is left, then bundled into bales.

It is a little difficult to see, but, this field has been harvested.



This barley is still awaiting the combine.

Tomatoes

A few tomatoes are beginning to ripen.
So few that I am wondering if they should be picked and enjoyed eaten sun-drenched, or if I should capture the flavour in tomato soup. 

Any suggestions or preferences?

There are also very few plums this year. These are on a tree that produced nothing last year. All the other trees suffered from the late frost while they were still in blossom.

Sharing

Sharing brings benefits.

I shared some runner beans and got rhubarb and gooseberries in return.

Some were cooked and rest frozen in case you would like some later.

Spot The Difference

Here are 2 photos of two different plants.
They are so similar, however, one is a weed and the other is not.
It is only by where they are growing that I can tell which is which.





I think the first pic is the plant and the second the weed.

Sunflowers

Last year I planted sunflowers, they were quite successful.
I left the flowerheads for the birds to eat the seeds.

Apparently the birds were not too impressed as lots of seeds fell to the ground.
This year I neglected to pick out all the sunflower seedlings.
This is the result.



In various stages of flowering.
The bees love them.

Cherry Brandy

Lots of these wonderful cherries hanging around the edges of the church car park. 
No one appears to have picked any, that seemed a shame.
Thus, this afternoon, I took a stroll and picked some.



I did eat a few.
The remainder made it home and I made Cherry Brandy.





A lot of shaking and storing in the dark for the next few months.
Should be perfect by Christmas.

Will look out for some lovely bottles to decant it into.

Morphs Or Cross Pollination

Something very strange is happening in the vegetable patch.

This is definitely NOT a pumpkin.
I planted seeds from last years pumpkins. The pumpkins were very good and made lovely pies and fabulous soups.
This year this is what has grown from the seeds, I have several 'pumpkin' plants and they all have these odd fruits, definitely not pumpkins.



And this is NOT a Spaghetti squash. They begin as this one did, a pale green, then grow larger and larger and slowly turn pale yellow as they ripen.
This behemoth, you will notice, has gone darker and more green.



We are not sure what has happened, however, best guess is that they were cross pollinated last year with pumpkins, spaghetti squash, courgettes, and maybe the ornamental gourds. 
Anyway, no pumpkins and no proper spaghetti squash. Bummer, and what we do get remains to be seen.

As you can see it is growing and growing! 



All we can think is there was some cross pollination last year, and this years seeds are some kind of cross, no idea what they will turn into and if they will be edible. Most disappointing.

Sunset Shots

Just two.
A very few minutes between them. 




What a difference a few clouds make.

Beans And Peas For Tea

Picked broad beans, French beans and peas for tea.
They were delicious.



Spaghetti squash update photo.




And the sunset.

Scrummy Salad

Selection of salad leaves, herbs, nasturtium flowers, beetroot, courgette, I think that's about it.
All home grown, organic and delicious.


The beetroot may look pale and interesting, it is from a packet of exotict ( and not necessarily red) seeds that I grew and tastes wonderful.

Round Cloud

In a lovely blue sky there was this curious cloud.

First Preserve Of The Year - Blackcurrant Jelly

This morning I made blackcurrant jelly. 



Blackberries are boiled, then strain through muslin.
The juice is then added to sugar and boiled again to make the jelly.



The jelly is super delicious with camembert cheese, with lettuce and fresh French bread.

Runner Beans & Blackcurrants.

The runner beans are beginning to flower, not too long until we get some to eat! 
Delicious!



These are blackcurrants. Hope to make them into blackcurrant jelly. 

Lavender And A Frustrated Butterfly

Still have lots of lavender. I have no idea what to do with it all, so if you have any ideas, recipes, crafts etc. Please let me know.






This is a rather bad pic of a very frustrated cabbage white butterfly that just could not work out how to lay eggs on the edge of the brassica that was touching the netting, hurray, however, I shall need to keep an eye on the net for any eggs. Trying very hard to protect the brassicas, Brussel sprouts, cabbages, kale from caterpillars.

Summer Fruits

These are soft fruits from the garden.
They tend to be the more expensive in the shops and worth giving up space for. The problem is the competition with the birds!

These are gooseberries, blackcurrants, raspberries, 3 blueberries and 2 strawberries.
There are no more gooseberries or blackcurrants, however, a small supply of the others comes daily.





This is a spaghetti squash that has set and is growing quite well.
Would like to try and take a picture or two each week to see how it grows. Hope I remember.
Please try and remind me!!!

Firey Clouds

Stunning sunset.




A closer look at the clouds.

Waiting For Rain

With trust and faith in the weather forecast, we await rain.
Things are rather dry, so we are prepared to catch every drop we can.



While waiting, I picked dinner.
Red onion, courgette, broad beans, French beans.




also purple sprouting broccoli, and potatoes that I dug up this morning and forgot to photograph.

Harvested more broad beans and peas for Christmas lunch, which are now in the freezer.