Author: Reclaiming Paradise

Garden blogger
Why I garden7 Comments

Viral flowers

Reclaiming Paradise

Social media is a strange thing as we all know but one thing I’ve learned from my time on Twitter is that flowers are more popular than vegetables. I can’t imagine why. Anyway there is a trick to getting lots of likes and this flower has it all: It’s a very beautiful aquilegia, self-seeded randomly in the middle of my raspberry patch. You may be able to spot the raspberry leaves in the background. Apparently the variety is something like Aquilegia Winky Double Dark Blue (and according to one website attracts hummingbirds though probably not in my garden). I’ve no … Continue reading Viral flowers

Growing vegetables, fruit and flowers2 Comments

Onions and tomatoes

Reclaiming Paradise

I’ve fallen behind with gardening and blogging again but today I had a whole day in the garden and time to write about it. So here we go. First of all, onions: This is the harvest of red onions from the allotment that should have been last year’s. We planted them in the winter of 2021 and most of them were pulled or dug up by beasts of some kind – we suspect birds. So last year’s harvest was a bit rubbish. However this little lot stayed stoically in the ground and we harvested them last week. The joy of … Continue reading Onions and tomatoes

Growing vegetables, fruit and flowers, Why I garden, Wildlife5 Comments

Friends and foes in the garden

Reclaiming Paradise

I’ve been out in the garden today, catching some of the actual sunshine and imagining that spring has arrived. It has turned back to cold and fog this evening but there was some warm sunshine for a little while. The rare appearance of the sun led me to all sorts of garden activities. I checked on all the fruit blossom which is looking very promising: four different apples, redcurrants, raspberries and even pears – still hoping for more than one fruit this year: I planted out some peas. These are the heritage ‘Salmon Pink’ which I’ve managed to keep going … Continue reading Friends and foes in the garden

Cooking and eating from the garden2 Comments

Gooseberry and rhubarb cake

Reclaiming Paradise

Last night I had a baking urge, something that hasn’t hit me for a while. I’m not sure what brought it on. Possibly that I’d been working from home for a couple of days bringing on subconscious memories of lockdown baking. Anyway it was Friday night and there was a huge crop of rhubarb in the garden, waiting to be picked. I looked at my various recipes and ‘Allotment Cake‘ seemed the most suitable, except that I didn’t have any carrots, or walnuts. I did have a ton of rhubarb, some of last year’s gooseberries in the freezer and some … Continue reading Gooseberry and rhubarb cake

Growing vegetables, fruit and flowers4 Comments

Freezing

Reclaiming Paradise

On this first day of British Summer Time, we have had hail but also some sunshine and it’s still light! At last we’ve made it through the dark months and have long spring and summer evenings to look forward to. Meanwhile my freezer is looking rather bare, having used the last of the frozen rhubarb for breakfast this morning and the last of the frozen apple in a chocolate apple cake – recipe here – for a family birthday. However this year’s rhubarb is now in full production so I’ll be able to start filling the freezer again! The spring … Continue reading Freezing

Growing vegetables, fruit and flowers5 Comments

Daffodils in the snow

Reclaiming Paradise

We’ve had a bit of snow and ice here but nothing lying for long. Here are the tete a tete daffodils appearing with still some snow lying. The garden is looking a little battered but the spring bulbs provide cheer. There’s still lots of snowdrops, daffodils coming in waves, crocuses in odd places and even some hyacinths planted out from last year, looking as if they’re going to flower I forgot to take any photos of the large daffodils apart from the fallen over ones which I brought into the house. I was pleased to be able to take some … Continue reading Daffodils in the snow

Why I garden2 Comments

March

Reclaiming Paradise

Here we are a month on from my last post and spring is really on its way. February disappeared in a mist of good and less good stuff – a little holiday, a birthday, some family worries, catching up with friends and family. No gardening got done but the garden got on all by itself, producing daffodils and crocuses and all the springlike things: The snowdrops are still doing really well too. It’s all magic really. I’ve made this year’s first green soup. We were away for a few days in the middle of the month and I came back … Continue reading March