In the greenhouse this week, which considering the change in weather is probably the best place to be! All my Pelargoniums, cacti and succulents have really benefited from a feed and top dress of compost in spring and are looking fab. Else where in the nursery work progresses, all be it slowly in the stock beds, but I am just about finished with the G's. Annuals are now coming out the big polytunnel into sales and the gardens and more perennial seedling are being potted to fill the space made! In the gardens plants are filling out and we are moving from spring flowers into early summer, and lots more lovely foliage. The very strong winds of the weekend are not doing me or the plants any favours!
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| Mammillaria sp |
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| Lovage |
Useful plants from the garden -
Levisticum officinale
“Lovage” A tall growing herb that dies back in winter. Reaching over 5 feet it leaves have a celery type taste and it is useful in soups and stews. The seeds and roots have medicinal uses. Great for giving height and interest to the back of a border. H 2m, S 90cm. This is the first herb I encountered as a child, and I vividly remember making the connection between a growing plant and being able to use it in the kitchen. I was visiting a herb nursery in Cumbria with my parents while I was on holiday, aged 10. When ever I smell lovage it takes me straight back there, to that place and time.
“Lovage” A tall growing herb that dies back in winter. Reaching over 5 feet it leaves have a celery type taste and it is useful in soups and stews. The seeds and roots have medicinal uses. Great for giving height and interest to the back of a border. H 2m, S 90cm. This is the first herb I encountered as a child, and I vividly remember making the connection between a growing plant and being able to use it in the kitchen. I was visiting a herb nursery in Cumbria with my parents while I was on holiday, aged 10. When ever I smell lovage it takes me straight back there, to that place and time.
OLD FASHIONED LOVAGE AND POTATO SOUP
1 onion, chopped
1 onion, chopped
tablespoons butter
1kg potatoes, cleaned and cubed
750ml GF chicken stock (or GF vegetable stock if you prefer)
500ml milk
4-5 good handfuls of chopped lovage
salt and pepper to season
Method
1. In a large pan, melt the butter and sauté the chopped onion followed by the potato and mix together well.
2. Add the stock and milk to the pan and bring to a simmer until the potatoes are tender. Add in the lovage and puree the soup with a hand blender. You may want to thin the soup out at this stage by adding in more stock depending on your preference.
3. Returning the pan to the heat, add salt and pepper to season and serve and garnish with some chopped lovage leaves.
1. In a large pan, melt the butter and sauté the chopped onion followed by the potato and mix together well.
2. Add the stock and milk to the pan and bring to a simmer until the potatoes are tender. Add in the lovage and puree the soup with a hand blender. You may want to thin the soup out at this stage by adding in more stock depending on your preference.
3. Returning the pan to the heat, add salt and pepper to season and serve and garnish with some chopped lovage leaves.
I have atoned for last weeks Good King Henry by baking David's favourite, cheese scones. Now I am the best wife ever
I did not enjoy the stormy, windy weather over the weekend, plant growth is still too soft to cope with storm force winds. A large branch came off one of the beech trees behind our office and there was lots of leaves lying about but no serious damage, thankfully.
Meanwhile all the pots of herbs are now out in the herb garden for summer...... maybe I jinxed the weather?
Bluebells in the evening light while looking for owlet, I saw it again, it's much bigger and losing it's lighter colour, it will be able to fly soon and then will be off to find it's own patch of countryside.
My goodness that weekend weather was awful! Very strong winds for this time of year and a lot of rain. Mind you that saves me watering for a bit. Luckily we had no real damage, there is just an awful lot of green leaves littering the nursery and gardens. I decided to spend Saturday, Sunday and Monday catching up on tasks that are needing done, and leaving the stock bed tidying for a few days while I catch up. Nearly all the veg and annual seedlings are out the tunnel and into the nursery now. Orders for them are being put together and the rest will go into the sales area. This has meant I now have more room to go back to potting up perennial seedlings, from all those seeds I sowed back in February and March. The tunnel is almost full again!
Pots around the sales area
Happy Birthday to us! 🥳🎉💝
Five years ago today we arrived on site at Quercus as the slightly terrified new owners of the nursery. We knew we had a massive amount of work ahead of us to turn it round and make it into a viable business again, but we were enthusiastic, determined and had a massive amount of ideas to play around with. With David's business knowhow and hard graft and my horticultural skills and creativity (and hard graft) we have created something rather special in the gardens and nursery. So here we are, older, wiser, a bit worse for wear, more tired but delighted to see what we have achieved in those years. Everything you see in Quercus has been done in those 5 years, so despite our colder, exposed site, clay soil and battles with weather, pests, farm animals and so on it just shows what can be done even in challenging conditions 🌿🌳🌼🌻🌸🥀
Had we been open we'd planned cake for our customers, a wee drink and more. So I am afraid I ate the cake, raised a glass to us and you all, our lovely customers who's enthusiasm, support. enjoyment of the place and custom keeps us enthusiastic and determined to keep going. Cheers x 🍷🥂🍸🍾
Five years ago today we arrived on site at Quercus as the slightly terrified new owners of the nursery. We knew we had a massive amount of work ahead of us to turn it round and make it into a viable business again, but we were enthusiastic, determined and had a massive amount of ideas to play around with. With David's business knowhow and hard graft and my horticultural skills and creativity (and hard graft) we have created something rather special in the gardens and nursery. So here we are, older, wiser, a bit worse for wear, more tired but delighted to see what we have achieved in those years. Everything you see in Quercus has been done in those 5 years, so despite our colder, exposed site, clay soil and battles with weather, pests, farm animals and so on it just shows what can be done even in challenging conditions 🌿🌳🌼🌻🌸🥀
Had we been open we'd planned cake for our customers, a wee drink and more. So I am afraid I ate the cake, raised a glass to us and you all, our lovely customers who's enthusiasm, support. enjoyment of the place and custom keeps us enthusiastic and determined to keep going. Cheers x 🍷🥂🍸🍾
I direct sowed the last of the annuals today. Most get sown in the polytunnel then potted for planting or for sale but these are better done directly into the ground. A mix of flowering annuals in the wildlife garden bee border and a some of the other nursery borders and edible herbs in the herb garden. Roll on summer.
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| Camasia in the herb banks |
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| Tree paeonia in the railway garden |
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| Rhubarb destined for Rhubarb muffins |
Another lock down Tuesday off, after the domestic chores were done, we went for our usual walk along the river and through the woods. Really looking forward to when we can get out and about again and see different places. Much as I love where we live and the walks we can do, I need a different view now.
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| Speedwell |
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| Stitchwort |
Title quote - Thomas Tusser, A Hundred Good Points of Husbandry, 1557
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