Re: Gardening Thread.

**Sabot** Wed Dec 17, 2014 7:15 pm

Lamplighter wrote:
Sabot wrote:
Lamplighter wrote:Have a look here - http://housewares.about.com/od/bakewareservingware/a/siliconebasics.htm

Thank you so much, LL. Mince Pies tomorrow. And I wouldn't have bought it if I had known what it was.
You're welcome, glad to have been able to help. Actually, my daughter told me about them some time ago, lucky I have such a good memory. LL

Lucky for me. The Mince Pies were looking dodgy, after it cost me a fortune making the mincemeat. The half a bottle of Brandy didn't help.

**lily** Wed Dec 17, 2014 7:36 pm

What? No gin even in your mince pies?

**bb1** Wed Dec 17, 2014 7:40 pm

I don't think gin would work very well, Lily, you need something warmish in them? I always associate gin with the summer....

**Sabot** Wed Dec 17, 2014 7:48 pm

I must admit that I have never considered putting Gin in mincemeat. Although I did have Gin Omlette once.

The trouble with mincemeat is that the suggested amount of Brandy gets soaked up and then looks as though you haven't put any in, so you have to add more, and then a bit more. If you haven't drunk it all by then.

**Lamplighter** Wed Dec 17, 2014 7:49 pm

bb1 wrote:I don't think gin would work very well, Lily, you need something warmish in them? I always associate gin with the summer....

Best brandy or good Scots whisky as an alternative, not gin. LL

**lily** Thu Dec 18, 2014 2:56 am

What? Not even drinking it while baking them? I thought Sabot was a serious gin drinker. biggrin

**Sabot** Thu Dec 18, 2014 3:48 am

lily wrote:What? Not even drinking it while baking them? I thought Sabot was a serious gin drinker.

I am a seriously Anything Drinker. Silly girl. Personally, I never touch Gin when there is anything else going. Gin is boring when the Tonic tastes better. I never actually pay for it.
Preferably, anything is good if you aren't actually paying for it yourself. But that doesn't happen to me very often these days. The best I get offered gratis these days is not frightfully good wine. But I can get just as rat arsed on that as anything else. It just takes a bit longer.

And don't imagine that I don't get any offers. But it's a bit like whatshisname. I wouldn't want to be the member of any club that would have me as a member. So consequentially, anyone who fancies me must be desperate. Even I can see that.

**Sabot** Wed Apr 01, 2015 8:37 pm

I found my first Wisteria Flower Bud today. All's right with the world.

A quick tip for anyone with a penchant for buying cut Orchids in those little plastic tubes. Keep an eye on the level of the water and when it starts to drop, prise off the plastic cover with the hole in it for the flower and top up the water. It's lack of water that causes the flowers to die too soon. They will go on for very much longer if you do as I say. Mine have been going for over a month now.

**bb1** Wed Apr 01, 2015 8:57 pm

Ah, I've seen those, Sabot.

I have daffodils and stuff out, but nothing very interesting yet. I am sad to report that the ground elder appears to have survived the winter. Yet again.

**Sabot** Wed Apr 01, 2015 9:05 pm

I love the Orchids, Bonny. They are so bloody perfect, and not all that expensive here, although still an extravagance, so keeping them going is quite important.

And then you can use the tubes for other flowers that might get broken off short.

**lily** Wed Apr 01, 2015 9:06 pm

I noticed yesterday that I have two hands (bunches) of bananas growing.....the first this year.

I do love wisteria though and definitely not your weed Bonny.

**Sabot** Wed Apr 01, 2015 9:12 pm

How marvellous, Lily. Can you grow Avocados? I could eat those for ever, but they are so expensive.

**lily** Wed Apr 01, 2015 9:21 pm

Yes, Sabot. I love them too and I have a neighbor who grows them the size of my coconuts. Shocked

Things grow exceptionally well here.

**bb1** Wed Apr 01, 2015 9:25 pm

I love them, too, but they're expensive here as well. Just checked Tesco, they're £1 each just now.

**lily** Wed Apr 01, 2015 10:07 pm

Well.....some of my neighbors grow them in their gardens. I think I might when I have it all sorted.

Am currently having a couple of teenage boys dig up the remains of an old koi pond, that was in the front yard, when I bought the house. It was filled in with all kinds of building junk. Shocked

I wanted the front leveled off and laid to lawn so now I can do it.

Am looking forward to putting in new shrubs and a few multi trunked palm trees.

**Sabot** Wed Jan 27, 2016 5:42 pm

Okay. Time to resurrect. The Bulbs are up and blooming. The Clematis is looking good, but I am not putting money on that.
The Wisterias are doing nothing much at all, probably because they know, you know.

The Broad Beans I planted in November have never looked more useless. And I am definitely not growing Tomatoes this year. I had such a good crop last year, before I harvested them, before The Blight got them. I now have enough Green Tomato Pickle to last me a life time.

But I did make quite a lot of Quince Jelly. This is interesting stuff. I can never quite throw away anything. I just boil them to mush and add sugar. I really can't be bothered to peal and core them because this is seriously hard work.
The resultant juice after sieving and boiling, is the most lovely shade of pink. Although I can't say that I actually eat it because I never have. Well, just the odd taste, which is a bit amazing. But I have never been a sugar freak. But they have their own Pectin. This is what really interests me.

Quinces went out of fashion in the nineteenth century. But I can't see it catching on again. You have to be nuts to do this.

I might try Runner Beans again, but only because I want to grow something.

**lily** Wed Jan 27, 2016 5:51 pm

Go for it, Sabot. thumbsup

**bb1** Wed Jan 27, 2016 6:05 pm

A garden! I'd almost forgotten there were such things. Maybe, when the mud dries up. If it dries up.

**lily** Wed Jan 27, 2016 6:12 pm

It will... hug

**Sabot** Wed Jan 27, 2016 6:21 pm

It's all mud here, Bonny. But did you know that these amazing amounts of water never sink beyond about one foot. Anything under that is relatively dry soil. This is the way of things.
But you have to dig down to find out. And who can be bothered to do that?

**Sabot** Sun Feb 07, 2016 8:14 am

Whoopee, I have finally managed to grow Snowdrops after 20 years of trying. Some in pots and some in the ground. I have also grown some Crocus bulbs in glass jars indoors.

Still raining and blowing a howling gale.

The Hydrangeas are looking bloody awful, but the Ornamental Holly is flowering. The grass is still growing where the dog hasn't peed.

**bb1** Sun Feb 07, 2016 1:31 pm

Still raining and blowing a howling gale.

Snap. Crying or Very sad

**Lamplighter** Sun Feb 07, 2016 1:34 pm

bb1 wrote:Still raining and blowing a howling gale.

Snap.

You all seem to be getting the ruff end of the stick. We have 9C sunny but with a tiny cool edge to a slight wind. LL

**lily** Sun Feb 07, 2016 4:45 pm

48 F here with a cold wind.

**Sabot** Thu Feb 25, 2016 3:59 pm

I have finally caught the culprits who dig over the garden detritus and scatter it all over the place.. Two Blackbirds digging for worms.
I am really pleased about this because they are still around after breeding in my garden last year, so I am hoping for the same again this year.
There aren't many Blackbird around here so this is a real bonus for me. It will be interesting to see if they build their nest in the same place, once the Wisteria provides the cover come May.

The grass needs cutting, but not much chance of that at the moment.

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