above - here you see it,
and here you don't. Don't worry, i'll get over it soon and move on to another obsession.
I discovered this gorgeous hollyhock flower yesterday morning, growing in the middle of rhubarb and scarlet runner beans. I have never seen a hollyhock like this before, a new variety perhaps or an evolved one because of it's neighbours?
And the dianella berries are out in full blueness. I have tried dianella icecream and jam, also dyeing with them but for now i'll just enjoy their blueness in the garden. 
A quick update on the bagging which i use successfully in the kitchen garden to keep pests away, above photo is showing how well the apples are growing. They'll be ready for picking in another couple of weeks. The codlin moth has been particularly invasive this year, as seen in other people's gardens and in my crab apple also, so i'm pleased i have my eating apples bagged. The alternative is fortnightly spraying with a highly toxic chemical which i simply would not do.
The tomatoes were bagged over the weekend also, not so much for the insects as for the birds which have been enjoying them green. Sorry birdies, i don't grow my vegies for you, esp the dreaded blackbirds which "flew here and didn't grew here"!
Even the raspberries have to be bagged now as the season ends and there's not enough fruit for both us people and the birds. In another couple of days i'll leave the rest to the birds but Mum wants just one more bowl of fresh raspberries and yoghurt. If anyone wants more info on the fruit and veg bags, i buy mine from Green Harvest. The waxed paper bags can be re-used many times if you're careful, and they survive many rain storms without falling apart. The tomato bags are made from a microfibre fabric, you could make your own from "frost cloth", and the apple bags are the little sockettes you get in shoe stores. I buy them in boxes of 100 each.
Lastly i'm trying hard to allow these borlotti beans (aka cranberry beans) to mature so i can harvest them for the bean seeds inside. It's difficult as i like to eat the whole bean so much but there are so many other varieties of green beans in the garden that i won't starve. If only everyone knew how to grow beans, they don't need much space or time, there would be a lot less hunger in the world. I know someone who is having a birthday this week, maybe you could pop on over to Stitch and Sow and say HBD to Nanette, she'll get a big surprise. cheerio for now, enjoy your week.
PS: don't forget to feed my fish, they get a bit hungry and bored when they're left alone for too long. Scroll down to the bottom of the page.
16 comments:
Don't eat those beans! :) They are so good as shelling beans, so good... Although I really enjoy romano beans with tomatoes and onion and a bit of bacon, eating beans at the fresh shelling stage is really my favorite. If I want to have any hazelnuts, I'm going to have to figure out how to cover my trees. I had my first tiny crop last year. One day they were there, the next day they were gone. That's the way it is with birds...
i planted a hollyhock in a large pot last spring and with our drought it didn't survive, i thought. but now it has come back to life with some of the rains we have had. i'm hoping it blooms this spring. and i'm getting excited about my little 12 x 12 garden that i will plant in a couple of months. i fed your fish.
Ha Ha! love all your eddibles in their little sacks! You're smart!
You mean a dubble hollyhock ??
The dubble ones in my garden, sometimes turn to "normal".... well, I like them, either way!
And all the best for the new year (think I didn't wish you that yet)
Back from two weeks away and still spending too much time on the Net--I stop by to say hello to you having beautiful Spring weather while we are still a no snow mild temperatures NYC. I fed the fish generously.
Hiya Kaite, your garden is a wonder, well done on all the baggies.. or is that bagging? lol.. I've fed the fish too, hungry little things... I've already fed my tadpoles, they too are hungry little things..
hugs
Deb, romano beans? i don't know them, must do some research. thanks.
deanna goodluck with your hollyhock (such a strange name), give it some liquid fertiliser for me.
Els it's not so much a double hollyhock, more like a tattered raggedy anne hollyhock! but a vibrant red wine colour.
thanks for feeding my fish everyone, they are very hungry! piranhas i think.
WOW having to bag your goodies - jolly birds
We have netting over over berries and soon will need to net our grapes -
Tomatoes seem to be okay at the moment
Kaite, what a DELIGHT to arrive here this afternoon and be greeted by all your wonderful bags...you know how much I love them! And I'm with Deb on the Romano beans, they're my favorite & I grew heaps of them last summer. They are very long and very wide & flat with a nice meaty flavor (not a shelling bean - you eat the whole thing). Good news tho - I've ordered the Borlotti seeds! Looking forward to trying them, thanks for helping me with that :>]]
Christi i know those beans, i think we just call them "flat beans", how imaginative! i've only ever been able to buy them occasionally, never seen the seeds for sowing but i'll try next year. Good news with the borlottis.
Cat you may as well start making bags for the tomatoes they'll need bags soon enough.
With all the bagging you are doing in the garden its a wonder you find time to knit Kaite.
Your garden looks spectacular.........and i never saw a hollylock like this.
XXXm
Hollyhock...related to the medieval 'marsh-mallow' used to treat sore hocks in horses, ankles in humans, so was known as hock mallow. Thought that the Crusaders brought this different variety from the Holy Land, so to differentiate, it was called Holy Hock. It has medicinal properties and can be used for dyeing.
Nanette thankyou, i was wondering where such a funny name came from.
Martine it's difficult to find that time now, there is so much to do in the garden.
Lovely to see all those photos of your lovely garden. I didn't realise dianella's berries were so versatile; I think mine flowered a few times last year and then again now. I have also borrowed a book from the library on knitting with fabrics; the banner pictures on your blog had really got my interest :-)
Luverly shadow knitting, flowers, beans and berries!!! Of course the bagging must be horribly time consuming, but the end result rewards you for all the hard work. Good job!!
Maria,
the book on knitting with fabric might make it too complex. It's really simple, i just cut my fabrics, selvedge to selvedge but not quite to the end, about half and inch wide strips, then knit away. Use large needles, about 5mm or so, try a few and see what suits your fabric. Also try to use fabric which has a light hand, not too thick or strong. A more open and slightly looser weave.
Try it and see.
Anne Marie i read that in Japan a "perfect" bagged apple can fetch up to $10! and i give mine away!! i might have to re-think that one.
Well, my dear, it looks like while I've been gone you've got everything in the bag! I LOVE the blue of those berries. It looks like a very happy new year in your garden.
I was wondering if you would re-take a look at the embroidery underneath the canopy of marie antoinette's bed. I believe there is a repeating pattern of pansies with .___________ (it looks a bit like hollyhock but the leaves don't look right). Let me know what you think. I haven't been able to find out any information about it.
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