Halloween pumpkin / Calabaza de Halloween

I made my first-ever carved pumpkin! This isn't a tradition in Spain, so I never had (let alone made) one, until now. I particularly like the light spill from the holes in the back (not shown in the picture) that reflects in the wall behind. I'm getting ambitious now and next time I want a bat shape.

I didn't grow it this year, but if I find ground space next year.... I made soup with the scooped flesh and a chilli and we liked it, the actual carving was easier than I anticipated, and it's a seasonal thing to do before Christmas. All these things combined earn the pumpkin many points towards inclusion in the 2011 Growing Wishlist!

He aqui mi primera calabaza "de Halloweeen". Esta es comprada del super, pero para el año que viene me gustaria cultivar una planta (si consigo encontrarle espacio!). La cascara es menos dura de lo que me esperaba y la "cara" no fue dificil de cortar. Con la carne del interior (la quitas con una cuchara) he hecho una sopa con guindilla (para darle algo de sabor) y estaba buena, asi que la calabaza ha ganado puntos en la lista de cosas que quiero plantar el año que viene.

Hacer una linterna como esta es muy facil, de verdad:

1. Necesitas: una calabaza, un cuchillo pequeño afilado, un plato para la carne y otro para las semillas, un trozo de papel de plata y una vela

2. La tapadera: el truco esta en poner el cuchillo en angulo (apuntando hacia el centro) para que la tapadera no se escurra dentro. Como el interior es hueco y la carne (al menos en mi caso) no es dura, se puede dirigir el cuchillo en la direccion y angulo que quieres. Este es el unico truco tecnico de toda la operacion!

3. Vaciar el interior: coge una cuchara y vacia las pipas (se pueden tostar y comer) y la carne (este tipo de calabazas tienen menos sabor que otras, pero se pueden comer perfectamente)

4. La cara: en internet hay montones de patrones, pero nosotros hicimos uno casero. Sencillamente pintamos con un rotulador y cortamos - hacer curvas requiere mas maña, pero con triangulos y rombos se puede hacer mucho

5. La parte de atras: si cortas unas formas en la parte de atras, cuando pones la vela dentro la luz se refleja en la pared y hace un efecto muy chulo. Yo este año hice unos rombos simples, pero el año que viene ya tengo planes para hacer un murcielago...

6. La vela: por seguridad, ponla encima de un trozo de papel de plata, y asegurate de que la base (el fondo interior de la calabaza) es estable. Y ten cuidado si tienes una calabaza pequeña de que cuando le pongas la tapadera la llama de la vela no le prenda fuego

Sweet rocket / Hesperis matronalis

While tidying up the bed in preparation for the garlic in November, I found a welcome surprise:

This is white flower is sweet rocket (or Hesperis matronalis) plant that I bought on an impulse last summer. I had forgotten it was there! It's next to a bunch of chives (behind it); both are perennial edible plants, so I will make sure I mark where they are so I don't mistake them for weeds next year. I must have heard about it in Gardeners World or somewhere, thought it was cool to have perennial rocket, very conveniently found it in in the garden centre (you'd think they watch the same programs too ;-) and got one, then in the busy summer months completely forgot about it. I must remember to try it in salads, but in the meantime it's really pretty as an ornamental flower too. The orange flowers (and round big leaves) are, of course, some nasturtiums; you can eat the flowers, apparently, but it's another edible opportunity that I'm afraid I missed this year!

Mientras estaba limpiando el terreno para plantar los ajos en noviembre, descubri esta sorpresa. Esta planta con flores blancas se llama "sweet rocket" en ingles ('rocket' es rucola, pero no se si estan relacionadas), o Hesperis matronalis en latin. Aqui teneis una descripcion:  
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hesperis_matronalis

Es una planta perenne y comestible; la compre este verano porque me pico la curiosidad y luego me olvide de que la habia plantado aqui, hasta ahora que la redescubri. Justo detras hay una mata de cebollino (en ingles 'chives' o: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allium_schoenoprasum), otra planta perenne y comestible. Voy a poner una señal para no volverme a olvidar el año que viene y no confundirlalas con malas hierbas... Y tambien para no volver a olvidarme de que esta ahi! Tengo ganas de probarla en ensaladas, pero en todo caso la flor tambien hace bonito. La planta de hojas redondas y flores naranjas es, segun wikipedia, un berro o masturezo de agua (http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasturtium_officinale), aunque yo siempre pense que los berros (y los mastuerzos!) eran otra cosa. Las flores son comestibles tambien, por lo visto - dicen que estan bien en ensalada, aunque a mi de este año tambien se me paso la oportunidad.

Homemade protection / proteccion casera

Some people have more exotic "pests" in their garden, buy my nemesis are the local cats. I like cats, but I don't want them to dig over my newly sown bed. So I engineered (there's no other word for it. Wait till you see the photo and the amount of reinforcements it has) a cloche/fence/bunker type of affair for over and around the peas, broad beans onions and grass that I planted last week. Yes, it may be overkill; it definitely stands out now. But don't underestimate the power of the London cats! I used some old bambu canes and netting that I already had, which is good, and I'm also pleased that I did the design and the building (practically) by myself...

This view mostly shows the front bit, which is in the shape of a square box with green netting all around. I also have two small, curvy, funkier models at the back - if they survive the winter and the cats, I'll post photos another time :-). The white stuff is some fleece, which will hopefully now be left undisturbed to do its thing for the tiny plants.

Mirad que instalacion he tenido que poner para proteger mi huerta recien sembrada de los ataques de los gatos! Si, otra gente tiene ciervos, zorros, erizos, conejos, pero a mi me visitan los gatos del vecindario. La caja que veis en primer plano ocupa casi toda la jardinera, pero detras tengo dos modelos mas pequenos y en curva. Solo utilice canas de bambu y red que ya tenia, todo reciclado, y el diseno y la realizacion son todo mio - se nota que estoy orgullosa... (Ahora a ver si los gatos me lo respetan!). Lo blanco es una manta termica, y debajo estan sembradas las habas, guisantes (detras), cebollas y el Italian Ryegrass del que os conte el otro dia. Ya, la instalacion es de todo menos discreta, pero si me protege las plantas yo no me quejo!

I have entered the world of green manure / un cereal para terreno de barbecho?

I planted up one of my the two (small) raised beds at the end of my garden last weekend and it's now all ready for the winter. I doesn't look much at the moment, but I'm very proud: last year the soil was so bad that I couldn't put anything in in time before the cold! But some months and buckets of compost later... This winter I'm experimenting with: overwintering onions (I bought sets), peas and broad beans (sowed directly in the ground for the first time!), and the piece de resistance: a patch of green manure! I went for Italian Ryegrass in the end, after much deciding among my brand new 4 packets of seed... And I even remembered to put some fleece in my newly sowed bed BEFORE the forecast cold last night. I feel like a proper gardener! These are my green manure seeds: (you can tell I'm proud :-)

 Estas semillas las compre para plantar durante el invierno y hacer compost en primavera. Son plantas "especiales" que almacenan nutrientes, y en primavera las entierras y asi devuelven los nutrientes al suelo - y el suelo tampoco se empobrece y erosiona durante las lluvias del invierno. Yo compre cuatro: un tipo de habas, un trebol, un tipo de brasicacea (como una lechuga) y una hierba que en fotos parece un cereal. Esta, Italian Ryegrass en ingles, es la que plante el fin de semana pasado en una esquina de mi huerta. Tengo dos jardineras dedicadas a huerta, y una de ellas la sembre y prepare para el invierno durante el fin de semana. He sembrado: el cereal este para enriquecer el suelo en primavera, guisantes, unas habas (para comer en primavera) y unas cebollas.

The onion sets are supposed to be easier to grow than onions planted from seed (I guess it's like growing flowers from bulbs), and I really hope they fare better than my sowing of spring onions last month - which got decimated by the slugs and snails. I am hoping that by the time these onions sprout leaves it'lls be too cold the s & s! I don't have much space so I find these sets very convenient: mine are occupying the space recently vacated by some tomatoes, and by the time the onions are ripe in May (or so they promise on the label!) they'll leave the space for some more summer crops. Neat, but this is only going to be the first year I'm organised enough to do this properly so I keep my fingers cross it all goes according to plan!

La “semilla” de las cebollas viene en forma de mini-cebolla que plantas directamente en el suelo; en teoria es mas facil criarlas asi que de semilla (lo mismo que plantar bulbos para flores). Para mi, la mayor ventaja es que los bulbos los puedo plantar ahora que me ha quedado espacio libre despues de las plantas del verano (las cebollas han ido donde antes estaban unos tomates). Estas cebollas deberian de madurar hacia mayo, justo a tiempo de dejar el sitio a otra cosecha veraniega. Con suerte cuando empiecen a dar hojas ya sera demasiado frio para los caracoles y babosas, que asolaron mi plantacion de cebolletas (de semilla) el mes pasado.

My strawberry tree (arbutum, o madroño)

I was doing the round of the garden this morning during a rare moment of sunshine, which allowed me to take this photo. There's not much going on at the moment in terms of showy colours (sadly, all my autumn leaves are all fallen now), but this plant still cheers me up every time:

My strawberry tree (arbutum, o madroño in Spanish). This is one of the very first plants Nick and I bought for the garden, mostly on the basis that it had a persistent bumblebee around it and we thought it was cute. I also like it because it reminds me of my parents' house in Spain (they have a massive one!). However, the fruits on my one are much sweeter (sorry dad). I've also learnt that it flowers at the same time as the fruit from last year ripens - about this time of the year. If you look in the photo, you can see the tiny flowers towards the bottom of the plant, and of course the gorgeous autum colours of the fruit (it turns red when ripe).

Aqui esta mi madroño. Si, es pequeño (esta en una maceta) pero maton: es una de mis plantas preferidas del jardin. Nick y yo lo compramos al poco de comprar la casa, en uno de los primeros viajes al vivero. Todavia era invierno y hacia frio, pero ya debia de acercarse la primavera porque recuerdo que un abejorro no dejaba de darle vueltas a la planta. A Nick y a mi nos hicieron gracia tanto la planta como el accesorio (abejorro) y la compramos. Y yo tambien le tengo mucho cariño porque me recuerda a la casa de mis padres - ellos tienen uno enorme en el campo! En esta epoca del año ya no quedan muchas flores, y mis arboles (arbustillos mas bien) ya han perdido las hojas, asi que el madroño luce en todo su esplendor y colores. Si os fijais bien, en la parte baja de la planta veis unas flores blancas en racimo; el arbol florece al mismo tiempo que la fruta del año pasado madura (yo eso no lo sabia). Si, la fruta esta casi un año entero en el arbol! Se pone roja cuando madura, aunque no vereis muchas en la foto porque me las he comido casi todas... (las mias son mas dulces que las de mis padres!).

Sowcial Media

I read this post on Emma Cooper's blog this morning and I think it's a cool idea. In a nutshell, it's a seed share organised by means of social media - she explains it much better in her own post!

I've requested the Nicotiana seeds that she listed, as it's a plant that was already on my mental wishlist (it's fragrant! and it doesn't mind a bit of shade! I definitely want to give it a go next year), but to be honest just participating is very exciting! It is the first time that I post on anybody's blog, and the first time that I try a seed swap with anyone outside my family, so please allow me the overexcitement...

OK, so here is my humble list of spare seeds. Yes, not very exotic and not very rare (and the biggest and easisest seed in the vegetable world to be saved), but if you're a novice gardener like me then they're guaranteed to be easy to grow - I have successfully done it myself! :-) And they're free - let me know if you want any and I'll post them!:

• Cineraria maritima dwarf silver - unopened packet from Dobies (I ordered two packets by mistake)
• Chives - unopened packet from Dobies
• Parsley - half a packet of seed I brought from Spain, I simply can't use that much seed myself
• Sprouting broccoli - half a packet I bought at the Chelsea Flower Show (see 'parsley'...)
• Beetroot Perfect 3 - opened Johnsons packet; I bought it because it's red and pretty, then realised that neither Nick nor myself actually like the taste of beetroot
• Marigold bonita mixed - opened random packet from Wilkinsons; I only used half of it last spring, and now I have enough saved seed for myself for next year so i'm happy to share the rest
• Calendula - same story as the marigold
• Runner beans - saved seed of unknown variety; it's got red flowers and the beans themselves have purple spots when dried (I got it originally from my mother in law two years ago)
• Foxglove - saved seed, also unknown variety; the flowers are pink and quite tall
• Matthiola Incana, aka purple stock, aka alheli morado (in Spanish) - saved seed, originally from my auntie's garden
• Yellow & white jalapa mirabilis - saved seed from last year, should be OK to plant next spring

The rules of Sowcial Media
The first rule is that you DO speak about Sowcial Media. If you can blog/twit/facebook about it, the better. These are the rules as per the original post:

When you offer seeds
There are no rules as to what you can offer, but do remember to mention whether the seeds you’re offering are home-saved or commercial, opened packets, F1 hybrids or whatever, so that people can make their own informed choices about what they would like to grow. If you’ve written a blog post about that variety in the past, then it might be helpful to link to it.
Explain your postage rules – where you’re happy to post to and whether you’re asking for postage contributions or swaps.
Add a copy of these Sowcial Medial rules, so your seed recipients can join in if they want to.

When you request seeds
There’s only one rule – that you link back to the site where you got the seeds. Maybe you’ll write a blog post about them once they’re grown, maybe you’ll just Tweet about how great Sowcial Media is, maybe you’ll shout about it to all your Facebook friends. How you do it doesn’t matter, but show your gratitude for your freebies with a link!
The idea here is that people involved in social media will be able to get free seeds to trial without having to sell their souls to commercial organizations. When you review your seeds you can be completely honest about how well they grew for you and whether you would bother to grow them again. Above all, you can have a garden for free next year, and support your social media friends into the bargain.

Purple cabbage (at last!) - repollo morado

I finally got a "proper" cabbage head today. I planted 9 plant plugs (from the garden centre) earlier in the summer, most of which got decimated (I think it was caterpillars). But when I went to clear the bed of dead cabbage stalks today, I found this surprise. It's far from perfect, but after two years trying to grow cabbages I feel really pleased with it! I noticed this plant was on harder soil than the others (which only produced leaves), so it must be true what they say about cabbages liking a hard bed.

The carrots are miniscule, but this is still to day the best carrot crop I've ever produced. I never thinned them when I should have, this must have been why they came up so small! Another mental note for next year... The ones next to the cabbage are 'purple haze' - you can see they're purple-ish, the thin long ones in the middle are 'samurai red', and the round ones are 'chanteney'. Shame about the size! I'm thinking of adding them to a potato mash and eat with the cabbage and sausages (it will be almost a whole vegetable meal from the garden!).

I have put overwintering onions (from sets) in the space these plants have left, and this time I'm planning to do everything by the book. If everything goes well, I'll have shoots in spring that I can eat as spring onions, and in early summer I'll have onions! (Hopefully full size. Unlike the carrots.)

Por fin he conseguido un repollo redondo! Tras dos anos en el intento, por fin he conseguido uno, aunque sea pequeno y tenga marcas de los ataques de los bichos. Al principio del verano plante 9 plantitas (compradas), de las cuales 8 cayeron victimas de los gusanos. Tambien note que esta planta estaba en un terreno mas compactado; yo habia leido que a los repollos les gusta el terreno duro, y va a ser que es verdad!

Las zanahorias son muy chulas, pero en miniatura. Deberia de haberlas entresacado hace meses, pero no lo hice, y asi han salido... Hay de tres variedades, las que estan junto al repollo realmente son moradas! Serian mas impresionantes si fueran tamano real, supongo. Pero me hace gracia el color, creo que las volvere a plantar el ano que viene.

En el sitio que han dejado los repollos y el calabacin he plantado unas cebollas. Si todo sale bien, en primavera tendran brotes frescos que se pueden comer tan cual, y a principios de verano tendre cebollas. Esta vez las he plantado rigurosamente como pone el paquete, para que no me salgan ruines como las zanahorias.

Galanthus nivalis

I planted some snowdrops today. They're supposed to be commonplace, but my own garden hasn't yet seen a snowdrop since I own it (the ones I planted last year in pots got lost. I'm sure they'll turn up eventually in the least expected place). So that had to change: I planted this year's batch in the raised bed next to the pond. They're right next to a deep red/purple bugle ("ajuga reptans"); if the snowdrops do flower it'll be such a nice contrast of colours! And I'll be able to see them from the warmth of the kitchen in the cold February days.

En ingles se les llama “snowdrops”, alguien sabe cual es el nombre popular en espanol?

Yo hace un par de anos que quiero ponerlos en mi jardin, pero hasta el momento sin exito. El ano pasado plante unos bulbos en maceta, pero no dieron flor y al final con el lio de macetas que tuve en primavera los perdi. A lo mejor salen espontaneos este ano donde menos me lo espero! Pero por si acaso, para no dejarlo todo al azar, hoy he vuelto a plantar unos bulbos. Esta vez los he puesto directamente en suelo (al lado del charco), no en maceta, y junto a una plantita de "ajuga reptans" que tiene hojas rojo oscuro; si por fin se me dan los galanthus, sera un contraste bonito entre las hojas oscuras de la ajuga y las flores blancas de las flores (esa es la idea!). Ademas, los podre ver desde la ventana de la cocina durante los frios dias de febrero sin tener que salir al jardin!