Urban Eden Boutique

New vintage garden goodies!

2012-02-22T13:31:00.000-08:00

Well I have at last got around to photographing some more vintage items for the web site, as always these have been hand picked by myself & Col, & we have made sure that everythinhg is in great vintage condition, with this I mean that although our items are full of vintage charm with some wear & tear from loving use over the years they are all still in full working order & have plenty more years of pleasure in them for a new home.

This fantastic vintage 2.5 litre galvanised watering can will make a keen gardener very happy indeed, they are hard to come by now all intact with the copper rose but this is a cracker, in the summer months when it will be in full use it will look great simply stood by a flower bed or on the patio, in the winter months we do advise that you store them in a shed or indoors as heavy frosts can make the bottoms of them 'belly' if they have water in them from any rain fall.

Coming soon.....These fantastic vintage coat hooks are made from old teak doors which were no longer in use, how perfect to use the great character of the wood instead of throwing it away or burning it, teak is a very durable wood & requires no oil or treatment when used outside, so these hooks can even be hung outdoors if needed although I thought they would be a fantastic addition to a potting shed.

This I need some help with! It is Dutch & I bought it as I thought it would make a really great handy water butt in the summer months, but I do not know what its original use is, Col thinks it may be from a milkmaids yoke which makes sense but it is my natural reaction to disagree with him!! Anyway they do work well as a water butt with a lovely vintage feel.

For all of these & more vintage garden items please visit www.urbanedenboutique.co.uk

Helen
x

Wynyard Hall Spring Fayre...

2012-02-01T13:34:00.000-08:00

We have got our place booked at the Wynyard Hall Spring Shopping Fayre and we are really looking forward to it, we have had a hectic year so far as we are in the middle of doing up a house & hope to move in in the next 6 weeks so fingers crossed we will have enough time to get ready for the fayre too!!
Wynyard hall is based in the Tees Valley area & now is a four star country hotel, it has an interesting history (read more HERE) & is a truly stunning building.
The fayre is being held on Saturday the 28th April & Sunday 29th, have a look at their web site HERE for more details, it is £3.00 entry for adults & children under 12 go free.

Setting up at the fayre for a few days means we can show some of our larger items which we do not sell online due to postage costs, packing is difficult on some large items too, this is a shame as often the larger items make a big statement & always look great in the garden.
Here are a few examples of what we will be taking along with us.....

Vintage Dutch apple crates from the 50's & 60's, these are fab for layering up with stored fruit & veg for the winter months in the potting shed, they look great too with the vintage lettering, each farming family would put their name on the side of the crates so that their fruit crates were not stolen or mixed up at harvest time.
£12 each

Wooden fold away chairs, great sturdy chairs which will hang or stack neatly folded when not in use.
£15 each

Fully restored vintage wooden step ladders, these work really well as bookshelves indoors or filled with plant pots in a garden or yard

From £35 depending on size of ladders

Hope to see you there!

Helen

Salvaged Mill Bobbin & Twine

2012-01-23T03:40:00.000-08:00

Fantastic reclaimedmill bobbins. Each of these authentic mill bobbins has been used in an Englishworking mill in the last century or beyond. These bobbins look great in yourhome & garden. They can be found HERE

A lovely book to read....

2012-01-17T02:25:00.000-08:00

THE MAN WHO PLANTED TREES

(Guerilla tree planting)

We received a wonderful book as a Christmaspresent from my brother; 'The Man Who Planted Trees' by Jean Giono.

The book was written in the 1950’s but itsmessage was way ahead of its time,

inspiring readers to rediscover thebeauties of the countryside & try to prevent its willful destruction.

Giono’s allegorical tale is legendary, thenarrator of the book is travelling alone across the lower plains of the Alpswhen he meets a shepherd who has chosen to dedicate himself to re-foresting hisdesolate landscape with the help of a few acorns.

The book is also illustrated with wonderful woodcuts by Harry Brockway, which fit perfectly with the theme & make it a real pleasure to read.

The character of the shepherd ‘Elzeard Bouffier’ has got be the first example of a 'guerrilla gardening' & got me thinking about planting a few trees as well as flowers & plants!!

Vintage spoon herb labels.

2011-12-15T00:51:00.000-08:00

These lovely 'vintage spoon herb labels' are back in stock, they look so lovely in a herb garden, or in the winter months in pots of herbs on the kitchen window.

They are £9.50 for the set of 3 & can be found Here

All the fun of the fayre!!

2011-11-21T01:02:00.000-08:00

Well, our first fayre went well, didn't sleep too well the night before wondering how I was going to set it all up but it all came together well & looked rather lovely.
Even the goats on the farm got into the spirit of things & wore felt antlers (I'm pretty sure this was not by choice, but they didn't look too worried!)
Our handcare range & muscle rub for gardeners proved very popular and most folk were doing their Christmas shopping, so I'm sure that there will be lots of soft handed gardeners on Christmas Day!!
Our autumn offers have been doing well on the website too, a few things have gone now but there are still a couple of gifty bargains to be had!

Reduced from £16.00 to £10.00... Herb drying gift set, a great antique look herb dryer to hang in the kitchen or potting shed, make sure you always have home grown herbs to hand, even in the winter months.
Includes 1 herb dryer, 3 packets of seeds (Rosemary, Thyme & Lavender), 3 markers, 3 explanation cards, and secrets for preserving them at the end of the season!
This lovely Herb Drying Kit can be found HERE

Down from £16.00 to £9.00...Presented in a reusable biodegradable tray, this gardeners growing kit contains tomato & cucumber seeds, starter pots, coir compost, wooden thermometer, wooden labels, pencil, wire ties, gardeners soap & nail brush. Everything you need to start growing!
Growers kit can be found HERE

Getting ready for a Christmas Fair at Croft!

2011-11-12T00:25:00.000-08:00

Well this weekend is about to be spent getting all sorted for a Christmas fair at the Clervaux trust farm at Clow Beck, Croft on tees, all of the stalls there have to hold either handmade stock &/or stock with good green credentials, so it should be a great place to pick up some lovely Christmas presents which are a little different from the norm.

A little about how the farm is ran.....
'The site at Clow Beck, Croft-on-Tees is a 100 acre farmland development where young people will experience a wide range of land based and craft activities. They will be offered a curriculum of practical experiential learning to help with their personal development in independence and employability. The curriculum is designed to help the students build respect for themselves and the world around them by helping them to see their own place in it. Activities include the growing of organic wheat, vegetables and fruit, animal care, green woodwork, charcoal making, blacksmithing, textiles, food processing (meat, fruit and vegetable) and much more.'

The fair is on Saturday the 19th November 10am till 4pm at the Clervaux Trust farm and includes food, arts, crafts & eco friendly goodies. We will be there with lots of our Vintage garden accessories, including old garden trugs, shutters, old wooden step ladders and loads more, we'll also be taking along some lovely gift ideas for gardeners, if you're passing pop in!

Gardeners Gift Baskets....

2011-11-06T10:15:00.000-08:00

Well, it was bonfire night last night, which was great, the weather stayed nice & dry, & today has been fab too, I always feel really Christmasy once bonfire night has been & gone so I wasted no time in putting together some gardeners gift baskets today! I have put 3 together, all packed with eco friendly gifts for gardeners, the baskets are hand woven & come wrapped in cellophane with ribbon & a gift tag so no work to be done by you!!

'Large Gardeners Gift Basket'
Contains.....
Gardeners Barrier Cream
(Protects hard working hands)
Wax & revive tool treatment
Gardeners Muscle rub
Gardeners hand scrub
Blackboard labels & pen

Everything in this gift basket is made in the UK,
£39.00 & can be found HERE!

'Medium Gardeners Gift Basket'
Contains.....
Long zinc shrub labels
Gardeners Barrier Cream
(Protects hard working hands)
Gardeners Hack wax
(restores dry & cracked hands)
Hand made lavender & oatmeal soap

Everything in this gift basket is made in the UK,
£22.00 & can be found HERE!

'All Natural Soap Gift Basket'
Contains....
A selection of all natural hand made soaps,
Ylang-ylang & Jasmine
Lavender & oatmeal
& Lemongrass

Made in the UK
£10.00 & can be found HERE!

After putting those together it was off to the allotment to finish off the jobs I had to do, have spread some of last years leaf mould & sorted out the two compost bins, taken down the sweet pea frame as it is moving next year (still had some sweet peas so picked those) & encountered a rather large toad in amongst it all, weeded the paths (for the last time this year I hope)!
So now it must be time to put my feet up!! Fire lit slippers on...& relax

Herb drying gift set

2011-10-17T06:01:00.000-07:00

A fantastic gift idea for anyone who grows their own herbs (Or indeed wants to start)!
Reduced from £16.00 to £10.00 this boxed set includes a great antique look herb dryer to hang in your kitchen or potting shed, 3 x plant markers, 3 x packet of seeds (Rosemary, Thyme, Lavender) & 3 x explanation cards on how to dry herbs at the end of the growing season.

A herb dryer ensures that you always have home grown herbs to hand, even in the winter months!

This lovely gift set can be found in our 'Autumn offers' section @www.urbanedenboutique.co.uk

A perfect autumn day

2011-10-16T12:44:00.000-07:00

We had a lovely impromptu stop off today as we were driving home from Harrogate, at Ripley Castle, the sun was shinning & as we passed the sign we quickly ducked in for a cup of tea, we ended up wandering round the gardens, I have never been before & I was so impressed, it was a perfect autumn day which helps, the sun was shining and all of the warm autumnal colours were coming through on the trees, some of their oak trees are one thousand years old, the ancient woodland truly is magnificent.
The only problem was I didn't have the camera with me as the visit was unplanned but I did take some shots with my phone of the fantastic old greenhouses and the walled kitchen gardens, which were all so beautifully kept.

Entrance to the walled Gardens.

Im sure it all looks stunning in the summer time too as the grounds boast some of the largest herbaceous borders in Britain and with 700 years of the Ingilby family being in residence it all has a fascinating history too.

Electrics to green houses!!

Fantastic green houses.

We will be back, there was so much to see, including a dear park & a lakeside walk which we didn't have time to enjoy, to read all about the family history click HERE

Lots of new gardening goodies!

2011-09-05T14:20:00.000-07:00

I have had a great day organising & photographing some new products for the boutique, I do not want to say the C word just yet so lets just call it the winter solstice for now, but we are getting ready for it none the less!!

We have some fantastic new products which are all eco friendly, & great gift ideas for the gardener in your life! Here are some examples below, also lots to come including lovely local hand made soaps.

Fab huge reel of twine with a pair of 1930's vintage scissors, this will look just as good on the kitchen dresser as it does in the potting shed & can be found in our 'Vintage' section HERE

Made in the UK

I have also just unpacked some lovely eco friendly hand care products for gardeners too, as one must keep the tools of the trade in good nick!

Start off with a hand scrub, both of our hand scrubs are designed to rub into dry hands to get the ingrained dirt off, then rinse.

The pump action scrub is very handy and ideal to leave by the kitchen sink, it is 200ml and has natural citrus oil & polymer scrub beads & can be found in the 'Potting Shed' section HERE

Made in the UK

Another of our hand scrubs is this large 500ml tub of orange bead hand scrub, perfect for the potting shed to scrub up before you get the kitchen in a mess (note to Col)! this fab scrub can be found in the 'Potting Shed' section HERE

Made in the UK

To use after the hand scrub we also have hack wax for the hands & barrier cream to protect & restore which can both be found HERE

Watch this space for more lovely gift ideas.......

Enamoured with enamel!

2011-08-30T07:40:00.000-07:00

New to the boutique, these wonderfully individual vintage enamel items, there is a fine line with vintage enamel, it always looks at its best used & worn but you have to be careful that any bowls or jugs haven't gone into holes on the bottom, we always keep our eyes peeled for the good quality vintage items, and just love the look of these finds (with no holes)!
We are really pleased with the large vintage enamel bowl & bucket & think they would be fab used as an extra large ice bucket filled with bottled beer for a party, just as handy though for harvesting all those fantastic autumn fruits! They can both be found HERE !

Another favourite is this old enamel jug, the colour is so unusual, it is a real pillar box red and will look fantastic in a kitchen filled with contrasting flowers.

Just add rain!

2011-08-15T13:32:00.000-07:00

I was sat this morning flicking through a lovely book about 'seed bombs' whilst I had my first cuppa of the day, it is a beautifully presented & illustrated book on how to make 'seed bombs', with a little background on the writer Josie Jeffrey, who has a great approach to nature, and urban life.

Seed bombs are getting more & more popular & you can either make your own from scratch or buy kits with everything you need, they have become more popular since guerrilla gardening has been talked about more in the press (Basically people getting together to make waste land & neglected urban areas more of a haven for wild life, & much more pleasant to look at!)

I think it is a great idea, and what a fantastic thing to make with kids while they are on their school holidays, not only will they be learning about seeds & helping to grow plants but they will have the added bonus of getting their hands dirty, and for once it is a pastime where the rain actually helps things along a little & as the rain seems to be around a fair bit these summer holidays we may as well embrace it!

There is a little film to watch which Josie has made & her book can be found on amazon for £8.99.

Tools of the trade

2011-08-07T09:06:00.000-07:00

We are very excited with our latest arrival at the boutique, these great Sophie Conran tools have arrived & we are so pleased with them, the quality is fantastic & they come beautifully presented too.

Sophie has worked with Burgon & Ball, who still manufacture their products here in the UK, to create the collection of tools.....

"As a gardener I have always dreamed of creating a range of garden tools and accessories. I beleive that tools should be functional and beautiful, and make each job a pleasure.

One of the problems I face as a women when gardening is that my hands are generally too small for standard tools. My designs specifically address this issue and I hope will add to the joy of gardening".

The better the tools, the easier the job." Sophie Conran

The collection is made up of seven tools, trowel, fork, compost scoop, secateurs, sieve, dibber & weeder & can be found HERE

New landscaping website

2011-08-01T01:15:00.000-07:00

Our lovely new landscaping website went live yesterday, we will be adding to it over the coming months, mainly images of Cols work which we need to get caught up on.
www.urbanedenlandscaping.co.uk

He is out & about today doing maintenance work for a customer with 12 acres of garden so he'll be in need of a good hearty meal tonight!! Good job the allotment is producing lots of spinach at the moment!

Light up my life!

2011-07-27T14:16:00.000-07:00

Col has just quickly spruced the yard up as we have just moved into this house, and we do love to have the outside space lovely, we do plan to sell this house & buy somewhere with a garden (well, thats the plan) My Mum is baby sitting all of my plants until we get settled in here so the yard is looking a little empty but a lot tidier that it did a couple of days ago.

I love these vintage *roof tile lanterns* so much I have decided to hang a couple of them in the yard, it really finishes it off nicely, they are available at Urban Eden Boutique & made from old French & spanish roof tiles, with a hand made glass storm cover.

The place doesn't feel quite like home yet but once I surround myself with plants again I'll feel at home, only got the olive tree with me so far, which I love all the more for surviving that cold winter!!

But at least for now we have somewhere to sit & enjoy our homemade Elderflower wine, which has worked a treat again, although it is rather lively when you open it!!

The Yellow Book put to good use!

2011-07-11T13:36:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy old couple of months for us, moving house among other things, so it was really lovely to have Sunday morning off from the chores & head to one of the open garden days from 'The Yellow book' it was the village of Cotherstone nestled in the Pennine Hills, a lot of the gardens open & some allotments too. The rain stayed away which was great & the sun even made a couple of appearances.

We stopped off in the 'naturalists garden' for tea with fruit cake & Cotherstone cheese, this was our favourite garden with so much wild life packed into a small space, we saw Robins, Tits, Wrens and many more even Siskins, and what we think could have been a Redpoll! They also have a love for all things vintage, with old riddles & tools dotted around as interesting features, also a great set of chicken legs!!

All of the other gardens were lovely too, a runner up on our favourites list was this lovely terraced garden, which was jam packed with plants & flowers, so lovely, & again filled with birds.

There is something on every weekend now from The Yellow Book, and it is such a cheap and lovely day out, what a great idea, and a great effort by all of those who open their gardens.

Here are a few of our favourite things!

2011-06-23T11:45:00.000-07:00

Definitions & uses for some of our vintage garden accessories;

1. Trug; noun; a basket usually made from wood, which is used in the garden for carrying flowers, veg, plants or tools. Origin of the word is from the late, middle English meaning basin, perhaps a dialect variant of ; trough.

We've managed to source some great looking vintage trugs of European & Japanese origin. One of their original uses was to measure out quantities of grain or rice but we've found they are perfect for carrying tools or plants around in the garden.

2. Riddle; noun; a sieve used to sift soil or compost. From the Old English word, hriddel, 'to sieve'.

Finding vintage riddles in good condition isn't easy because of the nature of their function (mucky old things)! We recently found a set of 3 which is something of a rarity. After a bit of loving care they came up a treat, (well 2 of them did)! The linseed oil really brings out the colour & texture of the old wood.

3. Mill Bobbin & Twine.. Bobbin: noun; a spool or reel on which thread or yarn is wound. From the old french word; bobine: A small instrument used in sewing & tapestry making.

Authentic Mill bobbins come in all different shapes & sizes, reflecting their various uses in the old wool & cotton mills of Northern England. We thought that these particular ones would be just the job for a garden line.

Or this one for a twine holder.

Stay tuned for more vintage ideas....

A little bit of urban eden landscaping

2011-06-21T15:00:00.000-07:00

Along side our boutique we also run a landscaping business, it doesn't get chatted about on here too much so I thought I would share some images of our current landscaping project, Col has just finished adding the planting scheme so once the plants are a little more established & the final section of turfing is completed I will post more images. It's been a great job to do, we've put all of our hard & soft landscaping skills to the test.

Before

After

Before

After

We are about to revamp our landscaping website so watch this space....!

A bit of a change around

2011-06-20T14:56:00.000-07:00

Well the day before the longest day (2nd longest!!?) & it has been lovely & sunny, I had short sleeves on & everything!!
Our web site has had a little bit of a make over & is back on line today.

Our new vintage mill bobbin & twine can be found *HERE* & comes in six different colours.

Our recipe/seed gift cards can now be bought in pairs or singularly & can be found *HERE*

Here is hoping tomorrow is a nice sunny day too, because if it's raining it'll be a long day indeed!!!

Happy Solstice.

Elderflower fizz take 2!

2011-06-12T10:56:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again, we have been looking forward to making our Elderflower wine as it was so lovely last year, we are making a bit more this year to hand out to friends & family as gifts.

We use the 'River Cottage' recipe as it is so simple to do & tasty.

We did go down to the lane behind the allotment last week on a lovely sunny day but the flowers were not quite out.

So we left it a week & went back on a not so sunny (rainy) day to gather the flowers.

As you can see we did Ok this time! There are still lots out there for you to give it a go, or you can buy river cottage Elderflower fizz from their site HERE for £15 a bottle.

Enjoy it with some home grown strawberries, heaven!

Here is the recipe...

4 litres hot water
700g sugar
Juice and zest of four lemons
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
About 15 elderflower heads, in full bloom
A pinch of dried yeast (you may not need this)

METHOD

How to make elderflower champagne

1. Put the hot water and sugar into a large container (a spotlessly clean bucket is good) and stir until the sugar dissolves, then top up with cold water so you have 6 litres of liquid in total.

2. Add the lemon juice and zest, the vinegar and the flower heads and stir gently.

3. Cover with clean muslin and leave to ferment in a cool, airy place for a couple of days. Take a look at the brew at this point, and if it's not becoming a little foamy and obviously beginning to ferment, add a pinch of yeast.

4. Leave the mixture to ferment, again covered with muslin, for a further four days. Strain the liquid through a sieve lined with muslin and decant into sterilised strong glass bottles with champagne stoppers (available from home-brewing suppliers) or Grolsch-style stoppers, or sterilized screw-top plastic bottles (a good deal of pressure can build up inside as the fermenting brew produces carbon dioxide, so strong bottles and seals are essential).

5. Seal and leave to ferment in the bottles for at least a week before serving, chilled. The champagne should keep in the bottles for several months. Store in a cool, dry place.

At the allotment.........The good, the bad & the ugly!

2011-05-10T13:07:00.000-07:00

We had a morning at the allotment on Sunday, now I must admit we don't spend nearly as much time there as we would like to, but in a way I think this is a good thing, all too often when we tell people we have an allotment they say how they would like to grow their own but they do not have the time, I think you can spend as much or as little time there as you want to, we simply enjoy it when we are there & have tried to choose crops we know we can look after.

The Good.........

The allotment was looking really lovely, we have 4 large hawthorns at the back and they are in full blossom ( they are in need of a trim & tidy as I don't think they have ever been done, but by the time we got round to it the birds were starting to nest so it'll have to wait until autumn), the cow parsley beneath them was looking lovely too, we have decided to leave the very back of the plot as it is in complete shade from the trees & very rocky, so in parts of it we have piled stones & logs up to attract wildlife (when we first cleared the plot it was alive with frogs due to its rather damp nature so hopefully we have rehoused some of them!)

So all in all we were pleased with how things were looking and as a blustery wind whipped across the plot the white blossom was floating around and looking rather wonderful!

The Bad........

As we all know the weather has been great & things in the garden have come up earlier than usual, I think I am not alone in getting rather cocky and planting out young plants a little early, sadly the sweetcorn I planted last week which I had grown in the little greenhouse bit the dust early this week when there was quite a heavy ground frost up here (monday night) the spuds got a little frost damage but they will be fine, but sadly a few of the strawberries also got a little cocky & they too have been got!! There are plenty of flowers still on the strawberry plants which look fine though, so they are not off the menu just yet!

The Ugly.......

Well, on our allotment site there are a lot of growers who grow things to 'show', our neighbour is one, he grows prize leeks & onions, & they are amazing, sadly his plot along with one other was broken into last week, they stole some of his leeks & onions & threw a bag of compost into the leaves of the remaining leeks, those who show leeks will know that they have to be spotlessly clean & can not have any dirt in the leaves so this was a pretty nasty trick, on the other plot which they went on they did even more damage, they have gone in there & weed killed all of the onions, shallots & fruit bushes, such a nasty calculated trick, as we all know growing your own is a labour of love so they are of course really upset, it can only be jealousy as they are both great gardeners with vast knowledge. I feel angry for them!

The Independent....The end of the good Life?

2011-05-02T10:02:00.000-07:00

Have just been reading all about the proposed plans for allotments, below is a snippet from the independent newspaper........

Government paves way for sale of country's 300,000 allotments as plot-holders revolt over plan to scrap historic right to council land.

The century-old right of people to demand an allotment from their council may be abolished by the Government under plans to scale back red tape, it emerged yesterday.

Eric Pickles, the Communities Secretary, is examining plans to free local authorities from a 103-year-old obligation to provide plots of public land for cultivation by gardeners. The proposals could see local authorities, many of them strapped for cash under government-imposed cuts, selling off allotment land for social housing or even for profit to major companies.

The move has triggered a wave of protest from allotment society members and gardeners, who have lobbied Mr Pickles to rethink the plans.

To Campaign please visit www.nsalg.org.uk

at the allotment.........What to do behind the shed?!

2011-04-26T14:09:00.000-07:00

Had a lovely couple of days off over Easter & got down to the allotment, the nice weather was making me feel very behind with things, but then a cold day like today reminded me we still have to be careful with the young plants, I am now worried about the sweetcorn I planted out! Have I been a bit hasty?

We also got the nets ready for the strawberries as they are well on the way, it looks as though it is going to be a good crop, it is their second year in so I am looking forward to passing them onto my Mum for homemade Jam (she'll make a much better job of it than me & when you've tented fruit all year you've got to do it justice)!!

Also spotted some very small victoria plums coming along, this is a first, we inherited the tree & it was in a pot, we planted it in a sheltered spot & it seems to like it there so we are excited to see fruit, hope the birds don't get to them before us as there are not too many on there!

Now that we have broken the back of the allotment we are looking at tidying up areas which are not so urgent, there is quite a large area behind the shed which is full of rocks and a steep bank, I looked round there on sunday & thought it was looking rather lovely in its own way (apart from the masses of weeds)!

I am really not sure what to do round there, as quickly as I get rid of the nettles they are back again and I can't get a spade in as it is so rocky! At least the bluebells look lovely, just leave it I think!!!

Harrogate flower show....A great day was had!

2011-04-19T01:35:00.000-07:00

We had a really lovely day at the Harrogate flower show, the sun was out all day, which brought with it the crowds, it was a real success for them I'm sure.

The above garden won 'Judges choice' & was really lovely, there was a great shaded area which had a partly living (green) roof, a lot of the show gardens had living roofs, it is something I would love to do in the future. It was, however, hard to get a good photograph of the show gardens as so many people were around them!

Col & I enjoyed a good old wander around & I did treat myself to two obelisks which I am using on either side of the garden bench, I did have two lovely lavender trees there but this winter has sadly done for them, so I wanted to do something different, we were at a nursery yesterday & spotted some lovely Jasmine plants, just the job, keeps the bees happy too!

At the allotment.........Sweet Pea!

2011-04-15T14:12:00.000-07:00

Working full-time & running an allotment doesn't always go hand in hand but as the nights are getting lighter now it has made such a difference. We have been making the most of the recent good weather & have spent a few evenings down there, we managed to get the last bed in & our early spuds planted into it, no time to really tend the soil there, so we'll just have to see how they get on.
I bought a zip up, 4 shelf, small 'green house' for the yard at home as we do not have a poly tunnel at the allotment (on the wish list) being based in the Northeast means we have to wait that little bit longer for the soil to warm up, the little 'green house' has been a great help in getting things started off, like the sweet peas pictured above, which we planted out on Sunday. Also got the red onions in, spring onions, beetroot, peas & parsnips, so a good day!

I have added a 'during' photograph of the allotment, as you can see from an earlier post the plot was in a sorry state, there are still a lot of jobs to do there, wouldn't mind a couple of salad planters building at the back, in front of the shed & the Holly bush creates a lot of shade & needs a 'trim' but that may have to wait as there is planting to be done!! The seats haven't been used much yet!

Harrogate flower show 14th - 17th April

2011-04-09T10:10:00.000-07:00

It is the Harrogate Spring flower show coming up, a great day out and the perfect place to treat yourself to some gardening goodies, we went last year & hit on a lovely hot day which was a bonus, the show gardens were great, most of them worked on a woodland/wild flower theme which I loved, for more information including ticket prices click here
See you there!

Vintage Trug

2011-03-29T15:48:00.000-07:00

Very handy & very lovely! Here is a new addition to our vintage collection, an extra large trug which is great for all kinds of jobs or just as great at looking good in the house full of magazines or kindling.
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Mothers day gift ideas

2011-03-24T05:28:00.000-07:00

Forget it at your peril! The boutique has some great gift ideas & gift baskets for mothers day, what better way to start the new growing season than with a gardening gift!

We also have eco friendly hand made gift cards which have flower seeds attached which you can plant & grow.

The Yellow Book!

2011-03-24T01:57:00.000-07:00

The Yellow Book! The national garden scheme release this book each year, full of people who open their gardens for charity, now over 3,700 gardens open up to the public either by appointment or on a set day of the year.

The book is broken down into regions & is really simple to use. My favourite last year in our local area was 'Cotherstone' as it is a group opening, pretty much the whole village opens its gardens & allotments to the public, a couple of gardens serve tea with fruit cake & Cotherstone cheese (spent a lot of the day there) & some sold plants & flowers. Only £4 entry for the day, & if the sun is shining it couldn't be a better day out.

You can grab the book from most supermarkets & book shops or from amazon for £6.99 inc postage.

Happy reading!

At the allotment..... in the beginning!

2011-03-14T07:33:00.000-07:00

After having our names down for three years we were offered an allotment on a site close to where I grew up. The plot had not been tended for about 3 years and there was no structure to it at all, so basically we had rented a small field full of couch grass and other weeds, which has a tendency to get water logged on one half, but I didn't want to wait another 3 years so we went for it!
The half which gets water logged we have left for now to see what happens throughout the year, it's a big plot so that's fine, the couch grass (I was devastated to find) needed digging out as it's the only way to get rid of it without using chemicals, the ground was very compact (full of buttercups, a sign of wet, compact ground) so it was hard going at times.
We only got the plot in the summer of 2010 & it has been hard work, but this spring I feel hopefull that our hard work will pay off, it is getting easier all of the time & is starting to look like an allotment!
Here are a couple of 'before' pictures,
Helen

Rhubarb,Rhubarb,Rhubarb!

2011-03-08T06:39:00.000-08:00

The rhubarb plant at the allotment only went in last year, so it's in its early stages, thought I'd have a go at forcing it & see how it got on, this is it after just 3 weeks so it seems OK, there was enough to make a batch of rhubarb scones so I was pleased (though I should have let it be really for a while longer)

Found this recipe in Living Etc magazine....

(Makes 10)

250g rhubarb, trimmed & chopped

2 tablespoons caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

300g plain flour, sifted

2 teaspoons baking powder

110g caster sugar, extra

125 ml milk

125 ml single cream, plus extra to serve

Preheat oven 180/ gas mark 4. place the rhubarb, sugar & vanilla in a small bowl and toss to combine.Set aside.Place the flour, baking powder & extra sugar in a large bowl & make a well in the centre of the mixture.

Gradually pour in the milk & cream and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, add the rhubarb mixture & gently bring together until a smooth dough forms. Roll out the dough until 3 cm thick. use a 5 cm square cookie cutter to cut out 10 squares. Place the scones on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake for 15-20 minutes. Serve with extra cream & a lovely cuppa!