Food Festivals and Wellies!!

It's a crazy time of year.... food festivals, carnivals, fun days and rainy days!

This year, I either have, or will, be attending a huge number of Food Festivals and foody celebrations across the county and beyond. One thing's for sure, they wont all be sunny hot days!

Before the very first show back in May, I decided that I really should invest in some replacement wellies! There was nothing wrong with the old pair, they still kept my feet dry and they did the job perfectly..... but they were just a little bit filthy!! Beyond a good scrub and a spray of flash bleach! Having done three, yes, three long years of gardening, part time farming and other things that wellies do, it was time for semi retirement or at least to go part time!

My brand new pair of sparkly clean and very pink and un-faded (unlike the last pair!!) wellies, are so comfortable and so pink! I want to wear them all the time but I don't want to offend my old pair, so these are kept for best, for food festivals and clean mud! So, if you see me about on a rainy day, don't forget to check my wellies - just to see what sort of day it is!

Taking time to enjoy summer... at The Pumpkin Patch

Taking time to enjoy summer... at The Pumpkin Patch

What is this life if full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare. W.H Davies

Sunshine and Vegetables!

August is the height of summer, the month we associate with summer holidays, relaxed balmy evenings, barbecues on the beach and a glut of vegetables from the garden! The children are home from school and it should at least be a time of playing happy families in the sunshine! Call me an old romantic but this is what I remember and what comes to mind at the thought of summer months! Reality, however, is often different. Evenings are not always hot and balmy, summer rains often spoil a family barbecue, but one thing you can be assured of … a glut of vegetables – that is, if you planted them!

The weeks of back-breaking toil, preparing the vegetable patches pays off with a bounty of peas, beans, onions , brassicas and salad. The garden is overflowing with edibles and flowers too. Such is the beauty of the lush and beautiful garden that one can forgive the green backdrop of enthusiastic weeds that are a spectacle in their own right!

Evening Sun & Shade

The rolling hills of the Towy Valley cast shade over the Pumpkin Patch Garden at Allt y Gôg Farm in the early evening whilst the valley below continues to be smothered by evening sun, giving warmth and light well into the evening. For those of us in the shade we've re- discovered the camp-fire - a wonderful way to enjoy the outdoors well into the night, whilst providing heat and light and an alternative to the barbecue! Recently Sam, our eldest son and an outdoor enthusiast, convinced us of the need to purchase a fire tripod … what an investment! We now boil, fry , steam a variety of meals for breakfast, tea an supper! Not just for a late night feast either – we now cook our Sunday morning sausages on the camp-fire – slightly crazy but a delightful and relaxed way to wake up at the weekend! For safety reasons The Pumpkin Patch hasn’t been introduced to this way of cooking yet, but I'm sure the teenage class will soon enjoy a camp-fire evening – I can't wait! So, if cooking in the summer months is more of a chore than a delight, and if you can't bear to stay indoors more than you have to, I recommend the “tripod” - your evenings (or mornings for that matter) will never be the same!

Bags of fun!

For the recent West Wales Food Festival I thought I'd put together some little packs to introduce children to the delights of growing their own vegetables.

I started with a load of paper bags, pots, lolly sticks, compost and an idea!

I bought some lovely bamboo plant labels, some twine and lots of seed packets.... and got to work! I thought they looked lovely!

I chose seeds which were either fast growing, unusual, colourful or just attractive to kids....the colourful lolly sticks are great as plant labels for children.

The finished product, complete with instructions and bamboo marker for the garden. I can't say I say that I sold out, but the rest can go to the School Summer Fête next week.

Well I had lots of fun making them – simple things....!

How to make a raised bed!

During my first visit to St. Mary's School I found a really great and enthusiastic crowd of teachers, eager to get a school vegetable garden up and running... they had plenty of space, plenty of willing children eager to get digging. Two weeks on, two areas of turf had been stripped and we were ready to get going!!

When I returned I brought with me.....
eight lengths of roof perlins and 40 bags for decent compost!

I discovered a few years back that the cheapest way to build a raised bed (of any significance) was to purchase two 20ft (6m) long perlins,
saw them in half and nail them together!
Voila.. a raised bed within an hour!!

Then comes the heavy work! Several bags of compost later the garden begins to take shape! The heavens opened, we all got quite wet, but we soldiered on to complete the task and finally, within two hours we were planting... and sowing seed! Wow, all in a mornings work!

I'll be back next week to plant some more, but in the meantime, the childen are going to plant an apple tree, plant some seed potatoes in old car tyres... it's all action!!

A Right Royal Weeding !!

It's been a wonderful bank holiday weekend for gardeners.... hours of uninterrupted sunshine and a Royal wedding to kick start the weekend!
I must confess to being a bit of a royal wedding fan, but the moment they left the balcony, my gardening shoes were on and I was off!

In the spirit of spring, these are some of the flowers in the garden at the moment. These seem a little more regal that photos of dirty gardening shoes, spades, wheelbarrows and compost which would truly represent my weekend!

It may not look like it but this is a tulip, one of my favourites!
I thought it was an interesting angle and shows off the wonderful colours and patterns.

Blossom at last.... thanks to Sam and Jon's efforts pruning back the plum and apple trees in the old orchard we have an abundance of blossom, lets hope we get an abundance of fruit to follow!

I spent most of my weekend in the vegetable patch. It really needed some quality time! The broad beans and peas were put in about three weeks ago but with little rain, germination was slow!

Eventually they poked their little heads through and here they are! Since then, I've planted out some Brussels sprouts and Ailsa Craig onions (my daughter's called Ailsa so we have to plant Ailsa Craig!)

To keep the girls happy (and for their amazing flavour and texture) I've filled a bed with Anya salad potatoes for my youngest daughter Anya!
I adore these waxy, slightly nutty flavoured potatoes and decided a few years ago not to waste valuable space on normal main crop varieties but to concentrate my efforts on these amazing little knobbly spuds!