End Of Month View ~ April 2013

I missed posting a March end of month view, because enthusiasm for both garden and allotment was at a low following the cold winter and other events going on at the time. Now that April is slowly ebbing away I am feeling decidedly more cheerful and energetic and am enjoying being in the garden, greenhouse and at the allotment again.

Reading through last April's end of month view post this April seems a long way removed in terms of both weather and flowers. No copious amounts of rain this year but it has definitely been on the cool side. Last April photos of geranium phaeum and tiarella in full flower illustrated my end of month post. When I looked yesterday evening the same geranium shows firmly shut pendulous flower heads whilst the tiarella looks quite bedraggled. Flowering now are the plants that I normally associate with March going into early April - pulmonarias, primroses, hellebores, little daffs, brunneras and other early spring gems. Later flowering hardy perennials such as astrantia and geraniums only seem to have broken through the ground in the last couple of weeks. I am only just in the process of dividing and potting some perennials for our garden club plant sale which is towards the end of May. Usually this is something that I do in March, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a warmer spell that they settle in and bulk up over the next month.

The greenhouse is slowly filling up with seedlings of tomatoes, sweet peppers, beetroot, lettuce and salad mixes, various basils, cucumbers, squashes, courgettes, red onions, leeks, purple flowering artichokes, broad beans and peas. I noticed last year that all my early French bean sowings did not fare well, so I've decided not to sow French beans until May. One exception though was a sowing of a new to me variety 'Speedy' which is recommended for early and late sowing. I will be interested to see how it fares. In the flower department I have sown nicotiana mutablis, nicotiana alata, brachycombe, cosmos 'Purity, various sweet peas, cerinthe, nasturtium 'Blue Pepe', gaura lindheimeri, ammi visnaga, orlaya grandiflora, daucus carrota 'Black Knight', cobaea scandens as well as some geraniums from my own saved seed. Time soon for pricking out and the inevitable greenhouse shuffle - again such activities would have normally started by now.

Progress at the allotment has been slow but I've been putting in some sessions especially over the last couple of weeks. I have planted the shallots that I started off in the greenhouse - 'Red Sun', 'Golden Gourmet' and 'Longor'. Potatoes will be going in during the coming week but just one bed this year. I've also been preparing a bed to plant some new strawberry plants after reluctantly deciding that the existing plants had probably reached the end of their most productive years. Sadly the winter seems to have taken its toll on the greenhouse at the allotment and on the lean to shed, so himself has promised some repair work. Oh and guess what I forgot to remove the nest in my shed which has already been blessed with three blackbird eggs. Makes journeys into the shed more problematic but I should be able to get in and out again more easily as the year progresses. At least now that we have a composting toilet on site I do not have to retire to the shed with my bucket. I'm not sure what the blackbird would have made of that.

As for new plants there have been one or two purchases, mainly at the Cheshire and Friends branch of the Hardy Plant Society plant sale as well as from a visit to my local nursery at Bluebell Cottage Gardens. I have yet more pulmonarias, a couple of brunneras as well abd a clematis recta 'Black Velvet'. For now they are taking time out in the coldframe.

Thanks to Helen of The Patient Gardener's Weblog, who came up with the excellent concept of the End Of Month view. Looking forward to reading what everyone else has been up to.

P.S. A beautiful warm and sunny afternoon to round off April - we enjoyed coffee sitting outside for the first time this year.

Getting off of the tropical bus…

As the heat begins its upward scale

I am taking you on a  small commercial break

I’ll get back to all that is  tropical-ness in a sec.

Right now

I give you THIS frosty wonderland…

Flims, Switzerland.

We honeymooned for a couple of weeks WAY up high in the Swiss Alps

And this year …or the next…or the next

I want to go back.

Looking around, I found these little eco-friendly pods.

PODHotel

Surrounded by all that is a snowy escape.

Tiny little pods…Like camping…with insulation.

There is a larger house that has kitchen and baths

 

Does it bring out the inner Hobbit in you?

Wordy Wednesday - 24th April 2013 - 'This Telescoped Spring'

"There is a strange order in things this year ;  for here is the first swallow with us while half the daffodils are as yet only greenish yellow buds. As the seasons are early or late, so do we get various combinations of blossoming. Last year, with its especially early spring, brought the American flowering currant into bloom with the plum, and scattered the almond blossom upon shaking daffodils. Now, today, daffodils are coming out as the apple blossom still shows pink. The trees follow the calendar more steadily, except that the younger trees always seem to come into leaf much later than the full grown ones.

As the month draws on, there is a sudden rush of warmth and in a day or two the garden is a changed world, as in a fairy story where a spell has suddenly been lifted. Barely budding trees thicken with green, the spinach is rampant and, the rhubarb, that a few days back was pale and stubbly, is like an enormous tropical plant. The cherry blossoms that should have been in bloom for Easter, now burst into festoons of hanging blossoms. Yesterday the buds were still tight and colourless. Pear trees are heavy with flowering clumps. Sticky buds of the chestnut change and stretch out wooly and open with a few hours of heat and sun, showing their blossom as a hard point of pale green. Bees bumble, spiders run in the grass and ladybirds glow everywhere. As I stand, for luck, on the grass I hear the first cuckoo. After being held back for over a month, all the things tumble over themselves and each other in their urgent rush to bloom. Has there ever been such a rush? Frantically one tries to take it all in, but one misses many subtleties in this glut of blossoming. The primroses and daffodils that should have had place of honour a few weeks back now excite us somewhat less, because the lilac buds fatten so visibly, and anemones and violas flower. This telescoped spring wastes much beauty"

This extract from the chapter on April from 'Four Hedges', written and engraved by Clare Leighton could refer to April 2013 but in fact was written in the 1930s. The book chronicles the story of a year in of a much loved garden situated in the Chiltern Hills, tended to by Clare and her partner. Although I do not agree with the last sentence or two I think that the rest of her description of the late arrival of spring sums this one up perfectly. The above illustration is just one of the many exquisite wood engravings that illustrate the book.

Krönetorps Mölla photographed with Nikkor 35mm f1.8G DX AFS

You may remember that I posted a photograph of Krönetorps Mölla in Sweden in June last year here: A "Normal" focal length Prime Lens as a Landscape Lens. Well, this one was shot on the same day but I zoomed in by walking several hundred meters closer than I was in the other shot and caught the sun a little lower down in the sky and hence a little warmer. I like the almost painterly feeling of the photo which is achieved by the wonderfully soft lighting.

Photography is all about the light, and to get your pictures a step up in mood and quality it is worth developing a patient attitude towards what you are doing and not rush it. If that means waiting all alone for hours on end in all kinds of weather, then so be it. But I can guarantee that you will be getting more keepers that way. When I am in a hurry I hardly ever get anything I would like to print and hang on the wall, but when I slow down, apply some thought to the process and savour the moment for it's beauty then my keeper count soars!

Grillning förbjuden

Nikkor AF-S 85mm f/1.8 G = Smooth as butter backgrounds!

Even on my crop frame D300s and at a small distance from the subject this beautiful lens renders lovely out of focus backgrounds! This was set to f2.8. Taken during our Sunday cycle through the countryside.

Just to give an idea of how sharp this lens is, here is a pic also taken on Sunday with the 85mm f/1.8, and included is a 100% crop of the windmill section below that:

100% crop:

One last point, if there is any distortion from this lens I am totally unable to see it! :-)

That First Plant Sale Of The Year

Just before last weekend's social event of the year there was time for a lightening raid at that very first plant sale of year! This was held by the Cheshire and Friends group of The Hardy Plant Society as part of their 25th anniversary celebrations. I was member of this local group in the dim and distance past and still try to attend their annual plant sales when possible. There is always a good choice of happy and healthy plants on offer grown by both local nurseries and keen gardeners. We left home in brilliant sunshine but by the time we arrived the skies were clouding whilst a rather erratic wind blew up from nowhere. The sale was mainly based outdoors and quite high up on a hill top so the sellers deserved a medal for their tenacity.

Purchases included a trio of pulmonarias - 'Stillingfleet Meg', 'Majesté' and 'Opal' as well as the brunnera 'Langtrees' with its most subtly marked foliage. The other acquisition was cardamine quinquefolia which has hovered on the edge of my consciousness for years. This was the first time that I had ever seen it in the flesh but only a few seconds acquaintance were enough to persuade me that this plant was coming home with me. Sadly its flowers were almost on their last legs so it will be next spring before I can take photos and show them here.

I wish that I could have stayed long enough for a second sweep of the stalls as I'm sure that I missed out on some gems but was still delighted with my purchases. I'm sure that there will be other plant sales this year but there's nothing more exciting than the first of the year. What about you - have you had the chance to get to a plant sale yet this year and if so what did you come home with?

Planning a Midsummer night’s Eve Garden party…..

Lot’s to celebrate….

Birthday’s, Graduations….

Summer

Isn’t life grand?

Wanna come?

Inspiration pics from Pinterest

Book Review - 'My Cool Allotment'

Although buying new books is off limits until the shelves groan less, what happens if some unexpected gift vouchers come your way from your nearest and dearest? Such is life and such bounty was responsible for the purchase of one or two books recently, including a copy of 'My Cool Allotment' by Lia Leendertz, with photography by Mark Diacono.

There has been an absolute proliferation of allotment books over the last few years. They appear to fall into three distinct categories. The first are the earnest and sometimes invaluable 'how to' tomes especially useful when you are starting off and some become loved long term companions. The second often with a dose of humour thrown in for good measure, are the personal accounts of people who've been there, done that and have got the allotment badge. The third category are the miscalleneous titles which look at the subject from a completely different angle. Lia's book falls into this last category and is a celebration of allotments in all their weird and wonderful guises. The author has visited some 31 plots up and down the country and on the near continent talking to people who work these patches of land. Most are allotment plots but there are one or two private gardens thrown in, as well as small holdings and a number of community gardens.

Chapters focus on the following themes :

Historic - concentrating on traditional allotment plots.
A Feast Of Flowers - where flowers are the stars of the show rather than fruit and veg.
All For One - which features community growing projects.
Edible Jungle - where gardeners are exploring alternative methods of growing.
Food From Home - where immigrants are growing crops cherished by them far from home.
The Creative Process - highlighting growers or artisans who use their plot to grow or nurture their specialist product.

Finally there is a short sourcebook with extra details about some of the allotment holders in the book, details of allotment and growing organisations, tools and equipment and seeds and plant suppliers.

This is not a long book coming in at 160 pages and is quite photo heavy so I managed to read through it during an evening. The photos are of a high standard throughout and enhance the text.

What I liked - the way that Lia has conveyed the the sheer joy and enthusiasm of the plot holders she encountered. The book perfectly illustrates in Lia's words "just what different people do in response to a small piece of land. Each plot is an expression of the allotment holder's personality, memories, hope and fears".

What I was not so keen on - the size of the book. It is short and wide. I have since fitted it into the bookshelf, with all my other allotment/growing books and it is noticeable how much it juts out of line from the rest of them. This does not really matter but what irked was that I found the book most uncomfortable to hold. Maybe it's just me and the size of my hands though.

What I will do inspired by 'My Cool Allotment'

• Visit one of the featured plots this summer, more specifically the relatively nearby Valducci Flower and Vegetable Gardens which opens under the National Gardens Scheme. Have been intending to go there for a while but have never made it. Now it's a must. 
• Buy a mirror for the inside of the allotment shed door. This decision has been inspired by the mention of Nell who has "installed a little mirror on the side of her shed to check herself over before she walks out of the allotment gate : 'So many times I've found myself walking up the main road with bits of twig or leaves in my hair. It is east to forget that civilisation is still out there'. 
• Read more about the concept of perennial planting which is appeals to me more and more, although I'm not sure how it would fit in with our allotment inspection criteria.

In conclusion this was one of those books that left me wanting more. I would have liked to have read more about all the plots included in the book and would have welcomed a much larger 'Food From Home' section - perhaps even a separate book on the subject! A most enjoyable read which would make a suitable gift for anybody already besotted by allotments or about to fall under their spell.

'My Cool Allotment' (ISBN 978 -1-86205-966-5) is published by Pavilion and is available from all good booksellers.

Available Light and the Nikkor 50mm f1.8D = Great Portraits!

My friend Mario is a well known figure in Malmö as he goes around reaching out to the homeless and needy of the city offering them food, friendship and a helping hand. He does all this without pay, and many times without thanks, but keeps simply plugging away. A real hero in my book!

Taken handheld with a D300s, 50mm f1.8D lens and whatever light was available. An aperture of f2.8 ensured a lovely out of focus rendition of the background and sufficient shutter speed to give a sharp portrait.

For those of you that care, here are the settings I used according to the exif data:
Manual, f2.8, 1/125s, ISO 400, auto white balance, and a quick run through DXO Optics Pro 8.

Hong Yi

 

Food Art by the young Malaysian artist Hong Yi, also known as ‘Red’.  You can see the growing gallery on her Instagram profile.

I Love You . . .

Wordy Wednesday ~ 17th April 2013 ~ Green

"I live in the country surrounded by green fields all year long, but when March slips into April I realise that I have never truly seen green before. It works every time, catching me breathless and dazed by sheer exhilaration. The luminous lime begins as a suggestion, speckling the hedgerows, almost shimmering above them, rather than growing out of the branches, then starts licking up from the bare soil with shocking intensity. Certainly nothing characterises the months of March, April and May as the range of greens shining like stained - glass windows".

 - from 'Gardening at Longmeadow' by Monty Don

What A Relief!

The jokes were flying out fast and furious including these gems  -

"The forecast is wet and windy" to which some wit replied "Is that inside or outside?"
"When I was growing up you spent a penny not thousands of pounds"

Such mirth came about at the official opening of our allotment composting toilet building this weekend. Our VIP was the local MP. The gathering also included local council officials, representatives of community groups, other allotment site representatives and of course plot holders and their families. Following the formal cutting of the green ribbon we enjoyed afternoon tea, whilst for our visitors this was the first time some had visited an allotment site so they were keen to have a guided tour. The day was a celebration not only of the formal opening of a building also of what a small group of plot holders had achieved to get to this point.

There were not any toilet facilities at our allotment site before 2102, which made it difficult for many plot holders to spend long periods of time at the allotments. Whilst there was the option for some of disappearing into a shed with a bucket not everybody has access to a shed, whilst some folk have sheds but do not find the bucket solution particularly desirable. The lack of such basic sanitation was identified by plot holders as a major problem over a number of years especially as the number of female plot holders grew. The allotment association committee discussed this issue in some depth in 2011.

Lacking a connection to the mains water supply the committee decided that a composting toilet would be the best option for a site. One of the committee members volunteered to do some research into the subject eventually coming up with the recommendation that we consider a company called NatSol. This company has an established track record of providing composting toilet buildings for outdoor spaces including allotments. However we gulped when we saw the price which was way and above our modest funds. We are a relatively small site and membership of the association is voluntary. The annual subscription is kept at a relatively small sum to encourage people to join.

So we decided to investigate if there were any possible sources of external funding that we could tap into. Nobody on the present committee had any experience of this so it was a steep learning curve. We were fortunate though when a couple of committee members attended a meeting with other local allotment site representatives. Another site in the area had been successful in applying for funding for a project and suggested that that we looked into Awards For All. This is a lottery grants scheme funding small, locally community based schemes in the United Kingdom. The maximum grant that can be awarded is £10,000.

Acting on their suggestion we contacted the External Funding Officer at our local council and arranged a meeting to discuss possible sources of funding. Our initial meeting with her and a colleague was most encouraging and the consensus was that applying to Awards For All was appropriate. Of course we had to meet certain criteria to qualify for a grant so we were given advice on how to gear the application towards this, suggestions on how to fine tune our written constitution as well as a welcome critical pair of eyes to check through the completed application form before it was submitted for consideration.

Not long after this meeting the allotment association had its AGM where the committee gained the backing of members to apply for funding. We were also able to ask members to sign their name to a written statement that there was a need for such a facility. This piece of evidence went off with our application.

The next step was a visit to a neighbouring allotment site where we had found out that there was a similar toilet to the one we had our eyes on already in situ. We were made most welcome and it was great to see what we were considering in the flesh as it were. The pros and cons were discussed - more pros than cons.

So with all this information the committee decided to go ahead with the application and then for me as secretary of the association the hard work of completing the form began. Not only was there a form to be completed but we would also have to provide other written documentation if we were to receive a conditional offer. This included a copy of our written constitution, bank statements and an audited end of year financial report of our funds. Although initially slightly daunting the process was not too difficult but it was time consuming.

Our application was submitted at the end of January 2012 and we were delighted to be able to announce that we had been successful in May 2012. We were awarded £9,050 towards the purchase of a composting toilet with building together with installation costs. The balance of the final bill was raised by the association through plant sales last summer. The toilet was installed in July 2012 and has been in use since. Plot holders pay a nominal sum for a key to the toilet building which will be refunded to them if they give up the tenancy of their plot. This income has been used to cover the initial cost of having keys cut and also as a contribution to the cost of insuring the building. To date some 25 plot holders have asked for keys and hopefully this number will grow in the immediate future. As well as providing a vital facility for plot holders, the association is now in a better position to invite the local community on to the site to share our love of growing and wildlife. We are hoping to have small numbers of local primary school children visit the bee keeping area later this year.

The wet weather of 2012 meant that we still have some more work to complete in the area surrounding the building including the installation of a permanent path to the building this summer. There are also plans to shelter the area with some permanent planting.

So that is the story of how one small group of volunteers dreamed big and achieved their dream. If you belong to any voluntary group allotment based or otherwise which has projects in mind but few funds to achieve then do consider Awards For All. Further grants can be awarded to the same groups after a certain amount of time has lapsed so we are now considering our next project!

A man walks into a bar….

A hearty thank you

to a great  friend

who smuggled back a couple of bottles of

Union Jack Pimm’s

Dangerous business. That.

I do believe

Summer

may officially begin…

 

:: Pimm’s No 1 cup ::

• 1/2-inch thick English cucumber wheel
• 1/2-inch thick lemon wheel
• 2 ounces Pimm’s No. 1
• 4 ounces 7UP, lemon-lime soda, or ginger ale
 

Gently muddle the cucumber and lemon slices in a chilled highball glass. Por in the Pimm’s and 7UP, lemon-lime soda, or ginger ale, and stir to combine. Add ice to fill the glass and garnish with a slice of cucumber.

I LOVE this guy….

Pure tropical inspiration

Made Wijaya

his landscapes

his interiors.

his architecture.

His lighting….look at that dangling light above.

::sigh::

Travelwide 4×5 camera (how you can get your very own large format camera)

I came across an interesting project that seems like a lot of fun and could generate some interest in large format photography for a small investment.

This is from their website:


Travelwide is the ultralight 4×5 film camera that goes wherever you go.

"Pretty amazing" — Photojojo

"Super cool" — The Phoblographer

"Ultralight 4x5 camera… ultra-friendly price" — The World's Best Ever

"My neck and shoulders already like this camera." — Mortal Muses

It's easy to fall in love with the incredible quality of 4×5 analog film, but no one loves lugging a heavy metal camera. We wanted to create a 4×5 that you could take anywhere in the world, and carry every day at home. The result is Travelwide. It's lighter than a DSLR, and not much larger—yet tough enough to toss in a side bag or cram into an overloaded backpack.

For much more info, and to check out their request for a small $99 investment to secure your very own Large Format camera, go to their website by simply clicking here -> Travelwide 4×5 camera

Putting my Light Tent and Elinchrom lights to Good Use

For the last couple of years I have been buying up beer mugs in second hand stores, and it was all started by my daughter who purchased this mug for me at a boot sale:

It turned out to be pre German unification, so it has a little age to it as well. Since then I have added to my collection and below you can find a few of them. I used my light tent with black board inside for the seamless background, an Elinchrom D-Lite-it 2 with 65x65 softbox and Nikon D300s with Nikon 40mm f/2.8 DX G AF-S attached. All manual settings for consistency from shot to shot. Post processed with DXO Optics Pro 8.