Saturday 31 December 2011

Seeds

We've now placed our seed orders for next year: five, in total. I shan't list them here, but I'll put the plans on the kitchen garden page at some point, along with variety details. We've also got some way with the activity plan for the year—as normal, March and April are hectic, with lots and lots to sow and plant. We think there's enough space on windowsills, but I always worry.

The Daft Cat (Domino) managed to hurt his leg (probably a fight), and has been, reluctantly (read: with claws) allowing us to examine him. I think it'll heal soundly, having been caught early, cleaned, and dressed. He still seems happy to eat cream, though.

Domino with Cream (© Ian 2011)

Friday 30 December 2011

Kitchen Garden Planting Planning

We've spent a lot of the last few days finalizing the vegetables we'll grow this year, and how they fit into the beds. It's a complex operation, but one we'll only have to do—hopefully—a few times, before being able to recycle previous plans.

We think we're there, and just need to translate the physical plan into an action plan (that is, what needs doing each month (sowing, planting, harvesting, feeding...), and order the necessary seeds. As part of this, we've also been out to the garden centre, and picked up a few bits in their sale, including a second cake platter, and a candle set.

Out in the garden, I've turned the compost heaps, and also lifted a couple of square metres of turf to go to Liz's grandmother in Ludlow (I managed to find a non-mossy patch!). I also had a tree surgeon out to look at some of the poplars on the edge of the garden. They're getting a bit awkward, and risk losing major branches in high winds. They're also not especially attractive, and might be shading the solar panels (slightly)—and I could use the firewood. We plan to have five of them taken down in the New Year, to give some space to the smaller trees amongst them.

Lastly, the foster-children have left: it's been in the pipeline for the last couple of months, and they've moved back to live with their grandmother. Jenny and Philip are now taking a couple of weeks off, before the matching process for their long-term placement children begins.

Tuesday 27 December 2011

Of Stoves and Shopping

A number of Liz's Christmas presents to me were virtual—ideas for things that I had some choice on, and which needed me to decide and order. These are quite typical, as I like having a say, and can normally find a good deal. I've been bemoaning my baking sheets for some time: originally non-stick, their coating has gradually worn and peeled, and they're decidedly unhappy. At worst, one gets scraps of coating on the bottom of one's bread roll. We've found some possibly replacements: solid silicone sheets (which, by design, will not lose coating) that go on top of metal sheets (for solidity). Also now on order is a nutcracker (a fun mushroom design: you screw a wooden plunger down into a cup, which crushes the nut: I never get on with plier designs); and a pair of welly liners (Liz loves hers).

We also spent a lot of time looking at our options for installing a stove in the sitting room. The open fire, while quite attractive burning, looks rather dull when not lit. Open fires are also hideously inefficient at putting heat into the room (20%, by some accounts, with the rest going up the chimney), and the open chimney lets cold air in, and warm air out, the entire time.

We live in a smoke-control area, which limits our choices, but we've seen a few that we like. One option is to get a back-boiler stove, and hook it into the central heating, so that we reduce our oil use and warm the whole house when the stove is lit, rather than predominantly the sitting room. No decision yet, though...

Monday 26 December 2011

Two Christmas Days

Yesterday, obviously, was Christmas Day. However, we and Jenny and Philip decided to make it a children-oriented day, and today, while the foster-children were with their grandmother, have a grown-up Christmas Day.

Christmas Tree (© Ian 2011)

Christmas Day Part I, therefore, was predictable. The children excitedly opened their presents from Father Christmas before breakfast (when we arrived). While Liz and I cooked lunch, the five of them (and the dog) went out for a walk (cooking lunch wasn't so selfless!), and we ate when they got back. As for the last couple of years, I dismembered the turkey (an enormous 15lb bird), and we only roast the stuffed breast—the rest will be used up over the coming weeks, having been frozen. As normal (apologies for the immodesty) it was very tasty; it's much better cooked this way, as the time/temperature can be designed for the breast, without worrying about getting a balance for the whole bird. After lunch, tree presents (the children's) were opened, admired, and played with, and we watched both the Gruffalo's Child and the Snowman (a staple). We'd gone round yesterday evening to sing carols, and previously watched the Gruffalo, so we've had a good number of child-friendly activities.

Today, Part II. Jenny and Philip came over for brunch, after the children had gone (the stollen we cooked on Christmas Eve). We tried a pork recipe for lunch, roast in cider with pears, and with a very good chestnut stuffing, which may become a regular recipe. Otherwise, presents were opened, mince pies consumed, and hot berry cordial quaffed. I think the cordial is a great success, and very enjoyable. We'll have to make at least as much next autumn, once we see how far this batch goes. It's very frugal in mixing, as you only need a small amount per mug, and we do have about 3 litres.

The decorated fireplace (© Ian 2011)

Friday 23 December 2011

Preparatory Baking

We spent most of today baking, having spent yesterday, the first day of our holiday, cleaning and tidying. I managed to break my bike (blown out rear wheel), so I've had to order a new wheel, but there you go. Today has been an extravaganza of cooking; stollen for breakfast on Boxing Day, gingerbread houses (presents), bread, mince pies, and muffins (as in breakfast muffins). The mince pies use mincemeat made on New Year's Eve last year, and is delicious.

Gingerbread Village (© Ian 2011)
The village is for the foster-children, hence there being three houses, and three figures (I'm particularly pleased with the reindeer, though I say so myself). Royal icing does make surprisingly good mortar...

Monday 19 December 2011

Hedging

Our hedging plants (for alongside the septic tank, along with the willow that was delivered last week) has arrived. It's a combination of several species, chosen to give a quick-growing low (3-4ft) hedge, but productive. There's two hazels (a purple filbert, and a Pearson's Prolific), and a few each of cornelian cherry and myrobalan plum.

Cornelian cherries (Cornus mas)are only edible ripe, but they can then be eaten raw (a sour cherry/cranberry), dried, or cooked into jam. Myrobalan plums (Prunus cerasifera) have similar uses. They both ripen in late summer, or into September. Hazels need no introduction!

We'll heel all of them in, possibly in an out-of-use vegetable bed, until we can cut and dig the bed they'll go in—that might, in reality, not be until February, although the weather's so mild that it could be next week!

Tuesday 13 December 2011

Gladioli Lifted

We had to lift some of the gladioli to free up pots for the dogwoods, etc; we've now taken the rest up, too. They haven't really died back, but it's getting cold enough to worry that they might freeze. I hadn't realised, but it's almost exactly the same time that we did so last year. They're in the workshop, rather than the garage, so hopefully they won't freeze in storage, and will be planted back out in April or May.

Sunday 11 December 2011

Christmas Party

We had a few friends up for the weekend, as a Christmas celebration. Much food, games, and carol-ing, and more food, including this gingerbread house.

Gingerbread House (© Ian 2011)

Lots of fun, and a nice way to continue the run-up to our holiday.

In garden news, our seven new fruit trees arrived on Friday, and we've heeled them into a barrel to wait for holes to be dug. They are:
  • Pears
    • 'Williams Bon Chrétian'
    • 'Beth'
  • Apples
    • 'James Grieve'
    • 'Egremont Russet'
    • 'Falstaff'
  • Cherry 'Summer Sun'
  • Plum 'Victoria'

Also arrived were our Midwinter Fire dogwoods, and red, gold, and osier willow (for hedging next to the septic tank). The dogwoods are now planted up in pots with lemon cypress, ivy, and primroses, in the front garden, which has livened it up enormously.

Lastly: here's that reindeer photo I promised.

Reindeer from the Cairngorms Reindeer Herd (© Ian 2011)

Tuesday 6 December 2011

Pickling

We pulled up the last of the beetroot at the weekend, as we thought they were unlikely to grow, and the weather's turning colder. They're all a bit small, so we decided that they'd be best pickled, as accompaniments for salads next year. Accordingly, we boiled them, rubbed off the skins, then bottled with hot spiced vinegar (which immediately turned red!). While we were about it, we've also done a kilo batch of hot pickled onions. We prefer them this way: you pour boiling water on them, peel them, then cook them in spiced vinegar for 7 minutes before bottling while hot. Less crunchy, and very tasty. They'll be ready in a few weeks.

Unfortunately, the weather station's had a blip, and lost the data for the last four weeks, which is a pain. Should be back to normal soon, though. The weather's turning very windy, and cold, which it'll be interesting to record.

Sunday 4 December 2011

All Lit Up

As planned, we spent today putting up the Christmas decorations. They're restricted to the ground floor, but do extend through it... There are lights in the sitting room (where the tree is, too) and dining room, and fir and holly everywhere. Anyway: it all looks very festive. I'll take some photos, but now I'm going to bed!

Saturday 3 December 2011

Busy Morning

We're out this afternoon, so we had a busy morning tidying up outside.

Liz has now weeded all of the fruit beds, and I've finished repairing the netting. I haven't replaced the cord at the ends of the raspberry beds, but that's looking much less urgent: all of the net-to-net joins are now done with weather-resisting polypropylene cord.

We've pruned the gooseberries, though not the currants. The gooseberries have sprawled rather, and have pretended to be creepers or groundcover, so we've carefully tried to cut them back to suitable buds to avoid the same thing next year. They still look bigger than this time last year, so we should still get a reasonable crop.

We took up the last of the beetroot, the turnips that have done something (there are about four more that haven't really swollen: we'll see if they get anywhere), and collected some kale, sprouts, a celeriac and a leek. Definitely into winter veg production now!

The rhubarb has now arrived, so we planted them (enriching their spots with compost; they'll have another mulch in the spring). We now have four Timperley Early (right hand); three Victoria (front three on the left), and three Suttons Seedless (back three on the left). They don't look like much (anything) at the moment, but will hopefully spring into life next year.

While out there, we've also removed all of the sprinklers from the irrigation system: they're better avoiding freezing, and we won't need them for the next few months.

Friday 2 December 2011

Microgenerator

Slightly ahead of schedule, our solar PV panels and kit have been commissioned. They finished yesterday, and the system's managing to generate today, despite bad weather, which is pleasing.

PV Panels being installed (© Philip 2011)

It's a full 4kWp system of Sanyo HIT panels, coupled to an SMA Sunny Boy inverter. The FIT application (for microgeneration payments) is being processed, but as of today we should now be electricity-negative (we ought to generate about twice as much electricity as the house consumes). Of course, because we use power overnight, and when it's gloomy, we can't match supply to demand, meaning we'll still pay for electricity — but the power we generate will find a use elsewhere.

Sunday 27 November 2011

Autumn Winds

Another wind-swept weekend, blowing 20mph most of the time, and gusting twice that. It's not made for a hospitable garden, so we've been limited to weeding the blueberry bed (very much in need of it) and starting to repair the fruit nets. I've done the four ends of the gooseberry/blueberry/currant beds, and the mid-length joins in the gooseberry bed. That leaves two mid-section joins (blueberry bed), and the raspberry beds (which comes to four ends and two joins, but are tricky because the beds are so tall). That's for another weekend.

In preparation for Christmas decorating (scheduled, as normal, for the first weekend in December), we thoroughly tidied the house, and I finally managed to replace the locks on the back door (long overdue: I could only lock the door from inside, right handed (and, occasionally from outside—only if left-handed: bizarre), and put up the new lights in the dining room and hall. We got these to match the lights in the sitting room, but it's taken a while to get round to installation.

Sunday 20 November 2011

Reindeer

Every year around now, the garden centre has a visit from the reindeer herd on the Cairngorms. We visited them when we were in Aviemore in 2004, and now try to go to the reindeer parade when they visit Huddersfield.

Reindeer from the Cairngorm Reindeer Herd (© Ian 2011)

That was yesterday: today, we installed the irrigation system in the 'new' strawberry/rhubarb bed that we finished in August. We then planted it with strawberries, at a wider spacing than in the old bed: about 1' between plants, in rows 2' apart; equal numbers of Honeoye, Cambridge Favourite, and Florence. We also (belatedly) cleared the foliage and debris in the old bed, prompted by the fact that a deer has been climbing in and grazing. No, really. Droppings were found in the bed.

That's now tidied, and hopefully the new strawberry plants will settle in quickly. The rhubarb should arrive any day, so it's good to have the bed ready. Irrigation for the rhubarb won't be sprinklers (like elsewhere), but drippers adjacent to each crown. Rhubarb's badly designed, as the leaves deflect rain (or sprinkled water) away from the crowns—which actually need quite a lot of moisture. Hence, drippers. No rush, though: there's not much chance of them dehydrating over the winter.

The compost bin is now pretty much over-flowing, so I need to get round to turning them soon.

Sunday 13 November 2011

FreeSat

We've had the weekend at my parents', which was a welcome, relaxing break. Before setting off yesterday, we planted some spring bulbs, though. 30 fluted tulips, 30 praestens multiheaded tulips, and some more tête à têtes (in pots, to go into hanging baskets in the spring). They're all outside the back door for now, and we'll move them around when they're up.

After the analogue television signal was switched off in September, we've been without TV. We hadn't really had television since moving in, because the signal's awful—we've been surviving on recordings provided by Liz's parents, and holding on to see if the digital switchover improved the signal. It didn't; at least, not enough (we borrowed a digital set to check). The options were to improve/amplify the existing aerial, get Sky (no thanks), or get FreeSat. The house had an existing Sky dish, but we had no idea whether it was functional.

However, we plumped, in the end, for FreeSat, on the basis that it would definitely work, where Freeview only might work (even with expensive new aerial (and fitting) and amplifier). However, that left the installation... So, up the ladder went I, and loosened off the dish and pointed it in the direction of the Astra satellite. In theory, that's the same alignment as Sky...but it wasn't where it was pointing previously. What the previous owners were watching, I have no idea.

It was really straightforward, in the end, and the old dish and LNB (only a mono) are connected to the Humax FreeSat box and working really nicely. It's been foggy all day, so it should be reliable, as it's worked today. At some point, I intend to change the LNB to a duo or quad, and run a second cable to the box, so that we can record two channels at once (rather than one), but that'll wait.

Friday 11 November 2011

Clearing, Cake, and Compost

After seeing half a dozen surveyers, and speaking to dozens of companies, we've settled on a solar panel installation. It'll be a 4kWp installation, taking up about half of the roof, and should be installed at the end of the month. Now we just hope there's no snow.

The decision process has taken up a lot of the last few days, along with surveys and so on, but it's been worth it (I hope). Nonetheless, we've also managed to do a first pass of leaf clearing, bagging them up into bin liners for now (after being unable to make more chicken-wire cages). I've turned the compost heaps, and added a large quantity to the first pile, as we've now taken down the top-growth of the peas and beans.

We've transplanted the dozen winter cabbages ('Frostie') to their final location, and done a bit of weeding. Unfortunately, we've not had a chance to repair the fruit cage nets, which should probably be a priority for the next few weeks.

All of the elephant garlic, garlic 'Germidour', and over-winter onions ('Summer Gold') have now come up, and seem to be doing well. The strawberries appear to have attracted a deer, and have been a bit trimmed: hopefully they'll recover. The sprouts are ready to start, which is fun; however, the frosts did (as expected) kill off the courgettes.

We also managed, yesterday, to make our Christmas Cake (bit earlier than last year), as well as a pumpkin pie (conversely, a bit late!).

Tuesday 8 November 2011

Solar Panels

Another frost, yesterday, and more time spent clearing the cotoneaster. The plants we set out to remove this time are now gone, probably representing 40% of the bed cleared. It's unveiled two hebes (which I've cut almost entirely down, to see if they rejuvenate: no tears if they don't), and revealed a silver birch and rhododendron that were previously emerging from the cotoneaster canopy. The latter's a bit leggy, but we'll see how it does.

Having cleared the cotoneaster, we've immediately used the space to plant out the large number of perennials that have been in pots for up to the last 18 months, so hopefully they'll be a lot more content. At the same time, we planted 160 tête à tête narcissi, and 50 Iris reticulata 'Harmony' from recent orders.

We also had an appointment with a renewable energy company, as installation of photovoltaic solar panels is, now, pressing. We're not sure, though, about their quote, so we're going to be hitting the phones over the next few days to get something sorted rapidly.

Tonight was our normal garden centre's annual Christmas launch event. We're not, normally, keen on starting Christmas in November, but we make an exception: mostly because of the mincepies and wine, and the fact that there's 15% off (almost) everything on the night.

I'm always surprised how little use people make of this: we always get a few routine things as well as anything festive that catches our eye. This year, as well as an illuminated Christmas thing (photo in a month, if I remember), we picked up some willow trellis, some ivies and skimmia, and a quince.

I am uncannily excited about the quince. I've wanted one for ages, but the 'right' variety wasn't available from the nursery where we bought our other fruit trees. A bare-root 1-year maiden can, with searching, be had for about £20 (plus delivery). Obviously, that's smaller than a three-year tree, but they usually run to £35-40. However—and here's the really pleasing part—the garden centre had kindly sent a '50% off an outdoor plant' voucher to me (part of their loyalty scheme). Restrictions on its use did not encompass fruit trees, which I suddenly realised while browsing heucheras. Off to the end of the yard we went, and found a 'Leskovac' or 'Serbian Gold' 8 foot, 3-year-old tree: £19.

Serbian Gold is very hardy, and produces heavy crops of apple-shaped fruit—or so I am hoping. In a year or two, I'm hoping to make some marmelo, and quince jelly, and a very exciting apple tart.

Sunday 6 November 2011

Frosty start

The first frost of the autumn—later than expected. We're off this week, so we've got a nice long list of things to do; inside and out, depending on the weather. Today we re-started clearing the cotoneaster. We began in August last year, and got far enough to use the space to empty the nursery bed in order to make the vegetable garden.

Sometimes I feel like it's all a puzzle, like the chicken/fox/grain riddle. Never mind.

Anyway; we've set too, once more, on clearing the brush. We're dumping it on the future position of the pond, rather than carrying it all down to the bottom of the garden. It's much faster now, and it means fewer extension cables on the chipper when we come to shred it.

Inside, I put up the shower curtain, and a thermal blind in the kitchen (as it's getting cold and dark).

Saturday 5 November 2011

Horse-sitting

We've had a busy day, going into town for an infrequent shopping trip. I'd hoped to pick up another 10m of chicken wire, to construct some more leafmould bins. Unfortunately, no luck, but otherwise successful if prosaic: a shower-curtain rail, a bag of mortar (for repointing), a contact-lens appointment, and an engagement ring repaired.

This evening had firework displays going off around the valley, and as the neighbours were out, I had to spend some of the evening keeping their horse company (he doesn't like fireworks, predictably, and there was a display in a nearby garden). Only fair, he provides lots of manure for the garden.

Thursday 3 November 2011

Morning Mist

Lovely mist in the valley this morning (sorry, no tripod): it disappeared really quickly, though.



Nothing to report from our garden from the weekend: we were visiting Hazel and Alex. However, really good fireworks, a week early (to avoid competition), and fun with sparklers.

They also introduced us to asparagus peas (a legume, but a different genus to 'normal' peas and beans). I think we'll give them a go next year: they're ground cover, nitrogen fixing, and seem to yield well. The peas are nice sautéed or stir-fried. We also had some runner beans which they'd allowed to mature. Similarly, we might try leaving some bean plants to mature, and collect the beans for drying, rather than freezing all of them (relieves strain on the freezer, if nothing else!).

Sunday 23 October 2011

One Last Chutney

We're trying to get the hill-side apples turned into purée or similar as quickly as possible, as they're starting to go over. The freezer's groaning at the seams!

With some of the apples, though, we thought we'd make some more sloe chutney. Just a small quantity, as we only made one batch of sloe gin last time, which doesn't equate to much chutney. The sloe gin has been decanted, and is much better than last year. I think it's a combination of harvesting the sloes earlier, and freezing them before making the gin. Which means it's probably time to get out there and collect a pound of sloes for this year's gin.

Accordingly:
  • 10oz sloes, stoned (8oz)
  • 8oz chopped apple
  • 8oz soft light brown sugar
  • large onion, chopped
  • 12fl oz white/distilled vinegar
  • 8oz raisins
  • ½tsp chilli powder
  • ½tsp nutmeg
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp cloves
  • ½tsp salt
  • 2fl oz orange juice

Chutney's easy: bring that lot gently to the boil, and simmer until it's suitably thick. That quantity only took about 20 minutes.

We also made a batch of pickled damsons, which are better described as spiced damsons (the vinegar disappears, and the spicy fruity sweetness is much the dominant flavour). Recipe to follow...they're very good as a spoonful on top of yoghurt...

Sunday 16 October 2011

Winter Hanging Baskets

Candy canes

The last order needed for the winter hanging baskets arrived this week, so once we'd popped to the garden centre to buy ten white winter flowering heathers (Erica x darleyensis Silberschmelze), we were able to plant these. Out came the geraniums and verbena (geraniums repotted to over-winter, and verbena cuttings taken), and in went a bronze sedge, two heathers, five cineraria (previously in the hanging baskets on the arbour), and two candy-cane oxalis (O. versicolour: picture by Tanakawho). The oxalis are extremely unprepossessing: about 10mm long, and 5mm diameter, and shaped like a miniature shallot. Here's hoping they do something!

We also planted the baskets of paperwhite narcissi that we enjoyed over Christmas 2010. We spread them over several plantings last year. It didn't seem to make much difference, so we've done them all at once.

The fruit tree order I mentioned last weekend is now placed, so in a couple of months we'll receive seven fruit trees, some hedging plants, and a dozen Midwinter Fire dogwoods.

Sunday 9 October 2011

Wet Weekend

It's been decidedly autumnal this weekend, making an end to the reversion to summer. It's drizzled or rained throughout, and the wind's waxed and waned.

However, it was still a very pleasant weekend, as we had Alan and Ann visiting. We played rather a lot of Settlers (Cities & Knights, which was new to them), and rewatched Serenity, warmed by our first fire in quite a while. The chimney drew better than I remembered, and half a dozen logs kept us nicely warmed. The plan to install a stove has been rekindled, as a result.

We also made a batch of elderberry vinegar, with the last of this year's berries. This was a simple affair: an inch of berries in a big pan, generously covered with distilled/spirit vinegar. This was simmered for twenty minutes, and then squished through a cheesecloth and rebottled. It's meant to be good for salad dressings, or for adding to casseroles or roast meats' glazes. We shall experiment.

We've almost finalized an order of fruit trees and hedging, which will be good. Also recently arrived was thirty 'Firecracker' primulas, which are now in the troughs outside the porch, and a dozen mixed heucheras (to pep up the front garden). We've also got some bulbs on order from Parkers that should be arriving soon...including a couple of hundred daffs, and about 50 tulips. We also need to start planting the Paperwhite narcissi, in order to have them flowering at Christmas. We meant to do some on Friday, but it didn't happen!

Sunday 2 October 2011

Late Season Harvests

Thanks to an unseasonably warm week, we're still finding ourselves with salad leaves to pick. I'm sure the plants will either irrevocably bolt, or die in a frost, before too much longer, but for now, there are still salads to be enjoyed.

We've also managed to collect about 8kg of blackberries, which is better than we've done for the last couple of years. All into the freezer for now (which is starting to bulge at the seams), along with apple purée that we've been making in batches. The courgettes are still going, but the peas have pretty much come to an end, and the runner beans have slowed. I think we'll find that the summer harvests are over very soon. However, that just means we can start looking forward to the leeks, celeriac, turnips, and winter leaves.

The Summer Gold onions and Germidour garlic that we planted a fortnight ago are now sprouting (about half, anyway), and the spring onions have begun to germinate. There's no sign of the elephant garlic, yet, but that's buried twice as deep, so it'll take longer to emerge.

Less excitingly, I repainted the rest of the inside window frames (a job started a month ago), and discovered that the windows in the garage and workshop need some attention. I think they'll muddle through the winter, but next spring I think I should re-mortar them, and probably replace some of the putty/mastic.

Sunday 25 September 2011

Clare College Gardens

As well as going round St John's, we also went round the gardens at Clare College, which we tend to do during most of our Cambridge visits! In my reckoning, they're the finest of the college gardens.

Clare College Gardens (© Ian 2011)

We've been, I think, three times this year, and this room has been planted differently each time. It started with hyacinths, changed to forget-me-nots, and is now a tropical melange, with some striking bananas in the centre.

The beds elsewhere have also changed each time; testament to the gardening team's hard work! Their herbaceous perennials are always beautifully supported, and growing well, which I'm always envious of.
Dahlias in the river-side bed, Clare College Gardens (© Ian 2011)

Asters, Clare College Garden (© Ian 2011)

Dahlia (identification welcomed!), Clare College Gardens (© Ian 2011)

Quincentenary

We spent the weekend in Cambridge, to visit friends, and our old college, St John's. The college was founded in 1511, and in celebration of its centenary has held a number of events, including a 'Quincentenary Week' this past week. There were several exhibitions, which we went round, as well as dinners, talks, and tours earlier in the week.


The Old Library, St John's College, Cambridge (© Ian 2011)

The old library was built in the 1620's, and forms a range of Third Court. It was added to in 1990, with the New  Library. The Old Library is home to the college archives, and a huge collection of old texts: on display at the moment are documents relating to the foundation of the College.

Signature of Lady Margaret Beaufort, My Lady the King's Mother (mother of Henry VII, grandmother of Henry VIII, and foundress of the college), on instructions to her executor (St John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester) (photo © Ian 2011)

The Senior Combination Room (North Range of Second Court) (photo © Ian 2011)

The Hall, set for dinner (photo © Ian 2011)

Monday 19 September 2011

Compost Heap Jelly & Spiced Berry Cordial

Yesterday, we boiled up a bag of frozen citrus fruit hulls and peelings, and apple cores and peelings, which I've been storing as they were 'created' for several months. This makes this jelly extremely frugal, as it uses the left-overs that would otherwise go straight on the compost heap, and the only paid-for ingredient is sugar.

Once the pulp was squeezed (yes, a cardinal sin in purist jelly making, as it won't be perfectly clear: I prefer to have ten jars of 'murky' jam, than five of clear jelly!), we added 1lb of granulated sugar to every pint of juice, and boiled it to setting point. Granulated, as the fruit is about as pectin- and acid-packed as it comes (citrus fruit and apple cores!). The result is a fruity and marmalade-like jelly, with a faint floral hint (those mischievous elderflowers that came with the oranges and lemons from the cordial), and is delicious. Thank you, River Cottage Bites.

The other thing we started yesterday was the spiced berry cordial. Having left the fruit mush to break down, I squeezed every drop of juice possible out, and added 500g of sugar for every 1kg of fruit we started with (in this case, 3kg), making 3l of liquid. We added two cinnamon sticks, 20 cloves, and 2 tsp of each of ground ginger, allspice, and nutmeg. This is brought to the boil, and simmered for five minutes. I then bottled this, hot, into warmed screw-top bottles: with the heat, and the sugar, I think it should keep just fine until Christmas.

The East Parterre at Witley Court, with box edging (© Ian (2011))

In my break for lunch, I took about three dozen cuttings of the heritage box we bought at Witley Court. It's a bit late in the season, but there you go.

Sunday 18 September 2011

First Stages

A fairly productive weekend, mostly spent in the kitchen, preparing the first stages of several preserving recipes!

Yesterday we mixed up the ingredients for a 6lb batch of mincemeat, using the new apple crop. It's really well in advance—we made the mincemeat for this Christmas back on New Year's Eve, so the batch from this weekend will only be used Christmas 2012. As before, it's the Gary Rhodes/Delia Smith recipe, modified to go in the slow cooker for six hours (rather than a low oven for several). That happened today, after the ingredients had sat overnight, and the result is magnificent. It's filled the kitchen with Christmas spiciness whenever we stirred it. Brandy (blackberry) will be stirred in tomorrow, when it's jarred.

In a break between showers, we nipped out to planted the over-wintering alliums. About 45 'Germidour' garlic, a dozen elephant garlic, and 110-odd Summer Gold overwintering onions. Before planting them, I dug in a few trugs of compost. Alongside, we've sown a few rows of White Lisbon overwinter spring onions, in the hope of an earlier crop of scallions.

It was dry first thing today, so we quickly gathered a kilo of elderberries, to combine with blackberries, damsons, and bilberries from the freezer to make a spiced berry cordial. It's about 50% elderberries, 25% blackberries, 20% damsons, and 5% bilberries, to a total of 3kg. To make the cordial, we've made up to 4.5l with hot water, and boiled it down to 3l (that is, reduced by a third). I'm leaving it overnight, and in the morning, I'll stir in some pectolase (to break down the fruit and release the juices). Once squeezed through muslin, the juice can be sweetened and spiced, and then bottled.

We also cooked up a big bag of citrus fruit hulls, and apple peelings (tasty sounding, no?): these have been collected over several months and frozen, and include the slices of orange and lemon that went into the elderflower cordial (and a few elderflowers). Covered with water, and simmered for an hour, I'll squeeze this tomorrow as well, and then make it into jelly.

Lastly—and lately—I strained the hedgerow wine that I started a week ago. The pulp (sloe, elderberry, blackberry), in a gallon of water, has been fermenting since Monday, with the aid of pectolase and yeast nutrient, and has now been squeezed onto 1.3kg of sugar in a demi-john. Fermentation, predictably, has picked up a notch.

Wednesday 14 September 2011

More Green Manure

Just a short, and fairly mundane note: I dug over the space where the second-cropping potatoes had been (until earlier this week), and the last few meters of where the main-crop potatoes where, and have sown both with the last of the green manure seed.

The second-croppers came out, because they were starting to look sad, many of the Vivaldi had flowered, and most of the Orla had failed to come up. On digging over, it transpires that the Orla had decided to grow two new tubers (at the inevitable expense of the seed tuber disappearing), without the benefit of foliage. From all forty seeds, we probably only lifted about 2kg of tubers. Not exactly a success: we almost certainly won't trouble ourselves with second-croppers again. However, the Vivaldi showed no sign of scab, so they might be a contender for first-earlies next year, depending on taste.

Only nine of the Frostie spring cabbages we sowed about a month ago are doing well, so I've also sown ten more. The turnips from the same date have been badly attacked by mice and slugs, which is disappointing; it's now too late to sow more.

The elephant garlic and over-wintering onions have arrived, so we'll plant them at the weekend: we're still waiting for the 'normal' garlic.

Sunday 11 September 2011

Chutney, Jam, and Wine

Having collected the apples on Thursday, we've got on with making this year's chutney. We enjoyed the Grandma's Hot Apple Chutney we tried last year, so we did a double batch of that (12 jars). Instead of the basic apple chutney, we made a batch of the National Trust's Windfall Chutney (not with windfalls, but never mind), which was another 8 jars. A statutory batch (5 and a half jars) of mango chutney (another 850g tin of kesar mango puree!) followed; I think the spice blend worked better. We then tried a spiced elderberry chutney (cooked and sieved berries), which is extremely purple-red (5 jars). The Windfall Chutney has a couple of tablespoons of turmeric in, so that's rather yellow, making this years jars quite colourful: the Grandma's Hot is quite molasses-y, the Windfall is yellow, the mango orange, and the elderberry strongly anthocyanin!

We'll do a round of mincemeat next weekend (it requires an overnight steep of the ingredients), which will use more apples—the rest will be eaten as they are, or made into puree for cooking or eating.

One of our neighbours was given a large quantity of greengages, which were surplus to her requirements, so she gave us a few kilos. As a result, we've tried a new recipe, for greengage and almond jam. The greengages defrosted brown (they went in green), but it doesn't appear to have mattered. They also didn't require stoning before cooking, contrary to some instructions—though that did mean Liz had to keep vigilant watch for stones while to cooked, fishing them out as they floated. It's very tasty, and reminiscent of a marvellous gooseberry jam we made some years ago. Not too sweet, with a good 'plum' flavour.

To round off the preserving weekend, I started a batch of Hedgerow Port: elderberry, sloe, and blackberry wine. Nothing unusual: 800g blackberries, 300g sloes, and 400g elderberries, crushed, with 4.5l of boiling water poured over them. I added some pectolase once it'd cooled a bit, and yeast will go in tomorrow. The must'll ferment for four-five days, and then I'll strain it onto sugar in a demi-john.

The elderflower and elder rosé wines look like they've slowed considerably, so fermentation may be nearly complete. I'll probably leave them for another few weeks, then rack them.

Thursday 8 September 2011

Apple Harvest

It's a bit earlier than last year, but we picked the apples from the hillside. I think it comes to about eight big shopping bags full, which should be plenty for the recipes we've got planned. Making chutney is planned for the weekend; we might do some jam at the same time. It's that time of the year when there's loads of freezing, preserving, and bottling!

Sunday 4 September 2011

Rochdale Canal

We've had a rather busy weekend to finish our week off. Yesterday was spent getting the bacon and hams into brine, finishing the Great Potato Wash of 2011, mowing the lawn (vastly overdue, and hard work), and then making sausages.

It's the first time we've tried making sausages, and was prompted by the new half-pig order. We had loads of sausages with the last pig, but they were all basic pork & herb. As well as wanting a variety, we also thought it would be fun to try. It was.

Mincing the pork was rather tedious (dicing 7kg of pork, and then feeding it through a blade-and-plate grinder took an age), but making the sausages was actually really easy. We took 1.5kg of minced pork, added oatmeal (rusk substitute), water, salt and pepper, and then one of four 'flavourings'. One batch of apple; one of juniper & apple; one of leek; one of Welsh Dragon (leek and chilli). Once mixed (by hand: messy work!), I fed mix into the stuffer, while Liz guided the hog casings. Apparently, the trick is keeping a consistent size, and avoiding tearing the skins or introducing air—but we didn't have any problems.

We tried a bit of each mix before stuffing, and they all tasted good, and they looked very convincingly sausage-y once made.

We made up a big bucket of brine on Friday night, and set it to chill overnight, before adding the pork belly (about 3kg) and seven shoulder/leg joints for ham. I'd boned and skinned the belly on Friday, so it was just a question of dropping the meat into the brine on Saturday morning.

That took us quite late into Saturday night, but waiting for us in the morning was the newly salted bacon, which only needed 24 hours to pickle. It was from a small chunk I'd put to one side, and I think its size meant it was saltier than the rest (and a little too salty, in fact), but it tasted great.

The rest of Sunday was then filled with a trip out on a canal boat up the Rochdale canal, to celebrate Liz's sister's birthday.

Lock on the Rochdale Canal (© Ian (2011)).

We were very amply fed, and had a really good day. Neither of us have worked locks before, although I consider them an engineering miracle, so that was fascinating. And I only bumped the bank a few times.

Thursday 1 September 2011

Pig

A couple of slightly mundane days: yesterday spent painting window-frames (inside), washing potatoes, and sorting onions. This was enlivened by the arrival of our half-pig, which weighed in at a delightful 31kg. The roasting joints are in the freezer; the ham joints and belly (for bacon) are ready to cure; the odds and ends are ready to make into sausage; and the kidney was a very tasty dinner.

To celebrate, here's a photo of this week's flower arrangements!

Vases of flowers from the garden (© Ian (2011)).

Tuesday 30 August 2011

Damsons

We spent this morning topping up half of the strawberry bed with more topsoil: it's now ready for planting. The other half wants topping up with compost/manure, as it'll receive rhubarb crowns (which want lots and lots of organic matter), but that will wait.

In addition to another pair of cauliflowers, and a handful of courgettes, we also picked the first of our runner beans, and lifted the first celeriac. The celeriac's a little small, really, but made a very tasty soup for lunch.

Anticipating making the flower beds in the sheltered corner of the garden, we dug a hole (slightly randomly positioned) in that corner, to assess the ground. Not good. There's about 25cm of good topsoil, but below that is hardpan clay. This was somewhat expected, as the ground gets wet during autumn and winter, but it's probably worse than I thought. It probably means we'll have to bring in new soil, and may have to install some drainage aids.

Better, though, was our discovery during an afternoon walk of a damson tree: we now have a big tub of damsons, and the same of blackberries—the first of the autumn. We reckon that the apples are nearly ready, so we might have a weekend of chutney and jam in ten days time.

Monday 29 August 2011

Midlands

As mentioned, we've been away for the weekend, visiting Liz's grandmother in Ludlow. In addition to stealing cuttings and divisions from her garden, we also went to Witley Court for a day.

Witley Court (© Ian (2011))

The grounds, a magnificent country estate, contain the ruins of the 19th century manor house (itself a renovation of a Jacobean house, in turn built over a medieval property) that was burnt out in 1937 and never repaired. Now owned by English Heritage, it's a shell of a building, fascinating for a depiction of the type of building. The grounds are in the process of being restored, and still contain two fountains (one working).

The Perseus & Andromeda Fountain (© Ian (2011))

Nesfield's South Parterre and the restored Perseus & Andromeda Fountain, looking towards the South Portico (© Ian (2011))

The East Parterre, with the Flora Fountain (© Ian (2011))

Gazenias in the East Parterre (© Ian (2011))

The grounds contained a couple of living willow sculptures, including this one, which caught our eye.

Willow tunnel (© Ian (2011)) 

The box hedging for the parterres was grown from cuttings taken from the original 1850's planting. When restoration began in the early 2000's, these were—to say the least—overgrown. The new plants are more typical of box hedging (6" high). However, the restoration work has produced a surplus of plants, which were for sale. We are, therefore, now the proud possessors of 18 box plants dating from the same period that the house was built: perfect stock for our own herb garden hedging. I'll work on taking cuttings and increasing the number over the next few years.

Less excitingly, we also called in at three garden centres on the way home (Dobbies, Percy Throwers, and our local Armitages), and picked up a trio of lemon cypresses, for the front garden.

Thursday 25 August 2011

Potatoes by Starlight

As we're away for the weekend, and leaving straight from work tomorrow, we had to get organized tonight, which involved checking that nothing needed picking or harvesting from the vegetable garden before we went.

It was relatively successful, to start with: a good handful of courgettes, another of peas, and a few runner beans (only just starting to crop). One or two cauliflowers will probably be ready next week.

Then disaster struck. We realised that the maincrop potatoes—mainly the Golden Wonder—have been hit by blight. Not too seriously, but definitely. The Druid were asymptomatic, but a lot of Golden Wonder foliage was showing the brown spots, and collapsing. Unfortunately, this was about 8 o'clock, and light was failing, but there was nothing for it: the potatoes had to come up. If left until we're back home, then we could be left with no crop, or un-storable tubers.

So, with the aid of a torch each, we've lifted all the potatoes. It's probably only a week before we'd intended to do so anyway, but I'd rather expected to do it in the light. Daylight, I mean: it's almost (August 29th) a new moon, so there was only a bit of starlight and twilight to guide us.

Still; there appears to be approximately 50kg of Druid, and about 25kg of Golden Wonder. At this moment, I strongly doubt we'll grow Golden Wonder again: it's more floury than we like, and the russeted skin isn't a favourite. Also, the yield is a little disappointing—no better than the earlies, and it's taken up space for two months longer. In better news, though, the Druid seems excellent. We experimented with two row spacings, and the bigger spacing appears to have been worth doing. Twice the spacing, but the yield of those six plants is roughly half the total from all twenty. They also seem to have good skins, and there are some monster tubers; the foliage was also strong and tall, although it needed nets to restrain it to the beds. A likely 2012 choice, I think.

A late night, though: we'll wash them and check them over next week.

Tuesday 23 August 2011

Green Manure

Hmm: six weeks earlier than last time. Having cleared the onions last week, there's a patch of ground that now won't be resown with crops until the spring. Some of it will have spring cabbages, when they're big enough to transplant. In the remainder, I've sown two more rows of salad leaves, and two of radishes, but the rest (about 2–3 blocks) with green manure. This is a winter mix of red clover, crimson clover, mustard, and Italian ryegrass: it should get growing before the winter bites, and will serve four functions.
  • Weed suppression: the clovers smother weeds;
  • Nitrogen fixing: the clovers' roots take nitrogen from the atmosphere and fix it in the soil; the ryegrass helps release it gradually next season;
  • Organic matter: the leafy bulk of the plants, and especially the mustard, add organic matter to the soil when they're dug in;
  • Soil stabilization: bare soil leaches nutrients in the winter rain, but having the manure roots growing reduces/prevents this.

We'll hoe and dig in the plants in the spring, before the set seed. It didn't work brilliantly last year, I think because we only had the beds finished in time to sow the seed in late October. But with a month to get growing, I hope for greater success.

Sunday 21 August 2011

Patchwork Exhibition

We had my parents visiting for the weekend, and had a pleasant and relaxing time with them. We discovered the Bankfield Museum, which is an unassuming gem outside Halifax. It currently has an exhibition of patchwork by members of a local quilting group: there are some beautiful, and innovative pieces on show. There are also permanent exhibitions of textiles, a Duke of Wellington's Regiment museum, a costume gallery, and a toy gallery. It's well worth a visit.

We made a seriously tasty apple and almond pudding cake, too, which I will endeavour to load onto the recipe page when I get round to it.

Wednesday 17 August 2011

Onions

The onions have been gently collapsing for a few weeks, and although I would ideally leave them outside to dry and ripen, the weather doesn't look favourable. It's probably going to be damp for the next week or so, and I don't want the bulbs rotting.

To avoid this, we've lifted them, and put them on racks in the dining room to dry out. It'll mean the room smells rather onion-y for a while, but there you go. We normally eat in the kitchen, anyway...

Yield seems good: there were only about a dozen that were smaller than one-meal in size, and many that were two- or three-meal bulbs. We'll weigh and count them when they're ready. However, I'm leaning to the conclusion that the Hyred are smallest; the New Fen Globe were largest. They also bolted far less—I don't think any formed flower stems, but there were probably 4 Hyred, and a couple of Autumn Golds that did.

Sunday 14 August 2011

Raspberry Supports

Well, the wood's been sitting there for five months, and the raspberry beds have been nominally finished for longer (nearly a year), but the raspberry beds are now complete. Really.

Except for re-stitching the nets where the old stitching has split. One day, maybe, they'll be done.

However, I have now added the horizontal supports that allow us to stretch wires along the beds, onto which we have tied the raspberry stems. They're about 70 and 130cm above ground level, which is about right for the current height of the canes, but can be moved later if needed. I'm glad to have this done: some of the canes were getting a bit battered by wind, especially the tallest (about six foot now).

Liz collected some new flowers for the house.


Mixed vase. © Ian (2011).

We managed to squeeze some other odds and ends into the dry bit of the weekend (which began at 1500 on Sunday): repotting the Christmas tree (not looking happy—again). The last one didn't look well last summer, and eventually died. The replacement is now looking a bit bare at the bottom, which is unsettling, so we've replanted into a deeper pot, in hope.

The second-early potatoes (lifted a week ago) are now washed and ready to store. The space they liberated is partly re-sown: a patch of salad leaves, two rows of spring cabbages ('Frostie' F1; 3" by 6"), a couple of rows of Zlata radishes, and about 40 turnips ('Golden Ball'; 6" by 12" spacing). The cabbages are just there to germinate; we'll move them to their final spot once the potatoes currently occupying it are out. Everything else is a quick crop, and will be replaced in autumn/early winter by overwintering alliums. There's still about a square metre unused, between the turnips and the maincrop Golden Wonder potatoes, but otherwise we're still fully occupied.

The onions, though, are on their way out. Almost all the foliage has fallen over, and is yellowing. A bit of dry weather would help!

Friday 12 August 2011

Gladioli

Many of the gladioli that we planted in April came up (I've not counted), and four have put up flower stems. Given that it's quite windy at the moment, we've cut two to bring inside. Hopefully they'll continue flowering for a couple of months, so we should have a good supply of flowers to brighten the house.

Gladiolus (© Ian 2011)


Tuesday 9 August 2011

Conflicting Advice

We're thinking of ordering some bulbs and plants in the next month or so, and one that's caught our eye is Oxalis versicolour, or candy cane oxalis.

Candy canes

'Candy canes' by Tanakawho

Based on the catalogue entry, they're hardy, and flower over the winter, so we thought of them for hanging baskets in the front. However, my research suggests they may not be hardy, and opinion on when they flower differs (late summer to autumn; early summer; winter).

If anyone has definitive advice (preferably for northern England), it'd be gratefully received...

Sunday 7 August 2011

Cauliflowers

It's been a wet weekend, with rain most of Sunday, and a couple of showers on Saturday.

This did not deter. Yesterday, we started by pruning the flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum) which is next to the path down to the kitchen garden. It's been neglected for some time, so we took out a lot of old wood, and reshaped it; hopefully it will reward us next year.

We also lifted the second-early potatoes (Nicola and Juliette), yielding about 40kg of tubers (about 1kg/plant). I'm a bit disappointed by the yield, which isn't any better than the first-earlies. That said, we do appear to have lost a relatively high number to mice. I'll weigh them more precisely when they're cleaned and ready to store.

In more exciting news, we found that two cauliflowers were ready. There are a further three that are getting close. We ate half of one on Saturday, and blanched-and-froze the other half. The pictured cauli remains in the fridge, for dinner on Monday.

Cauliflower 'All Year Round' (© Ian (2011))

On Sunday, we spent some time planning for the next round of planting: the overwintering onions and garlic will be on their way before long, and we've added seeds for some turnips ('Golden Ball'), overwintering spring onions ('White Lisbon Winter Hardy'), and spring cabbages ('Frostie F1'). This lead to us making a planting plan for next spring, which I'll digitize in time, so now we have a good idea of what we'll sow next year (and where) and, accordingly, what the fertilization needs will be this autumn.

A big seed order in October/November will be the result, as we'll obviously need more onions sets, seed potatoes, and new seeds for a number of other things (parsnips, leeks, mangetout, and beetroot are definites).

For now, I shall just revel in the beauty of my first cauliflower. It's the first time we've had them work.

Wednesday 3 August 2011

Wish-List

A plant was shown on a Gardeners' World we were watching tonight (though it's actually from a couple of months ago), and it rather caught my eye. One for the wish-list, I think. It's the South African night-scented phlox (though not a phlox), Zaluzianskya ovata or capensis.

They both have red-backed, white-faced flowers that open slightly in the morning, close in the full sun of day, and re-open in the evening when they're heavily fragrant. I think a drift in a rock garden would be very pretty.


Zaluzianskya capensis by Sericea.

Today is also the second anniversary of us moving into the cottage; I had hoped, whimsically, to time the 200th post with today, which would have worked if I'd got out into the garden last night, and had something to report. Never mind.

Sunday 31 July 2011

Strawberry Bed

At the end of last month, we started clearing a space for an extra strawberry bed (where I also hope to put a few rhubarb plants).

The 'Before' photo:

It appears we only work on this bed when it's very hot. It's been a very warm few days, and we've finished constructing the bed: I turned to soil on Friday, before building the bed on Saturday, when we also started to fill it (a couple of turf stacks that needed a home, and a few barrows of topsoil: more to follow).

The turves cut, and turned.


The posts in.


The boards attached, and soil levelled, ready for topping up.

I've also mown the lawn, and Liz has done a huge amount of weeding: the kitchen garden is really clear, and the front garden's been tidied, too. We've also lifted the first couple of onions (both Autumn Gold), which have weighed in at about 100–200 g. Very tasty, too. The crop should be ready in the next few weeks, and the foliage has started to yellow.

All photos and content © Ian (2011).

Sunday 24 July 2011

First Earlies

We've been lifting first early potatoes for a while, and replanting second-cropping potatoes. This weekend, with some help from Hazel and Alex (who were visiting), we've lifted the remaining Rocket and Lady Christl, along with the potatoes that had come up in the fruit beds.

This came to about 45kg/100lb of potatoes, which has meant a lot of cleaning! We've now got about 90 days of potatoes lifted and ready to eat, and have planted out all of the second cropping seed potatoes (twenty of each of Vivaldi and Orla).

Potato Harvest - Lady Christl (© Ian (2011))

We had a good time with our guests, as well as making them lift potatoes, and the rest of the garlic (now drying, ready to plait later in the week), and it was good to see them. We were very lucky with the weather, and spent a fair time outside.

Tuesday 19 July 2011

More Carrots Sown

After taking out a few rows of carrots at the weekend, we had space to re-sow three rows of Early Nantes this evening. I also popped some cardboard collars on half the leeks, to see if it has any effect lengthening/blanching the stems. Yes, this is an experiment.

There were also another handful of peas to collect, and I took up another row (three plants) of Rocket potatoes. They seem to be keeping really well underground; minimal slug damage so far.

We also had to find somewhere for half a dozen spinach seedlings; lacking a good spot, we weeded around the smallest blueberries (still very little!), and put them in there. This necessitated digging up three of the potato plants that had been left unintentionally (no bad thing).

In weeding, I discovered that the end blueberry (Fruiting Dixi) had a small bunch of berries, which we hadn't spotted before. Very pleasing; it means four of the seven will have fruited this year (the two oldest, and two of the two-year-old plants we put in in 2009).

The seven are:
  • Something unknown!
  • Grover (the biggest)
  • Top Hat
  • Spartan
  • Patriot
  • Gold Traube
  • Fruiting Dixi

The first two came with us from our old garden, and are cropping well again this year. I need to decide how to make ericaceous compost or mulch, which these and the raspberries will benefit from.

Oh: there's updated data on the Weather page.

Sunday 17 July 2011

Wet

A unrelentingly wet weekend, with it forecast to continue. However, we dashed out in the lighter bits, to get a few urgent things done. Another row of Rocket potatoes came up, making space for six more Vivaldi to go in. We brought in a big tub of peas, a couple of dozen carrots, and about six broad beans (not really ready, it transpires). We've picked the last of the red- and white-currants, and almost all of the raspberries. We'll need to prune the raspberries back, soon. When it's dry, I think.

We also managed to plant up the last two hanging baskets, with some petunias, cineraria, and lobelia. All seed-grown, I shall point out.

A rainy patch will probably be good, as everything will benefit from a good soak!