Wednesday 4 August 2010

Dinner.........!

My wonderful parents in law came up on Sunday, so for dinner we had: potatoes, runner beans and carrots, eaten with roast duck and bitter orange sauce .......

followed by Summer Pudding with home-made blackcurrant ice cream! Yes - I know these are raspberries, but they're a major ingredient in summer pudding .....and we'd just eaten all the blackcurrants!

Tea was home made scones with cream and jam - plum, damson or mixed fruit, take your pick! Just to prevent any confusion, in Yorkshire, we have dinner at dinner time (1.00ish) and tea at tea time (6.00ish). It's only posh southerners who have lunch at dinner time and dinner as their evening meal......unless we're going to a restaurant in the evening, in which case we're going out for dinner.... but if we're going round to friends for an evening meal, then it's still tea! I bet you're dead glad I clarified that for you?!

Anyway, moving swiftly on! A quick tour round the vegetable garden in all its prolific glory!

Sweetcorn, courgettes, squash, parsnips,radishes, chard, spinach, runner beans, with raspberries along the right hand edge.


Leeks, red and white onions, garlic.


Globe artichokes.


The new salad bed - onto its 4th rotation of salad leaves - not bad considering .......
it looked like this in May!

Purple sprouting broccoli, broccoli Romanesco and vertus cabbages.

Broad beans, peas, mange tout and runner beans ...... but all was not well in the broad beans.
They got SERIOUSLY black-flied again in spite of everything I put on them and everything that nature could chuck at them as well! It took me ages to identify these ladybird larvae - but they didn't mind me not knowing what they were as they muched away happily on the black fly :D

I also found a new variety of ladybird that I'd not seen before - anyone know what variety it is?

The bees were busy on the echinops


A little (camera shy) black and white bee on the heather


A moth I found on a woodpile I was clearing last weekend
All the early potatoes dug up and dried off ready for storing. The first cucumber and tomatoes from the greenhouse, radishes and rainbow chard.

It's not just the fruits (and veg!) of my labours - it's the flowers and plants too!

The top pond in the Japanese garden is maturing nicely.

And this stipa is quite superb this year!

I LOVE this time of year!

26 comments:

Liz said...

Hi Liz,

I have to admit, I do say lunch for dinner and dinner for tea. Mainly because Pete is ‘a posh southerner’ and gets confused if I say otherwise.

You really have gone mad with the veggies, very well done. I don’t have the patience or need to be honest but with a family I can well see why it would be far better. With only two of us, most of it is wasted.

Sorry to hear the blackfly got your crop, I haven’t had such a problem with them this year, the harsh winter killed most of them off I think –thankfully!!!
Your mystery Ladybird I think is a Kidney Ladybird.

So jealous of your Echinops, I sooooo want some!!!!

D said...

Hello dear lady. Wonderful bounty from the veggie garden... it all looks wonderful! Isn't it grand to say, "let's see what's for dinner tonight" and go shopping in your personal farmer's market. ;)

Have a splendid week Liz.

Pondside said...

Just beautiful! The water feature is really doing well - and your vegetable garden....whatever meal you eat at whatever time would be a treat if you can just go out to pull something from the garden.

F Cameron said...

I'm amazed at your fabulous bounty--both veggie and floral!

Monica the Garden Faerie said...

Wow, I didn't realize how large your veggie beds are. LOVE the rows of leeks and garlic. Also the explanation of lunch/dinner/tea. I know the evening meal is tea in Manchester, from watching Coronation Street (and you know how realistic that show is!). :) I'm definitely planting more potatoes next year, as well as garlic. And strawberries!

The Idiot said...

Ah, now, listen up. I am a posh Southerner, and I have dinner at 1pm, and tea at around 6pm. Lunch is something I go to.

If I'm eating at home during the day, I have dinner. If I'm going out to meet someone, I go to lunch, and when I'm there I have my dinner.

joey said...

Oh my, fresh veggies, roast duck in orange sauce, summer pudding (must taste yours before I die) ... all my favorites! I'm very impressed with your bountiful well tended garden ... no wonder you are often sore!

Nutty Gnome said...

Ah Liz - you're just confused about where your roots really lie! :)

I have to admit that this is the best year for veggies that I've had - I really seemed to have got the hang of ongoing planting and using the crops this year! Mind you, having a regular procession of assorted teenagers through the house does help with the demolition of vegetables!

You wre dead right about it being a kidney ladybird - thanks for that. It was dead easy once I knew what I was looking for! :) I've downloaded a ladybird ID sheet now.

As for the echinops - you're very welcome to have some of mine once they begin to die back. I'll let you know when they're ready to be dug up and you can pop over :)

Hi Di - Thanks. I'm really happy with the veg garden this year! Tonight we had a mixed salad then pie with potatoes and our first courgette. Lovely! :)
You have a great week too!

Hi Pondside - I'm glad you like it all. I've put a lot of work into the garden this year, but I've loved every minute of it!

I also love having so many vegetables to choose from! Last-Born was panicing about having no onions to cook with yesterday - 'till I announced I'd go and pick her one! Great :D

Nutty Gnome said...

Hi Cameron - it's been a good year all round so far ....although a bit less rain and a bit more sun now would be good!

Hey Monica - apparently I don't do things by halves! I planted 200 leeks and about the same in onions. It was a big job this year getting it all going, but we're really reaping the rewards now!
I've got a summer pudding (or several!)in the freezer for you ....when are you coming? :D

Aaah IG - stop trying to pass yourself off as a posh Southerner....you're obviously a Northern lad at heart. Stop denying your true roots!!! :D

Joey - get over here...now!!! You might have to fight Monica for the summer puddings, but hey! ;)

You're so right about why I'm often sore on a Monday morning - but it's SO worth it!

Sue Garrett said...

I was just going to suggest what your lady bird was but am too late in the day and agree with everyone else anyway. It's amazing how unrecognisable the ladybird larvae are.

I'm afraid I have dinner on a night too - and have never left Yorkshire (to live anywhere else that is). If we have a cooked meal at lunch time though that becomes dinner. It stems from when I was working and we cooked after work on a night! Also when I was delivering courses we had lunch on the course programme so that sort of confirmed it!

Gordon Mason said...

Oh Nutty, you've started something now! We have lunch at lunchtime but then have "our dinner" at tea time, and always call it tea, even though it's dinner. If I call home from work to say I'm going to be late I always say "What's for tea?".

Confused yet?

Nutty Gnome said...

Hi GLA - thanks anyway! I think I've found one of the dreaded Harlequin Ladybirds on my runner beans - I've taken photos and sent them to the 'harlequin ladybirds sightings' site - and the black and orange larvae on my broad beans in the post also looks alarmingly like HLB larvae ...so I sent them that too :(

Don't you just love the idiosyncracies of the Yorkshire dialect eh? We can make and break rules to suit ourselves!

Ey up Woody - confused, me?!! Not likely - it's just Yorkshire and all as clear as mud!!

Zhang Hong-Shuiyu said ...
Does not represent a good start would be successful is a bad start does not mean failure.
Thank you Hong-Shuiyu. I understand this to mean that the garden is becoming successful?! :)

Sue Garrett said...

Urk - not a harlequin - let us know what they say - did you take a photo?

Sue Garrett said...

Sorry only half read the comment as I was so shocked by the ref to the harlequin - you already said you took a photo! Smack on hand for not reading carefully

Nutty Gnome said...

Hi GLA - am now waiting for confirmation about the dreaded HLB, but my neighbour has found a suspect as well :( bugger!

Britta said...

Dear Nutty Gnome,
in Edinburgh I was a bit surprised by the use and times of dinner. lunch etc - but when the meals are wonderful - and what you served your in-laws sounds absolutely delicious! - then everything is o.k. with me. Your vegs and fruits look so lovely - I have almost only flowers in my garden (some plums, currants, quinces and apples too) - that they are almost tempting me to try it too..

Tatyana@MySecretGarden said...

OMG, Liz, you are a REAL gardener! Your vegetable garden is WOW! Potatoes! We ate ours only once so far. I usually take bigger ones and leave small ones to grow. Reading about the dinner made me drool! Sounds delicious, but how can I sleep now? I would gladly trade one of our Alaskan salmon on your roast duck!

Nutty Gnome said...

Hi GLA - confirmation recieved ...it IS a Harlequin Ladybird! :(

Hi Britta, thank you!Go for it on a few vegetables - you can interplant in amongst flowers anyway - it doesn't have to be in my OCD-type straight rows!!!

Hi Tatyana. Wow - thank you!!This is the 8th year I've done vegetables and it's the best I've ever achieved :D
I'll happily trade you Alaskan salmon for roast duck ...best get on that plane now! :D

Wen WANG Ting said ...
It is too perfect! Thanks! To the Heart! (Ω 〃 〃 ).................

Thank you Wen Wang Tin. I'm glad you like it :D

Sue Garrett said...

That's bad news!

Shady Gardener said...

I love that you have such a high opinion of your in-laws! Too many bad jokes... and I AM an in-law, twice!!

Hopefully they look forward to my arrival (and I hope my own offspring do as well!) ha.

(I'd visit your home for this meal ANY time!) Have a great week!

Nutty Gnome said...

Hi GLA - yes, I'm not happy, especially as there seems to be nothing we can do to stop the Harlequins....except squash the larvae!

Hi Shady - how could your family NOT look forward to your arrival?!
Feel free to drop in here any time you want to - the door is always open :D

Xiu Xiu Li Li Di Li Di Li said ...
. Valuable things, all pay the price.
Thank you, you're right - my price appears to be the invasion of the Harlequin Ladybirds!

Nutty Gnome said...

Guan Chen has said:

Death is sad, but even more sad to live unhappy.

Thank you for that thought provoking comment Guan Chen.

Thomas said...

Ms. Nutty Gnome, I love getting a look at your veggie garden! What a great harvest of potatoes. I have yet to dig up mine. Maybe now is the time.

Beautiful raspberries. Are you letting that artichoke mature into a flower?!

建枫 said...

來逛逛blog~~跟您打聲招呼............................................................

Nutty Gnome said...

Zhong Jiang Jiang Jiang Lin said ...
To give you cheer!!! Take care !!!.
Thank you for that :)

Hi Thomas - I've spent the weekend pulling the onions and garlic and digging up the middle early potatoes - the lates can wait a bit longer!
I'm still picking the autumn raspberries, which are going at full pelt this year - not bad as they were only planted last spring!
We were going to eat the artichokes, but they were ready whilst we were on holiday so our friends who were 'garden sitting' for us got to eat them!

fdsaf said:
Have you eaten? ~ ~ ~ Still at work, hungry oh!
fdsaf - I'm eating all the time I'm in the garden...peas, tomatoes, salad leaves, raspberries....:)

Nutty Gnome said...

Jian Feng said: To stroll blog ~ ~ with you and say hello ......

Thank you Jian Feng and please feel free to wander in my garden any time :)