MICKEY’S BLOG
In the days before Instagram, Mickey kept a regular blog of snippets from Glenmore House.
You may enjoy looking back through them!
Seasonal change….
November....the month that marks the cusp of seasonal change. It's the time we farewell the 'prettiness' of early spring. The blossom is long gone, fallen to the ground, baked in the hot sun, then thankfully, washed away by a welcome downpour of rain. The vision...
Rainy weekend….
Although the rain arrived later than predicted with us, I still managed (with the help of some delightful young friends), to turn those baskets of Seville oranges into a vast quantity of delicious marmalade.....(another batch here, ready for skimming, bubbles away...
Garlic harvest….
On the spur of the moment....while cutting more elderflower....I realised the garlic at my feet was ready to harvest! It just looked right. Soon the fresh smell of newly pulled garlic and damp earth filled the air, and the black soil yielded 130 beautiful heads....
Late spring in the veg garden…
For those who thought I was telling little white lies at my talk on Kitchen Gardening at our Open Weekend, here is proof that there was indeed bean seed in the ground where I suggested it was! The seedlings are doing well now but I'll wait another couple of weeks...
Odds & sods….
Our own stall sold a collection of rosemary bunches tied up with string, purple podded peas, poppy seed for companion planting & rose-scented pelargoniums.... While visitors spilled out of the Hayshed & Dairy to eat lunch or tea & cake in the shade of...
The willow structure….
that Harriet & Mat built! If they can make something as mesmerising as this on a hot day in front of a crowd of garden visitors, just imagine what they can produce given thought, time, and the correct season to harvest material for a serious living willow...
Quirky performers….
Polita & Elan delighted children and adults alike with their antics throughout the garden... Poli assumes she's escaped from Professor Bumblebottom on the Persimmon...
Epiphyllum today…
The spectacular Epiphyllum has unfurled its petals for open garden today! What...
Setting up….
Hessian-covered tables of beautiful organic veg & herb seedlings on the croquet lawn.
Perfect pink….
Is she not the most perfect pink? The English Rose, Constance Spry; one of the first bred by David Austin and one of the first roses I chose to plant in the garden. She has a strong myrrh fragrance and flowers only once a year, in the spring. This is the very...
Elderflower time….
Guess what I'm up to? Gathering armfuls of elderflower to brew into cordial for our open garden weekend! Of course, like everything here, we really do operate on a domestic scale. So while there is ample for us and our Kitchen Gardening Days, open garden may be a...
Froth & frou-frou…
As we rocket towards our open garden weekend on 19 & 20 October, the garden is exploding into a sea of froth & frou-frou! The weather is chaotic: searing heat & hostile winds, with the odd glorious day in between, but not a drop of rain. Although this...
Spring’s alive….
They may not make the prettiest picture in the garden, but once asparagus get a move on, they seem almost to grow before your very eyes. It isn't until you see them growing that you realise how all the ones in the shops must be graded for size, as garden ones grow...
Intriguing specimens….
I love this peculiar collection of ratty old pots I keep down at the potting shed....they get a bit of a tidy from time to time but mostly they contain odd cuttings that have yet to find a home. The succulent in the middle came from Camden Park, almost six years...
Caulie surprise….
I'm always surprised when I find a mature cauliflower! They seem to be so slow to get started, then I'm sure I checked only a week ago to find nothing hiding in the centre of the sturdy folds of grey/blue leaves. But yesterday - surprise! I didn't even get...
Kinfolk workshop…
A few weeks ago, I was asked to host a photo shoot, in preparation for a very exciting Kinfolk presentation..... In the event, I made bread... and candied Clementines. The lovely Alex Falkiner made ropes of fabric to fashion into interesting things, and Phil made...