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!
Heart forming….
The red cabbages are becoming more sturdy as they begin to form their hearts. Still covered by cage and net, we need a cold snap to rid us of the white cabbage moth. But the brassicas are all coming along well now and I so enjoy their dull, muted colours -...
Scarlet runner…
Exploring more curiosities to take to Sibella's market on Saturday morning, I decided it was time to split a scarlet runner bean pod to see what was happening inside. Wonderful things as you can see! It's such a thrill, when the pods have completely dried out -...
First shoots…
It's been panic stations here on the pea front! All the sugar snaps, snow peas, Dutch purples and Greenfeasts came up after the first sowing. But where I'd sown my absolute favourite shelling pea, the Telephone, (however did it get such a peculiar name?) there...
Ode to Elvie….
The lazy thud of a hoof on the ground, the swish of a chestnut tail in the afternoon sun, the chatty reminder that food would be nice....these are just a few of the familiar constants, that will sadly no longer accompany my days in the garden. We've seen it coming...
Weaving day….
There was a lot of chat, a roaring fire, lovely laughter, intense concentration and a dozen busy pairs of hands at today's Weaving Workshop with Harriet Goodall. Such activity requires sustenance, and our group enjoyed the best I could muster from the autumn...
The day before….
Deciding what to eat at any of our Workshops here can be quite a challenge! Workshop weeks have my ears pricked for every weather report, while watching the Kitchen Garden always has me on the edge of my seat! With a cold & wet day predicted for today's...
Oh my darlings….
The very first Clementines of the season - just in time to boost our vitamin C levels for the coming winter months....and maybe this year, I'll find the opportunity to experiment with a couple of recipes I have squirrelled...
Sweet potatoes of mine…
I must admit, I can't exactly call this a glut! But as you can see, I've produced TWO sweet potatoes (and that's two more than I've ever produced before!). I'm not sure why I've never thought to grow them, though on reflection, I think it's because I hadn't seem...
Late figs….
It's hard to believe there are still figs on the tree here.....about half a dozen beauties still filling out to their optimum size. They are heavy, sweet and delicious. A really scrumptious late season treat. My eldest daughter and I are sharing them out evenly -...
Stefano Manfredi at Glenmore…
Saturday's Cooking Day with Stefano Manfredi was simply delightful, for everyone involved. From the peaceful start - me with armfuls of flowers from the garden to arrange; Stefano loading up the Dairy benches with tantalising ingredients, getting things underway...
More autumn berries….
This season, the great raspberry haul has simply gone on...and on....and on....not a glut as such (I'm certainly not making jam), but they are simply the best we've ever had! For a couple of weeks I was filling a small ramekin dish each day, then one of those...
Fleeting companion….
This unexpected friend sprouted just outside the kitchen a couple of months ago and I took to weeding around him, on the off-chance that he might become handsome! I didn't plant him and wonder if he arrived in the loads of horse poo I shovelled into the bed in...
An amaranth story…
Sometimes ideas creep up on you: very, very slowly. I can't recall just what exactly posessed me, years ago, to order seed of 'leaf amaranth'. I must have read about it somewhere, thought its spectacular feathery plumes worth a trial and the rest, as they say,...
Blissful Sunday….
The sound of pipes carrying across the paddocks in the late afternoon light was a fitting end to a glorious Sunday. I was concerned by 2'ish, that I hadn't heard the man who plays at his mother's grave each Mother's Day and was relieved to hear the Scottish...
Garlic ahoy….
FINALLY....I think I might be back on deck. Technology and I certainly don't go together, but maybe, just maybe, the gremlins have been fixed, and hopefully I can get back to my almost daily posts next week... In the meantime, I've been quite amazed by the...
Seed Circus
Goodness gracious!! What a week! I'm sorry I've been out of action (to those who may have noticed!), but last Monday morning, when I turned on the computer, nothing happened. NOTHING! Well....you can imagine. We've all been there.... So last week was a...
Pumpkin perfect….
Part of this year's harvest, sitting on the wall....almost time for pumpkin soup!
Garlic away…
I've been saving up the most plump heads of last year's garlic harvest for this year's planting. Anzac Day saw me plunge 8 x rows of 16 big fat cloves into the earth.
Herb of remembrance…
A day for remembrance, thought and contemplation.....Anzac Day's pruning of the rosemary has become my own little tradition. It just so happens that the day coincides with appropriate timing for this necessary task, and the happy result of a few hours hard toil...
Nursery Glenmore….
So......what to do on a very cold, verywet Saturday? Get propagating!!! I've been trying to get around to it for weeks, so it seemed the perfect opportunity to rug up & get on with the job. As the climate has ricocheted between hot & dry to very wet...