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!
Visit to Cruden Farm…
The Theatre of Ideas afternoon was followed by a very special visit to the much loved garden of the late Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, at Cruden Farm. What great joy to see a garden that has evolved over a lifetime.....gradually....of planting, learning, nurturing and...
Of flying potatoes and other matters….
So....to the reason for my lack of posts last week: a sneaky quick trip to Melbourne to listen to 3 inspiring speakers at the Theatre of Ideas, during Melbourne's Food & Wine Festival.Hosted by the dynamic Jill Dupleix; I was...
Albertine: a fleeting beauty….
I so enjoy the fragile shell-pink petals against the sturdy iron-bark slabs of the potting shed. Any blooms produced by this rose in the autumn are truly a bonus and greatly cherished. Unlike spring when there are dozens, a single out-of-season bloom is utterly...
Autumn tomatoes….
Hanging like Christmas baubles....I wonder how long I can keep them going this year - June is my record!. The wet weather has been a challenge, with irregular watering causing fruit to split, leaves to yellow & attract fungal disease. But time spent removing...
Zucchinis on the rampage….
I tend not to grow veg for their novelty value....but Linda gave me a seedling of this mad zucchini Trombonchino last spring, so I popped it in to see what it would do: well, now we know! It's not that you can't eat them, but I suspect small is best, so we'll let...
Onion tears….
Oh dear....the cellar flooded at the weekend and my onion harvest got soaked through. After rescuing my beauties from their sturdy crate on the floor, their first stop was the garden bench while I scratched my head & wondered what to do next...they're back on...
Simple pleasures….
The list of ingredients calls for a large bunch of parsley.....simple pleasures...
Fruits of the Jelly Wine Palm (butia capitata)…
When we elected some years ago, to place a palm tree on the northern side of the house, I took to doing a great deal of research into which variety we should choose. Proportion, colour & form of fronds & trunk were all important and I finally settled...
Wig-wam heaven…
When wig-wams or tee-pees (whichever you prefer) are made at the beginning of each season, one can only hope that the seed planted at their feet will 'take' and grow.....and grow, and grow....entwining itself in a manner that is just 'so'. It doesn't always work,...
Summer lunch….
Anastasia's recipe, my garden veg. What more could you ask for? Stacey made this at one of our very first Seasonal Cooking Days, which are all about fresh, simple food, straight from the garden. Several years on and I find myself referring back to this collection...
Magnolia valentine…
What delight to find this bloom on my morning's brief garden ramble...(post watering the veg!). The season is truly on the turn; the earth grateful for the recent rain and the morning grass heavy with dew. Now the beans need harvesting twice a day, the kitchen...
Zucchini glut….
And to think I was wondering why we didn't have many! We were simply so incredibly hot in January, the poor things didn't stand a chance. The immature fruit would wilt and fall off before reaching a centimetre or two. But now - I need to check morning, noon and...
Last of the peaches….
A quick update on last week's peachy story: the jam is pure heaven! Sunday morning's croissant was divine. Next on the agenda is ice cream....hmmmm. And here we have the last of the peaches.....they had such a dense, velvety texture....absolutely scrumptious....
Flowers by the barrow-load….
How typical it is that great loads of flowers should be ready to collect when I have no need for a massive arrangement? But I HAD to cut them before they spilled their seed everywhere, which would only cause complete and utter havoc next season! I should never...
Surprise peach jam….
If anyone had suggested to me this time last week that I would be making peach jam this week....they'd have been on the receiving end of some kind of sarcastic comment. While we always get a few good peaches, I sometimes think its madness to continue here with any...
Oh happy day…!
Another summer morning harvest..... You might have noticed that almost all the tomatoes in recent images are far from ripe. If you're wondering....I collect them at first blush (which is a fine thing to do with tomatoes as they continue to ripen on the...
Comfrey weekend….
Now this may be a rather uninspiring image for a Monday morning, but it serves to remind us that it's an ideal time of year to make the most of our comfrey leaves, which are in an abundant phase of growth. I took the opportunity the weekend before last, to strip...
It’s an…..AUBERGINE….!!
To successfully grow a LARGE specimen of any kind always seems a miracle to me. Growing to a decent size requires time, and therefore more lengthy exposure to the elements.....including wildlife. So I'm just thrilled that this is the third aubergine of spectacular...