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!
Gypsy jam experiment….
A collection of rhubarb and elderflowers from the garden.... Flowers all bundled up in a muslin bag.... Ready for 36 hour infusion process.... All ready for Sibella Court's Gypsy Caravan inspired Christmas Market at The Society Inc, Stewart Street, Paddington,...
Chook-run meadow….
I'm so very sorry to report that a few weeks ago, a bad Mr Foxy took our feathered girls. A thought too horrible to dwell on. It's the first time it's happened here and the result of a break in routine, about which I feel horribly guilty. The garden seems...
Rabbits, be banished….!
How I love a perfect lettuce! I hardly dare say it for fear of jinxing them, but right now, there are 4 perfect rows! And it won't last, even if something else doesn't get them - WE will, because they're there for the eating, and we're about to demolish them! It...
Raspberries away…..
Well......almost! Here we have the first raspberry of the season. How positively thrilling! I snapped this image on Friday, then discovered 3 more. The joy of growing your own is that you can pick them precisely at the moment they are ready to eat....just as...
Pretty as a picture….
How deceptive looks can be! After a very hot & sweaty weekend doing BIG jobs in the garden - barrow after barrow load of spent spring growth off to the compost (I thought I might explode!), I ended by gathering seed-heads in the Kitchen Garden. ...
Bundled up….
All bundled up & ready to hang - total 133 heads of garlic! I'll save the biggest & best for planting next autumn and use all the wee loose heads first...
Garlic harvest….
It's 3 weeks this weekend since I harvested the garlic and spread it out to dry under cover. A couple of days ago, I gathered it all up into a huge basket....and now it waits for a spare moment???!!!! to be bundled up & hung in a cool, dry spot. We've had a...
Intriguing blooms….
I am SO excited about this rather showy specimen - it's been a LONG time in the making...... It's four years since a near neighbour very kindly snapped two pieces for me from her Epiphyllum. It's a strange plant (part of the cactus family, native to Central...
Frangipanis on cue….
In tandem with the Burmese Honeysuckle, the frangipanis have opened their first flowers of the season..... Too high up to reach, I'll have to wait for them to fall so I can gather them up and enjoy their wonderful summer...
Summer is coming….
Last week I made mention of those few heat-filled days bringing on early summer blooms. Well now, that much-needed (though oh too brief) rainfall, has caused new and thrilling buds to appear. It's in one particular part of the garden that I have these precious...
Well….that was fun!
What a weekend! The stand at Saturday's Iris Country Fair was jam-packed with Essential Kit; the rain cleared up, people rolled in and a huge day was had by all. What fun to see so many familiar faces and to meet some new Kitchen Gardening friends.... A sucker...
Plants to the fair….
I always hope for a quirky find at a plant stall. So I've potted up a few specimens from the garden here, and (of course...) I'll be on the lookout for one or two to bring home as well! The Iris Country Fair, Frensham, Range Road, Mittagong, this Saturday 17...
Off to the fair….the Iris Country Fair!
Don't you love a fair? The Iris Country Fair in the Southern Highlands comes together just once every four years, and whilst in previous years I've helped man the plant stall, this year I have a small one of my own (though I've contributed cuttings & hope...
Summer Kitchen Gardening….
Building up the Kitchen Garden each new season is tremendously exciting. In case you haven't noticed, I have an obsession (a healthy one?!) with twig structures and enclosures, and I delight in experimenting with their use. The very nature of the 'traditional'...
Early summer lilies…
The heat (while knocking out some of the most fragile spring flowers) has brought on some glorious early summer blooms. I delight in this delicately scented Crinum pedunculatum which grows outside our bedroom windows and lends a tropical air of romance. Although...
Rosie posies….
They just keep on coming....! OK, so they're a bit 'pink' at the moment but they look so pretty and they smell divine. All lovely squishy, multiple petals. These are a combination of David Austin Abraham...
Festive air….
A bundle of elderflowers all tied up in muslin for an exciting experimental recipe! For me, anything to do with popping ingredients into a muslin bag invokes an air of festivity. I generally associate it with pips for marmalade, which in turn makes me think of...
Gather ye sweet peas…..
Or any other fragile beauties for that matter....'while ye may', because I reckon today's searing heat may well be the end of those sweetly scented & delicate early spring delights. Plunge in & breathe deeply -...
Lovely lilies….
A collection of hippies at the potting shed, ready to report in for house duty.... What a fabulous group of gals we had at yesterday's book launch with Holly Kerr Forsyth. Everyone was simply beaming, and it was lovely to see so many familiar, as well as new...
Beating the heat….
I've been up early watering in hope of beating today's predicted heat. I gathered an armload of elderflowers too, in preparation for tomorrow's flower arrangement, (in case they get scorched by the sun). I love loose flowers soaking in the sink, almost more than...