Afternoon tea in January

Afternoon tea can be fun when new Magi-mix is on hand to make chorizo and olive bread, topped with fennel, goats cheese and hazelnut spread. Sweet extras included giant Ginger Cake with Sparkles and tiny Hearts, orange jelly segments in orange peel cups, Violet jellies with blueberries topped with real violets...yes I was able to pick twelve....with a drizzle of cream laced with violet liqueur.

Star of the show and taste buds though was Hannah's gluten free cake laden with plums and blueberries made specially because of our friend Paula to welcome her back from a long trip to New Zealand.Have a peek at Hannah's blog and all her wonderful books. www.hannahscountrykitchen.blogspot.com

Four of us tucked into a table of treats and thoroughly enjoyed our stolen moment of teatime madness.

Honey Marmalade

I was busy buying some sweet oranges in Sainsbury's, when I noticed that Seville oranges were available, so I bought a bag and thought I'd make a batch of marmalade and flavour it with our Stevington honey.

I read up my old Mrs Beeton cook book dated 1924, goodness knows how many printruns there had been since it was first published, and saw that she had four orange marmalade recipes. One of them was called Orange Marmalade made with Honey. Her recipe allowed 1lb of honey to every 1/2lb of prepared orange rinds. Then I looked up on the internet and noticed that making marmalade with all honey and no sugar made a soft finish which meant that it didnot set as well. Anyway,not having pounds of honey available, in fact just half a jar, I thought I'd compromise and make the usual mix but add the honey as an extra.

My mum used to make marmalade and I can just see us now, sitting round the large kitchen table, cutting up the rind by hand.

Well my new Magi-mix does it in seconds. It does the juicing well too. So all in all its an easy task. Result: the marmalade set well, the rind is thinly cut, the colour is glorious and the taste is fantastic. Can't wait for Saturday morning to come and try it out with warm toast and fresh brewed coffee for breakfast. Maybe I could make a marmalade honey cake for my February Open Days...Tuesday afternoons when the snowdrops and aconites are out in flower.

My favourite pots: Mirror pots

One of my favourite plants this summer was a wonderful bronze grass called Pennisetum Rubrum which I fell in love with and planted in a shiny mirror pot. It looked wonderful front lit, back lit, sideways lit...anywhere where sun could shine through its foxy flowers. It isnot hardy so I am trying to over winter it in a frost free greenhouse. I hope it survives. Otherwise I shall have to start again next year. I don't know which I like most, the plant or the pot!

Winter in Narnia

The hoar frost on Tuesday brought an eerie beauty to the garden. Just over the hedge by the road, the trees in the Great Ouse Valley had all been painted white. John Bunyan the preacher stood with arms outstretched beneath the icy tentacles of the beech tree, while in the Hepworth Garden all the grasses and birch trees were exquisite. It was like a magical brush had swept over the whole area.

Helping Hands at Harvest Time

Apples have been made into delicious lemony apple curd. It was made by Jonathan home from Sweden see his blog www.http://aroundbritainwithapaunch.blogspot.com.
He also transformed red peppers and chilies into pepper jam; addictively jummy!

Suzie came home from London and used apples to make our Christmas mincemeat which we are looking forward to trying it out soon.

I made crab apple jelly flavoured with rosemary sprigs, and another batch with ginger, mini beetroots and hot chillis. Both preserves taste good with all sorts of foods including soft cheese and cold meats. These medlars are our first crop, really fragrant and soft and delicate. The recipe books are out!

KITCHEN CONTAINERS

I have really enjoyed my kitchen containers this summer with mustard greens, watercress,corn on the cob, dwarf French beans, courgettes, herbs, tomatoes, chillies, beets, chard, spinach and last but hopefully not least several lots of celeriac.

All made possible by a lovely range of containers made by Harrod Horticultural. The Manger and the raised table bed were super to work with while the bookshelves and ladder systems offered lots of flexibilty.

Some of these veggies I grew from seed, others I purchsed as young growing plants. The watercress came from Sainsburys as growing punnets and happily moved outside for several weeks during late summer. The flowers were as tasty as the leaves!

Oh, forgot the carrots and chard. What a joy to wander outside the kitchen door and pick, and pluck and forage!

The Growing Tastes Demonstrations at RHS Hampton Court Flower Show

I have lots of groups visiting the garden at the moment both from the UK and abroad including Holland, Germany and Japan. They want to enjoy the garden, of course, the roses have been spectacular, but they also like my cakes.

The idea of sitting on a lovely green lawn, in the shade of a tall walnut tree laden with pretty Rosa 'Pauls Himalayan Musk', sipping tea and devouring moist sponge cakes is hard to beat on a glorious summer day. Rose petal cakes are a speciality of the house, but now the lavender is in flower I am busy making lavender and lemon drizzle cakes as well. The flavour of lavender is subtle but scrummy especially when I add an extra lemony lavender filling in the middle. If you want to try it for yourself visit the garden on any Tuesday afternoon in July and August, tour at 2pm, tea at 3.15-3.30pm.

I am demonstrating at The Growing Tastes Demonstrations at RHS Hampton Court Flower Show at 12.30 and 2.30pm next Thursday 8th July.

Our latest addition in the garden

We have great news...a new addition to the Manor House Garden with an adorable face and a very waggly tail. She loves to run around the garden, sniffing here and there, biting allium leaves that stray on to the lawn and has a fascintation for blue cornflowers which do the same.

Quite where it will all lead I have no idea but if I turf out a weed she pounces on it and gives it a good shaking. I think she will love the business of tending the garden and is deffinitely a fully appointed member of staff so when people ask how much help do we have the answer is now three. The Head gardener, ie Simon, then there's me and now there is Pandora or Panda for short!Here she is at 8 weeks old, lying in a special puppy nest which has been specially made for her by my friend Helen who has just started making them as a business. Panda certainly loves it...so cosy!

A bleeding heart

Dicentra spectabilis lives up to its name; pure white, stark, beautiful, a trail of perfection. Its delicate white blooms pair beautifully with the soft subtle pink Narcissus called 'Roseworthy'. An exquisite match for all spring gardens whether in pots or borders.

A swarm of bees in April

Apparently our bees are close to swarming; is that because we have had a garden full of nectar since our winter garden open day in mid February or because it has been unseasonally dry and warm, perfect I guess for gathering stores?

My brother in law near Plymouth tells the same tale about his bees.

Is it weather or availability of nectar or both? Can you to distinguish the two....except to say we do have a rich store of flowering plants from late winter through to mid autumn.

The Romance of Spring

I really cherish the bulbs of late April with tulips such as dusky Negrita, perfect with pale blue pansies or the emerging foliage of purple heuchera. Add double pink 'Angelique' to the mix and you have a marriage made in heaven. Another favourite is creamy green Tulip 'Spring Green' (seen here); not easy with white, its too subtle for that, but really beautiful set amidst the soft felty foliage of foxgloves.

Then there are still lots of daffodils such as 'Pipit', 'Bell Song', and soft salmon 'Roseworthy' (seen here) giving such a glorious show, added and abetted by the lime green foliage of golden feverfew, or Bowles Golden Grass.

We have an open day this Sunday; just hope the weather is kind between now and then so that our visitors can enjoy the show.

The Great Escape

I love growing bellis daisies (double) in baskets and pots at this time of year and enjoy planting the pinks, reds and whites but, most of all, the pinks. Well to my delight they have self seeded in the lawn nearby. Now my husband does not relish daisies in the lawn, single or double! So just before the lawns were cut last weekend, I picked these flowers and have been enjoying them on the kitchen table. Hope more flower before the next cut!

Spring's Sprung at Last

The week of warm sunny weather has brought great advances to the garden and to all my many pots with fritillarias and hyacinths now flowering wonderfully. Both are excellent longterm choices for containers, coming back year after year. Wild primroses and violets make an ideal combo with the snakeshead fritillarias; all native plants together making this a super idea.

We are spoilt for choice with hyacinth colours; but whether white, pink, blue or mulberry, variegated London Pride makes the perfect topping for a hyacinth hanging basket and will flower its heart out in May, and then retain a quiet dignity until its peak again the following spring.

Blooming Delicious

Edible flowers? Blooming delicious!From lemon-flavoured daisies to peppery pink dianthus, edible flowers are more than just decoration.

Emine Saner guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 31 March 2010 21.00 BST Article history
Kathy Brown's early spring salad with primroses and violets.

Quite an article.....my garden here at Stevington is bursting with white, pink and blue scented violets as well as beautiful wild primroses.....all so tasty and just right for easter salads, and cakes and roulades etc!
We next open on May 2nd.....see my website for details of all openings.
www.kathybrownsgarden.homestead.com