Went back to Shotley at the end of September this year with my Daughter and her husband to reminisce about my time at the Boys Training back in 1950. Quite a shock seeing the place so derelict but it brought back loads of memories of a tough time there preparing life for and in the Royal Navy. It was a super basis for setting me up for the rest of my life.
Had a good look round the Museum they have there and saw photos of people that I had known whilst I was there and who I came across again in later postings.
Back home in the garden and wondering what to do with all my Du Comice pears, as I found this year they upset my stomach eating them raw, so had to try something else, as they are my favourite fruit. Found a recipe for Pear and Giner jam, from a young lady in Canada and gave it a try yesterday. Spent an awful long time standing as I had to keep stirring and boiling trying to reduce the mix so that it would set. Obviously put too much water in!
Got there in the end and popped it all into jars. Come this morning and it was all still runnyt but tasted superb just like she said.
I also bottled loads as I eventually found the right Kilner jars with the clips on but notice they still discolour quite a lot and don`t keep their white appearance, not like you see them in the shops, where they`re done professionally. So obviously don`t have the knack of that system.
Also been loaded with loads and loads of tomatoes, as I grew so many this year consisting of about 8 or 9 varieties, just to see how each compared to each other. Well impressed with the Italian one`s I grew called Pomodoro San Marzano which were very prolific and tasted superb, all meaty inside and not so many seeds as the ordinary tomatoes. So will obviously be growing them again.
Also managed to grow a type from the Canary Islands called Semilla Canaria which were quite large and also tasted very nice.
The other types tried this year were: Tigerella, Moneymaker, Bib Boy, Alicante, Marmande, Garden Pearl, Sweet Million and finally Gardeners Delight. Could`nt bear to throw the excess seedlings away so potted everything up and everything grew, even in pots where I had to use my front garden to keep them round the borders. Have managed to freeze loads and also made different types of tomato soup from recipes gleaned from the internet, and also given loads away to those who want them.
Potato crop was also very good. For the first time I grew Pink Fir Apple which resemble something like Ginger root, but taste very nice and nutty, although they are very fiddly to peel, so best left in the skins and taken off after boiling.
Lady Christl was my other choice this year and they are also nice tasting but not so prolofic as the PFA type.
Have been trying to grow three miniature fruit trees in containers, ie. Pear, Cherry and Greengage Plum. The cherry was quite good but not excessive and the other two a bit of a washout as there was only one plum which perished and the pears did`nt amount to much either. As this is their fourth or fifth year, decided to try changing the compost and adding some fertilizer. A bit difficult as the roots are in a ball and not easy to disturb and replace, but managed it alright and back in their pots to see what transpires next year.
Always managing to find stuff to do in the garden and decided to widen part of the back garden path taking a bit more off the pocket handkerchief lawn, but should be worth the effort. Whether I use paveurs or slabs is still undecided, so again time will tell. A future blog will tell all!
Well that`s all folks, so leaving it there for now.
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