Five Minute Butter Bean Salad Recipe

Gentle Reader ~~~ I was stuck with a Fridge Raid supper tonight, and came up with this little gem of a recipe using a can of butter beans from my store cupboard, a few bits and bobs from the salad bin, and seasonings that I always have on hand, so here it is, Five Minute Butter Bean Salad with a Hemp Oil and Minted Lemon dressing ~~~

Ingredients {approx two servings}
1 can Butter Beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 large red pepper {diced small}
4 spring onions {scallions, salad onions} cleaned and snipped into small pieces
1/2 a ripe avocado {diced small}
2 teaspoons Hemp oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
Chiffonade of 4 or 5 mint leaves
salt and pepper to taste

Prepare the vegetables; rinse and drain the beans. Put everything in a mixing bowl and drizzle with Hemp oil and lemon juice. Toss gently to coat and dress the ingredients. Sprinkle with the mint. Check seasoning and adjust to taste. Chill for half an hour before serving.

This was so simple, nutritious, and very tasty. Of course, you can switch things around ~ chives or red onion instead of the spring onions, olive oil instead of Hemp, basil instead of mint.  I think I will add some tomatoes to the leftovers for tomorrow's lunch!

Buon Appetit!

Fall in to Autumn~the Last of the Harvest ~~~

Gentle Reader ~~~ the days of Autumn are now well and truly upon us and we are preparing for the first storm in just a few short hours.  The forecast is for severe gale force winds, torrential rain, and later in the week thunderstorms may add their presence to the mix.  I have scurried around the garden as best as I can to quickly bring under cover all those things that will not stand up to wildly windy weather; bins and things that could blow over and away are now safely stowed in the garage.  The hatches are as battened as I can make them, but I am never fully ready for the bad weather.  

I know you know that Autumn is my favourite season of all, and I love it best for the cosy warm feeling I get decorating, sipping mugs of hot cocoa, the lengthening shadows, bonfires, bringing in the harvest, walks in the countryside, stomping through crisply crunchy leaves, and so much more ~ I don't mind the gales and rain either, although they do curtail our outdoor activities ~ what you do not know is that I do miss, deeply, in my little corner of the world, the rich colours of trees turning to gold before shedding their summer coats ~ for the winds rolling in across the Atlantic wreck their havoc before the trees have turned, and leaves, dry and burned from weeks of drought and salt laden breezes, tumble from the trees, dried brown long before the yellows, oranges, and reds take their turn ~~~ so I live this vicariously through the images of others on places such as my Pinterest boards of Autumn landscapes, pumpkins, and other Blissful Autumn themed images ~~~

Here is a lonely leaf, falling free from the tree ~~~

As each day passes into the next, I check the vegetable garden thinking each day will be the last before Spring when there will be a gift to bring inside ~~~ well, those days go on and on ~~~ each day I found something more to harvest ~ for everything is a bonus at this time of year ~~~

I was delighted to find a small pick of tomatoes, a small treat of raspberries, a fair few courgettes and a plentyful bowlful of cooking apples ~~~

The courgettes are bigger than I like, why, one is a 'dreaded marrow courgette' that escapes detection until the very last, and although not as delicious as the tender, younger, smaller fruits it will not waste for it can be stuffed with lentils and a served in a home made tomato sauce ~~~

Then again, a few days later ~ there were more ~~~

Courgettes, the very last of the carrots, and some delightfully red eating apples ~~~

The courgettes gave so generously ~ right up until yesterday! So, I have been busy putting up yet more stores for the winter ~~~ isn't it wonderful?

Then, just yesterday, when I thought all was safely gathered in, and with the warnings of imminent severe gales {why, I can hear the winds beginning to gather momentum outside my cottage as I type ~ believe me, they have not been missed} I picked the last few very small courgettes that will not ripen now, and cleared the stems and leaves of the plants to put in the compost bin, I found these ~ a big fistful of tiny baby beets that had escaped earlier detection as they hid and sheltered underneath the big leaves of the courgettes ~ so there was a delightful bonus on the last day of the Autumn harvest! ~~~

While out and about on the byways and back roads of the Shire there are blackberries on brambles, berrilicious goodness ~~~

Pies, cordials, jams and jellies, blackberry wine ~~~
Just look at all those colours ~~~

Hawthorn berries, fiddly to eat and with a big stone and little flesh, although delicious, I leave for the birds and mice ~~~

Aren't they beautiful, how they just hang so invitingly ~~~

The stream is running dry, but after this weekend the water level will rise substantially and all the trout will be happy again ~~~

I think I found a Faerie House ~~~ 

I waited, but no one was home ~ or came to call ~~~

As ever, sunsets are a special and spectacular gift and this one was no different except that I put a filter on {and now forget which one, so cannot tell you}

Here is a link to the church yard that my Great Grandfather used to have to cut by hand ~ this is only a small part, and my mother tells me he did it all with a scythe ~~~ can you imagine that?

It was a gently grey and dampening day, you can hear the rainfall pitter pattering on the leaves and the birdsong that is omni~present in The Shire ~~~ so calming and restorative ~~~ before the walk back up that hill!

A little advance news to end on ~ I am thinking to plant onion sets this month and see if I can crop an early harvest next Spring ~ something I have never done before ~ but more on this later ~~~ in the meantime, Gentle Reader, remember that ~~~

~~~A Gardener's Work Is Never Done ~~~

***DO NOT EAT ANYTHING YOU FIND IN THE COUNTRYSIDE UNLESS YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN WHAT YOU ARE PICKING!!!***

I know I said ~~~

Gentle Reader~~~I know I promised not to deliver more than two blog entries a week, but the photographs are starting to pile up, and being a person of minimal organisation skills they get lost in the ether of cyberspace {did I actually use that word here?} or the darkest recesses of my hard drive, along with the other few thousand pictures {yes, you read that correctly} that infest my computer where they remain unnamed and unsorted, catalogued only by the date they were taken.  I know this is very bad practice indeed and I really should sort myself, and the photographs, out.  Life was so much easier when all was on 35mm film and the temptation to shoot everything that poses or stands still long enough did not exist, or was simply too expensive.  Imagine taking over 200 images a day on 35mm film!  My bank manager would never understand or give me an overdraft facility for that!  I would have to lie and tell him the money was for new tyres for my car ~~~ which as I do not own a car would be a bit of a stretch! {giggles}

The weather is simply perfect and glorious now.  I could throw all manner of descriptions out, from simple adjectives to flourishing sentence fragments, but comfortably warm to sit out, too hot to dig and weed, big blue skies, bright sunshine, contra trails not clouds, deck chairs, and Pimms {or home made lemonade} on the lawn just about sums it up.  In other words, it just feels good.  After the Winter we had it feels like a miracle!

I did dig a bit this morning, because yesterday I removed the big weed smothering covers from the veggie patch {that took forever!} and this morning I started to turn the soil over, breaking it up, ready to receive several of the courgette plants that are coming on very well now.  I went into Spider Town {aka garden shed} and brought out several of the home made cloches which will give the plants extra protection from everything that threatens them once they are in the soil, so all is ready.  These home made cloches are 5 litre water bottles that I cut the bottoms off and they make great cloches, the tops come off and on to regulate the heat inside the little mini greenhouses and I am recycling instead of adding the bottles to landfill.

So, I did say that I'm bursting at the seams with photographs to share with you ~~~ would you mind waiting just a moment, it is getting very hot here in the living room, the sun is streaming in through the French doors and I must draw the curtains ~~~ ah! that is better ~~~ ironic too!  We spend all Winter trying to keep warm, if only we could harness some of today's starting~to~be~searing heat to use in January and February!

Gentle Reader ~~~ are you still with me? ~~~ here is the reason for my digging and preparing ~~~ do you recall, a few short weeks ago when I planted my courgette seeds here and then this happened ~~~

Then this ~~~ 

and a few days ago this ~~~

 

Well, today they are even bigger and are rocketing ever up in size with the increasing Summer warm days and lots of watering on my part, so I think they are now ready to plant up.   It really is one of the best feelings in the world, to see the tiny seeds you sow germinate and grow into healthy little plants ~~~hence the digging and clearing, but only in little bits and often as it is very hot and uncomfortable working out there today, with the sun beating down on my back and almost no breeze {well, there's a change, isn't it, no breeze?}

There are runner beans too, but they are quite behind, in total I have six plants, three in the big bin and three in the tray that I planted as my 'insurance'.  However, I am confident that they will come on and give some cropping, even if it isn't huge.  Anything fresh from the garden is a treat, even if it is small ~~~

  

Across The Shire drifts a lonesome drone~~~the farmers are busy making hay while the sun shines! 

 

While back in the Garden busy bees drone as they go about harvesting the bounty of pollen from the poppies ~~~

  

Do you notice the wings are beating so fast they look as if the bee is wingless! Oh My! ~~~

 

  

 But here, you can see the blurry wings whizzing to keep the bumble bee in the air!  A miracle ~~~

  

I was thrilled yesterday to be watching, off and on, all day long two darling little wrens and here is one for you to see ~~~ 

 

Then, late last evening, one of them came flying straight at me, why! I thought he would fly straight in to me, but no, he sat on a nearby wall, close to where I fill my watering cans, and just looked at me, you know "that look" that says, well, look at me, here I am, aren't I just so cute? ~~~ Magic, and made me so happy too ~~~ that momentary connection with nature at it's best ~~~

The light was amazing too ~~~ every corner of the Garden bathed in a glorious golden rose glow as I have seen often, of late, in the Shire evenings ~~~ here are some photographs, which by no means capture it, for it is so hard to do, so it is a poor imitation of what was really there ~~~

 

 

 

This morning, the native Mullein are opening too ~~~ one of my favourites which I will allow to freely self~seed across the garden, as I feel privileged it has chosen my garden in which to grow ~~~ but see how badly eaten are the leaves? ~~~ Do you recall the Mullein Moth I showed you here?  Well, this is what the do {sad face icon here} ~~~

One final image for today ~~~ this magnificent view {after all, I only capture what God gives me} across the Shire ~~~ where the sky is blue and big, the fields are green, and hay is being made ~~~ I just had to share with you today! ~~~

 ~~~A Gardener's Work Is Never Done~~~

Autumn Harvest and Braised Red Cabbage

Gentle Reader~I am at that dangerous stage now, where my back is almost healed, and my fingers are a itchin' and a twitchin' to get out there and dig that soil!  I must be strong!  I must not sally forth with undue care into the garden to do these jobs before my back is ready, for I do not wish to pay the price of rushing.  The work will still be there when I am fully able.

I managed a turn around the lawn pushing the mower, last week, and that was enough.  Pruning is happening where I am able to do so without reaching and bending, and I am gathering seeds from all the many flowers of Summer, so I will have free seeds to sow and share for next Spring.  There is much joy in the harvesting of seeds to set aside for future displays.

I'd like to welcome the new followers to my blog~~Croeso! Welcome! Thank you for following and I do hope you enjoy reading my ramblings and photographs.

First, I must share some sad news.  My neighbour has desecrated the ivy and honeysuckle along my Pembrokeshire stone hedge.  I think he thought he was doing me a favour, but he did not tell me his exact plans and I came home one day to find the entire section hacked into non~existence by a machete.  As one friend pointed out~at least he waited until after the birds had finished nesting and the young have fledged!  Even my two Elder trees are matchwood.  Here are some of the disturbing images~and I know you will share my distress~

Two splintered stumps are all that remain of my magical Elder trees~

I have been told the Elders may recover.  I can only hope they do, for I prize and value the berries and flowers.  I know nature has a way of healing and recovering, and this damage will soon be restored, it is was such a shock to come home from a day out to this sight.  I grieve and am concerned, not only for the damage, but the removal of shelter, for many small birds fed and sheltered in the tumbled growth of ivy and honeysuckle.

Gentle Reader~shall we move on? 

The weather is changing, Autumn chills the air, and there are now many small birds in the garden, foraging for seeds and insects, and one of my new friends is this adorable juvenile robin.  Do you see how his red feathers aren't quite full, there is still a vestige of the downy new fledgling about him, but he is more adult than baby now.  I call him my Teenage Robin!

This week, I have seen woodpeckers, blue tits, chaffinch, goldfinch, sparrows, and many more.  I must settle down to getting some photographs, mustn't I?

The raspberries are fruiting again!  They did the exact same thing last year.  They flowered and fruited (and were greedily devoured) in the expected time frame, and then, two months later cropped again!  The only difference is that in both years the second crop, although much smaller in quantity, is producing much bigger, firmer, and flavoursome fruits.  They are altogether a far superior berry to the earlier crop produced~~how strange is this?  Here is a photograph to show you the quality fruits~

Don't they look good?  Luciously red and deliciously juicy jewels of plumptiousness!

Here is my recipe for Braised Red Cabbage.  I devised this vinegar~free recipe because my mother is unable to eat anything containing vinegar.  I hope you like it~~

Ingredients~
1 head red cabbage
2 medium onions
750 ml good quality apple juice
Seasonings: salt, pepper, 1/4 teasp each cinnamon, clove, freshly ground nutmeg, juniper berries, 1 tablesp grainy mustard. {all seasonings can be adjusted to taste}

Method~
pre~heat oven to Gas Mark 3
Remove outer leaves of cabbage and slice as thinly as possible. I use the finest blade on my mandolin. Finely shred the peeled onions.
In a large, oven~proof lidded casserole layer the cabbage and onions, adding seasonings to each layer. Pour over the apple juice.
Slow cook in the oven for around 3 hours, until cabbage and onions are buttery soft.

This freezes very well and is great for people who cannot take vinegar. When reheating, I add a tablespoon of loganberry or redcurrant jelly {optional} which gives a lovely glaze if serving the dish to company. 

Three hours later, this is what you should be removing from the oven~a casserole dish full of ruby red delicious goodness~~

Of course, it would not be Autumn if the Dreaded Giant Marrow Courgette did not rear it's fearsome head, and here is the one for this year~

Not as big as some I know, but big enough!  Until next time~~~

~~~A Gardener's Work Is Never Done~~~

Autumn Pizza and Fruit Crumble

Gentle Reader~today, September 1st, marks the "official" start of Autumn, at least the Meteorological start of Autumn, according to The Met Office.  The other "official" start of Autumn is still a few weeks away, on the Autumnus Equinox, in the Northern Hemisphere, on September 21/22.  I am grabbing today as the Official Start, as I adore Autumn and plan to get the most out of it as I possibly can, for it is my most favourite time of the year. 

Hot chocolate supplies are now sitting happily at my Hot Drink Station in the kitchen {yes, I really do have this} and scarves, mittens, and woolly jumpers are getting an airing and freshening up after their long, Summer storage, for soon it will be cool enough to wear them.  Quilts and pillows will be washed, ready for use on those chilly evenings that are nigh, books and magazines are waiting to be read on the darker evenings ahead, and fragrant candles are scattered across the hearth~~

At the moment, daytime temperatures are sitting in the low 60's, but are slowly slipping into the high 50's already!  The winds are fresh, and leaves are preparing to turn colour.  Although my back is a good bit better, I am still unable to garden, so I am simply going to keep the blog going for the meantime with some images from my photographic library, some thoughts on Autumn, gardening and planning ahead, and I shall share a recipe or two. 

There will be many thoughts as I sound out my plans~which are certainly bound to change~on establishing the changes to the garden that make it easier to manage with arthritis in my spine.  This little episode has made me all too aware that changes must be made if I am to continue to garden without bringing in help~~not an option!

Here is a happy little banner I made to celebrate Autumn~~I now need to find somewhere to hang it!

Although the harvest from my garden has been small, I am regularly cropping courgettes {zucchini} now, and my favourite recipe for these is~

Fried Courgettes, Apples, Onions, and Sage

In a heavy pan {I use my cast iron skillet} heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil and saute, over a gentle heat, a peeled and roughly chopped onion {red, white, or yellow} with two medium courgettes, {washed} cut in 1/2" rounds.  When they start to colour a little {about 15 mins}, add two cored and chopped {skinned optional} tart eating apples and a chiffonade of fresh sage leaves {thyme is also good}.  Place a lid on the pan and continue to cook until the apples are soft and courgettes are browning.
Serve hot or cold, as a side dish or a salad with fresh, crusty bread

I am not good with quantities, but this recipe can be adjusted to personal preferences, and doubles up very well.

This plate shows the recipe, bottom right, with a garden salad of mixed leaves, parsley, fennel fronds, and nasturtium flowers~



Here are some variations and suggestions for this base:

Mix in a can of cooked chickpeas and some Zatar seasoning instead of the sage.  Serve with pitta bread and salad.
Use as a topping on a home made pizza base (see image below)
Serve with slabs of griddled Halloumi cheese (scrumptious) and crusty bread
Add a handful of sliced runner beans or broad beans at the same time as the apples.
Add some roast parsnips, stock or milk and seasonings and blitz into a soup.

Needless to say, this is one of my favourite things at this time of year as I grow almost everything in the garden, fresh food from Plot to Plate in minutes~~does food get any better than that?

There have been crumbles too~~blackberry, and blackberry and apple.  Such a simple thing, but few puddings bring more pleasure than a bowl of warm and juicy, fruity crumble with lashings of creamy custard~~

Fruit Crumble

Put 4 oz self raising flour  and 2 oz butter {or butter cooking spread} and 2 oz sugar in a mixing bowl.  Rub together until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. 
In an oven proof dish, put about 2 cups of your chosen fruit, or combination of fruits, sweeten to taste with sugar or stevia, and gently press the crumble topping over.
Bake in a moderate oven {Gas Mark 5 or 6} until the topping is browned and the fruit is bubbling, juicy, and cooked.  This can be anything from 25 ~ 40 minutes depending on the fruit, you may wish to partially cook it first.

Serve hot, warm, or cold.  I like it best warm with either custard sauce or vanilla ice cream.

Some good choices for fruit are: Blackberries, Blackcurrants, Apples, Gooseberries, Rhubarb, Peaches {if you are lucky enough to have them}, Plums, Apricots, and Pears.  A lot of these make good combinations too, like Blackberry and Apple, but it is entirely up to you!  Add things like cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, cardamon, or any spices of your choice too~~no rules in my kitchen {except when you need to be exact!}  As you can tell, I am a bit of a hit and miss cook, I don't really do set recipes. 

Gentle Reader~do let me know if you try any of these recipes I'm sharing.  Please, share some of your own in the comments.  I'd love to know how you get on, or what suggestions you have for alternative toppings, maybe, for the fruit in the crumble ~~ Buon Appetit!

Finally, here is how the sky looked a few evenings ago over my little corner of The Shire~~fierce and stormy, though it was calm as can be!

~~~A Gardener's Work Is Never Done~~~

Wimbledon, Recycling and Better Weather

Gentle Reader, I must confess that this past fortnight I have spent more time watching Wimbledon than I should, and so all other jobs, gardening, housework, even shopping for food have been on hold!  Still, Wimbledon reaches it's end for this year tomorrow afternoon and normal life will resume.

The weather has been improving slightly, but we are now on the verge of a minor heatwave!  Well, as I say, the word heatwave is by comparison.  Our recent average daytime temperatures have hovered around the mid 50's, but tomorrow they soar to a scorching mid 70's!  As I said, comparative heatwave, and I know I will feel like I am melting with the sudden spike of around 20 degrees.  Definitely not the off~the~scale heat that is across parts of America, and my thoughts and prayers are with those in areas affected by fires and heat so strong it kills.  There are also early and heavy monsoons in India that have caused devastation with flooding.  The weather patterns of the world are chaotic and worrying.

My strawberries did not ripen in time for Wimbledon!  There will not be many, but I am more concerned about keeping the young plants healthy and strong so they will be productive next year.

Still, here are some of the bits and pieces I have been up to since my last entry.

Finally, a week or so ago, some of the courgette seeds I planted germinated.  Today, I cleared a small corner and planted them out.  I know they should be bigger before I transplanted, but I am eager to get them in the ground in the hopes that they will settle in with the warm weather and establish quickly, and that there will be something to harvest by the end of August, if not sooner.

I like to recycle and re~use or re~purpose things if I can.  These two images (above and below) are two ways in which I recycle plastic water bottles.  The bottle on the left is a 5 litre one and is used with the base cut off as a cloche to protect delicate and young plants while they establish.  I can remove the cap in the day to regulate humidity and temperature, and replace it at night to protect from slugs and snails.  The cloche also protects from birds and cats too.

The smaller, 2 litre bottle to the right has the base removed, the cap is also removed and the bottle is buried in the ground to the level of the roots of the courgette.  I can fill it with water which will then slowly filter through directly to the roots of the plant where it is needed, minimising waste of water running around on the surface.

I thought this a pretty arrangement, with the yellow rose "Golden Wedding", as a cluster just tumbles from a stem over the old grind stone~

This is one of the petunias I planted.  I do not usually plant petunias, for they need constant dead~heading and are sticky and messy to do so too!  They are all growing well, however, and I hope there will be a good and generous display soon.  I am particularly taken with the depth of colour and markings on this one though.  I think it is very unusual, don't you?

Some more recycling ~ this time, an unused stone drainpipe that I planted with a dwarf clematis.  I know you have seen this one before, but it is now going from strength to strength.  I have never seen it looking so strong and healthy with so many blooms~

Gentle Reader~how I wish you could smell the delightful fragrance that is the Frances E Lester rambling rose! Now covered with bloom, and many, many more to open, in the warmth that is with us now the fragrance floods the air, and I can smell it many yards away as I walk up my drive!  Such blissful joy it brings, to the eye and to the nose!

Tonight, I put a bowl full of more runner beans to soak and I will plant these tomorrow.  If the weather stays warm there is a good chance I will harvest a small crop later on this year as Summer turns to Autumn.  Fear not, you will be the first to know when they are ready!