Rondo di Nizza


One of the perks of working at Ryton is The Staff Table. This is a table (yes...) where all sorts of interesting vegetables which are perhaps slightly too organic for sale, are left for staff to take, gratis. The other day I picked up this, isn't it the cutest courgette? Its name means 'round thing from Nice'. It's about the size as a large apple, and is grown just like other courgettes.

It's a good time of year for perks like this, so with the staff sale on Thursday lunchtimes, where we do pay a fair but reasonable price for our heritage vegetables, I've had some really interesting eats recently. Black peppers, pink striped aubergines, yellow tomatoes and lettuce in multitude. In fact the only things I've had to go to the supermarket for are milk, beer and slightly salted tortilla chips.

More squashes later...

Echinacea purpurea

The jury's still out considering its use in preventing and ameliorating colds and flu, and it is almost ubiquitous in certain styles of planting design, but that doesn't stop Echinacea purpurea being a stunningly beautiful plant.

It's also known as 'purple coneflower', a name one cannot argue with. The cone consists of very sharp spines, hence its scientific name, which stems from the Greek word 'echinos', meaning hedgehog. There are nine other species of Echinacea, found in the prairies of central and south-western USA. The Native Americans reputedly used it medicinally to treat wounds, snake- and insect-bites. Wikipedia covers the curative aspects of Echinacea thoroughly.

Echinacea is a mainstay of a particular style of gardening known as prairie or naturalistic planting. I'm a bit of a fan of this particular style, and I particularly like Echinacea because it reminds me of August 2002, spent travelling round Holland visiting some wonderful gardens. (Shame I didn't have a digital camera or write a blog then. Perhaps I should go off and do it all again...) Piet Oudolf has been very influential in popularising prairie planting, though his approach is by no means low-maintenance. In fact he gets slightly snirpy if you suggest such a thing. The Sheffield University Landscape Department have taken a very different direction, carrying out long-term research projects on the potential of naturalistic planting for parks and open spaces. I used the products of their research in trial naturalistic planting schemes in three parks in Birmingham.

Echinacea is also incredibly popular with butterflies. Here are a couple more of my favourites: Painted Ladies. There were large numbers of Peacocks too, but they did not deign to be photographed.

All photos taken at Ryton Gardens in August 2006.

Plant-breeders do have a sense of humour

In response to a comment below, I'm posting this picture of a plant from work:

Leaf

This gorgeous leaf is found in the rather wonderful ‘Vegetable Way’ greenhouse at Ryton Gardens. It’s a plant called ‘the lost food of the Incas’. The naranjilla or lulo (Solanum quitoensis) is related to tomatoes and potatoes and is used in South America for drinks and sorbets. Apparently it contains scopolamine, nicotine and atropine, so go steady with it. If that appeals, seeds and growing instructions are available from Ready to Grow

Papaya or paw paw (Carica papaya) is also native to South America. It needs to be grown in a greenhouse for any chance of fruit development in the UK, but can be grown in a container (as here at Ryton). and with a well-draining compost could reach head height in a season. How to grow papaya. The seeds are being studied for contraceptive properties.

Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) (both photos above) originated in tropical Africa but is also possible to grow it in British greenhouses. This will do, although like most information on the web, is aimed at a US audience. At Ryton there are two guinea-pig sized fruits hiding shyly under the leaves.

Googling ‘watermelon’ results in ‘Watermelon love. A torrid tale of interactive melon twisting. Our cheeky demure hostess takes us on a desire fuelled trip into the surreal underworld of ...’ Blimey! Also, the fact that watermelons can be grown square. (Does that make them easier to twist?) Wikipedia also says: ‘The term watermelon is sometimes applied to professed Greens who seem to put social goals above ecological ones, implying they are "green on the outside but red on the inside."’

Loaf
I've been baking my own bread for about a year now. Success has been varied: always good enough to eat, rarely good enough to share! I like wholemeal bread, but it always comes out brick-like.

The other day I was thinking about kneading, and how it is all about getting the protein molecules to line up together, as it were. It occured to me that I was turning the dough every time it needed folding, and perhaps it was better to keep the dough aligned in the same direction. It seemed much more elastic as I was kneading it, and lo and behold, emerged as a still dense but definitely more bready loaf.


I would be happy to present this loaf with some nice cheese and home-made pickle, but I've eaten half of it already! (Mainly with Derbyshire honey).

Back in Brum again...

After a five week gap (and the last visit was just an early morning trip to the library on the way to Bristol!) I was back in Brum, firstly to a Wildlife Trust leaving do, the day after to catch up with friends Helen and David and go to an exhibition. It was REALLY nice to see everybody again! But a rather strange experience, as Birmingham feels so much like home, but it isn't home any more...

Took some photos in the reflections in a big shiny
metal thing parked in Victoria Square. They perhaps express the strange wobbly feeling I had yesterday!

The exhibition, 'Remembering the Somme' was very interesting. Robert Perry is a local artist, and I've found his paintings of the Black Country really inspiring. These were too, and in a similar way making art out of seemingly uninspiring landscapes. In his website - www.robertperry-artist.co.uk/ - under Style and Methods, you can see some of the paintings in the show. He also does concentration camps and motorcycles!


Have been struggling rather with this blog over the last week. Had a lovely trip to Norfolk last weekend, staying with friend Clare and her daughter Sophia. It was such a surprise that swimming in the North Sea could be so pleasant!

Didn't take the digital camera (new cameras and beaches don't mix) but thought I'd enliven the subsequent blog with some proper links, about some exhibitions I went to in Norwich. Could I get them to work? Nope. Not even with the help of MoseleyBlogger! So I've abandoned that blog.

But there's an extra one I put on hold for a bit, as it is about Ryton Gardens and I had to OK it with work, so it's back down the list a bit. And an addition to 'Painted Lady'. And I've stayed with a boring old functional URL in this post!

Eh?

Is this the shortest, stupidest cycle track ever? Or am I missing something here? Do let me know!


Mind you, it cheered me up during a soggy cycle ride home the long way, the walk at Ryton Pools being rained off...very different weather from two weeks ago!