Here’s a quick link to the recipe mentioned in this week’s Garden News Magazine. Let me know if you make my peach crumble cake. The recipe is great with tinned or fresh peaches, apples, plums, cherries, rhubarb and blueberries- anything you have to hand. Thanks for reading my garden diary column and for all your lovely kind comments and encouragement. It’s always appreciated.
https://bramblegarden.com/2017/08/22/peaches-and-plums-crumble-and-jam/
Some more photos from my April garden diary. Enjoy the spring flowers- and new additions to the garden, Merlin the cockerel, and Daphne, Daisy and Dot bantam hens.
Here they are, enjoying a dust bath. They soon found a cosy corner in the garden where I’d piled some old compost. Perfect for their favourite daily activity. I love the contented little sounds they make as they swoosh compost into the air in all directions. Hens are certainly messy creatures.
Here’s Merlin, searching for slugs, snails and grubs in the veg plot. I’m hoping they will help me with my organic gardening, no chemicals- approach.
I’m not forgetting Monty kitten, looking quite windswept as he sits on his favourite look-out post on top of the boat cover.
The greenhouse – with barely and inch to spare. I can just about still get in there.
The poly tunnel swathed in fleece as we hit -3.5C two nights in a row. It’s currently 7C at lunchtime with a freezing icy wind and sleet. The old peach trees are flowering despite the cold. I’ll have to pollinate them with a paintbrush. There’s no bees about in these cold temperatures.
Despite the cold, daffodils are looking lovely. So cheerful.
My favourite narcissus Snow Baby looking lovely in spring pots planted three years ago and still going strong.
My new spring pot with ‘instant’ plants from the garden centre. Cheering up the front doorstep.
Wild anemones flowering in the mini woodland garden. Bluebells are just starting to raise their heads above big strappy leaves and potted Lily of the Valley is scenting the potting shed.
A few flowers fresh picked from the veg plot.
My wild Tenby daffodils, flowering around the pond, still look good at dusk. These are planted in memory of my Welsh grandmother, HM Foulds. A very reliable and hardy daffodil, highly recommend.
You might like to read my last post here: https://bramblegarden.com/2021/04/08/garden-news-column-spring-flowers-and-peach-crumble-cake-april-8-2021/
Thanks for reading. Enjoy your weekend, and hopefully the weather will improve where you are soon.
I’m @kgimson on twitter and karengimson1 on instagram live.
Bramble Garden 
Superb photos and yummy food.
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Thank you Derek
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Karen the Cake recipe that you talk about in your Garden News article this week, thanks for the link of the Cramble Fruits recipe, easy to make and it looks delicious, I love it. Karen your “New Family”: Merlin and the rooster chickens Daphne, Daisy and Dot, they are beautiful and have beautiful names: I love them. Merlin I see that in the video she does a very good job of eating and looking for slugs, snails and grubs in the vegetable patch: I love it. Monty is gorgeous and since he has grown up, I love him; how is he on his watchtower watching over everything. Karen your Greenhouse is full of new plants and seedlings, it is wonderful, I love it. The Polyethylene Tunnel has become a refuge from strong frosts and cold for plants, I love it. I love the fortress of the old peach trees blooming despite the sleet. Daffodils are divine, I love them. In pots I love Snow Baby daffodils as I love hyacinths, other daffodils and irises. The new front door planter is absolutely fabulous, divine, I love it. Wild anemones are lovely, I love them. The Shed with the potted lily of the valley will be all scented, I love it. The bouquet is divine with flowers just picked from the vegetable patch, I love it. Terby wild daffodils are wonderful, by the pond they look magnificent at dusk, and they are even lovelier knowing you planted them in memory of your Welsh grandmother HM Foulds: Karen you have a heart of gold, I love it. Now that you can go out, keep taking care of yourself Mr B and you a lot. Health, strength, encouragement, positive thinking, hope and much love for your whole family, Mr B and for you Karen. Fondness for the “Three Musketeers”. Lots of love and sweet hugs. Very affectionate greetings from Margarita xxx 😘🙏💟🌷
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Thank you so much Margarita. I am back. I had to take a break from writing when I realised we were going to be in lockdown until April. I had to put extra effort into keeping in touch with all my family. It has not been easy. However, we are tentatively meeting outdoors now. I’m taking care and not rushing about. Shopping is still delivered and we are not going on holiday. We will stay here and hope friends and family will be able to come and sit in the garden this summer. I hope you are your family are well. Lots of love from us all – the three musketeers and the new trio of hens, plus Merlin. Take care. . Affectionate greetings. Love from us all xxx 😘 🌷🌱🌷
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Karen missed you. My family is all fine, thank you. You do very well not to rush and not go on vacation: do not expose yourself, with the Covid you do not have to trust even if you are vaccinated. They gave me the first dose of the vaccine on May 10 and my dear Mother was given the first dose on April 9 and the second on April 30. The best thing is to receive family and friends in your wonderful garden. I already know from the blog on April 8 that you have already been able to see your Mother, your daughters and bring Joan flowers to the nursing home: you will be super happy, I am also for you, Karen. Much love to the “Three Musketeers”, Merlin, the “Clo Trio” and to all of you. Take care. Warm hugs. Very affectionate greetings from Margarita xxx 😘🙏🌷🌼🌱
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That is very very good news! I’m glad you have had your vaccine. I’m just waiting for my second jab too. As you say, it’s sensible not to go rushing about. If friends can come to the garden that would be lovely. But I’m not going rushing out to the shops just yet. Have a great week. Keep smiling and stay positive. Lots of love from the hen trio, Monty, the three musketeers too! We are growing in numbers here 😃 much love and affectionate greetings. Your faithful friend, Karen xx
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Karen thank you very much “my faithful friend”. I am very glad that they have already given you the first dose of the vaccine, it’s great, I love it !!!! 😀 You do very well not to go to stores, there will be time later, when the whole UK is vaccinated, and still with security measures. You have grown in number the “family”. I have read in the comments that the three rooster hens accompany you through the garden when you take them out of their various luxury houses depending on the temperature: they live like queens, I love it. You already have three new friends who accompany you in the garden and they like flowers and respect them, like Merlin. Monty and Meg what do they do with them? Since they are so good they sure want to play with them, especially Monty. Much love to the whole new family and the Three Musketeers. Much love for Mr B and for you, my faithful friend. Very affectionate greetings from Margarita xxx😘🙏🤗🌷🥚
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I would love to have chickens in my garden but only if I could let them run free. I have several friends that keep chickens but they keep them in enclosures and they have all told me that it would be impossible to leave them in the garden, especially the vegetable garden. How do you manage?
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I have bantams so they do not need as much space as full size hens. They have the luxury of three houses and runs. There is a big wooden house with a dry covered run for wet weather. They have a small egloo insulated plastic house and integrated run for nice days, and the potting shed for snow and cold weather. Whenever I’m in the garden, I let them out sand they stay close to me. You have to choose carefully the varieties so that they stay nearby, and also have them from quite young so they are used to being handled. Bantams also don’t do any damage to veg and flowers.
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I’ve grow the Tenby daff in previous gardens and it was always reliable and a joy to look forward to.
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Thank you Noelle. It’s a beauty isn’t it. Never lets us down.
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Your photos are so cheerful. We’re having a cold, rainy day in the mountains.
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Thank you Anne. Do hope it’s sunny soon. Very very cold here today. Xx
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Local Daffs were really caught out. Most of them have flattened stalks and pinched frozen flowers of a sort. We’re still getting snow showers and when the wind blows the chill is most unwelcome. Your blooms are way ahead and surviving pretty well by the looks of them in the photos.
The birds seem to be in heaven. I’ve been racking my grey cells trying to anthropomorphize Monty’s stance and appearance. Smashing picture. x
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Thank you. Because we are so exposed here, I’m growing the native daffodil varieties. Tenby is particularly hardy. A gold medal -winning grower told me to water them with a weak tomato fertiliser to strengthen stems, which seems to have worked. They all blew flat last year, and when down, the slugs munched them. Very disappointing. The wind doesn’t bother Monty one bit 😃
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