July 2020 newsletter

From the Chairman: 

Submissions for Virtual Summer Show open on 6 July

It’s time to assemble your entries for our virtual Flower & Produce Fair. There are 12 classes to enter and up to two entries per class.




Entries, in the form of landscape photographs (that is, wide across rather than tall and thin - use your phone sideways!), can be made from Monday 6 to Wednesday 8 July, by emailing them to tricia@thegardenersblacksmith.co.uk. You will need to clearly state your name, which class you are entering and the title of your entry (if appropriate) to be eligible.
 
Entries will then be assembled into galleries on the Summer Show 2020 page of our website. The show will go live at 1pm on Saturday 11 July – just when we should have been starting our real show.
 
The event is for fun and there will be no judging. The twelve classes are listed below. You are invited to post your entries on our other social media channels but please tag the ULRHS (Facebook - @UpLRHS; Twitter @ULRHS).

Schedule:

1. Mixed flowers, 7 stems at least two kinds
2. Any size plate of mixed soft fruit
3. A display of three different types of vegetables, any number of each
4. Five tomatoes of any one variety
5. Longest and shortest runner bean – photograph your entry with a ruler/tape measure alongside
6. Potato in a Bucket – photograph your potatoes together with an A4 sheet displaying the weight in kg/g, and ideally include yourself in the photo
7. Jam jar of flowers
8. Floral art – ‘From the Garden’, an arrangement of flowers and foliage in a vase
9. Chocolate cake – any size from cup cake upwards, decorated/filled as you choose 
10. An animal made from packaging e.g. egg boxes, loo roll inners, cardboard (for 16 years of age and under)
11. Hand-made card or drawing on theme of ‘Thank you NHS/Key workers’
12. Photography of ‘Life under Lockdown’ – funny or serious

Informal visit to Forde Abbey

Where can I source soil?

Zoom Gardeners’ Question Time

In place of our more usual monthly talk, in June we held our own version of Gardeners’ Question Time. Our very knowledgeable panellists were Jenny Harding, Sue Taylor, Lynne Vian and Guy Woodhouse. The whole affair was chaired by Alan Vian.


 
A wide range of questions was submitted beforehand including how to prune different shapes of apple tree and problems caused by our wet winter and dry summer. We had some great plant suggestions from panellists for different situations and they even got to choose their ‘desert island’ tool.
 
We’ve been suitably heartened by people’s positive response to the evening to look at organising some additional  Zoom events in the future. The full Q&A from the event has been circulated to those who registered. If anyone else would like a copy please email tricia@thegardenersblacksmith.co.uk.

New Treasurer wanted

Open gardens

• Burrow Farm Gardens, Dalwood. The garden and nursery are open from 10-5, with limits on the number of people in the nursery. The tea room is open as are the toilet facilities. www.burrowfarmgardens.co.uk
• Goren Farm, Stockland. You can take a picnic to enjoy in over 70 acres of ancient wildflower meadows throughout July. The meadows are open from 12 noon to 10pm. Picnic tables dotted around the meadows. Small farm shop and off licence. www.goren.co.uk
• Mapperton House. The gardens only are open from 11-4. Tickets must be purchased in advance and are available online only. Mapperton House and the café are both closed. www.mapperton.com
• Abbotsbury Sub-Tropical Gardens. The gardens and plant centre are both open – gardens 10-5, plant centre 11-4. Bookings must be made online including date and time of arrival. Hourly arrivals restricted to 60. Restaurant closed. www.abbotsbury-tourism.co.uk/gardens/
• Forde Abbey. No booking necessary. Garden, plant centre and gift shop open 11-5. House and tea room closed. Limited toilet facilities. www.fordeabbey.co.uk
• National Trust. Some gardens and parklands open with advance bookings only. Tickets released each week and apparently sell out very quickly indeed. Check what’s open on the website. Many coast and countryside car parks open that you don’t have to book. www.nationaltrust.org.uk
• RHS Garden Rosemoor. Open to visitors with advance booking only online and a pre-booked time slot. Garden open 10-4 every day; shop and plant centre 10-5 Monday to Saturday and 11-5 Sunday; take away refreshments 10-3.30 every day. www.rhs.org.uk
• Hauser and Wirth, Bruton. Lois Wakeman reports that Piet Oudolf's prairie garden (as featured in our January event) is looking ravishing just now. Open 10-4 except Monday. You do have to book a ticket (free) and the art gallery is optional! www.hauserwirth.com/locations/10068-hauser-wirth-somerset

Wildflower app

 
If you’ve ever wanted to improve your knowledge of wildflowers you might like to try the ‘Seek’ app, available free on Google Play or the Apple App Store.
 
The Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland put nine apps through their paces and Seek topped the list. Seek doesn’t give you an exact name unless it’s sure so it may only identify the family or species but that’s helpful. It made the fewest mistakes in the trial and works in real time so tells you what it thinks you are looking at without needing to take a picture. When the app narrows your plant down to a species it prompts you to take a
picture which unlocks more information about the species. No login or account is required.
 
It’s family friendly too, encouraging children to explore more plants by awarding ‘badges’ so could be good fun with the grandchildren. 

Plaudits for Ania

Active Horticultural Society member Ania Driver was recently featured in Lyme Online with a tribute from Ian Marshall from the Royal British Legion. Ania is well known for her work for the Legion and the article details her many achievements as a member of its Community Support Team, even including a parachute jump for the charity. Ania is a regular visitor to care homes to see members of the Royal British Legion and with the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic moved into a local care home so that she could assist the hard-working staff to help care for the residents including members of the Legion. The full article can be found in the Lyme Online digital issue of 8 June.
 

Ania Driver after her charity parachute jump raising over £1300 for the Royal British Legion

Best ever raspberry jam – recipe from Pam Corbin

 
Super easy, super quick, highly fruity (about 80% fruit) and as reliable as the sun rising. And I love it!   By using jam sugar (with added pectin) you get a good set without overcooking the raspberries and reducing the jam to a mass of woody pips.  The recipe also works well with frozen raspberries so if you have your own fruit just pop a few in the freezer until you have sufficient to make a panful, or simply use commercial frozen ones.
 
Makes approx. 5-6 x 200ml jars
 
1 kg raspberries
650g jam sugar
A drop or two of olive oil (if needed)
 
Put the raspberries in a roomy, heavy-based pan or preserving pan. Lightly sprinkle in the sugar, a third at a time, gently shaking the pan so the sugar is well distributed.  Cover and leave for an hour or so - or even overnight - for the juices to draw.
 
When ready to cook, lightly stir the mixture to make sure there aren’t any clumps of sugar stuck on the base of the pan.  Place over a medium heat and bring to a steady boil, then cook for 5-6 minutes for a soft set jam, or 7-8 minutes for a firmer set. 

Remove from the heat and stir lightly in the same direction to remove any foamy scum adding a drop of oil if it doesn’t dispel easily.  Tip into a wide-necked jug with a good pouring lip, then fill the warm, sterilised jars to the brim.  Seal with a twist on the lid.
 
Invert each jar for half a minute or so, to ensure the lid is sterilised, then turn the right way up and leave to cool.  Store in a cool, dark, dry place.  Best eaten within 9 months. Keep in the fridge once opened and eat within 4-6 weeks.
 
NB - British Frozen Fruits - www.britishfrozenfruit.co.uk - deliver excellent frozen fruit to the door.  There is a minimum order for free delivery - so do consider asking friends and neighbours if they would like to share an order.

Your contributions welcome!