Monthly Archives: December 2011

Purple Themed Vegetable Garden – Would you do it?

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Kohl Rabi

Being a lover of the colour purple, it was only a matter of time before I thought of the idea of growing a colour themed vegetable garden.

I’ve grown several types of purple veg already including purple sprouting brocolli, carrots, scarlet kale (which is purple in colour), kohl rabi and rainbow chard which includes a purple stemmed variety.

It’s unlikely that I’ll go for it this coming year but as purple varieties of most vegetables are now readily available, I may just start replacing some of my seeds with the purple varieties listed below as they run out until eventually – well who knows.

So what makes purple vegetables special apart from their glorious colour? Well for a start they contain natural pigments called anthocyanins. These act as powerful andixidants that protect  from cell damage and are said to help lower the risk of cancer, strokes and heart disease.

According to Asparabuddies (and their furry friends) purple asparagus is the sweetest of all the varieties they’ve grown, whilst here we’ve noticed that the pests head to the green varieties of kale first, leaving the purple leaves relatively unscathed.

So here’s a list of over thirty different purple veg, including links to seed suppliers in Ireland and the UK if you’d like to give them  …

Asparagus - Purple Passion
Aubergine - Rosa Bianca
Basil - Red Ruben
Beans - Selma Zebra
Beetroot - Detroit Globe
Broccoli - Broccoli Purple Sprouting
Brussels Sprouts - Red Ball Haze
Cabbage Red Drumhead
Cauliflower Violet Queen

Carrots - Purple Haze
Chives SKU
Choy Sum Purple
Garlic Iberian Wight
Globe Artichoke - Purple Globe Artichoke
Leef Beet Bulls Blood Scarletta
Lettuce - Amorina
Kale - Red Russian
Kohl Rabi - Kolibri
Mange Tout Pea Shiraz
Mint Korean
Mustard Osaka Purple
Onions Hyred
Pak Choi  Rubi
Peppers Hot Pepper Purple
Potatoes - Purple Majesty 
Radish - China Rose
Scorzionna - Giant Russian
Swede Tweed
Sweetcorn - Painted Mountain
Swiss Chard (Leaf Beat) Magenta Sunset
Tomatoes - Black Cherry Tomatoes
Turnip - Milan Purple

Do you like the idea of eating purple vegetables? Have you ever grown any? Have I missed any? I’d love to hear your thoughts…

Christmas Tradition ~ Twas the Night Before Christmas

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When our first child was born it was time to make up new Christmas traditions for our family. A combination of some old ones from Mr G’s childhood, some from my own and new ones created for our first and subsequent children.

Our eldest was born just three weeks before Christmas and reading the poem The Night Before Christmas by Clement C Moore to him as a tiny baby was one of our first new traditions. It’s a poem I’ve read with delight  every Christmas since, and no doubt will continue long after they’ve left home…

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St.Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds
While visions of sugar plums danced in their heads;

And Mamma in her kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap, 
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew in a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave a lustre of midday to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled and shouted, and called them by name:

“Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away, all!”

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the housetop the coursers they flew,
With a sleigh full of toys and St. Nicholas, too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes – how they twinkled! his dimples, how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow;
He had a broad face and a little round belly
That shook, when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed, which I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk,
And laying a finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,

“Happy Christmas to all, And to all a good night!”

How to Make a Natural Christmas Decoration

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Willow Natural Christmas Decoration
I’m not going to even try to explain how to weave this willow and wool natural Christmas decoration. Basically it’s a very simple weaving activity and if you’d like to have a go at making it, just look very carefully at the photo and copy. All you need are pieces of freshly cut willow trimmed to your desired size and some red wool to tie them together.

Willow Natural Christmas DecorationWe were given one of these by a (then) 12 year old friend of the family who’d made it himself as a Christmas gift for our family.  We’ve been making them as small gifts for friends every year since.

Willow Natural Christmas Decoration

The original gift

Christmas Chilli Competition

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It’s competition time! I’ve been reorganising my blog recently making it easier to find posts, tips on growing vegetables and recipes (see the tabs above).

To celebrate I’ll be giving away some chilli seeds that are perfect for growing in containers.

All you have to do is leave a comment on any of the posts or drop me an email saying which post you liked and I’ll pick a name at random on Christmas eve. Best of luck!

As it’s Christmas why not share the love and tell your friends about the competition too… I have a few packets to spare so you never know, if lots of people enter I’ll be choosing more than one winner.

Crafts for Christmas: Natural Door Wreath

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However busy life gets, I always try to find some time to make some natural crafted decorations for Christmas. I used to look at people’s lovely festive door wreath’s longingly but they always seemed an unnecessary extravagance at a time of year when every cent counts. Eventually I had a go at making one for myself and have never looked back. Everything contained in the wreath above was foraged from the garden, the only expense being some forestry wire to hold some of it together.
Materials
Four willow wands
(if you don’t have access to willow, garden centres or florists sell wire hoops, in which case you’d need to wrap them in moss first)
Seed heads and evergreens
(I’ve used Pittosporum, Hydrangea, Sedums, Hypericum, Rosemary and Ivy)
Secateurs
Twine to hang the wreath
Floristry wire
Taking the first piece of willow, wind it into a circle shape. Tip: use fresh willow as it’s pliable. Then wind the next piece of willow around the circle, adding additional pieces until you have a chunky frame.
You can add more or less willow depending upon the size of wreath you’d like. Once you have the basic frame you can start threading the seeds heads and evergreens that you’ve gathered around it. When adding ‘features’ such as the Hydrangea, use odd numbers as they catch the eye.
Foraging is half the fun
Most of the materials can be tucked and threaded through the willow but you may have to tie florists wire around some to ensure they’re kept in place. This can be disguised towards the end by adding more greenery.
That’s pretty much it. Keep building up your design with more plant materials until you have your desired effect. It may take a bit of fiddling around and mind changing but that’s all part of it.  I prefer a more natural look and we don’t have any red berries, but you can add ribbons and bells, dried orange slices, pine cones – whatever takes your fancy.
and that’s all there is to it. Finally tie the twine to hang your wreath, stand back and enjoy. The first year I made one Mr G looked at it and said “where did you buy that”… “, I made it” I replied, “oh, I thought it looked too good for that”…. this year he’s learnt his lesson ;)
Postscript: Now my wreath’s been hanging on the door for a couple of hours I’m thinking it needs some Christmassy reds (though I’m not a big fan of red nylon ribbon). As Mr G wont let me use the last red chilli, I’m off to forage a few small red berries from the hedgerows…
If you’d like some more tips and ideas for Christmas wreaths, take a look at One Bean Row’s post where you’ll find some beautifully crafted ideas.