At last! the long, dark tomato-less Winter is over! My home grown tomatoes have started to ripen. Here in the greenhouse the first strings of
Sungold tomatoes are ripening.
They taste wonderful! The joy of a cherry tomato is that you can just pop it straight in your mouth.
My
roselle hibiscus is showing signs of flowering. British gardeners might not be familiar with this fruit/flower, but all over the Caribbean and Asia this flower is used to make a sweet drink similar to our ribena. Also known as
sorrell, it can be used to make vivid red syrups or jams as it is high in pectin too.
At last, here is 'Ollies Sunflower' . Jayne from
The View from Bag End sent me some seeds to plant in memory of her beloved Ollie.
The bees absolutely adore them, so Matron is making an exception to her 'no flower' rule!
They taste wonderful! The joy of a cherry tomato is that you can just pop it straight in your mouth.
My roselle hibiscus is showing signs of flowering. British gardeners might not be familiar with this fruit/flower, but all over the Caribbean and Asia this flower is used to make a sweet drink similar to our ribena. Also known as sorrell, it can be used to make vivid red syrups or jams as it is high in pectin too.
At last, here is 'Ollies Sunflower' . Jayne from The View from Bag End sent me some seeds to plant in memory of her beloved Ollie.
The bees absolutely adore them, so Matron is making an exception to her 'no flower' rule!
Matron,
ReplyDeleteI think it was sweet of you to ignore your rule, how lovely they are. Do you have a recipe for the Roselle drink?
Doc
No flower rule? But it looks like you have sweetpeas behind the sunflowers! It's good for attracting insects and makes the plot look lovely!
ReplyDeletechickenlover
Doc - I bring a handful of the red flowers to the boil with a few spices such as cinnamon, clove, ginger, star anise and boil for about 5 or 10 minutes, then sweeten to taste. Allow it all to cool and keep in the fridge overnight then strain to drink. It has a wonderful taste but with a dry aftertaste rather like cranberry.
ReplyDelete