An adventure to Falkland Open Gardens with K, JB and E. We ate many good snacks, bought plants, saw lovely gardens, and also went to Pillars of Hercules for lunch. On the way home we stopped at B&Q. What a day!
Pulled out all the flowering salsify, as pretty as it is, and self-seeded potatoes. Planted chard, carrots (god knows what happened to the last lot), land cress, radish, radicchio, rocket, purple sprouting broccoli, kale. The beetroot crop is patchy. Lots of other things just didn't sprout.
Some sunflower seeds from a flower head I left lying around last year in my living room got damp and sprouted, so I've potted them up..
An early parasol in Ravenscraig Park. Oyster mushrooms in Ravenscraig too, though none yet in the oyster woods. Chicken of the woods in the oyster woods doesn't seem to be growing, so we're leaving it alone.
Took an afternoon bus to Kincardine with R and Max and the tent, and began the first segment of the Fife Coastal Path. It wasn't really very coastal. We poked around Culross when we arrived, and debated marching on for another few hours, or hanging around to visit the palace in the morning. We decided to stay. So we passed the evening with some unnecessary miles around the perimeter of Preston Island, and camped in the woods. Culross is very cute. So far this part of the rest of the coastal path has been uninspiring though.
I woke up with a screaming headache, so walked out of the woods to High Valleyfield, the nearest small and dreary town, to find the Co-op open before 7am. They IDed me for ibuprofen and a bottle of water, looking and feeling like absolute shit, still in the clothes I'd slept in straight from the woods. Haha. They sold me the ibuprofen anyway.
We had to hang around until Culross Palace was open. Mostly we chilled in a park nearby, and visited the gardens for a bit.
The palace was great actually. They even had a dog-volunteer (another dog) who Max could wait with while we followed the guide around inside. It's interesting how much history has been preserved here due to sheer neglect over the centuries.
We delayed further by having cake in the cafe.
We finally commenced walking. Most of the route was along roads and quite rubbish. At Newmills we met some people scavenging a door from a skip. We were about 18 hours behind our original schedule at this point, but managed to chat for over an hour about .. the environment, state of the world, reuse and recycling, litter, etc...
We took a detour towards Charlestown off the official path, because it looked like a nicer woody trail rather than a main track. So glad we did! There was a lovely stream, some interesting caves, and... We found so much chicken of the woods. We harvested it, and continued to the town. It wasn't going to survive a night in the tent and another day of walking, so we decided to just call it and get the bus home.
We went to see the lime kilns, and continue to the town of Limekilns. I wanted to press on to Inverkeithing or at least Ferrytoll, but the buses were scarce, my feet were hurting, and most of that stretch of the route was along road. So we just got the bus home from Limekilns.
So there's a stretch of the Coastal Path between Limekilns and Inverkeithing that I've never walked... I'll have to get back to that.
Loads of chicken of the woods, so nothing to do but make KFC... Kirkcaldy Fried Chicken. And chunked a load for a future curry.
Polenta, almond and lime cake too, inspired by one I had at Culross Palace yesterday. Mine also has stewed rhubarb in, as a yoghurt substitute. Obviously.
The season is really kicking off in the oyster woods. Got several kilos. All in perfect condition, barely needed cleaning. Little rain means they've not been splashed with dirt, and also they're not so full of water that they turn to soup when cooked, but fry up perfectly!
Some exceedingly braw sunrises this week. Mostly hot clear days. First half of the week starting the day with a bit of haar, so had to wait for the sun to rise past it. Beautiful blue afternoons, with enough sea breeze to offset the summer heat. Idyllic, really.
Excellent slow cooker thai green curry with chicken of the woods, oyster mushrooms and courgettes and onions from the garden. And a creamy oyster mushroom and courgette pasta sauce.
Miraculously planned ahead on thursday, and made a pizza dough to rise overnight. I only had wholewheat strong flour, and plain flour, so used a combination of the two and it was great. Topped with a tomato sauce made from homegrown tomato/rocket passata, sambal, and tomato puree; chicken of the woods chunks, oyster mushrooms, and courgette from the garden of course, home-pickled gherkins and jalapenos as well; and grated and cream Sheese.
Did a rather inordinate amount of baking for K's birthday. Started as soon as I finished work at about 1730 on Friday evening until I ran out of steam, then resumed at 5am on Saturday. It was a blast. I made matcha cookies, chocolate hazelnut brownies, a lime polenta cake with lime curd in the middle and rhubarb frosting, mini vegan quiches with oyster mushrooms and courgette inside, and a buckwheat, lentil and edamame salad with roasted courgettes. The pastry went wrong the first time so I had to do emergency hot water crust at short notice, and that was actually way better. The quiches were excellent (if I do say so myself).
Swam in the sea twice. Monday morning around 9 was in a light haar, and the sea was really glossy with big rolling waves; high reflection and low water visibility made it felt like I was swimming in the sky. Friday morning at 6 was gorgeous too.
Managed to stay on top of watering the footpath garden this week. Veg seems to be coping. Flowers are also looking good. Self-seeded nasturtiums are still popping up at a rate of about two per day.
Sunday in the main garden. Some of the tomatoes are nearly as tall as me already. Dug the chillis out of the ground in the polytunnel into big pots, so we can move them when it's cold. Replaced them with aubergines (from the RNLI plant sale). Propped up the broad beans and sweet peas. Mounded potatoes. Improved anti-sparrow measures for the chard, beet, carrots, whatever other unlabelled things that have started sprouting.
Found another chicken of the woods in a well hidden but accessible-once-you-know it nearby location. Waiting to see if it grows more; will be a good haul if so.
Also found a deer shield, a small inkcap I haven't seen before, and some interesting weird grey growths on a fallen log.
Many hours spent rescuing spiders, wee flies, aphids, earwigs, tiny snails and weird squiggly guys from the rose petals, before processing. Unlike last year, I managed not to bring any bees home with me.
Then I made loads of rose water and rose syrup, at home and at the Community Kitchen.