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wish i d thought of that wrong i still had to regularly pull the plastic upright and away from the mushrooms important that the bag is kept clear so discarded my heath robinson tactics after learning from merryhill s customer service team that the mushrooms need a fresh exchange of air to thrive ie keep the bag open at the top some of the mushrooms had started to develop a pinkish coral like texture again customer service proved helpful in reassuring me that this was probably due to lower light levels and that the fruits were still perfectly edible success from then on it was easy the mushroom box was moved to a slightly brighter position the bag was kept upright and open above the level of the box the kitchen towels were kept damp and away from the sides of the box and beautiful lion s mane teeth grew i m holding these upside down and probably should have picked them a bit sooner the slight yellowing is my fault because of earlier mistakes within a few short weeks i was able to carefully lift off a big handful of mushroom lion s mane has quite a meaty texture and absorbs flavour really well merryhill recommend cooking slices with butter and garlic i fried mine with olive oil and soy sauce which proved very tasty storage any mushrooms not used straightaway can be stored in a paper bag in the fridge for up to a week alternatively they can be dried in a dehydrator or very low oven and stored in an airtight jar for future use benefits as if taste wasn t reason enough to eat lion s mane this fungi is reputed to boost brain power memory mood mental health immune system support heart health and is anti inflammatory and antioxidant wow i also thought that a kit would be an intriguing present for a curious child as it s quite fun to watch the mushrooms grow so educational with a sense of anticipation just the sort of thing i d have given my now adult son in his formative years recycle and when the last fruit has been harvested what to do with the compost recycle it fellow mushroom growers on youtube tell of breaking the blocks up and burying lumps of spent compost in their garden soil or raised beds it boosts the health of the soil and may even produce more mushrooms in the months ahead so to summarise easy to grow pay attention to setting up the kit for ambient light moisture and temperature the kits don t take up much room everything you need is in the box except for a spray bottle lion s mane has excellent health benefits just in case there s a helpful and friendly customer service via email or phone it s a good way to try unusual mushrooms like oyster shiitake or lion s mane would make a useful and fun gift for both adults and supervised children a fun way to watch mushrooms grow and a bonus boost for your soil or compost heap if you have a garden my kit was supplied by merryhill mushrooms who are a family run business based in sussex uk https www merryhill mushrooms co uk ps british chef jamie oliver made a delicious looking autumnal curry using his home grown mushrooms some from merryhill mushroom kits watch from 15 minutes into the programme on the link below https www channel4 com programmes jamie what to eat this week on demand 74532 003 2 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels homegrown kits mushrooms posted by caro at 17 28 9 feb 2026 reset the garden awakes and so do i what a difference a day makes the first thing i do every morning even before coffee is to look out of the window at the sky and my garden area below just a basin of bulbs popping up yesterday it was predictably another day of grey skies and rain today the garden seemed to sparkle under the early morning weak sun hurrah the sky shows promise of a good dry day ahead perhaps even a hint of sun days like this lift my mood instantly the potential to get things done and even now in early february there are seeds to sow sweet peas chillies peas for balcony pots and beds to mulch ready for this year s veg and flower seeds but first i have to apologise for neglecting this blog and in part the gardens i had every intention of returning to a regular writing schedule last year but as you can see it didn t happen there were just too many distractions in the real world not least of which was a neighbour who wanted my garden cleared of plants and shrubs so that he could sit on a bench in the sunshine all this despite him having a south facing balcony garden areas here are allocated to any tenant who wants to look after them so strictly speaking not my garden but land belonging to the housing association who have allowed me to take responsibility for it the garden in question was one i have been custodian of during the past eighteen years i have dug chopped reclaimed redesigned and planted it has plants brought back from my mother s garden after she died so no i was not going to let it go easily and stated my case the garden is now firmly back under my control whew sorry but wow that felt good getting that off my chest it s the start of a new season but allow me a brief look back over last year there were far too many failures in the veg garden newly planted peas and kale were munched tomatoes didn t ripen in time or were hit by blight herbs languished carrots didn t plump up shall i go on and i spent most of my time helping others in their gardens to the detriment of my own spaces and yes i did get totally sidetracked by flowers while my planted veg were decimated by heat drought slugs or just sheer neglect but as they say in moominland my gardening mantra so slug defences at the ready beer traps not pellets seed box sorted fresh seeds only and compost bought weeds have been tackled on a regular basis perennials like gooseberries and roses have been pruned strawberries have been tidied lots of self seeded plants foxgloves calendula forget me nots are gradually being transplanted or ruthlessly cleared to make space for future veg i still have to sort out my hotbin composter that was another sadly neglected area last year and any compost left in there is likely to be anaerobic now and too acidic but it s definitely worth saving in the past yes this has happened more than once oops i ve spread the compost out on top of one of the beds and then tickled it in after a few days with no disastrous results in fact i ve read elsewhere that plants such as squash thrive on it sounds exciting so whether you re new to this blog or a returning reader will you join me on my journey this year caro x 1 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels compost pruning sowing seeds posted by caro at 15 01 10 may 2025 nature abhors a vacuum it seems such a short while ago that i donned thermal layers to weather the cold outside and watched not very patiently for signs of growth in the garden at last we had some warm hot weather a tad earlier than expected while the veg patch was still in spring mode covered in forget me nots and daffodils it looked wonderfully frothy mainly because it was too early to plant anything move on a few weeks and i now have to steel myself to ruthlessly remove some of the flowers in order to make space for some veg the forget me nots can be pulled out once they ve seeded themselves thank you may winds but the calendula linaria and foxgloves will be keeping the bees and pollinators happy for a bit longer i did actually make a start clearing and mulching this area in late winter tidying the strawberries removing some of the raspberry canes that had crept too close to the path and digging up last year s jerusalem artichokes somewhat optimistically hoping that i did actually find them all and having waited patiently for the gentle warmth of spring ie keeping late march or april in mind to start sowing seeds a tiny heatwave jump started the heat of summer and denied us any much needed april rain the hosepipe came out the water butts were topped up the result a veg patch of self sown forget me nots calendula linaria foxgloves feverfew ox eye daisies and a host of identifiable weeds and a windowsill at home full of veg waiting to be planted out on the plus side the quince tree canopy has spread providing a nice shady spot for spinach at least that was the plan but when i walked around the patch this morning a small meadow seems to have sprung up in the shade of the quince very pretty but oops it all looks rather beautiful to my mind i absolutely adore the zingy oranges peppermint pinks and purple hues and love the sounds of bees making the most of this early season bounty i admit i ve spent more hours admiring the flowers than working in this plot but now it s time the forget me nots are starting to seed all over the garden for next year last year s pink chard and cavolo kale have finished and need to be removed as does the garlic that never bulbed up and no i didn t get all the sunchokes out there seems to be a fair amount of those popping up again oops but maybe not 0 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels colour self seeding flowers spring posted by caro at 12 11 26 apr 2025 tulips and a grand day out in sussex spring is such an exciting time and every day there s something new to see in the garden but there was extra excitement for me this past week as this town mouse went to the sussex countryside on a day trip to gravetye manor gravetye is the historical home of william robinson a renowned gardener writer of the late victorian era who pioneered wild gardening during a period when formal bedding plant style prevailed gravetye manor is now run as a rather grand hotel and michelin starred restaurant but robinson s gardens have been maintained in keeping with his ideas on natural beauty as expected they are a visual delight all year round why was i there well the occasion was a talk from award winning garden designer jo thompson about her latest book the new romantic garden this was followed by a delicious lunch and a stroll around the gardens where thousands of tulips euphorbia forget me nots and fern leaved sweet cicely gave that spring sparkle to the borders in the flower garden i m rather envious as my own stalwarts of spring the hefty amount of tulips planted in previous years have more or less vanished there s a reason for this as i was to learn allegedly the tulips that can be bought in bulk from the nursery or garden centre are not as robust or dependable as those ordered from specialist bulb suppliers no prizes for guessing where my bulbs were from or it could have been that mine just rotted as a result of torrential rain last year so there s my lesson now i know that if i want to keep the best ones they should be lifted dried and stored i m wondering if i can be bothered and some species of tulip are more perennial than others as we learned from tom coward who let s face it knows tom has been the head gardener at gravetye for the past fifteen years and imparted much wisdom to us about managing the gardens and especially tulips we were told that 5 000 tulips had been planted in just three days last november no they don t have a vast team of gardeners and that the best time to plant the bulbs is november or december i sort of knew that but not why but notably pay attention please if the bulbs are planted when the weather is still mild the bulbs get warm and rot note to self don t store the bulbs indoors and don t be tempted to plant while the weather is still relatively pleasant and yes it s okay to plant the bulbs in january they ll just flower later tom also mentioned anna pavord s book the tulip as a jolly good read on the subject my copy was retrieved from the bookshelf forthwith another surprising revelation came when tom showed us a small pot of tulips that he had grown from saved seed wow big respect this is definitely one for the extremely patient gardener as the seeds take four years to grow impressive but not something i ll be trying any day soon although as tom pointed out if you do this every year after the first four years you ll have new tulips every year to round off the tour tom took us up to the famous and very large oval walled kitchen garden built by robinson on a slope to catch all available light the symbiotic relationship between the kitchen and this garden continues menus are planned to make use of what s growing there obviously there s not much that can be harvested at this time of year but an edible posy of wild garlic was included with our meal in the garden long rows of beans are fleeced against pheasants flowers for the house are starting to grow herbs spill over the path edges under step over apples and broad beans and winter veg stood ready for harvest it all looked very pretty and just outside the garden gates who wouldn t want a hut like this to work from so after this and to end the day we were left to wander through the rest of the gardens admiring blossom and camassia in the orchard this would have been the perfect end to a perfect day if we hadn t got stuck in traffic for two hours in the heat behind a road traffic accident ah well you can t have it all let me leave you with this lovely view walking down from the kitchen garden in gravetye william robinson s spirit lives on lunch doesn t convey the fabulous meal we had tasty beautiful and locally sourced fine dining with delicious wine would be a better if more wordy description 0 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels gravetye jo thompson romantic garden tulips william robinson posted by caro at 13 35 23 apr 2025 a natural way to control slugs and snails a baby snail exploring the flower stalks of my wild garlic plants if you ve got a garden you ve got slugs and snails fact the little blighters lurk everywhere behind walls around pots and under planks of wood i ve even found one behind a pot on a top floor balcony but they re also an essential part of the eco system that our gardens need to succeed but possibly not in such large numbers slugs come in all shapes and sizes and names a quick google search gives me banana slugs ghost slugs leopard slugs pancake slugs spanish slugs brown field slugs and a rainbow of slug colours black yellow red ash grey and pink and there s also a range of rather cute sea slugs they re hermaphrodes so both sexes can lay hundreds of eggs several times a year after mating once hatched tiny slugs become adults within a year and then start the cycle again they ll munch on dead leaves sick plants and in the case of leopard slugs they ll also eat each other and when that food source runs out they ll head straight for your newly planted lettuces and legumes pity the poor gardener who persists in trying to grow hostas lupins and delphiniums there is a way round that putting aside their natural aptitude for destruction slugs are also an important part of the garden eco system providing a food source for birds foxes beetles and if you re lucky hedgehogs frogs and ducks so the ...