Delightful Things 2

A Regular Compendium Of Delightful Things

Hello everyone!

This is a free-to-read letter for my followers here on The Garden Collective, in addition to my monthly piece for subscribers. It's a scrapbook of delightful things and I'm so glad you're here.

As always please know that if you don't want emails, you can choose which ones you receive, and how often, by updating your email preferences in the Settings section (click on 'Notifications').

One Good Thing

This article, from fellow Garden Collective writer Huw Richards has me using a lot more leaf litter than before. I love Huw’s work because he really looks, listens and notices things, rather than just following what everyone else is doing. The TL;DR is that he has noticed significant soil improvement by holding off on mulching with compost until spring, which stands to reason, because why would you add masses of nutrients when plants aren’t in active growth? Instead, he has begun working with the chop and drop idea, and with leaf-litter, citing a study from Cornell that I cannot verify, but I did find a readable review of a 2010 study that gives a good overview of leaf litter, fungi, moisture, temperature, and decomposition dynamics. The key takeaway is common sense; I'm spreading my excess leaf litter (mostly hornbeam and apple) around shrubs and trees, but definitely not everywhere because, well, I don't want a fungal party near my roses, or wet rotting leaves over the crowns of emerging perennials.  Worth a read, and worth thinking about I think - thank you Huw.

Pheasant-ness

I’ve been blessed with a regular supply of pheasant recently, and I am trying to up my game (!) in cooking it, with the help of the internet, and an ancient book on pheasant given to me by my mother. I could have predicted this, but I’m afraid the book wins, hands down, and so does simplicity. So with pheasant, roasting the whole bird and then pulling it apart always gives me a better result than working with breast fillets or other prepared pieces. I’m adding in a picture of the roast pheasant method I use here above. And then there’s just nothing for it but to leave to cool a bit, put on some good music and get all the meat off, after which I will usually drop it into a cider-based sauce and call it a stew. I would LOVE to know any favourite (tried and tested) pheasant recipes so please do go ahead and share them below.

Something pretty that I really can’t afford.

VV Rouleaux (the ribbon people) are doing double sided velvet ribbon. Look at this:

I mean, I really truly do not need double sided ribbon from VV Rouleaux but I’m obviously going to have to go and get some. I am becoming more and more convinced with every passing year that the wrapping of a present trumps the contents. Something beautifully wrapped is evidence of actual love. We all know this because we’ve probably all been charmed at one point or other by a small child’s painstaking efforts at wrapping a present. The present simply doesn’t get a look-in compared to the wrapping. Consequently I now often spend more money and time on wrapping than I do on presents, and as the host/mother/organiser person, I have become adept at stealthily retrieving beautiful wrapping paper and ribbon in the ruins of the Christmas craziness, under the guise of ‘tidying up’. Lol.

I get wrapping paper from Cambridge Imprint (who also do these marvellous crowns) in batches of similar colours and different patterns. And for the last few years I’ve been using my favourite green satin ribbon from VVRouleaux. Heavenly.

Image of joy

Do you know of Jenny Barnes and her ‘niffing’? Jenny creates sculptures with roses, taming the thorny things into stunning living works of art that look fabulous naked (and don’t we all need that?).

Here is an incredibly inspiring before and after from her Instagram. Jenny does teach occasionally, when she’s not niffing away in private (and public) gardens. I remember being taught how to do this type of pruning with a view to wall training climbing roses, but have always wanted to try and make a free-standing sculpture. Do any of you do this at home?

And finally...,

...are we still needing suggestions for Christmas presents? I certainly am. Let me suggest a gift subscription to The Garden Collective? Or one for yourself if you've yet to dive in? Here's a special link to a heavily discounted subscription from me to you, with love.

Have a truly blessed Christmas and New Year, and I'll see you on the other side, and as ever, may I ask you kindly to 'like' and share this letter with anyone you think will enjoy it?

x Laetitia