The Start Of The Great British Summer...

It started so well a couple of weeks ago. We had day after day of hot, sunny weather...

In the garden, the plants responded with gusto. Lush green foliage grew and then came the flowers giving a wonderful display. These photos are mainly of the flower bed that divides the wild steeply sloped area which dips in to the wood and the more civilized and cultivated part of my garden.

These Lupins and Giant Alliums are like sentries manning the battlements...

 

The wild area is just that. I try to keep it manageable by keeping the brambles at bay as unchecked they edge their way in to the main part of the garden very quickly. Generally though, I let the wild flowers grow there.

 

I’ll take my camera down there at some point if anybody would like to see more.

Back to my ‘border guards’...

The Giant Alliums have done well this year. I love the way their pom-pom heads make bold statements in the border.

Some almost exploding like a firework...

Also lurking in the border are my Walking Onions...

These curious, almost alien looking plants produce a bulblet which gradually becomes heavier and heavier pulling the stem downward allowing the bulblet to root and make new plants away from the parent plant and thus the onion appears to have walked...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_onion

Not only do they look good but you can also eat them-a winner in my book!

And talking of food...

Asparagus, Ricotta And Tarragon Quiche

 

For me the arrival of early Summer cannot be complete until the first British asparagus has arrived. 

Unfortunately I don’t have any home grown Asparagus but I did use home grown Chives and French Tarragon so points there. And extra points for using eggs given to me by a good friend from her rescued ex battery hens.

This very easy and quick quiche is brilliant as a large flan or as cute little individual ones...And guess what! With this amount it make one large and two small ones which freeze well so you can have the best of both worlds!

Ingredients:

230 g frozen short crust pastry sheet

250g fresh British Asparagus

1 very generous bunch of French Tarragon-finely chopped

250g fresh ricotta

1 bunch of fresh chives-finely chopped

Freshly ground pepper and sea salt to taste

3 eggs-beaten

Method:

Defrost the pastry and line a greased 23cm loose bottomed flan tin plus two individual tins. When lining the cases with the pastry, allow the edges to fold over the sides. Prick lightly with a fork and place in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes to help stop it shrinking when cooked.

Wash the asparagus and slice in to diamonds. Bring a pan of lightly salted water to the boil and drop the asparagus in and boil for 5 minutes then drain and pat dry with some kitchen paper.

Meanwhile lightly beat the eggs and gently fold in the ricotta and finely chopped tarragon, chives, salt and pepper.

Once the pastry has rested, line with greaseproof paper and weigh down with baking beans.

Place in a hot oven 200C and cook for 10 minutes. Remove baking beans and paper and cook for a further 10 minutes.

Add the cooked asparagus to the egg and ricotta mixture and gently spoon in to the flan cases.

Cook for 35 minutes then remove from the oven and allow to cool. Slice and serve at room temperature.

 

The quiche was delicious and eaten outside on a warm sunny evening whilst contemplating the garden.

Unfortunately, in true British fashion, the hot weather was not to last...instead for the last week we have had rain...and lots of rain at that. The poor plants who had grown up so tall have been flattened by the high winds and lashing rain. Today has been spent trying to rectify the damage. Those sunny days are but a distant memory...Let us hope that the start of the British Summer is not also the end of it...

We can only hope...