Hot on the heels of our success with the Courgette Cake recipe, but still with a glut of courgettes, last night we baked some chocolate courgette cakes. They were once a gain a success, although not much good for aiding my weight loss!

Here’s the recipe.

250g plain flour
375g caster sugar
65g cocoa powder
2 teaspoons bicarb of soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon mixed spice
4 eggs
350ml vegetable oil
340g grated courgette
90g walnuts (optional)

We just mixed it altogether in a bowl and then divided it between 3 loaf tins before whacking it in an oven at 180ºC for 40-45 minutes and the result was delicious! OK, it’s more of a chocolate cake with courgette in it than a courgette cake with chocolate in it but no-one will complain about that!

Incidently, the Courgette Cake recipe post has become one of the most popular posts on this site this week – we can’t be the only people with a glut of courgettes!

Water Feature

The water feature itself is a ‘twisted column’ of rock and it was supposed to stand on top of a grill covering a sump. The sump contains a reservoir of water and a pump which pumps water up through a hole in the middle of the column where it bubbles out of the top and flows down all fours sides of the column back into the sump. We complicated things a little as we wanted a standing pool of water as well as the water running down the column. The idea was to make sure that there was water available for the bird, bees and other garden wildlife at all times and so that we had a pool of water in the garden even if the pump was switched off.

The plan therefore was to also buy a large shallow pot in which we could stand the column of rock. The water then flows down the column of rock, into the bowl and then over the sides of the bowl into the sump. Perfect.

Hole for Sump

As soon as we got back with all of the bits and pieces I set to work setting it up. The first job was to dig a hole for the sump to sit in. Our garden soil is sand, not sandy soil, just sand like on the beach so this was easy and within 5 minutes I had the hole ready for the sump.

I also had to dig a trench to lay the cable for the pump. This had to go inside some armoured piping and we just happened to have something suitable on the other side of the garden that wasn’t being used so I had to dig that up first.

The first problem we encountered was that the 10m cable on the pump  was a couple of metres too short, so I headed of to the shop and bought an extension and a water proof junction box. Threading the cable through the armoured piping took a little longer than expected, but we soon had the pump plugged in and the cable buried out of sight under the garden.

Installing the sump

The sump was lowered into its hole and levelled up, the pumped was installed and the grill put on top of sump.

Next I had to prepare the bowl. We needed to drill a hole in the bottom of it for the pipe to go through and then seal the pipe into it so that it was water tight. This was all fairly straight forward and after leaving it to dry overnight we tested the water tightness of the bowl and started planning the installation of the column of rock.

Preparing the bowl

We placed some sand in the bottom of the bowl to stand the rock on and then with some help (as the rock is surprisingly heavy) man-handled the rock into position whilst feeding the pipe up through the hole in the middle. We placed a number of rubber bands around the top of the pipe which helped to seal it into the central hole in the rock.

Once it was all in place, we switched on the pump to test it, and it soon became apparent that the rock wasn’t exactly stable. I guess that is kind of obvious really, a metre tall column of rock that is only 8 inches square is never going to be that secure just stood up on its own. We didn’t want it to blow over or worse still get knocked over by a child so a new plan was hatched – We would concrete it into the bowl. The concrete would fix it to the bowl and provide a large, heavy stable base.

It took us a while to find a break in the weather and suitable man-power to help lift the stone but we finally got around to it this weekend.

Getting it level

The main worry was that everything had to be completely level. In order for the water to flow out of the bowl all the way around it, the top of the bowl had to be totally level when sat on the grill. In addition the column of rock had to also be completely level so that the water would flow out across the flat top and down all four sides equally. Trouble is, once you’ve set it in concrete it is pretty much ‘set in stone’ and there can be no final tweaks and adjustments once the water is switched on. We couldn’t turn the water on though until the concrete had set so we had to make sure it was all level and hope for the best.

We got the bowl completely level, man-handled the column into place whilst threading the tube into its hole once again and then fiddled around getting the column completely level. After a final check on the levels of both the bowl and the column we mixed up some concrete and half filled the bowl with it. Another quick check on the levels as it set and that was that.

We left it to dry overnight and then came the moment of truth, turning on the pump. Was it level, had we crushed the pipe, would it all work properly?

The answer was, yes, yes and yes, everything was just perfect. The water bubbled out the top at just the right power, flowed across the top of the column and down all four sides perfectly. The bowl filled with water and didn’t leak and then the water flowed out all the way around the bowl and into the sump. The column felt secure and stable and all looked good.

We then placed a few plants around the base of the bowl along with some bits of slate to tie in with the rock of the columns, sat back and enjoyed the sight and sound of running water in the garden.

Water Feature

It’s a nationwide survey aimed at helping to assess the health of our environment. in much the same way as the Big Garden Bird Watch organised by the RSPB, Butterfly Conservation in conjunction with M&S have orgainsed the Big Butterfly Count to run between July 24th and August 1st 2010 and you can join in.

All you have to do is spend 15 minutes in a suitable location – which could be your garden or a local park – noting down all of the butterflies and moths that you see and then report back with your findings. They have a handy butterfly ID chart of the most likely species that you will see and a website explaining all about the Big Butterfly Count.

Hopefully we’ll get some nice sunny days this week in which case Morgan and I will do a count in the garden and a count in the dunes. Le us know what you find in your garden.

From whence there was a healthy, organically grown green vegetable comes a not so healthy but much more tempting cake.

Mmm Mmm.

Here’s the recipe

250g courgettes (about 2 courgettes, coursely grated – no need to peel)
150g sugar
225g self raising flour
125ml sunflower oil
2 eggs
half teaspoon bicarb of soda (optional)
half a teaspoon baking power
1 teaspoon mixed spice (optional)

Roughly grate the courgettes and mix everything together. I only do cakes where I can throw everything in a bowl and mix so no need to be fancy.

Divide mixture between 2 loaf tins and cook at 180 degrees C (170 for a fan oven) for 30-35 minutes.

This was our first attempt using a made up recipe from a number of sources. It is basically a carrot cake recipe with corgettes instead of carrots but was really tasty. Morgan enjoyed several slices and it didn’t last long. It would probably be nice with walnuts added as well and I might try this next time.

After the lawn was mowed I did some other tidying up around the garden and then persuaded Harvey to pop up and help me with the new water feature. It’s too heavy for me to lift on my own so once he was here we man-handled it into place while Anna fed the pipe into the column of stone. The bowl that it sits in was levelled, the column itsalf was levelled and then we mixed up some concrete to fix it all in place.

It looks good at the moment, but I shall report on it properly once it’s been switched on and (fingers crossed) it is all working well.

Morgan and I then checked the surf but it was flat so next on the agenda was cleaning my bike followed by an oiling of the garden furniture, a little more clearing up in the garden and then time for dinner and to sit down and watch the Tour de France.

I followed this with a quick spin on the Turbo Trainer. I had a new gadget to play with and wanted to try it out – something else that I’ll post about later – so it was only a quick and easy workout. And then it was time for bed!

A good day getting lots done and especially rewarding as it was Friday and I feel as though I have the weekend chores out of the way already.

I sat with it for a little while at dusk, but then got up again at 4am before it was light and went out to investigate. I was lovely being out in the garden at that time in the morning with nothing but the bats, moths and other creatures of the night as company. It was a lovely still morning, perfect for sitting there watching and listening to the dawn.

• 2 x Cabbage Moth
• 2 x Heart and Dart
• 9 x Garden Tiger
• 2 x Rosy Minor
• 4 x White-line Dart
• 2 x July Highflyer
• 1 x Poplar Hawkmoth
• 36 x Large Yellow Underwing
• 9 x Dark Arches
• 3 x Scarce Footman
• 1 x Smoky Wainscot
• 18 x Common Rustic / Lesser Common Rustic agg.
• 1 x Rustic
• 3 x Lackey
• 1 x Pebble Prominent
• 2 x Antler Moth
• 1 x Drinker
• 1 x Foxglove Pug
• 1 x Common Carpet
• 2 x Shuttle-shaped Dart
• 1 x Flame Shoulder
• 1x Double Square spot*

Not that exciting but still quite a few moths and lots of lovely Garden Tigers

I have just come across a photo of it from a few years back  – admittedly in a snow storm in the winter – but it certainly highlights the transformation. Here are the before and after photos.

Which would you prefer to sit in?

Before

After

]]> http://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2010/garden-improvements/feed/ 0 http://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2010/derwen-garden-centre-welshpool/ http://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/2010/derwen-garden-centre-welshpool/#comments Sun, 04 Jul 2010 07:42:54 +0000 Alan http://www.alananna.co.uk/blog/?p=5164 Our parents had given us some money as an anniversary present so we thought we’d treat ourselves to some plants for the garden. So, as part of our anniversary day out we went to Derwen Garden centre near Welshpool.

Derwen Garden Centre is actually one of three sites, that as far as we can tell are owned by the same people. There is the Garden Centre and Farm Shop that we went to, the Dingle Garden and Nursery and the Dingle Wholesale Nursery.

Dingle Garden

We’d been to the Dingle Garden and Nursery before. It is an internationally acclaimed, four-acre RHS garden on a wooded slope with a large lake at its centre. It’s a lovely place to wander around with new things to explore at every turn and a garden that encourages you to look around the next corner. However as we’d been there before and had some money to spend we though we’d visit the garden centre instead.

Derwen Garden Centre

The garden centre is an independent family business billed as having a “friendly and relaxed atmosphere for all to enjoy”. We found this to be true and enjoyed wandering around it just as much as wandering around the RHS garden itself.

On our way in our eyes were drawn to a couple of bird baths. We’ve been meaning to add a bird bath to the garden for a while and have a spot in mind so we had a look at these, but then saw a really nice water feature made from a twisted column of stone. We certainly liked it but it needed to be switched on in order for water to be present and it didn’t have a pool of water. As we wanted it to function as a garden feature, a bird bath and a water source for the bees this wasn’t ideal.

We continued on around the garden centre which has a large variety of plants from large container grown trees through to alpines, with everything in between. What’s more, all the plants were healthy and they all made us want to buy them and add them to the garden. Spending our anniversary money was going to be easy, even though the plants were reasonably priced. Deciding what not to buy was going to be a little more difficult.

Themed Gardens

As well as the plants for sale, the garden centre also has a selection of themed gardens. Having been involved in the making of medal winning gardens at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show the owners decided to create their own themed gardens to give visitors the “Chelsea experience all year round”. They have 15 themed gardens all of which are very different and offer inspiration for your own garden. We liked parts of almost all of them and having never been to Chelsea or any other garden show for that matter we were impressed by how much they can fit into a small area without it feeling cramped.

I’m not sure if I’ll use any specific features of any of the themed gardens in our garden, but it has made me think that maybe certain areas don’t need quite so much space and that I could create smaller paths in amongst more planting areas. It’s also shown me that we need some more height in the garden, which is difficult to achieve here on a windswept coast. Come to think of it their seaside garden didn’t have much in the way of height and was the most ‘open’ of the themed gardens.

We then stopped for a coffee and cake – a very relaxed coffee and cake by our standards as Morgan wasn’t with us. Once again we were impressed with the cafe and the prices weren’t extortionate as they often can be in such places.

Maze

After wandering around a little more and thinking about the water-feature / bird bath idea we found the maze in the middle of the garden centre and lost ourselves in it for 10 minutes!

Water Feature

We then formulated a plan and started spending money! The idea was to buy a pot that the twisted column water feature could stand in. The pot would act as a pool that would fill with water then overflow into a sump below. This would mean that when the pump was on the twisted column water feature effect would be seen in all it glory but even when it was switched off there would still be a shallow pool of water providing a water source for garden wildlife.

We picked a pot and asked staff if it would work. They were very helpful, understood what we wanted to achieve, told us about the pitfalls of such a plan and said that it should work. They then priced up the necessary equipment for us, let us think about it and then when we decided to go for it headed off to get all of the components ready for us: Sump, grill, grill access cover, tubing, pump, bowl and the twisted column of stone.

Value For Money

When it came to time to pay, they threw in a piece piping for free, knocked off 5% from the total price even though we didn’t ask them to (although to be fair the only twisted column water feature that they had was the one that had been assembled and on show – so maybe that was why), and then helped us load it into the car. Well, they were going to, but the guy who was going to had gone for lunch so we had to go back in and get someone else to help. At this point they gave us 3 Penstemons for free as well for ‘keeping us waiting’ – despite the fact that we hadn’t been waiting at all!

All in all we were very impressed. Yes we spent more money than we had planned to, but not huge amounts in the grand scheme of things and only because they had a nice selection of products at reasonable prices and were very helpful. They also went the extra mile and made you feel like a valuable customer – not something you always get at garden centres. We will be back and fully recommend it to anyone else.

Of course, now we’re back home have dug the hole for the sump and started assembling the water feature, it hasn’t been all plain sailing, but I’ll save that story for another blog post – The water feature isn’t ready for public viewing quite yet as we need a longer electric lead and some concrete to make it stable.