Or should that be shovelling?

We left off last time with a hole in the garden. It was a deliberately shaped hole, but a hole nevertheless. Almost a tonne of topsoil. And what do you do with a hole in the garden? Fill it in, of course.

The first step was a layer of sand to protect the weed membrane from stones and anything that might snag it. It helped that I needed to get rid of some of the sand from digging up the old patio footing last year. The legacy of the last project forming the foundation of the new one. Once that was down, it was time for the geotextile membrane. Yet another shared legacy.

This step was made challening thanks to the wind. I roughly positioned the membrane, weighed down with a few rocks at the edges, before the next step. Having learned the lesson of having too little overage in the past, I ensured there was sufficient overhang around the peripheries to allow for proper positioning and trimming once the stones were in place.

After doing a bit of reading online, I settled for 6mm white limestone chippings. These are small enough to be easily raked, but keep their position once moved allowing a zen garden effect. Prior to commencing the project I had calculated a requirement of around 700kg for a depth of 5cm (ish). Ideally I want to achieve a clean border between the grass and the stones, but doing that without having the stones wander onto the grass and vice versa will be tricky.

I have moved most of the stones now shy of about 150kg, and the area is looking much cleaner than before. The timing of the project is not ideal as I needed to get the stones out of the way, but there is still a new wall to build around the beds in the corner and at the back. When it comes to that I will cover the area with plastic sheeting to keep it as clean as possible. I also need to find a feature stone or lantern to set off the area.

Garden Variety

Digging hasn’t been the only activity of the past week. I put together a few cocktails including a Föhr Manhattan born from a small Frisian island in Northern Germany, an unlikely concotion in a world of farmers and fishermen. The links between emigrants and the New World led to this variant of the classic Manhattan. Equal parts whiskey, sweet (red) vermouth, and blanc (white) vermouth, served with a cocktail cherry. Ideal for a pre-mixing and storing in the fridge.

This wasn’t the only nod to the East Coast this weekend. I also made a New York Sour, which is a twist on a whiskey sour with a float of red wine. Admittedly my layering isn’t perfect and the photo doesn’t quite do it justice, but it makes for quite an effect. The additional complexity of the red wine brightens up a cocktail which can be a tad ordinary. My favourite whiskey sour is still the Penicillin. Whiskey, lemon juice, honey ginger syrup. It’s positively medicinal.

As the nights are drawing in, we start to lean towards comfort foods. Hearty stews. Warming puddings. One in particular makes excellent use of the glut of apples at the end of summer and beginning of autumn. I made this apple crumble from a Nigel Slater recipe using Brambley apples from a friend and frozen raspberries from the garden. Interestingly, the topping used breadcrumbs rather than flour, and the result was rather good. Half way between a crumble and bread and butter pudding. The recipe was a little infuriating for someone who prefers an engineering approach to cooking. Nothing sets me off like “add the sugar” without specifying even an approximate quantity.