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I love this time of year [message #41534]

Fri, 22 April 2011 21:09

jmeadows
Messages: 3149
Registered: September 2008
Location: Virginia, USA

Senior Member
[Moderator]

I love this time of year

Smooshes!

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41536 is a reply to message #41534 ]

Fri, 22 April 2011 21:12

jmeadows
Messages: 3149
Registered: September 2008
Location: Virginia, USA

Senior Member
[Moderator]

Oh man, those last two. *fans self*

Smooshes!

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41537 is a reply to message #41534 ]

Fri, 22 April 2011 21:33

Guest

Try taking the photo of the pale lavendar pansy when the sun isnt shining directly on it ie on a lightly clouded over day.

The bright sun is too bright for the camera sensor and over powers the colour of whatever you are taking and washes it out. Its one of the perils of digital photograph.

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41538 is a reply to message #41534 ]

Fri, 22 April 2011 21:41

EMoon
Messages: 664
Registered: March 2009

Senior Member

We can't grow tulips here (and those are gorgeous tulips) but we can grow iris. I have purple, white, yellow, peach, but NOTHING like that one of yours. Wow. We also have water iris in the water garden--a gorgeous blue and a brilliant yellow. Both would like to own the water garden.

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41540 is a reply to message #41534 ]

Fri, 22 April 2011 22:13

equus_peduus
Messages: 437
Registered: September 2009
Location: France

Senior Member

I love irises. If I could keep plants alive, that's what I'd be trying for. That is an amazing iris. Wow.

Though all the flowers are beautiful. I could never deal with the amount of work that goes into gardens that produce gorgeous flowers year after year, but I can certainly admire them. And I always do admire the photos of your garden(s) Smile

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41543 is a reply to message #41534 ]

Sat, 23 April 2011 02:13

Fake Frenchie
Messages: 505
Registered: November 2008
Location: France

Senior Member

I love this time of the year too. For your pleasure:

This the first time that we have had flowers on our rhubarb.

Attachment: rhubarb flowers.jpg
(Size: 353.47KB, Downloaded 34 time(s))

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41545 is a reply to message #41534 ]

Sat, 23 April 2011 03:00

Diane in MN
Messages: 2729
Registered: October 2008
Location: Twin Cities, MN, USA

Senior Member

Oh, yellow peonies! I love peonies. I don't have any, because I don't have any appropriate full-sun locations, but even though their season is short they are so worth it. I don't have any iris, either, because of placement issues, but I like many of them, and I like yours a lot.

We haven't had much spring-like weather, but this year there are blooming daffodils--yes, plural--from a planting that I thought had frozen to death some years ago. If the rain stops, I should go out and take a picture of them just to prove they're really there. Although I will not complain about the rain, even though the ground is so wet it's spongy, because I managed to get grass seed down in time for it. Maybe the annual mud elimination effort will have some success this year.

_{"The point of books is to have way too many but to always feel you never have enough . . . " Louise Erdrich}

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41547 is a reply to message #41537 ]

Sat, 23 April 2011 08:51

Robin
Messages: 6000
Registered: September 2008
Location: England

Senior Member
[Hellgoddess]

Well, not in this case. In this case I CHOSE this photo because the colour is truer: the pansy *is* on the edge between is-that-pale-lavender-or-is-it-white.

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41550 is a reply to message #41543 ]

Sat, 23 April 2011 10:09

AJLR
Messages: 2564
Registered: September 2008
Location: England, UK

Senior Member
[Moderator]

Fake Frenchie wrote on Sat, 23 April 2011 07:13

I love this time of the year too. For your pleasure:

This the first time that we have had flowers on our rhubarb.

Strange looking things, aren't they, rhubarb flowers. Smile

Mind you, letting them flower does take their energy away from producing the leaf stalks that you want to eat. I gather that, like a lot of plants, they're more likely to flower when they're stressed. So unless you're intending to take up flower arranging (or already have that pastime) or have already had your fill of rhubarb compote, you might consider removing them, then giving the plant a nice long drink and a good thick mulch of something organic. And I apologise for missing the point if you've spent years trying to make it flower. Smile

_{"Never let a computer know you're in a hurry."}

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41554 is a reply to message #41534 ]

Sat, 23 April 2011 13:41

jrsygrl626
Messages: 33
Registered: March 2011
Location: New Jersey, USA

Member

Those are such BEAUTIFUL flowers! My mom's African Violets have done the coolest thing this past year: flowered through the winter.
index.php?t=getfile&id=491&private=0

They are just now starting to loose their flowers, but they are kept in the kitchen which IS the warmest spot in the house...

Attachment: african violets.jpg
(Size: 148.43KB, Downloaded 319 time(s))

I spot my prey, but I must make a clean kill...hamburgers can be vicious if they're only wounded.

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41556 is a reply to message #41534 ]

Sat, 23 April 2011 13:48

jrsygrl626
Messages: 33
Registered: March 2011
Location: New Jersey, USA

Member

I also have some good news (which requires a second photo) and this is really geared at something Robin said to me. I was lamenting my lack of plant skills and Robin said "try stronger plants". I repeated this to my mom and she came home a few days later with pepper seeds that go into a mini greenhouse. It was a plant kit for little children. "Try this. Vegetables might be more your thing, instead of flowers." And THEY ARE GROWING!!! Yay!
index.php?t=getfile&id=492&private=0

Now watch and they'll die out of spite...LOL.

Attachment: peppers(almost).jpg
(Size: 108.46KB, Downloaded 318 time(s))

I spot my prey, but I must make a clean kill...hamburgers can be vicious if they're only wounded.

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41558 is a reply to message #41550 ]

Sat, 23 April 2011 14:21

Fake Frenchie
Messages: 505
Registered: November 2008
Location: France

Senior Member

AJLR wrote on Sat, 23 April 2011 16:09

Fake Frenchie wrote on Sat, 23 April 2011 07:13

I love this time of the year too. For your pleasure:

This the first time that we have had flowers on our rhubarb.

Strange looking things, aren't they, rhubarb flowers. Smile

We have a lot of rhubarb (we have another rhubarb patch 2m x 3m), so I think I let them flower til they die. Then, I will give it "a nice long drink and a good thick mulch of something organic". We give ou rhubarb away, we have so much. But, thanks for telling me that it was stressed. I will fertilize it when the flowers die.

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41559 is a reply to message #41556 ]

Sat, 23 April 2011 14:23

blondviolinist
Messages: 1067
Registered: October 2008
Location: Midwestern United States

Senior Member

Oh, that's so fun!

I was pretty sure I couldn't grow much of anything, but after reading Robin's blog for long enough, I've finally gotten a bit braver in the plant department. I now have three (count them, three!) plants which I haven't yet killed. And two of those have lasted over a year. Granted, they're easy plants to grow (an impatiens, an amaryllis, and an African violet) but still... plants I'm responsible for that somehow are still green!

[Updated on: Sat, 23 April 2011 14:24]

"Purity of heart is to will one thing." Kirkegaard

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41562 is a reply to message #41559 ]

Sat, 23 April 2011 16:54

Robin
Messages: 6000
Registered: September 2008
Location: England

Senior Member
[Hellgoddess]

::Purrrrrrrs::

I love being a bad influence.

I NEED TO GET MY OWN BACK SOMEHOW. ::Looks at frelling knitting needles, yarn, books, project bags, several different kinds of squares::

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41565 is a reply to message #41558 ]

Sat, 23 April 2011 17:41

AJLR
Messages: 2564
Registered: September 2008
Location: England, UK

Senior Member
[Moderator]

Fake Frenchie wrote on Sat, 23 April 2011 19:21

Goodness, yes, that is a lot of rhubarb acreage. Smile

Still, at least it's a good healthy thing to eat. My grandmother used to make a rhubarb cordial - it was very powerful stuff!

_{"Never let a computer know you're in a hurry."}

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41566 is a reply to message #41534 ]

Sat, 23 April 2011 17:48

AJLR
Messages: 2564
Registered: September 2008
Location: England, UK

Senior Member
[Moderator]

Totally with you on loving this time of year. Smile

Those Apricot Beauty tulips are so pretty, aren't they. That pale peachy coral colour is wonderful. And Quark the Iris could almost be a soft coral, it looks so intricate.

Have you ever been to Sissinghurst at this time of year, to see the Spring Walk there? It's pretty amazing.

_{"Never let a computer know you're in a hurry."}

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41568 is a reply to message #41562 ]

Sat, 23 April 2011 18:08

Corellia
Messages: 107
Registered: June 2010
Location: Norway

Senior Member

I've spent the last four days trying to get a little part of grandma's garden in order. The garden itself is huge, and would probably require a team of twenty strapping young men armed with spades and chainsaws to get to a semblance of order. I don't think grandma has done any gardening since the beginning of the eighties...

I've managed to rescue 2.5 flowerbeds so far. The Symphoricarpos rivularis had completely usurped one of the beds, and had to be dug up, by hand... It's weird when you're suddenly really happy that you only have to weed stinging nettle for a while.

I seem to have become attracted to reclaiming overgrown gardens, I did the exact same thing last year, at my former home, except the garden there was completely overgrown by roses. Part of me keeps thinking: "I'm glad I don't have to prune roses this year", while another part is thinking (or rather shouting): "Grandma's garden needs more roses!". I love roses! (Even while pruning Rosa rubiginosa, which is lethal!)

[Updated on: Sun, 24 April 2011 06:08]

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41571 is a reply to message #41559 ]

Sat, 23 April 2011 19:43

Melissa Mead
Messages: 989
Registered: October 2008
Location: Albany, NY, USA

Senior Member

blondviolinist wrote on Sat, 23 April 2011 14:23

Granted, they're easy plants to grow (an impatiens, an amaryllis, and an African violet) but still... plants I'm responsible for that somehow are still green!

I, um, think I just killed my amaryllis. It's yellow. And brown. :sigh:

Member of Carpe Libris: http://carpelibris.wordpress.com/

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41572 is a reply to message #41571 ]

Sat, 23 April 2011 22:14

katinseattle
Messages: 373
Registered: November 2008
Location: Seattle

Senior Member

Melissa Mead wrote on Sat, 23 April 2011 16:43

I, um, think I just killed my amaryllis. It's yellow. And brown. :sigh:

Did it just recently bloom? Or have you let the foliage grow for a while? They do die back, like any bulbs. Theoretically, if you've let the foliage grow to feed the bulb, once it dies back, you let the bulb rest for a while. It'll bloom again when you replant it. I'm trying this for the first time myself, so have only theory to go by.

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41574 is a reply to message #41571 ]

Sat, 23 April 2011 23:10

blondviolinist
Messages: 1067
Registered: October 2008
Location: Midwestern United States

Senior Member

I don't know *how* I haven't managed to kill mine yet. It was a thank-you gift, one of those cheap WalMart "grow-your-own" bulb things. The pot it came in doesn't have any holes for water drainage, so I'm shocked that I haven't over-watered it. Supposedly you're supposed to let the leaves die in the autumn or something, and then stick the bulb in a cool dark place for a while, so that it'll flower when you bring it back out? Well, I stuck mine in a dark place, but there wasn't any *cool* place available that wasn't going to get well below freezing. I then promptly forgot about it for a month or more. I brought it back out and left it on the windowsill, where it sat for weeks doing *nothing,* and a few days before I was going to toss it in the trash, it suddenly sent up new leaves and started growing like gangbusters. (I don't know if I'm going to get more flowers out of it, though. Nothing looks like a flower stalk.)

"Purity of heart is to will one thing." Kirkegaard

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41580 is a reply to message #41565 ]

Sun, 24 April 2011 05:38

Fake Frenchie
Messages: 505
Registered: November 2008
Location: France

Senior Member

AJLR wrote on Sat, 23 April 2011 23:41

Fake Frenchie wrote on Sat, 23 April 2011 19:21

Goodness, yes, that is a lot of rhubarb acreage. Smile

Still, at least it's a good healthy thing to eat. My grandmother used to make a rhubarb cordial - it was very powerful stuff!

Can you give me the recipe for the cordial?

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41584 is a reply to message #41572 ]

Sun, 24 April 2011 09:18

Melissa Mead
Messages: 989
Registered: October 2008
Location: Albany, NY, USA

Senior Member

katinseattle wrote on Sat, 23 April 2011 22:14

Melissa Mead wrote on Sat, 23 April 2011 16:43

I, um, think I just killed my amaryllis. It's yellow. And brown. :sigh:

No. The poor thing was just starting to sprout, and I put it outside where it could get some sun and the cats couldn't get at it, and it got cold.

Member of Carpe Libris: http://carpelibris.wordpress.com/

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41585 is a reply to message #41584 ]

Sun, 24 April 2011 10:16

abigailmm
Messages: 545
Registered: January 2009
Location: Texas, USA

Senior Member

If you have a yard, stick it outside in the ground all summer. If it makes another attempt, it will be able to store up much more energy. Repot and bring inside BEFORE FROST.

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41588 is a reply to message #41562 ]

Sun, 24 April 2011 12:32

blondviolinist
Messages: 1067
Registered: October 2008
Location: Midwestern United States

Senior Member

You are most definitely a bad influence. And if I ever move somewhere that has space to grow things outside, you'll be an even worse influence.

"Purity of heart is to will one thing." Kirkegaard

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41594 is a reply to message #41580 ]

Sun, 24 April 2011 13:20

AJLR
Messages: 2564
Registered: September 2008
Location: England, UK

Senior Member
[Moderator]

Fake Frenchie wrote on Sun, 24 April 2011 10:38

AJLR wrote on Sat, 23 April 2011 23:41

Fake Frenchie wrote on Sat, 23 April 2011 19:21

Goodness, yes, that is a lot of rhubarb acreage. Smile

Still, at least it's a good healthy thing to eat. My grandmother used to make a rhubarb cordial - it was very powerful stuff!

Can you give me the recipe for the cordial?

I'll see if it's among her papers, in our loft. I'm not sure if it was something she ever wrote down. I wouldn't say, mind you, that having some of it was a totally positive experience. Smile

Have you come across the Rhubarb Compendium site? A mind-boggling number of recipes there.

_{"Never let a computer know you're in a hurry."}

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41597 is a reply to message #41574 ]

Sun, 24 April 2011 16:41

Black Bear
Messages: 3216
Registered: September 2008
Location: Indianapolis, IN USA

Senior Member
[Moderator]

"cool dark place" for bulbs = your refrigerator, in a brown paper bag. Smile

_{"The time is always right to do what's right."--MLK Jr.}

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41598 is a reply to message #41597 ]

Sun, 24 April 2011 16:53

blondviolinist
Messages: 1067
Registered: October 2008
Location: Midwestern United States

Senior Member

Black Bear wrote on Sun, 24 April 2011 16:41

"cool dark place" for bulbs = your refrigerator, in a brown paper bag. Smile

::slaps forehead:: Why I couldn't think of that myself, I really don't know. Good to know for next year Smile

"Purity of heart is to will one thing." Kirkegaard

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41602 is a reply to message #41598 ]

Sun, 24 April 2011 19:18

Robin
Messages: 6000
Registered: September 2008
Location: England

Senior Member
[Hellgoddess]

Good gods. For those of you with very large refrigerators and very few bulbs I suppose.

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41608 is a reply to message #41602 ]

Sun, 24 April 2011 21:25

Black Bear
Messages: 3216
Registered: September 2008
Location: Indianapolis, IN USA

Senior Member
[Moderator]

Well, I don't dig up outdoor bulbs here--if they can't make it through the winter, they are not for me--but if I were trying to keep something like Amaryllis to force indoors, then there's plenty of room in my fridge for that! Smile

_{"The time is always right to do what's right."--MLK Jr.}

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41625 is a reply to message #41534 ]

Mon, 25 April 2011 02:18

Marina
Messages: 245
Registered: January 2009
Location: Near San Jose CA

Senior Member

I do so love spring flowers.

I bought, and my gardener planted, something like a dozen bags of various bulbs last autumn: mostly daffs, with a large number of tulips of various colors and styles. There was also a crocus mix. I let him plant most of the tulips where he liked, and he did a great job. It's been wonderful seeing all the daffs, all over the yard, and the tulips (and for a short time) the crocus coming up. I did purchase two tree peonies, and hope next year they'll flower. Put them on the north side of the house, so I live in hope. Ordinary peonies need more cold than my plot can provide, drat it.

My earliest-planted wisteria bloomed this year, next to the redbud 'Forest Pansy', but the hawthorn stick is only putting out leaves, no flowers, and the branches aren't. My roses, however, are Very Happy right now.

We have also installed some new callas--apricot/rosy and very black, there might be a new canna or two, astilbes for the legion of shady parts in the yard, and I have been Busy Buying Heucheras/Coral Bells, for the absolute full shade areas, which have been bare dirt for too long.

I think I have bought Too Many Heirloom Tomatoes for this yard's sunniest spots. Oops. I have bought a few white hydrangeas of different styles, for my MiL's Mother's Day gift, now planted.

Next year: more odd and colorful tulips, and IRISES.

A. Marina Fournier
❦If you want a golden rule that will fit everything, this is it: Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful ❧ William Morris❦

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41626 is a reply to message #41538 ]

Mon, 25 April 2011 02:19

Marina
Messages: 245
Registered: January 2009
Location: Near San Jose CA

Senior Member

Have you water lilies or water hyacinths for your water garden?

A. Marina Fournier
❦If you want a golden rule that will fit everything, this is it: Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful ❧ William Morris❦

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41627 is a reply to message #41568 ]

Mon, 25 April 2011 02:25

Marina
Messages: 245
Registered: January 2009
Location: Near San Jose CA

Senior Member

Have you considered renting goats for the weeding? In California, it's handy for clearing land of noxious or invasive plants, such as poison oak, Himalayan blackberry, probably kudzu, if we had it.

I agree with the bit about that last rose--it IS lethal.

A. Marina Fournier
❦If you want a golden rule that will fit everything, this is it: Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful ❧ William Morris❦

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41628 is a reply to message #41588 ]

Mon, 25 April 2011 02:26

Marina
Messages: 245
Registered: January 2009
Location: Near San Jose CA

Senior Member

I can also be a bad influence--especially if you have an itch to get heirloom fruit & nut trees...

A. Marina Fournier
❦If you want a golden rule that will fit everything, this is it: Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful ❧ William Morris❦

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41640 is a reply to message #41627 ]

Mon, 25 April 2011 07:39

Corellia
Messages: 107
Registered: June 2010
Location: Norway

Senior Member

I wonder what the neighbours would say if I showed up with a goat in tow... Sadly, the fence is about as dilapidated as the garden, it would need a rather large restoration to keep a goat inside.

So far my plan is to clear the flowebeds around the house (I have now reached flowerbed number four, which is full of construction material from when they mended the roof...), remove all small saplings and trees from the front garden, and leave the big trees standing. I'll remove shrubs and try to rescue the daylilies (if I can find them). I'll also need to remove branches from trees that have been cut down (what is it with these lumberjack-people, who cut down the trees, and then leave the branches lying around???? It's snargleworthy!) There's enough to keep me busy Smile

And then I'll plant some roses Smile

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41644 is a reply to message #41628 ]

Mon, 25 April 2011 09:18

blondviolinist
Messages: 1067
Registered: October 2008
Location: Midwestern United States

Senior Member

Oh, heavens. Don't scare me! We're talking *simple* here, like maybe a small herb garden and some irises. (I *adore* irises.)

"Purity of heart is to will one thing." Kirkegaard

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41646 is a reply to message #41644 ]

Mon, 25 April 2011 09:28

Robin
Messages: 6000
Registered: September 2008
Location: England

Senior Member
[Hellgoddess]

You can do a surprising amount with a tiny patio/balcony, a few pots and maybe a windowbox. Smile

--enabling hellgoddess, heh heh heh

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41647 is a reply to message #41646 ]

Mon, 25 April 2011 09:44

blondviolinist
Messages: 1067
Registered: October 2008
Location: Midwestern United States

Senior Member

Eeeep!

(My, it's strange being on the receiving end of enabling for a change Very Happy

)

"Purity of heart is to will one thing." Kirkegaard

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41648 is a reply to message #41580 ]

Mon, 25 April 2011 10:31

HeiQ
Messages: 78
Registered: February 2011
Location: Canada

Member

Fake Frenchie wrote on Sun, 24 April 2011 05:38

Can you give me the recipe for the cordial?

The Finns have a slightly fermented rhubarb drink called Sima. I'm not terribly fond of it (I don't like the taste of anything fermented, though), but my husband really likes it, especially on a hot day. Anyway, I thought I'd give you the recipe (it makes a ridiculously huge amount). I hope it's OK if I post a recipe here and not in the "playing with your food" forum.

SIMA

10 litres water
600-1000 grams brown sugar
enough chopped rhubarb to flavour the drink as strong as you like (probably something around 2 litres or so)
10-15 elder flowers (optional)
1 tsp yeast
raisins (optional)
sugar

1. Boil the water and sugar together, and then add the rhubarb and elder flowers. Cook until the rhubarb has dissolved. Allow mixture to cool to room temperature.

2. Dissolve the yeast in lukewarm water and then add it to the rhubarb mixture and mix well. Let the mixture sit at room temperature to ferment until the next day.

3. Strain the mixture to get out all the rhubarb bits and then pour it into bottles or jars that have a couple of raisins and a teaspoonful of sugar in the bottom. Store in a cool place. The sima is ready to drink in 2-3 days. (If you are using raisins, basically the drink is ready when the raisins start to float).

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41649 is a reply to message #41594 ]

Mon, 25 April 2011 10:34

HeiQ
Messages: 78
Registered: February 2011
Location: Canada

Member

AJLR wrote on Sun, 24 April 2011 13:20

Have you come across the Rhubarb Compendium site? A mind-boggling number of recipes there.

That's great! I never know what to do with all my rhubarb, and I have quite a lot of it and I would never have thought to look for a rhubarb website, so thanks for this!

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Re: I love this time of year [message #41655 is a reply to message #41647 ]

Mon, 25 April 2011 17:20

Robin
Messages: 6000
Registered: September 2008
Location: England

Senior Member
[Hellgoddess]

WORKS FOR ME.

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