Welcome to the official opening of Granddads' shed

Oh deary me, I didn't realise you have to be a proper gardener to come into the shed. Here's me enjoying the odd and toast under false pretenses. How clever you all are.

Don't worry ElseG, you only have to sound like a proper gardener . BYT is a false pretence anything like a false acacia ?

I have two little tealights in a flower shaped candle holder in my garden, along with some dead strawberries and a couple of nice geraniums. Can I come and pretend to be a real gardener, I am sure I can talk the talk. Mmm big courgettes!

Quickly popped in to get some potting compost under my finger nails....it always calms me down.
Your veggie area sounds amazing Joan, all very Darling Buds. Do you have wind-chimes and spinning cd's and scarecrows and bunting?
I have a few small and well behaved raised beds for veg growing, I'd love to have the room for something more rambling and random and voluptuous.

And more space for growing veg.

Does anyone know why my courgettes start growing well and then the blossom end goes mouldy?

Notsogrand, I am random and voluptuous, will I do?

GoldenGran...you'll be just the job!

I have dead strawberries too. Well, not dead, but excavated by slugs. They dangle from their custom made strawberry container looking red and luscious - and voluptuous - but when picked, you discover it's a mirage. The slugs, which always enter from the side of the strawberry that you cannot see, have munched most of the berry and left just a manky hole surrounded by half a 'wall' of berry. Hate them, I really do hate slugs.

On a lighter but still garden-related note, my local greengrocer was selling bags of 7 peaches for 60p this morning. Some had a couple of soft patches, they clearly weren't Grade A, but they were mostly good and juicy (voluptuous?) and just fine. I bought 6 bags, and now have 4 gallons of peach wine on the way.

Oh how delicious, could you have some delivered to the shed.

The wine sounds brilliant, how long before we get to have a taste?

It'll be at least 9 months before the peach wine is ready.
In the meantime, I'll send over a selection of last year's wine to the shed. Um....a Blackberry, a Rose Petal and a Cranberry & Echinacea.
All fairly robust - 13/14% - so I'll send a packet of Hovis crackers, some Boursin cheese and a pot of black olives stuffed with garlic so you have nibbles to wash down. Cheers!

Mmm.. I had some rose petal years ago and it was delicious.

Have to confess it's my favourite Zeph. I plant scented, blowsy roses just for the wine it produces.

Double value, a lovely scented garden and delicious wine!

Rose Petal wine, now that is the perfect way to spend an evening, I can almost forget what a lousy gardener I am . We do have a nice line in dandelions though so perhaps I could make some dandelion wine.

Hello everyone, things have been a bit quiet in the shed lately. Time to break out the deck chairs whilst we have some late summer sun.
Had a laugh last night, just heading to bed, sudden yell from Mrs. P !!!!!!!!, we had a frog hopping along the hallway heading for the stairs . it must have been in for a while, the back door had been shut for several hours.

A frog in the house...the ultimate nightmare! They terrify me in the garden too. I'm glad the shed is frog-free.

Good idea to make the most of the last summer evenings pompa, let's light some anti-midge candles this evening outside the shed.

Its ages since Ive been in the shed, will have to make the most of the summer before its too late

We'll be fine in here in the winter months — don't forget we've got a great big multi-fuel stove in the corner!

Beautiful morning in W Scotland. Sea mist being burned off by a bright, warm sun. Definitely mellow, tho' DD was being decidedly "pre-teen" and insisted it was frosty. 2km walk to school, getting hotter by the minute, cheered her up, as it usually does.

Following pompa's advice and breaking out the deckchairs to catch the last rays outside the shed. I've brought a still-warm jar of blackberry and apple jam and a crusty loaf - plenty to share. After an unexpectedly busy day, I'm celebrating having stopped with a modest spritzer.

Following Notsogrand - thought she was off to the camping van but no! Have a nice Pinot Grigio here.....

Picked some sloes when I was in Cornwall and am making sloe gin for the first time. I don't even like gin, but can't resist free hedgerow produce. In the same vein; although I've already made enough jam to keep us fed for years, I couldn't resist the plums hanging over my daughter's garden from her neighbour's tree, so I have a washing up bowl full of the things to turn into jam this evening. I've never tried making wine - is it very faffy?

Well granny, it is quite faffy, but it's a very satisfying -and ultimately delicious- faff. Glass is having a go at making wine, and I put some info on her Home Made Wine thread. See what you think and by all means come back and ask more questions. Until you decide/gather the bits you need to start, you could maybe stone,weigh and freeze your bowl of plums in readiness.

4lbs of plums will make a gallon of very nice wine, but it will be at least 9 months before you're drinking it. For a faster turnaround (a week!!) there are details of kit wines on glass's thread.

Cheers!

grannyactivist, Wine sounds like a good option to me. After a few glasses you won't worry about the fat content.

Forgot to mention.....a glass of home made plum wine will contribute towards your 5 a day.

All the enjoyable things make you fat.

Wine making. Baking.

Baking cheers me up, but then the guilt comes when I eat it.