Darren T, Gardener

@darrenturpin

Pro #Gardener @ NT Quarry Bank 12+yr #Allotment tenant #Orchard geek & fruit grower @orchardnotes.com / Also: Beer, Pubs, Music, Comedy, Gaming, History, Psychology, Art, Philosophy, Mental Health

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Darren T, Gardener@darrenturpin· 20d

"Beer wine", anyone? Via 'Home-made Wines: How to Make and Keep Them' by G. Vine (1870). www.google.co.uk/books/editio...

"BEER WINE. A correspondent of the "Gardener's Chronicle" says that he has made a wine called beer wine, which has puzzled many connoiseurs, from the following recipe:- Sugar thirty pounds, boil for half an hour with ten gallons of soft water, skim it quite clean, and when cold put to every gallon one quart of new strong beer ; work in a tub for six or eight days, till fermentation is over ; put it into a cask with six pounds of raisins and two ounces of isinglass dissolved in some of the liquor ; stop it close, and let it remain in the cask for twelve months before it is bottled."

Darren T, Gardener@darrenturpin· 20d

Glorious Gunnera, photographed at #NTQuarryBank a couple of weeks ago. I do enjoy the interplay of light and shadow on those massive, intensely textured leaves. 📷 one of mine 🌱

Massive Gunnera leaves, against a background of blue sky and trees.

Gunnera leaves in alternating bands of shadow, light, and shadow.

Darren T, Gardener@darrenturpin· 20d

A lovely splash of colour down on the #allotment yesterday, despite the dry, dusty conditions.

Bright orange Nasturtium flowers against a background of green leaves.

Deep purple sweet pea flowers, growing on a plastic mesh frame.

Orange-yellow marigold flowers, against a background of green leaves.

A sunflower flower with a deep, bronze-coloured centre and bright yellow tips.

Darren T, Gardener@darrenturpin· Jul 5

A column of Trachelospermum jasminoides, with bright, white, star-shaped flowers shining out against the glossy, mid-green leaves.

Darren T, Gardener@darrenturpin· Jun 28

Enviromesh over the blueberries! Might not look pretty, but it means that for the first year in many we're actually able to pick 'em before the blackbirds scoff the lot 😁

Darren T, Gardener@darrenturpin· Jun 28

Spotted this rather fascinating #fasciation effect on a Veronicastrum at work this week. There's a normal stem in the bottom right corner of the pic, but the other two have developed as broad, solid stems with flowers spread across them. 🌱

A group of pale, lilac-coloured Veronicastrum flower spikes. The smaller one in the bottom right-hand corner is a normal shape, but the two larger stems are affected by fasciation and have developed into broad, solid stems with flowers spread across them. The backdrop is a large greenhouse structure with a house at the far end.

Darren T, Gardener@darrenturpin· Jun 28

First #Dahlia flower of the year, a seed-grown 'Bishop's Children' hybrid. A bit nibbled around the edges, but the colours are rather pleasing, in a pastel kinda way. It's one of 16 we planted out on the #allotment this year. It'll be interesting to see how the other 15 turn out.

A single 'Bishop's Children' dahlia flower, with shades of 'pinkish red at the centre, fading to orangey yellow at the edges, against a ''background of dark green foliage.

Darren T, Gardener@darrenturpin· Jun 19

It's Papaver (poppy) season, down on the #allotment. (I'm not quite sure where the super-floofy red ones came from. I must have scattered some wildflower seed, or some collected seed from a while back 🤔 I have to admit they're not my usual cup of tea, I prefer the simpler forms.)

A purple poppy flower, growing on an allotment, with a deep red poppy in the background.

A deep red poppy flower with very floofy, shredded-effect petals, growing on an allotment.

A trio of deep red poppy flowers with very floofy, shredded-effect petals, growing on an allotment.

A deep red poppy flower with dark splotches at the base of its petals, growing on an allotment.

Darren T, Gardener@darrenturpin· Jun 18

Spotted this afternoon, down on the #allotment, the very best form of biological slug control.

A common frog, brownish green with darker brown markings, sitting on a large, bright green comfrey leaf, trying to decide whether to go and eat a slug (dooo it! dooo it!) or just, y'know, hang around some more.

Darren T, Gardener@darrenturpin· May 4

(Honey?) bee feeding on apple blossom. #allotment #apples

A cluster of apple blossom, with dark green apple leaves. In the centre of the photo a dark-coloured bee is feeding on nectar from one of the flowers.

Darren T, Gardener@darrenturpin· May 4

Sweet pea and sunflower supports are in. Just waiting for the actual plants to reach planting-out size. #allotment

A row of sweet pea support structures, consisting of bamboo canes threaded through heavy duty plastic mesh, on an allotment.

Sunflower supports - two rows of sort-of-vertical bamboo canes sticking out of a planting bed, on an allotment.

Darren T, Gardener@darrenturpin· May 3

Soft fruit patch with forget-me-nots. #allotment

Green-leaved fruit bushes on an allotment plot, with the pale blue dots of forget-me-not flowers growing in between them.

Darren T, Gardener@darrenturpin· May 3

Top chitting. #allotment #spuds

A tray of chitted potatoes in egg cartons, with purple and green shoots emerging from the brown tubers.

Darren T, Gardener@darrenturpin· Apr 17

He ain't seen nothing yet... 😮

Book cover of Night of the Crabs by Guy N Smith (1989)

Darren T, Gardener@darrenturpin· Apr 5

Hugely exciting news from the #allotment yesterday... The first #asparagus tips of the year are showing!

The reddish tip of an asparagus spear, poking out of the ground, surrounded by bark chippings and chunks of soil.

Darren T, Gardener@darrenturpin· May 23

...past the end of the soft fruit, & the chives, we have a double row of sunflowers, then the sweet pea frames, and then the as yet uncovered & unplanted Dahlia bed. Next it's 2 air-potted & 3 planted apple trees, then the comfrey farm, then we're into the compost bins & general utility area.

A view of an allotment plot with soft fruit bushes & chives, then sunflowers growing up canes, sweet peas, potted apple trees and large comfrey plants.

Darren T, Gardener@darrenturpin· May 23

T'other side of our #allotment plot, as of this morning. Stepover apple 'Howgate Wonder', a couple of pea frames behind that, then our asparagus beds (3 rows, we love asparagus in season), then the rhubarb patch and on to the possibly over-engineered raspberry supports & the soft fruit section...

A view of an allotment plot, with a stepover apple tree, pea frames, asparagus beds, rhubarb patch, raspberry supports and soft fruit bushes at the very back.

Darren T, Gardener@darrenturpin· May 16

Our #allotment this a.m. Front: purple-blue Centaurea, then our stepover apple 'Keswick Codlin'. Middle: purple Iris (germanica?) flanked by rows of cordon #apples. Back: another cordon apple row, then the rest of the plot, and our 6x6 greenhouse right at the very end. Not too shabby. 🌱

A view of an allotment plot, with purple-blue Centaurea at the very front, then a stepover apple tree, then purple Iris flowers, flanked by rows of cordon #apples.

Darren T, Gardener@darrenturpin· Mar 7

I've invested in new seed sowing modules from the @cdfarmguy.bsky.social (Charles Dowding) range, via Containerwise UK. First impression: thick, v sturdy plastic, should last years. Dibber / plug pop-up unit comes in handy as well. Very happy so far. Details: containerwise.co.uk/product/char...

Darren T, Gardener@darrenturpin· Mar 2

Here's a hugely welcome sign of spring, snapped on the last day of winter. {NT Quarry Bank, 28.02.25}

A spray of fully-opened crocus flowers with a bee or three busily collecting nectar.

Darren T, Gardener@darrenturpin· Feb 22

Brie de meaux for lunch. May need to use a straw... 😋😋😋

A very ripe wedge of 'brie de meaux' cheese on a plate, with some chunks of apple and pear. Yum.

Darren T, Gardener@darrenturpin· Feb 12

Hellebore.

Darren T, Gardener@darrenturpin· Feb 12

It's potato chitting time.

Darren T, Gardener@darrenturpin· Feb 1

A late Jan / early Feb #sixonsaturday: Sarcococca confusa (sweet box), Helleborus x hybridus (from Ashwood's), new leaf on a random hybrid Heuchera, Primula vulgaris (primrose), flowers on Hamamelis x intermedia 'Diane' (witch hazel), and a backlit, glowing Galanthus nivalis (snowdrop).

A collage of garden flowers and foliage. From largest image, clockwise: the black berries of sweet box, a purple picotee-edged white Hellebore flower, a red-veined on green Heuchera leaf, a primrose flower, a cluster of red Hamamelis flowers, and a trio of back-lit snowdrops.

Darren T, Gardener@darrenturpin· Jan 15

Managed to get a couple of hours in down on the #allotment today. A bit grey and soggy underfoot, but good ground conditions for picking out fiddly weed seedlings - mostly bittercress, willowherb, a few docks. Looks like the rhubarb survived last week's big freeze 👍

Darren T, Gardener@darrenturpin· Jan 10

A top tip that I learned the other day from a random post: in Settings > Accessibility, you can check the box that prevents you from posting any images without adding Alt text to them:

Screenshot of the Bluesky accessibility settings option that prevents images being posted without Alt text.

Darren T, Gardener@darrenturpin· Jan 8

I just finished 'A Cheesemonger's History of the British Isles' by Ned Palmer. Hugely enjoyable, and not just if you're a cheese fan. But mostly if you're a cheese fan. Actually, you probably need to really like cheese to get the most out of this one. And it will make you feel hungry. For cheese. 🙂

The paperback book cover of 'A Cheesemonger's History of the British Isles' by Ned Palmer, with white text and yellow-on-grey illustrations of different cheeses.

Darren T, Gardener@darrenturpin· Jan 8

Winter Sunrise, linear #orchard, kitchen garden, National Trust Quarry Bank, 07.01.25

The sun is rising above a line of stark, monochrome winter trees in the background. In front, a trio of apple trees are draped in a thick covering of frosted snow. The whole image is low-light due to the time of morning it was taken.

Darren T, Gardener@darrenturpin· Jan 5

Spotted on a nearby allotment plot earlier today. Don't know if it scares the crows, but it definitely perturbs the hell out of me...

Darren T, Gardener@darrenturpin· Jan 5

Woke up to a decent amount of snow cover this morning. Heavy rain forecast this afternoon though, so it might not last all that long.