Grow your own Christmas

It may look pretty desolate out there but this is actually quite a productive time in the garden if you want to Grow your own Christmas.

Vegetables:

Christmas dinner would be lacking somewhat without Brussels sprouts and glazed parsnips and carrots.  All of which can be grown without too much difficulty in the garden.
Onions and Potatoes can be taken from store or if you were on the ball back in mid September, you could be enjoying new potatoes as well.
A few other veg ready now would be Cabbage, Turnips, Swedes and Leeks.  Good hearty winter vegetables.

“It’s important to net your brassicas if you want to eat your Christmas dinner before the pigeons do.”

Getting Stuffed:

What self respecting bird would be complete without some well seasoned stuffing?
If meat isn’t your thing, a good Sage and Onion or Parsley and Thyme stuffing is still the icing on the cake, so to speak, for any Christmas dinner.
Easy to grow herbs like Sage, Parsley and Thyme with a little added Onion make superb and essential stuffing.
If you happen to be having beef over the holiday period consider growing your own Horseradish.  Keep it contained as it can be a bit of a thug.

 “It’s not just your winter vegetables to fill the plate that you can grow for the festive season.  Take a look around your plot or garden to see what you can use to bring the spirit of Christmas indoors.”

A warm glow

Our mantelpiece is always adorned at this time of year with Bay, Rosemary, Ivy berries and Fir with the addition of cones and baubles and of course candles.

You may have read my blog on the kitchen Garden Magazine website

Deck the halls with boughs of holly….OR be a little more adventurous with you Christmas decorations.

It may be apparent that my favourite part of Christmas is not the food but the decorations. I love the idea that you can Grow your own Christmas decorations.

Herbal wreath

Pictured above is a wreath made primarily of herbs which featured in the above blog.

The ingredients of this wreath are Bay, Sage, Santolina (Cotton Lavender) and traditional Lavender with some Christmas tree off cuts and ivy.  Some chillies were added for a splash of colour and the candy cane is a fun touch for the little girl whose house door it adorned.

Here are a few more Grow your own Christmas Wreaths:

Fun and Fragrant wreath

Most of the ingredients in this wreath are home grown or foraged.  It has a nice green backing of Conifer hedging which just happened to have tiny cones attached.  The remaining foliage is of Ivy with flowers and Bay and Rosemary which add a wonderful fragrance.  The variegated Holly with berries adds a splash of colour, as do the Cinnamon sticks and orange slices.  Add a few Alder cones, a raffia bow, some wooden snowmen decorations and you have a lovely fun and fragrant door decoration. Our postman liked it!

Traditional wreath

This wreath also has a conifer hedge backing with various fir and spruce trimmings.  If you get your Christmas tree from someone who grows them you can often get a selection of interesting foliage off cuts.  It is decorated with Cones, Ivy with berries just forming and variegated Holly.  There weren’t any berries on the Holly so we used Rose hips to add some colour.

If you include real berries on your wreath you can guarantee that the birds will eat them, so I’ve taken to creating one especially for them a bit earlier in the season.

Harvest wreath

This harvest wreath was intended as a feast for our feathered friends and cost next to nothing to make. The base is a wire coat hanger covered with straw which had literally fallen off a lorry. The wire and string used in construction had been used before. The other ingredients were either home grown or picked from the hedgerow.

Snowy one

This black and white themed wreath was further enhanced by the snow.  It included Silver birch twigs,   variegated Ivy, berries from tree Ivy, Alder cones, Sage, Santolina, Lavender and snowberries.  There are also a few unidentified weed seed heads in there as well!
The whole thing is backed with conifer from a nearby (very overgrown) hedge and finished off with some black and white stars.

“Hope you enjoy this winter time and have some fun in the warm creating your very own Grow your own Christmas.”

I know I’m always harping on about it but please spare a thought for the wildlife.  In the depths of winter they need all the help they can get.  Don’t forget that they enjoy suet pudding and nuts just as much as you.
You don’t need to offer them the sherry though, they’ll be perfectly happy with an unfrozen supply of fresh water.

 Thank you all for taking the time to read my blog.

“Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year”