Cottage & Countryside Living: Week 22
Cottage & Countryside Living: Week 22
A weekly journal
Bonjour Juin! (Hello June)
We are officially half way through 2024 folks! Yep…take a moment if you need it. I know I did…where did 6 months go so fast???? I think the slow & wet start to Spring just made life feel like it wasn’t the date it was. Then ta-da all my roses are in full bloom and my lavender is filling the air with it’s soothing scent.
This has been a busy week at the farm getting all the dahlia tubers in the ground & getting annual seedlings planted. At the cottage, I’ve been not stop getting the potager planted, seedlings potted up, new seeds started and plants into the ground. This week we are finally finishing the edging on the boxwood hedge (note to self: do this first before planting a hedge not after) then they’ll get fertilized and mulched. I’ll also be harvesting the first flush of my lavender! Hoping to have some dried bundles ready for my June pop-up at the Mount Hope Farmers Market. Also wrapping up a few DIY’s this week & getting bits together in prep for my pop-up.
This week is also my birthday (ugh) so taking a day just to be. I’m not a birthday person and my hubby always does little things each year to try make me smile (he’s so thoughtful that way) but he knows I really just want it to be another day. No muss, no fuss. This morning he took me to the nursery to pick out something for our garden. Last year he got me all my lavender plants which this year is now a beautiful hedge row along our driveway all in bloom. I couldn’t figure out what I wanted or actually what I needed for the garden as I have been so focused on tweaking le jardin blanc & the potager. So today as we were walking about the tons of trees & shrubs we both happened upon the fruit tree section. I knew I wanted to put a fruit tree at the end of our driveway but it needed to be a dwarf or semi-dwarf, self pollinating tree which to be honest are hard to find locally. That’s when we happened upon this short little tree called “Lapins”- which means bunnies in French. It’s a sweet cherry (we both love those), semi dwarf (perfect in height) and self-pollinating (yay!) and it was under $100 (which was rare at this particular nursery). We both knew it was the right one for our little cottage garden. So today I am planting a tree for my 51st birthday and when we get our first harvest I’m going to make my favorite clafouti recipe and remember the day I spent in the nursery with my hubby.
The Bees Knees
Summer (l’ete) is a great time to try some fun cocktails. I am very partial to the season and nothing says early summer like a Bee’s Knees cocktail. Couple of my tips on making this drink:
good gin. I am very partial to Citadelle which is a French gin and I love their Jardin d’Été which has accents of Charentais melon, whole lemons and yuzu & orange zest. Perfect for this drink.
local honey. There is something about the flavor of local honey to create your honey syrup plus your are supporting a local farm. I use wildflower which is a good neutral tasting honey.
fresh herbs. I’m sharing a few recipes with you from various sources but I also use fresh herbs from my garden for this drink. I planted lemon thyme just for this cocktail :)
Here are a few of my favorite Bee’s Knees cocktail recipes:
From Frolic & Faire…. a lavender Bee’s Knees
A New England Classic
I got so many messages on Instagram when I posted this pic wanting the recipe. Every year we try and do our “personal” clambakes on the grill at least once or twice. They are super simple to assemble and when you live in the Ocean State it’s not that hard to find great seafood shops. A few things are important when putting this together: thick tin foil, fresh seafood & a preheated grill. The recipe I am sharing is for two so double or triple the ingredients based on your crowd size.
12 littleneck clams
12 mussels
8 extra large shrimp
4 small potatoes (yellow or red bliss)
2 links of smoked sausage (I used chicken but andouille is great for a kick)
2 stalks of celery chopped into 2 in pieces
1 small onion quartered
1 earn of corn cut into four pieces
2 Tbsp of Pernod
2 Tbsp of Old Bay Seasoning
4 tablespoons of unsalted butter
(each serving is half of the listed ingredients)
Take 4 medium sized sheets of aluminum foil. Place 2 on top of each other on a tray to create the base. Place all your seafood and veg (in the center creating a mound. Pour the Pernod over the pile. Sprinkle with the seasoning. Top with 1 more piece of aluminum foil and turn the edges in all the way around to create a pouch. Repeat for the 2nd serving. Cut a small hole in the center for venting
Place on a hot grill for about 20-25 minutes. Carefully lift each pouch unto individual plates. Carefully open tin foil pouch. Serve with some crusty bread for dipping.
The Cottage Rose
The staple in any cottage garden is roses and in particular English roses. I am very partial to David Austen Roses. They are definitely an investment (more expensive if you buy them potted-cheaper if you buy them bareroot) but so worth every single penny.
Today this part garden was in full bloom. I chose pinks, peach, soft yellows and whites for this section of the garden and scattered cosmos, flax and wild carrot seed below which are all starting the sprout. Caring for roses is not as complicated as one thinks. occasionally you will get black spot (I got it a lot last year because the summer was so wet), or aphids (introduce ladybugs or get a bird feeder like I did to attract sparrows that will eat aphids) but as long as you continue to cut those blooms more and more will come until late fall. I have had roses in November.
The only thing I do special for this section is I have a separate pair of cutting shears that I only use in the rose garden. Otherwise that’s it! The rosaraie will be getting an overhaul in the fall when we do some changes to the cottage exterior so I am plotting and planning now to create a beautiful little garden room filled with blooms.
Here are the shears I use in the rose garden *
This is the best rose fertilizer. I use it every year and get tons of blooms. *
Neem oil is a great deterrent for aphids. Spray in the early morning and only on the buds. *
This is a great inspiration book for planning your rose garden. *
Sunday Saves
Here’s a few things that caught my eye this past week:
The Air France La Première First Class is About To Get Even More Luxurious
This body spray by Diptyque with mosquito-repellent essential oils is already in the shopping cart *
I Tried the “333 Method” to Pack My Carry-on Bag, and I Was Shocked by the Results via Apartment Therapy. Not sure if I could do this. Mine might me more like 5-4-3.
*Please note that some of the links are affiliate links including my Amazon shop where I do make a very small commission at no additional cost to you when you shop my links which helps me continue to provide this free weekly newsletter.
As always….Merci beaucoup for your patronage! xo- Jenna