Showing posts with label Otter Nurseries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Otter Nurseries. Show all posts

Thursday, 26 August 2010

Devon Cheeses



Ian took Helen and I to Otter Nurseries on Tuesday. Then we went next door to Joshua's harvest store. These splendid apple trees are outside in the garden/orchard.


While we were there I bought some local cheeses.


Curworthy Black Wax is produced by Curworthy Cheese at Stockbeare Farm in Jacobstowe, near Okehampton.  The semi-hard cheese is made from full-fat, pasteurised Friesian cows’ milk. It has a light, buttery taste when young becoming more full-flavoured and mellow with age. No colouring or preservatives are added, except for salt. Matured for three months, the cheese is coated in black wax. It was very pleasant and reminded me of Gouda.


Meldon is also produced by Curworthy . The semi-hard cheese is made from full-fat, pasteurised Friesian cows’ milk and vegetarian rennet. The cheese is the same as Curworthy cheese but with the addition of English ale and mustard. Matured for three months, the cheese is coated in yellow wax. It was pleasant enough but I wouldn't rave over it.


Ticklemore is made by Robin Congdon who learned to make cheese in France, principally in the Roquefort style. His dairy sits above the valley of the Dart. Ticklemore is a gentle, very pale, goat’s milk cheese with a white bloomy rind. It is a peculiar UFO shape: an innovation of Robins is to mould the cheeses in colanders he used to get from Woolworth’s. The natural grey/white blooms on the crust form during the maturing process. The flaky pate has tiny eyelet holes scattered throughout and the taste is fresh, light and gentle. Perfect for cooking as well as part of the cheeseboard. The one we bought had added garlic and chive and was very tasty indeed.

Wednesday, 25 August 2010

Otter Nurseries


On Tuesday we had a wander around Otter Nurseries where I photographed some Hibiscus.


The Alstroemeria were also beautiful and yet neither are plants I'd have at home.

Friday, 8 May 2009

Otter Nurseries


A trip to Daughter-who-takes-photos would not be complete without a visit to Otter Nurseries. Usually I have seen it in the late summer so there was a different range of plants when we went last Wednesday.




Irises are among my favourite plants and they are one of the things I shall miss flowering in the garden while I’m down here in Devon and then up in the Hebrides.




There was a fine selection of Rhododendrons and Azaleas in flower.



An evergreen Clematis and a Clematis 'Wada’s Primrose' - a strange name for a white one!


Otter Nurseries also sell a wide variety of indoor plants including Phalaenopsis - supposedly one of the easiest Orchids to grow.


They have everything else you could need (or simply fancy) for your garden - including this cute character.


Friend-who-loves-Otters was admiring a bench that he thought he could make but then his eye was caught by another one with this on it. No contest!


This is a Gentian. I do find blue is the most difficult colour to reproduce most accurately with the camera. It rarely comes out as it was in real life and once you start playing with the colour of the photo the rest of the image is altered as well. One tip I learned some time ago is to photograph blue flowers in the shade as the blue is then truer to its real value.


This is the beautiful Iceland Poppy (Papaver nudicaule).

Sunday, 7 September 2008

Otter Nurseries



We went to Otter Nurseries again on Sunday. One of the borders did exactly what it said on the tin!





Monday, 25 August 2008

Otter Nurseries - Bank Holiday Monday

The four of us went to Otter Nurseries this morning. Needless to say, I carried my camera around. I photographed a number of plants which have gone on my 'wish list' (not that I currently have space for any more plants but that's a common problem for gardeners).


Hibiscus (Allogyne huegellii)



Various Clematis




Echinacea 'Green Envy'


Osteospermum 'Weetwood'


A Chrysanthemum


Morning Glory (Ipomoea Grandpa Ott)



Whilst Pitcher Pants would not be on my wish list they are fascinating objects.


I like this Toad Lily (Trycirtis hirta) but I would not necessarily want it in my garden - not that it could cope with the temperature.


In the nursery there was a super Angel's trumpets (Datura) and the price of £19.99 seemed very reasonable.


There were some enormous, prize-winning onions and leeks on display.