Being Mrs C

An insight into the things in life that make me smile

First shoots

Every year there's something particularly exciting about seeing the first shoots of the year emerge in the propagator. This last week seems to have given us a taste of spring time weather (if you ignore the freezing temperatures that we're still having at night) and it seems fitting therefore that I can see these on my kitchen window sill right now. From left to right I'm growing mixed leaf lettuce, alicante tomatoes (free from Lakeland last year IIRC) and peppers. Looks like I'm going to need to transplant some seedlings soon! ... read more

Making the most of the good weather

After the snow earlier in the month this warmer spell recently has been a wonderful change. We managed to spend a large portion of the weekend in the garden and the fresh air made all of us feel so much better. It also gave us the opportunity to get quite a few jobs done that we've been putting off since the autumn. Weeds were cleared, the apple tree pruned and dead leaves swept up. We also finally assembled and put up one of our Christmas presents - this lovely birdhouse made from cardboard! Over on UK Nature Blog Mr C has told you all about it and he'll also be reporting ... read more

Seed swap

Looking at the heavy frost we've had these last few nights here in Hertfordshire it's hard to believe that spring is on its way, but it is. One very clear sign - the annual Homemade Life seed swap has started! ... read more

Never too young to garden

Whenever Little Miss C goes out into the back garden, one of the first things she does is try to get into the shed to get one of her many watering can. Once she's got it she then marches straight over to the water butt where she can be heard chanting "fill it, fill it" until the watering can has been filled with water. After that she goes straight over to the veg plot and makes sure that all the plants get a drink. Sometimes the water even comes out of the spout of the watering can! ... read more

Damson Gin

It's over two years now since we moved to this house, and I'm ashamed to say that for the last two years we've just ignored the potential harvest from the two damson trees in our garden. This year was different though! Firstly I made the effort to go and pick the damsons before they all became mush in the grass, and after washing them I put them in plastic bags in the freezer until I had a bit more time to get organised. We love damson gin, but have been finding it increasingly difficult to buy without going to farmers' markets and shops. A quick request on a few internet ... read more

Is it really October?

I mean really? Is my calendar wrong? Is it not July, or maybe August? Both today and yesterday we've eaten lunch in the garden, worn summer clothes and had to apply sun cream to Little Miss C. But, to top it all, this is what I found when I looked at our strawberry patch yesterday! A red strawberry, nearly ready to pick, in October! Seasonal madness! ... read more

A late harvest

I have absolutely no idea as to why but this year it has taken an absolute age before any of my tomatoes would actually turn red. Better late than never though we are now finally enjoying a (modest) harvest. Luckily this has coincided with a late heatwave meaning that eating salad is much more acceptable than it normally is in late September, and it saves me having to actually cook them up in some way! ... read more

Starting off the growing season

One really useful aspect of writing this blog is that I can look back and see exactly when I was doing things in the garden last year. It was the middle of March when I wrote about our very first steps at growing our own vegetables and at that stage my first tomato seedlings had started to appear. This year's went in today, and with a germination period of between 7 and 14 days I guess that means I'm right on track. In addition to some Gardener's Delight that came free with the February issue of Gardener's World magazine, I've also tried planting some leek. I've ... read more

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