I've not had time to say much on here lately about what we've been up to in our garden, mainly because ever spare moment has been spent actually doing stuff out there rather than writing about it. There are some big changes happening though, especially in terms of moving things around. We used Mr C being off work for a few months to kick start some plans that we've had for a while for the lower part of our garden. The shed has been moved, new paths are planned and Mr C's also in the middle of building some new raised beds. If we get that far then there are also plans to ... read more
Review: Bigjigs Garden Tools
Within two hours of our first Bigjigs Play Patrol parcel arriving it started raining. Not much of a surprise with this year's weather, but seeing as they sent Little Miss C some garden tools to review it has made reviewing them properly a bit challenging! I need to start by saying a few words about the Play Patrol scheme though. Not only did Master C enjoy his first testing assignment, but Little Miss C was amazed about the idea of toys being sent to the house by the "train jigsaw people" as she likes to call Bigjigs. And very excited to have a new bag to take to nursery and a "jigsaw ... read more
Growing cress
Another thing that Little Miss C and I got up to whilst we were stuck at home was a spot of gardening. LMC always wants to help in the garden, but children want to see results very quickly so it can be hard to keep their enthusiasm when things don't grow as fast as they would like. Growing cress from seed is quite good though as you can see a day by day difference, but at the same time it also makes children realise that things don't grow instantly and they need to have a bit of patience. It was with great pride and determination that she filled some old yoghurt pots (thank you again ... read more
Yeo Valley – so much more than just yoghurt!
Sometimes a physical change of scenery can help you clear your head and see things clearly and that's exactly what happened to me yesterday. I was lucky enough to be invited, along with a handful of other bloggers, to visit Yeo Valley - home of yummy yoghurt and some equally yummy farmers (well, so says their TV adverts!) - to find out more about the company behind all the yumminess and their way of doing things. When I recently wrote here about wanting to use my blog to find out more about the people and things that make me smile this trip was exactly the sort of ... read more
Garden leeks
With all the warm and wet weather that we've had recently the garden has been shooting up, but it's also been difficult to spend time out there gardening due to it being so wet. Our veg plot is ready for things to be planted, but to be honest I'm a bit behind schedule in doing so. However, there are a few crops still in the ground that have been growing at speed recently. A long, long time ago I had my first attempts at growing leeks from seed and after a very slow start I'm delighted to say that the above photo shows the first of the crop brought in to our kitchen for ... read more
Damson gin – the finished product
It's nearly six months now since I started telling you about our efforts with our first batch of damson gin, but now that I'm seeing this year's blossom on the damson trees in our garden it's got me thinking about how we can use this year's harvest and I'm already hoping it's a good one. Back to the gin though... We made two batches in the end and thought that we'd bottle up the first one in time for Christmas - both for us to sample some and also to make some homemade Christmas presents. This bathc must have had about four months in the kilner jar, so not as mature as it could have ... read more
Garden treasure
The weather has been somewhat mad these last few weeks. Baking hot sun and meals eaten outdoors has suddenly been replaced by snow, hail and torrential rain. Quiet what all the plants think I've no idea. The garden's started to wake up after winter and it's lovely to see new shoots appearing, blossom on the trees and splashes of colour too. Yesterday I spotted this lovely treasure which has managed to survive not only the weather, but also a very enthusiastic toddler you regularly rampages round the garden! There's something special about snake's head ... read more
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