It seems that not all our growing efforts are in vain this year after all. Our first attempt at growing potatoes was via a free kit that you could send off for from the BBC Gardeners' World Magazine. The kit contained Vales Emerald seed potatoes and also a patio bag to grow them in. It really was as simple as filling the bag with compost, putting the seed potatoes in and ensuring that they got plenty of water. This afternoon we decided to see what the bag contained and we were pretty content with our results. Hopefully we'll get to eat them some time this ... read more
Not exactly a bountiful harvest…
... but better than nothing! I'm also hopeful that there are more courgettes still to come. ... read more
Escape to River Cottage
Somehow, and I'm not entirely sure how, I realised a while back that I'd never actually seen the original series of River Cottage. I also recently had a birthday - cue a very unsubtle hint to Mr C for a birthday present. Escape To River Cottage covers Hugh's original move to Dorset and his first attempts at self-suficiency. It's amusing looking back and seeing him tackle things in a slightly naive manner when he would do exactly the same things today very confidently. In a way I found that there was actually a lack of information about some of the things ... read more
Getting back to “normal”
Little Miss C is eight weeks old today. Eight weeks! Where has the time gone. From a small baby who came into the house and did little more than sleep, eat and fill her nappy, I am instead looking down at a bigger baby playing on her play mat, making noises, hitting the toys hung above her and occasionally breaking into a smile too. The transformation has been amazing and it seems that every day there is some small change that we can marvel over.Now that we're both getting used to each other we're learning to live with each other pretty well. I'm incredibly lucky as she's not a ... read more
First pea harvest
Our veg plot has come along in leaps and bounds recently, even more so when I look back at how it was a couple of months ago (then again where have the last couple of months gone???) Being so busy that I don't have time to check on it every day means that when I do go and take a look I am always amazed at just how much things have sprung up. Keeping on top of the weeding and generally keeping the plot tidy has been a tad difficult of late, but we are at least reaping the benefits from our first attempts at growing our own. Over on the right hand side of the ... read more
Home grown salad
More photos and less words are what is needed in blog posts here at the moment. The first "harvest" from our veg plot as served up for dinner the other night. So much more satisfying than having bought a bag of the stuff from the supermarket - and tastier too! ... read more
Grow your own update
Veg production seems to be starting off rather well here. Above are the courgettes happily growing from the free seeds I got from this year's BBC Dig In campaign. They're starting to take over this part of my kitchen, but I'm just waiting for the last frost to be over before planting them out. The rest of the veg plot is looking pretty good too. From the left there are potatoes hopefully starting to grown from seed potatoes in the bag on the paving. The random assortment in the back left hand corner of the raised bed is the contents of the magic grow your own box that I ... read more
Expanding the vegetable plot
The good news is that Mr C managed to find the time to make a great start on my vegetable plot for me before this week's good weather. This photo was taken less than a week ago and yet things have already grown noticeably. In the raised bed are onions, mixed lettuce, rocket (a gift from the neighbours), carrot seeds, beetroot seeds and my mystery box, which is now starting to sprout. Next to the bed are some sugar snap peas which I have to admit to buying as seedlings from the local nursery. Some shallots have also been added in the last week and the kitchen window sill also has some small ... read more
Spring tulips
It seems like a long tome ago that I was hopefully planting spring bulbs in the garden. Looking back it was in early October, so thinking about it there's been a very harsh winter in between, and after so long of the garden being white over it makes the sight of these first tulips in flower all the sweeter. I love tulips. They're definitely my all time favourite flower and one of the advantages of getting married in March was that I could have them as part of our wedding flowers too. Had we got married this year though I think we may have struggled a bit. Their simplicity ... read more
Easter jobs
Somehow we are already half way through the long Easter weekend. I'm not too sure how that has happened. Lots has been done both in planning for Baby C's arrival and in the garden (when the rain has held off). Time with my laptop has therefore been lacking. Photos will follow, just as soon as I locate the camera in amongst all the DIY stuff! ... read more