The Cottage Smallholder

  Back in the last century, when I was at boarding school, the music and science block was a short five minute walk from our classroom. This is also where I was taught to play the violin by The Missing Link but that’s another story. In Spring there were frothy cushions of wild garlic either Read More »

  Saffron – fragrant, delicate and more expensive than gold can be grown in your own garden. Given the right conditions it is easy to grow. Even though we live just a 25 minute drive from Saffron Walden, where saffron was grown commercially from the 16th to the 18th century, I hadn’t considered growing it myself.  Read More »

This is the time of year that the shelves are groaning with Spring bulbs at the local garden centres. Tempting displays that usually draw me in. But not this year. These little packs of 10 bulbs for £3.99 are too expensive. I’m buying in bulk. When I first moved to the cottage I invested in Read More »

  Now that’s a name to conjure with. I’ve never met anyone or even a pet called Amaryllis. I did know a girl called Primrose T. She had big bones and would galumph across the lacrosse field and score goal after goal. Not being a sporty type I was always relegated to the edge of Read More »

  I’m embarrassed to admit that until last week I didn’t know that most lilies prefer acid soil. I knew that most of them thrive in a well drained sunny site but I never investigated the soil aspect. Again I think that acquiring gardening knowledge is a time thing. No pack informs you that you Read More »

  Following the excitement of last weeks visitor and staying up for two whole days without a rest, I feel completely shattered today and spent most of the day in bed. The laptop was working overtime as I was researching buying vegetable seeds on the internet and comparing prices. This was prompted by finding a Read More »

I stayed at home today. Can’t seem to kick off the laryngitis so spent most of the day in bed, with the Min Pins and a hottie. This evening D and I strolled in the garden. “What are these?” He touched the large evergreen waxy leaves gently. “Bear’s Ears. Bergenia. Ours have pink flowers in Read More »

We only grow old roses in our garden. As we have loads of space we can afford to do this rather than plant repeat flowering roses. Some of the old ones do repeat their flowers throughout the summer but even with these the first flush is always the best. The newer varieties of roses are Read More »

Seraphina’s pelargoniums have survived the winter in window boxes in Cambridge. I was stunned when I spotted this the other day when I arrived to decorate her dining room. She chose the grey shade  (Pacific Breeze) in the Dulux Light and Space collection. The room looked stunning, soft and bright. Like walking inside a shell. Read More »

I woke up a couple of nights ago with the name “White Lady” on my lips. I lay quite still, wondering where the words had come from. A few minutes later I remembered that Maurice had recommended “White Lady”  as the best runner bean seed available in the UK. Jalopy and I were loitering in Read More »