I long for a courgette/zucchini glut
I used to agree with Gilbert. Courgettes just didn’t appeal. Perhaps it was an overdose of badly cooked ratatouille back in the seventies – the new craze in the UK at the time. “It’s the French method for vegetables.” The hostess would chortle. Back then I was certain that the French would be enraged that this concoction could be claimed to be a cross channel influence. It was vile. Almost enough to put off a vegetarian from being vegetarian. A similar experience forced Gilbert to ban courgettes, along with their beefier relations...
read moreThe year of the salad
When I was growing up salad was just a few basic ingredients arranged on a plate. It was the same for Danny. “Sliced cucumber, a quartered tomato and some lettuce leaves.” “Was the lettuce that soft floppy kind?” “Yes, the stuff that bruised easily. And I always seemed to get the bruised leaves” “Did you have celery?” “My mum used to make an apple, walnut and celery salad. A triumph compared to the rest.” Over the past 40 years salad in the UK has evolved massively into something that can be surprising, delicious and...
read moreThe Grand Broad Bean Challenge
Home grown broad beans are an entirely different ‘animal’ from those wet, hard skinned specimens that were served for school lunches when I was a child. Even the podded broad beans available from good greengrocers and high end supermarkets are not a patch on the pods plucked from your garden and devoured within minutes. Broad beans tops are a delicacy in France . Baby beans cooked in the pod are delicious. Even more mature broad beans haven’t a hint of school dinners and old mens’ fingers with their translucent skin. To be at...
read moreOrach – a very useful cut and come again veg for a limited space
I invested in orach last year – supplied by The Real Seed Company. The young leaves can be eaten in a salad and the older leaves are a great alternative to spinach. As long as you do not let it go to seed – the buds are delicious steamed – this will produce for you until the first frosts. The final height is about a meter high. Beautiful and tasty – what more could you want from a leafy vegetable? I was planning to save the seed last year but just didn’t get around to it. The seed heads stayed on the plants all through the cold and...
read morePerennial vegetables: Tree cabbage
Recently I visited a small and very good privately owned local nursery. Even though it was a weekday, there were quite a few people browsing. I always enjoy chatting to the counter staff if it’s quiet. These people know what exactly is passing through their tills and are often more straightforward than management. I was at the end of a long snakeing queue so I jumped in. “How’s the grow your own stuff going this year?” “OK but not a patch on last year. Of course we’re selling loads of tomato plants as usual.” I was stunned....
read moreMicro herbs can make every recipe look and probably taste wonderful
“Have you heard of micro herbs?” My friend Jo shook her head. She eats out far more than me so I was amazed that she hadn’t come across them. Between you and I Jo usually knows/has heard of everything that I ‘discover’ so I was thrilled. Finally I had something really valuable to share. I had my first taste of micro herbs at The Three Horseshoes on Mother’s day. A small teased ball of baby herbs was served as a garnish on the corned duck. Very pretty and dainty but I didn’t expect them to taste of anything until I sampled...
read moreGrow Comfrey to give your garden a real lift year after year
A few years I wrote about rocambole and a few weeks later I discovered that it was actually growing in my garden. A colleague in London had given it to me on a plant swap and described it as “White bells that smell of garlic. Weird!” I felt such a fool. I’ve had a longing to grow comfrey in my garden as it appears to be such a useful plant. The leaves can be made into a fertilising tea – high in potash, nitrogen and loads of other trace elements that the exuberant roots find deep down in the soil. This tea is a wonderful free...
read moreInvesting in perennial vegetables for the hungry gap: Sea Kale/ Seakale/ Crambe maritime
Many years ago, when I was just a newbie herbaceous gardener a friend came to stay with her mother. Her mother bought me the book The Victorian Kitchen Gardenby Jennifer Davies. As I wasn’t actually planning to grow vegetables at the time it was put on my books for later shelf. I had no idea that suddenly it would come into its own this year. Here I found details of making hot beds and so much more. OK Victorian kitchen gardens were labour intensive but I do have time on my hands and if you cut out things like expensive hothouse boilers,...
read moreThe fascination of gardening. Constant learning curves.
For the second time this year my tomato seedlings in the greenhouse and Solar tunnel have been hit by sharp frosts. I thought the first fifty had succumbed to damping off. This happened last year when I watered them with rain water from the butts. These had had the same treatment. Since then I’ve discovered that this is a bad idea as they can easily keel over with the nasties lurking in a butt. Tomato, pepper and cucumber seedlings are very delicate for the first few weeks after germination – they need tap water or filtered water from...
read moreDiscovering marsh and rock samphire, salsola and seakale. Edible plants that need a bit of salt if grown away from the seaside
Even though I spent a lot of my childhood living beside the sea building seaweed castles to catch that special prince, I didn’t even meet the seaweed fairy and never tasted samphire until a couple of years ago. It was love at first bite, the saltiness and the crunch. The totally green tastiness of the thing. So when I spotted samphire seeds for sale in the new Otter Farm online shop they were slipped into my basket within a thought. Having ordered these seeds I began to fret about actually growing them – we are an hour and a half drive...
read more
Most Recent Articles
I made two litres of dog food by mistakeOn Monday I decided to test out the theory that cottage pie is best made with pieces of beef rather than minced… »
Recipe for meatballs and spaghetti with red wine, tomatoes and bell peppers. Foolproof slow cooker/crock pot recipes“Please don’t buy mince again. I just don’t like it.” Danny grumbled out of the kitchen. “But you like… »
Win £50 worth of B&Q vouchers with The Cottage Smallholder and Direct Line Grand DrawFor those of you who missed out on the metal bedstead competition: we’ve got another great prize to offer you!… »
New layout for CSH – testers wanted pleaseDanny here, everybody. 14% of our visitors use mobile devices, such as tablets, iPad, smart mobiles and so on.… »
Update on the remaining Min PinsIt’s been seven weeks since The Conteesa died suddenly in her sleep. Danny buried her in the garden under the… »
It’s the little things that make the differenceI don’t often write much about the little things that give me pleasure. They initially seem too insignificant to… »
Recent Comments
{ I was thinking the same as Magic Cochin but then like you I don't have my phone attached by an umbilical cord wherever I go.... } – Wed 8 :47 pm
{ Good point but I don't tend to take it about with me everywhere 
} – Wed 7 :25 pm
{ Doesn't your mobile phone have an alarm setting? C x } – Wed 6 :32 pm
{ I would put it towards a bbq, it's just a shame you can't purchase some sunshine from b&q } – Wed 12 :04 am- { Hi Lesley The clucking means that she is brrody also plucking her own feathers is a sign too. } – Tue 11 :58 pm
- { Hi Lesley They have to stay in the broody coop 24/7. Could you put in a garden shed or garage? } – Tue 11 :57 pm
FD