Wild Plum or Damson Jelly recipe
My Wild Plum Jelly recipe is at the bottom of this post. Click here for Wild Plum Jam. It’s nearly midnight and the kitchen is filled with the smell of simmering wild plums. Delicious. I went out hunting for them late this afternoon and picked about eight pounds from the hedgerows at the end of the village. As there are still loads ripening with the promise of more, I decided to use all the plums for jelly. The wine and chutney can wait till later. I always feel a bit of a devil when I find food for free. At this time of year I have a...
read moreSweet peas and wood pigeon, the most evocative scent and sound of summer
There is nothing to compare with picking the first posy of sweet peas. The heady scent from something so delicate. The fragile flowers, at best with buds. We have a special vase for them. I think it might have been home to a scented candle once but it is now perfect for these flowers that fade so fast. When the vase is off duty it sits on the windowsill with the other special things: the Buddha, the basil, my frogs. When I first came to live here a friend from London used to stay regularly at weekends. Her grandfather had been Head Gardener at...
read moreThe role of Beekeeper’s Assistant is now a permanent position
When Danny asked for a pair of beekeeping gloves and a hive tool for his birthday, I realised that he was finally hooked. He’d been very keen for me to keep bees but assured me that he would not be involved in anything except eating the honey. That was fine with me, I was happy to attend the courses of the Cambridgeshire Beekeepers Association. The empty hive looked great beside the pond and it looked even better when the new colony was installed and bees were drifting in and out. It was only when I bought home the nucleus colony that I...
read moreMy Mum raised Frogs and Toads, whilst I worked in London
When I found the cottage fourteen years ago, Danny had not drifted onto my horizon. Shortly after moving into the cottage, I had to work down in London. I had been offered a free studio in a prime location and I couldn’t turn down the opportunity. Even though I have no children, I had responsibilities, one highly intelligent, independent mover and shaker who assured me he could do everything except prepare his food. My old dog, Fly. My Mother obliged with the childminding duties. My Mother loved staying in the cottage. She explained that...
read moreCucumber farming
We have grown cucumbers for three years in our PIUY (put it up yourself – from a long thin box marked “greenhouse” – it took us 2 long days) . The first year we grew three tiny cucumbers that shall remain nameless. As beginners, we were delighted with the result. The next year we grew even more of the same variety and then suddenly disaster. Initially it was mouldy fluffy stuff on the leaves. I checked the Organic Gardening Book and dusted with the recommended treatment. Everything perked up. But within a couple of days...
read morePea pod wine – sounds disgusting, must be good!
The first wine that I wanted to make was Pea Pod. This wine had a starring role in an episode of The Good Life. As our peas had barely produced a flower let alone a pod, I searched the vegetable section of Tesco and found fresh peas in the pod. I hadn’t realised how light pea pods are. As I podded steadily, Danny made a mercy dash to buy yet more packs to get the right weight of pods for the must.The next few weeks driving the car became quite hazardous as it was hard not to keep an eye on the hedgerows for damsons and plums. Kind...
read moreRacking the rhubarb wine
Tonight Danny has gone to bed early and I am racking off the rhubarb wine. It has been in the airing cupboard for a couple of months and I want to move it to the barn, which is cool and perfect for storing fermenting demijohns. Racking the wine is good as it skims the wine from the leys, removes dead yeast and activates the live yeast. It’s been a year since we started to make country wine. I’d noticed that our elder tree was in bud, swiftly followed by glorious creamy white heads of flowers. It was watching a client make...
read moreRain. The lazy guide to watering in dry weather.
It’s been raining on and off for about three days now which has set back the work on the outside of the cottage. The garden is loving it. The plants look so much fresher. The pond and all the water butts have filled up (even the butt holding 1400 litres is half full!). We water the vegetable garden using a slow drip system fed by seven water butts that are dotted about the garden collecting water off the greenhouse and various roofs.Laziness drew me into the world of slow drip watering. Two years ago we raised tomato plants from seed and...
read moreFiona’s Smoked Fish Chowder
We used smoked haddock as our fish of preference in this delicious chowder. It is a very forgiving dish and you can use most any fish. Either all smoked like this one or a mix of smoked and unsmoked if you want to achieve a balance that appeals to your taste. Many fish chowder recipes require fish stock. Most people do not have it to hand and we are no exception. We created an instant fishy, smoky stock by lightly poaching the haddock to create a base stock for this soup and adding marigold and a touch of picante pimenton. It took minutes and...
read moreConfiscating the pig’s ear from The Contessa
After an afternoon that has be punctuated by deep low growling, I’ve been forced to remove the pig’s ear yet again. The other dogs were delighted with theirs and gobbled them up. Contessa goes into immediate guerilla warfare tack when we give her a treat. Her afternoon is ruined. She cannot move from the chair where her basket perches. The others play in the garden near our tiny apiary, whilst Contessa grumbles on. It’s a bit scary removing the chew but once the deed is done, she seems relieved. And it’s out through...
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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