The Cottage Smallholder

I can now understand why some people get obsessed with orchids. These are definitely flowers with attitude. We have two types of orchid living in the cottage. Phalaenopsis and one Dendrobium. Their flowers remind me of the heads of mythical beasts. Open-mouthed in a chatty rather than a snappy way. If you care for them Read More »

I love a good potato salad. Jersey Royals were half price on Saturday. They were ideal. Unpackaged, mud still clinging to the skins. I got home and decided to have a sniff on the internet for a good recipe. I was looking for something simple yet chic. My mum was coming to lunch and, to Read More »

Ever since Gilbert told me that the easiest way to cook perfect asparagus is to use a steamer, I’ve wanted one. Until then I suspected that they were a bit faddish. Just another bit of kitchen equipment that we could do without. Gilbert thought the same until his sister sent him one for his birthday. Read More »

My sister has just come back from France. She was visiting friends who have retired and moved there. She came back bursting with sun and stories and this recipe. I halved the amount. It filled three 100ml glasses. I used two small limes as I reckoned that the limes in France would be bigger than Read More »

Every now and then I get an email from someone who desperately wants a chicken to go broody. Going broody means that the hen suddenly fancies raising a brood of chicks and will sit on the eggs constantly to incubate them until hatched. You can’t make a hen go broody. It’s like trying to make Read More »

We’re very keen on a cooked breakfast at the cottage. This is now largely restricted to the weekend. Our chickens give us a good supply of fresh eggs. We used to buy our bacon in 1 kilo packs. A dangerous move as the great slab like pack looked so inviting that we had bacon sandwiches Read More »

It seems longer than four months since I last bought flowers for the house. I’m still finding it hard to keep my vow not to buy any for a whole year. For the last couple of weeks we’ve had no flowers indoors, from the garden or anywhere else. I’ve been returning from work too late Read More »

It was my turn to cook tonight. On the way down to Essex this morning, I decided to cook kedgeree. I had found some traditionally smoked Haddock in the freezer. The bag looked small so I poked about for something else. We had the remains of a pack of uncooked tiger prawns. Danny is 54.5% Read More »

There’s nothing like a day out at Chelsea for titillating those gardening taste buds. Particularly if the ticket is a present and my companion is my sister. She has a good eye and a natural sense of design and balance. Chelsea would not be nearly so much fun if I went alone. You need someone Read More »

We are lucky that our garden is big enough to let some of our old roses grow into large tree like shrubs. This rose is about seven feet tall and ranges across the width of a six foot border. It is one of the old roses that I bought from Sagger’s nursery garden in Newport, Read More »