The Cottage Smallholder

My mum always says that the best gardens have a decent show of flowers in September. Walking around the garden last week, most of my autumn flowers are just on the cusp of bursting into flower. There was very little to see apart from pink Japanese anemones and white Michaelmas daisies. This morning I looked Read More »

I like hedgehogs. Even though they are partial to eating frogs. The few that have visited our garden caused a first night opening uproar with the Min Pins and had to be escorted off the premises in a cardboard box. Clearly intelligent beasts, hedgehogs no longer visit our garden. Only an Einstein amongst hedgehogs could Read More »

Years ago when so called witches were awaiting trial, they were fed mouldy bread and water. Mouldy bread, in excess, causes hallucinations. And in the case of the witches probably sealed their fate. So I tend to avoid mouldy bread. We have been working on the ultimate pork meatball recipe. We now have a recipe Read More »

Mildred left a comment on the post “Can you identify this fruit” asking if anyone could identify a fruit that she had found in her local park. “My query, if anyone can help, is about a tree in the local playing field. They are similar to the photo at the top of the page but Read More »

Sara Varey, a broadcast journalist for BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, invited me to do an interview for their Good Food fortnight. I was really chuffed. I emailed her to find out what she wanted to talk about specifically. The topics she wanted to cover included the blog and why I had started it as well as Read More »

Years ago Smart Wife taught me how to make perfect Yorkshire puddings. I often ruined the joint but our individual Yorkshire puds were perfect every time. Rising like a miniature Tower Of Pisa army, they happily deflected attention away from the teeth challenging meat. On Sunday, Danny suddenly gets serious at around six o’clock and Read More »

I bought my copy a few years ago in Homebase. It lives in Jalopy underneath the passenger seat and has proved to be an invaluable tome. If I brake too fast or corner too hard it shoots out of its den and hits the wall of the footwell, hard. Instantly chastened, we continue our journey Read More »

A couple of weeks ago, Danny visited Fred Fitzpatrick’s, shopping list in hand. Suddenly Fred popped a well hung rib of beef into a bag and put it with our order. Danny was astonished. “I’m sorry Fred but I didn’t order that!” Danny is almost as passionate as I am about rib of beef. It Read More »

Back in June Farming Friends sent us six guinea fowl eggs in the post to put under our broody hen Mrs Boss. Five eggs hatched out. Sadly, our favourite and the only snow white keet, Lightning, died a couple of weeks ago. The remaining keets are doing well and are nearly three months old. They Read More »

Danny and I are lucky. My birthdays is only a fortnight after his. As I am three years older, I enjoy the short period when the gap is only two years. We agree the amount we are going to spend on each other’s present and there is also a silly surprise from the dogs. If Read More »