The Cottage Smallholder

Fillet of pork is so tender and succulent but sometimes it can lack flavour. Danny bought two packs of medallions from the condemned food counter at Tesco and fried them in a little black butter. He sat down to savour this delicacy with a small proud wobble of his head. Within seconds there was a Read More »

When I was selling toys in Covent Garden the best week of every month was the week after monthly payday.
I realised that the week that Danny puts his sizeable contribution into the housekeeping account our spending rockets. So this month I pretended that every week was the week before pay day and entered a new Read More »

“The ducklings are enormous; I think we ought to let them out into the big run.” Danny was watching them playing with the water fountain in the grounds of the Emerald Castle.
At only five weeks old they tower over Mrs Boss. It’s getting cramped in the castle. So when I was dusting and sluicing down Read More »

Sometimes it’s easy to be distracted by borders that have taken years to mature and miss the dazzling surprise of unplanned flowers.
Particularly those wild flowers that have quietly self seeded. Suddenly they are standing before you, like clear eyed children that have stepped out of the shadows to surprise you.
I found this opium poppy in Read More »

Danny reached for the ladle.
“How can you run up a soup like this in just ten minutes? I can’t believe that it’s low fat. It’s delicious.”
He didn’t mention the soup disaster that had been poured into the dogs the day before.
Unbeknown to Danny I had researched soup based simply on a good stock, a Read More »

An immense pot stands beside the back door step. The pot holds roughly 100 litres of earth. It has stood there for about three years now and this evening Danny noticed the pot for the first time.
“Wow. That pot is enormous. How much did it cost?”
“I bought it years ago.”
“It’s stunning.” Visibly relieved that the Read More »

Tiny hands clap with glee when I make jellies.
“Why do we only have jellies when we are entertaining? Let’s make far more than we need or invite less people next time.”
Danny was scraping a small stolen tumbler clean.
Good fresh fruit jellies are a delight. Wonderful as a little something if you are laid up in Read More »

Water is expensive and so are plants. We have a water butt drip feed watering system for the kitchen garden in the summer. The initial investment has paid dividends – in time and money.
Drip feed watering is used by the poorest countries and is designed to get the best possible results from the smallest amount Read More »

I love the combination of meat and fruit. We had planned to dine on stuffed and rolled breast of lamb tonight but I couldn’t find it in the freezer.
Our freezer is not large but it requires superhuman skills to pack any extra items in. The freezer always seems to be chock a bloc. In fact Read More »

I can’t believe that it’s midsummer’s day today.
Gentle Irish rain on and off all day. And I’ve been alone for most of it.
Working on a big estate, a large house and a few cottages set in massive grounds, I often see no one but I do have animals and wildlife for company. And that’s to Read More »