Francoise’s garden herb jelly recipe
Danny salvaged a discarded bathtub and planted it with parsley and thyme. Three months later, the bath is overflowing with parsley. It stands beside a large water butt so it’s impossible to forget when the weather is hot. Regular watering has definitely paid off and I’m thinking of moving a lot more herbs down to this location. There was one problem: what to do with the glut? When I mentioned this to my friend Anne Mary, she assured me that she had the answer. Within a few hours she rang me, ‘I’ve found this great...
read moreHow many eggs does a chicken lay each week?
“How come there were only four eggs in the basket this morning?'” Danny asked when he brought in my breakfast tray. Admittedly I had given John Coe four when he came to mow the lawn this week, but only eight in a week! Danny was concerned, “What are we going to do about our fry ups?” Danny’s mother kept chickens when he was a child and as a Poultry Instructor, passed on her knowledge. Despite this both of us were a bit naive when it came to keeping chickens ourselves. Just before we collected our chickens three...
read moreDamson granita with kirsch recipe
The Tesco Basics range includes a pack of twelve champagne glasses. These are really tough, made to last. I’m sure that they’d survive being flung across a room. We haven’t tried this yet with these particular glasses. We just use them for parties and occasionally we bung them in the freezer to hold granita. Granita is a massive, seven league step away from a traditional sorbet. Danny describes a good granita as spoonfuls of iced heaven. It’s a cinch to make. You don’t need an ice cream making machine to shine...
read moreRosehip and Apple Jelly Recipe
Rosehips are ripening and perfect for picking now. Some people wait until after the first frost, when the rosehips will be soft. We start picking from the first week in September. They need to cook for longer but we know that they’re really fresh. They’re high in vitamin C and a great asset for the self sufficient smallholder. As a child, I remember my Mother giving us rosehip syrup (a dessert spoon daily). It was rather good. Nowadays, we make apple and rosehip jelly. The rosehip flavour combines well with the apple. This is a...
read moreAnyone for tennis?
The only sport that I’m actively engaged in is killing flies. I have a good collection of swats. The blue one works the best. Not being a athletic type, I’m delighted that I’ve found a sport at which I shine. I did win the Junior Doubles Tennis Championship at school. But that was only because Petronella Lovegrove played heroically for two, whilst I skulked by the net. Now my weedy backhand and embarrassing dolly drop serve have been supplanted by a well honed whoosh and the happy click of fly on plastic. The fly killing...
read moreI found a smoked ham hock nestling in our freezer
Yesterday, I decided to go treasure hunting in the freezer. Usually I find loads of stuff with freezer burn. Today I spotted a smoked ham hock. Not just any old ham hock. This discovery shifted Danny from the swing seat. He had to check that I wasn’t teasing. The dogs were alarmed. I don’t think they’d ever seen him run before. We enjoy Mark Hix’s Saturday column in The Independent. He comes across as a thoroughly good bloke and his recipes work well. He also occasionally recommends suppliers and last year pointed us to...
read moreRich Tomato Pasta Sauce Recipe: for the freezer
This spring, my friend Jack told me that he was planning to grow his tomatoes in large pots; some inside his greenhouse and some just outside. The pots would stand on giant trays of gravel to increase humidity. I must admit I was secretly a bit dubious about his method. We’ve not had much success with tomatoes raised in our greenhouse, apart from seedlings. As our 14 outdoor plants flourished during the July heat wave, I wondered what was happening on the tomato front chez Jack. The cold wet August was clearly a bit of a shock to our...
read moreRunner Bean Chutney Recipe. How to freeze runner beans.
This morning John Coe and I went down to the kitchen garden to check what was available and edible. For the last few days, I’ve been back late and have gone down with a torch to quickly snatch the vegetables for supper. I discovered that we have finally got our longed for glut of runner beans. The Runner Bean Couple down the road have had their stand laden with huge bunches for the last few weeks. I wonder what they are financing with their takings which must be huge. Our production is not quite at their level so rather than set up a...
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