The Bloggies, biodynamic gardening and the latest Cottage Smallholder Competition
I spent a happy hour in bed this morning – nominating all my favourite blogs for the Bloggies 2010. This is the most prestigious annual blogging award in the world and it’s now in its tenth year. You need to nominate three blogs in each category that you choose so I made a list of the relevant URLs and pasted them in. Lots of fun and a good positive start to the day! Then the postman finally delivered my prize for the next Cottage Smallholder competition. As you know I’m using biodynamic techniques in the garden this year, and The...
read moreI’ve ordered my seeds
Finally I’ve completed ordering my seeds. Mostly from The Real Seed Company and Lunar Organics – who stock biodynamic organic seeds from Stormy Hall Biodynmic Farm. The vegetables varieties that I couldn’t find on these two sites I’ve ordered from my favourite traditional seed supplier Thompson and Morgan. If you do go down the Thompson and Morgan route it’s worth remembering that they give a 10% discount code for your next order with confirmation of your order. So it’s worth buying a small amount and then using the discount...
read moreAnd the winner is….
Our competition naming the late arrivals at the Chef’s and Gardener’s Ball closed at midnight last night. I’ve really enjoyed reading the entries for this competition. The Min Pins got quite concerned as I sat in bed roaring with laughter. They scrambled out from under the duvet curious to see what was going on. Laughter has drifted across from The Rat Room too. There were some great entries but the winner just has to be Brightsprite – not just the quantity of entries but the quality. In particular I cried tears of laughter...
read moreMemories of snow
As long as I don’t have to drive in it, I love the snow. I still get excited when I see the first flakes falling. Snow conjures up so many memories, like the time ‘a bigger boy’ put a snow ball down my neck. I can still feel the dreadful chill as it slowly slid down beneath my vest and lodged in my waistband. Longing to rip off my snow suit and remove the chilly block but not wanting to look foolish I let it thaw against my skin. At boarding school as a teenager when we got up at dawn to make a huge snowball. We blocked the drive so...
read moreSlow Cooker Chef: Warming Winter Mushroom Soup Recipe
Everyone always says that good soup needs a really great stock. Sometimes I simmer bones for stock in the slow cooker and years ago Fred Fitzpatrick used to give me beef bones which I roasted and then bubbled gently for hours to get a good dark tasty stock. But recently I’ve gone back to using stock cubes out of laziness. This week I decided to experiment with leftovers. We had two meals from the game casserole and were left with a ladle of gravy (about 6 tablespoons) with a few bits of meat and veg. Danny had picked up a large box of...
read moreMaking homemade sweets
Apart from Christmases as a very small child I had never attempted to make sweets until this Christmas. I only started doing this to draw a slightly different crowd to our gate side stand. The ‘melt in the mouth’ fudge sold very well and didn’t need an expensive new jar and lid. Although I agree with Suky it wasn’t quite chewy enough for me – so I’ll cook it until it’s golden brown next time. I packed it in little cellophane envelopes that are sold for handmade cards. With the standard red raffia bows I tried...
read moreTasty cheap budget meals and cooking plus an update from Fiona
It’s Danny here because Fiona has crashed early following a busy day of cooking for her gate side stand. She is a real trier with a strong enterprising streak, thank goodness. The gate side stand has been very enjoyable and she loves running it. It will never be a substitute for her previous work as a painter & decorator, but it is just one of many small streams of income that she is building up. Some days are good, some average, and there have been three days when it took nothing at all (two of those were Christmas Day and Boxing...
read moreGrowing vegetables all year round. January 2010 update
It’s still very cold here. There was snow yesterday and a bit more last night – just a sugar frosting. So pretty if you can stay indoors tucked up beside a glowing woodstove. The fur lined wellingtons that my mum gave me last Christmas have really come into their own this winter as they have grippy soles and don’t slip in the snow and ice. The brassicas are much sweeter since the hard frosts and the Brussels sprouts are to die for. Completely different from the ones available in the shops. Today I’m planning to pluck some of the...
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