Category Archives: Uncategorized

I recently ran a twitter poll asking folks why they’re not growing their own food (provided they have a bit of grass to do that on. ‘Don’t know how’ was a popular choice, but so was ‘too much work’. I’ve been thinking about this ‘too much work’ thing, and what it might mean. I, too,Continue reading “‘Too much work’”

I’ve just pulled the first lot of rocket. We’ve been harvesting it for a few weeks already, and it bolted in last week’s hot weather. That’s ok, though – lots of lovely rocket for us! I’m a big fan of rocket, both the kind you see in the picture, and the smaller stuff you getContinue reading “Rocket, and a recipe for pesto”

We’ve had a lovely week or so – 13-21C, some sunny days, mostly cloudy, but a bit of sunshine every day. It’s made such a difference to the plants, both in the growhouse and outside. The asparagus has come up – 3 stalks so far – and all seedlings have kicked into gear. Most areContinue reading “The difference a bit of sun makes”

We’ve been thinking about a little experiment: turning an uncultivated, overgrown piece of land into an area that shows off what you can grow up here, on not that much space. We’ll be keeping track of the work we put into it, the seeds we sow, the materials we need, and the eventual harvest. We’reContinue reading “Project Showbed: Part 1”

Seedlings were very much on my mind this week. I’m typing this on a miserable April morning, with rain lashing the windows and wind rattling the polytunnel. But at least there’s no snow, or frost like down south. Instagram is full of picture of frozen seedlings and chickens playing in the snow this morning, andContinue reading “What I’ve been thinking about this week…”

We’ve been keeping chickens for 5 years now. We started with 3, got two additional ones, lost the original 3, and we’ve just added 6 rescue chickens into our mix, so we currently have 8. They’ve lived in two different spots: behind the shed and at the bottom of the garden, and they also wanderContinue reading “Chicken-keeping for Beginners”

I recently wrote an instagram post on mending two holes in one of my crochet blankets, and it resonated with quite a lot of folks – I’m still receiving messages about the sentiment, so I thought I’d expand my thoughts into a longer post here. I’ve never been into shopping as a hobby. I love theContinue reading “Make Do and Cherish”

I just crave soup when the weather turns. As the light fades and the trees glow in their autumn finery, my thoughts always turn to soups and stews. This soup is our new favourite – made it for the first time this year and oh! it’s so good that we didn’t have enough left toContinue reading “Spicy Roast Pumpkin and Apple Soup”

I love cider. In the pub. Out of a bottle. From a can, even. Do you? It’s so crisp and lovely! I always thought cider making was difficult and required lots of expensive equipment and precision, like beer making. Spoiler: it doesn’t! What you need Apples Cider press (ours came from eBay) A crusher (eBayContinue reading “Making cider – a step-by-step tutorial”