I Think I'm Going to Need a Bigger Garden ...

 

The September issue of Kitchen Garden magazine came with it's usual three packets of free seeds, I can't remember what they were, but I know one was cabbage and they will be going in this month, if I can fit them anywhere.

The thing is there was a free offer on the cover which I thought was really good, and it fitted in with my little garden now being a Victory Garden ... three 250g packets of onion sets.  Now to my mind 250g seemed to be a small amount and I imagined a dozen of each at the most .  

Nope there are loads of them!

The onion sets were free if you ordered one other thing and as I needed some garlic that worked out just fine.  I can see my little Victory Garden being absolutely full of onions come next Spring.  🧅🧅🧅

I think I am going to need a bigger garden!!

Once again I am debating whether it is worth me carrying on with my subscription of Radio Times.  It's £4 a copy now and although I do enjoy reading about new programmes and doing the puzzles at the back, I don't know if I can justify spending that amount of money on a magazine each week.  Four pounds might not seem that much but when you think about it being £16 a month and over £200 a year it's starts to seem a lot more. 

When I am trying to save as much as I can this year by keeping the food spend to around £10 a week, while I am eating down the food stash and living on WWII rations, spending almost half of that amount on a magazine seems ridiculous. 

I don't think I am going to have to think too long or too hard about this one.

Sue xx

Saying Goodbye to August

 

August has whizzed by.  

With much cooler days the tomatoes have taken an age to ripen, and some just haven't.  The garden is slightly going over with the only flowers left being the beautiful white Cosmos 'Purity'.  Each day I tidy a bit more and add to the contents of the compost bin.

As the nights draw in the animals are sleeping indoors more, no basking in the late evening sun on the patio as they did earlier in the year.  They claim their spots and then switch around when the mood takes them.  The other persons bed is always comfier it would seem.

In the bed by my chair Mavis is usually well placed to see if I'm consuming any tasty treats, although there's not so many these days with my rationing challenge going so well, I'm never hungry enough to need nibbles in the evening.

Suky has eyes like little radars always on the lookout for what's going on.  It's important to look and sniff when you can't hear.

One burst of real colour left in the garden is the weed by my living room doors.  

It's flowered since Spring and is a firm favourite with bees.  So much so that I have been saving seeds from it and I will surreptitiously scatter them in the hedgerows along the canal when I walk there next Spring.

It's been a strange Summer, with the heat of June dissipating almost as quickly as it came and then the much cooler August seeing the season out not so much in style, as in the need for woolly jumpers before they are even unpacked and the Summer clothes put away.

What will September hold ... that's anyone's guess!!

Sue xx

Bringing Home the Rhubarb, Snaffling the Blueberries and Old Photos

 

We only planted this rhubarb plant in Spring of this year.  You're not really supposed to harvest from a newly transplanted bush, instead you leave all the goodness to go back into the roots ready for a bumper harvest the following year.

Our rhubarb has had other ideas, it was this big a couple of months ago and I carefully pulled out the largest of the stems and made some rhubarb crumble mixes for mine and Alan's freezers.  Over the last few weeks the plant has gone rampant ... there is no other word for it. 

The chippings disappeared under a blanket of huge leaves and the plants behind were invisible unless you peeled back a leaf and had a look..

So today I bit the bullet before the garden totally disappeared under a swath of huge leaves.  The dogs will be pleased to see their chipping area back, I can finally see my Fern and Rosemary plants again ... and the compost bin is full right to the top with all the leaves.

Meanwhile in the kitchen, the rhubarb stalks are all trimmed, soaked and ready to be cut into chunks and frozen ... alongside a few apples that came easily off the tree.  There will be some lovely homegrown fruit to help out with my rations over the Winter.

I could have had some Blueberries as well if I hadn't been eating them all the minute they turn blue enough.  Not a single one has made it as far as the kitchen.  Well, all gardeners deserve a tasty little treat don't they.  😄

When we met up with my cousin at Mum's house a few weeks, ago she brought with her some old family photos to see if we wanted them.  I of course had to say yes to most of them and Mum had some too.  I love old photos, especially black and white ones.  I managed to find this old frame in an antique centre with a mount that I just knew would compliment it perfectly.

It's just Mum, Dad and me on the day of my christening.   I'd say happy memories .... but I don't remember it at all. 💖

Sue xx

Making the Most of ANY Sunshine, Freebies and a Sulking Mavis

 

At the moment, like many people here in the UK, we are making the most of ANY nice weather. 

 It was a rainy and at times cold July, and to see it out in style, when there was a brief window of sunshine on Saturday morning we jumped in the car with the dogs and headed to Williamson Park in Lancaster.  

Just twenty minutes away it's a good place for dog walking and enjoying some wide open spaces ... and there's a good little café in the park that sells coffees and bacon butties.

I love big open skies and the view across Morecambe Bay from the café is amazing.

As the clouds started to gather again we headed back to the car, but in a brief flash of sunshine this lovely little park seating shed in it's own clearing amongst the trees and bushes looked magical ... and very hobbit-like.  I just had to stop for a photo or two.

I came home with some freebies in my bag, and we missed the rain completely as it didn't start properly until we were almost home, always a good outcome in my book.

Then Alan had to go away for work for a couple of days ...

... and Mavis sulked!!

She's a good little sulker and she's perfected her art well over the past couple of years.  If she's not sat facing the furniture or a corner, she's right up the end of my hall lying on the doormat, you know when Mavis is sulking!

Sue xx

Flowers, Good Deeds, Books, Seeds and Deliveries

I was gifted a lovely bunch of pink carnations three weeks ago as a thank you for a little good deed I did via our town Facebook group.  They were unexpected and lovely, and have just lasted and lasted.  No doubt they will be going over in the next few days but while they were here they added an unusual splash of pink to my living room shelf.

The shelf is looking a lot more cluttered than usual at the moment, with my overflow of books having taken up residence since our holiday.  But do you know what I really like it.  There is just enough colour co-ordination to keep it looking organised and not over-crowded.

Well that's my opinion.  😁

A close up of the books for all of you lovely book addicts.  💖

My August edition of Kitchen Garden arrived this week with it's free seeds, which reminded me ...

... I have not yet read the July edition, or sown the red lettuce seeds that I meant to.  I must remedy that over the weekend, and I definintely want to get some cabbage seeds sown in pots ready to fill gaps that will start to appear in the wooden beds soon.

Although it will be a while for gaps to appear if I keep picking my spring onions one at a time. 😄

 I love being able to pick exactly what I need from the garden and not having to buy a whole bunch of something and having to find a use for it all.  Just one of the many perks of growing my own even in a much smaller space than I used to have.

We are off to the Welsh flat tomorrow to start kitting it out ready for use.  Fingers crossed that the first delivery arrives on schedule, it's the bed ... without it we will be sleeping on the floor!!

If you would like to see the flat, I will try and make a small film, or at the very least take lots of photos of it before we put things in.  And then maybe again afterwards, I guess I wouldn't be a true blogger if I didn't now would I.  😀

Sue xx

From the Potatoes That I Didn't Plant ... and the Cucumber That I Did

 

Last night, just in time for our tea, I pulled up the first of our potato plants, not one planted by me but a lovely healthy looking volunteer left unintentionally in the ground from last year.

This was it in the central section of this bed just over a month ago, by last night it was twice as tall as it was in this photo, and although it never actually flowered the greenery was starting to go yellow.

It was time to see what we had!!

There was a grand total of 3lb 2oz, which is not bad at all for what I think was two little potatoes left in the soil from last year ... and no work, other than a bit of watering from me. 😀

I washed them and divided them into half for each of us, and we both made meals that made the potatoes the star of the show for our teas last night, we also each have enough for another good sized portion tonight ... well we might as well eat them while they are nice and fresh.

I boiled all mine up last night, so I have the other half ready cooked for tonight, Alan just cooked half of his and saved the rest.

I made myself a nice simple tea, making good use of all the leftover things that I had in the fridge to compliment the potatoes.  Isn't it a good feeling when all those little tubs of bits and bobs get used up in one fell swoop.

And guess what ...

... I could not resist putting the four teeny, tiny potatoes that were too small to cook into a pot of soil.

It will be interesting to see if we get anything from them ... but hey,. waste not want not.  😉

Oh, and I forgot to mention that while my potatoes were cooking Alan came in with our first little cucumber, he wanted to have half with his tea, so I cut it in two and he went off with his portion.  I ate mine straight away while the potatoes bubbled on the stove.  It was very tasty, but it just didn't last long enough to get it's photo taken!

Sue xx

Rhubarb, Almond Milk, Weekend Watching and Scarecrows

 

You're not really supposed to take a harvest from newly transplanted rhubarb during it's first year, but I had no option.  Like something out of The Day of the Triffids it sprawled over most of the woodchip area of the garden getting bigger and bigger by the day.

I pulled most of the stems leaving just a couple behind for the plant and after a good wash and a chop cooked it all up.  I ended up with enough  for a rhubarb and custard tart, two containers that are now in the fridge that can be turned into crumbles in the blink of an eye, and the excess juice from the cooking I poured into the little jug.  This was drunk over the course of a couple of days mixed with sparkling water and was beautifully refreshing.

Literally a week later and the plant is almost as big as it was before ... I'll have to watch it doesn't eat one of the dogs!!

In my ongoing ultra processed foods discovery journey I had my occasional breakfast of Aldi dupe weetabix with almond milk.  Although I didn't have the cereal box to check the ingredients of the Wheat Bisks I could look it up on the Aldi website.  This is what I found - 

Whole 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐭 (95%), 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐲 Malt Extract, Sugar, Salt, Niacin, Iron, Riboflavin, Thiamin, Folic Acid.

 Not too bad  actually, and something that I am happy to keep in my diet.

The almond milk I'm not so happy about ... I think it's time I went back to making my own!!

*** *** ***

Here's some Weekend Watching for you, chosen from some of the channels that I've been watching and enjoying this week. 

 First a new one to me that I only discovered this week - Farmhouse on Boone

https://youtu.be/DWrSk-175Kg

I find it so relaxing watching someone else cooking or cleaning, and it's been nice to take it easy with a cup of coffee first thing in the morning and watch from my armchair.

Next a massive haul for Freakin Frugal, thank goodness there's some food that can be rescued before it ends up in landfill.

https://youtu.be/fwdj9sHyMH8

From Jessica at Three Rivers Homestead there was this lovely video at the start of her canning season.

https://youtu.be/ymeuMLCzy6U

Some shopping from Madelaine Olivia -

https://youtu.be/kHATnMEgm_E

And the follow on video when she uses the shopping bought at Lidl to make meals, is here:-

https://youtu.be/OQJL-6yYbto

I hope you enjoyed a couple of those, I'm always on the lookout for more channels to watch so if there's one that you love do let me know in the comments below.

 It's the Scarecrow Festival here in our little northern town, so it will be quite busy around town and the carparks will all be full.  The theme this year is Films.  On the canal one of the narrowboats near to our house is now the Titanic, I do hope history isn't repeated.  😉

While in the Pizza shop, Laurel and Hardy seem to be tucking into a lovely Italian meal.

Happily, we have had to drive around town twice today so we have managed to see most of the scarecrows and we can avoid the crowds tomorrow and Sunday.

I hope you have a great weekend.

Sue xx

The News Isn't the News ...

The news isn't the news any more ... on national television things that should and do actually matter get pushed aside for trivialities.  I don't know who figures out what the headlines should be or the running order of said headlines but they really do need to wake up and smell the roses ... and get things in order of actual perspective.

It's just the same when you fire up your computer, the headlines of the day or week are lost amongst things like 'savvy nan turns overgrown garden into an oasis with a gin corner', celebrities that I have barely heard of  have welcomed a 'new addition to the family' ... but don't get too excited it's an animal to their zoo!!   

I mean who decides!!

My 'news' for the week is sporadic and bitty, but something nice that did happen was this little visit from little Mr Bee.  Buzzing around Wendy the Weed and gathering in the food, and giving me time to pick up my phone and photograph the proceedings.

 It was just a little highlight of my weekend ... but if I phoned it through to the BBC maybe they would run it as the headline for tonight, and put 6% interest rates for mortgages next year down to 10th place.

Other news from the weekend, We had a day out minus the dogs yesterday and had a wander around the big car boot sale in Bilsborough.  I went armed with £10 of change from my little wooden savings box but only managed to spend 70p ... I am obviously way out of practice.  😄

 Twenty pence on the little bowl and 50p on the little oak frame which was empty when I bought it, but I knew one of my little pictures would fit in perfectly.

And it just completes this little area perfectly.

And that folks ... is the news.  😁

Sue xx

Plants, Seeds, UPF, Dumpster Diving and a Café Boat

 

Last week I potted these Cosmos 'Purity' into larger pots.  Three of the little pots sharing one much larger one to hopefully make a nice display of pure white flowers in a few weeks.

I also sowed a couple of rows of radish seeds into one of the shadier beds, hopefully we can have a few more homegrown radish before the temperatures get too high and they all bolt.  You can let them bolt, go to seed and then eat the pods, but I'm not that keen on the fiery little pods to be honest, although the flowers are very pretty.

You're not really supposed to pick from a newly planted rhubarb plant, but this one is growing so well and starting to cover so much of the chippings area of the garden that I am going to risk it this weekend.  Homegrown rhubarb with some coconut yoghurt sounds like a lovely dessert ... or maybe breakfast.

And now for your delight and delectation ... some Weekend Watching.

There was a lot of interest in my new book, so I thought I would share this short YouTube video with Dr Chris van Tulleken talking about it and ultra processed foods.  It gave me a better understanding of just what UPF was before I started reading the book.

https://youtu.be/uAVuU2xS_YA

I also watched this one as it was a long time since I watched the actual programme a couple of years ago.  It ties in neatly with the book.

https://youtu.be/T4PFt4czJw0

And here's a Freakin Frugal dumpster dive with lots of lovely fresh produce.

https://youtu.be/cd8CTzmXiv8

And finally, a bit of Holly the Café Boat, which is just one of the many narrowboat channels I watch on a regular basis.

https://youtu.be/P2ijbgMlfXQ

We are off to a park in Lancaster today with the dogs, we've been out and about quite a bit just recently making the most of this lovely weather.  I hope you have a lovely weekend.

Sue xx

Cucumber Plants, Weekend Watching ... and Moving House?

 

Yesterday I finally got my cucumber plants out into their final places, two in this bed near the shed and the other in a pot so I can stand it in full sun and see what difference it makes.  Quite a lot I should imagine as cucumbers love to be warm.  Unfortunately, the areas I have for growing vegetables in our little garden are mostly shady except for at certain times of the day, but like so many gardeners I'm doing my best with what I have.

The one in the pot is now here as the this side of the lodge gets the sun for most of the day until early evening, so it should have a head start over the ones that get the evening sun and lots of shade.  As you can see in this photo, I think this last couple of weeks of hot sun has been a bit hard on the tomato plants.  Thank goodness there are a couple of smaller tomato plants in pots on that top shelf waiting to go into larger pots in the next week or so.

All the time I was working in the garden the fat-ball holder was being visited by lots of little birds, they're very brave at the moment as I was literally only a couple of feet away most of the time.  Possibly they're braver because we have stopped putting out all other food that seems to attract the larger birds and have just been using up our supply of fat-balls instead.

Here's a bit of Weekend Watching in case you want a bit of sitting in the house out of the sun for a change ... and aren't in the mood for the FA Cup Final.

First some gardening inspiration from Tanya at Lovely Greens.  I used to use the terracotta plant pot method of the Olla's she is showcasing in this video in my polytunnel ... I would love a Polycrub!!

https://youtu.be/IDRiBJsqjyg

Next a channel I only discovered this week and I've been watching quite a few videos from, We Cook Vegan.  Some of the ideas are brilliant, if a bit samey but it's been good for some new inspiration.  The only thing I don't like is the almost permanent titles of 'Better than meat'.  If you like meat I doubt you would find them better than meat, but hey ho!!

https://youtu.be/dMugENc-6mg

And finally, a lovely little apartment to drool over.  I do like small space living ... both doing it myself and watching how other people do it.  This space is smaller than mine by about 60 square foot and I love the way that it's laid out.

https://youtu.be/XmtCv4pMfKE

Here's a lovely little cottage in almost original condition that's just come on the market in our little town ... am I drooling over it - yes, am I tempted to buy it - yes.  I must remain firm and not view it.

2 bedroom semi-detached house for sale in Church Street, Garstang, PR3 (rightmove.co.uk)

 Tomorrow we are heading to Morecambe for the annual Vegan Fair, and of course it will give the dogs a lovely walk along the seafront and might even take my mind off Church Cottage.  😄 

I hope you have a lovely weekend, what are your plans? 

Sue xx

Previous Gardens, Vegetables and Tyres

I was asked about my previous vegetable growing spaces and gardens and which one I loved best.  So I decided to make a post all about them.

My favourite way to grow vegetables is in a polytunnel, or 'high tunnel' as they are called in some countries.  I briefly had a greenhouse at one of our rental smallholdings and it just wasn't as good, well not for me.  Perhaps I was spoilt by my first polytunnel, and the space and atmosphere it gave me and the vegetables growing in it.

  This was my second and last polytunnel on the day it was completed ... and the crazy guys that built it for me.  I couldn't resist sharing this photo again. 😄

My vegetable garden ... or Veggie Patch as it was known ... in Wales.  

(And the last header photo from the old blog.)

August 2015

We lived there from September 2013 to March 2021 and enjoyed most of our time there.  Our reasons for leaving were summed up pretty neatly on the final post of my old blog Our New Life in the Country.  HERE

A tour in and around the polytunnel in July 2017 is HERE.

Prior to moving to Wales we lived for a couple of years near Pangbourne in Berkshire, England and this was the vegetable garden there.  

The only problem with this one was the deer that came and ate a LOT of my plants and vegetables.  As you can see from this photo we tried all sorts of deterrents to try and stop them.

Behind our first rented farmhouse in Great Haseley, Oxfordshire was my first vegetable garden, well photo shows some of it, behind me as this photo was taken were four more beds on the grassed area in front of the chicken area.

I loved this and I guess that it was this one that sealed my love of growing food for us to eat on a larger scale.  But of course this was only the tip of the iceberg ...

... here's Alan on the John Deere tractor that he restored, ploughing in the field ready for sowing, with our pigs in the field beyond.

So of course my new garden seems tiny to me, but I love it just as much, and if anything the challenge of getting something edible from it is giving me so much joy.  

No matter what available space you have whether it be the ten-plus acres as we had at first or the five acres that came next (twice) or a tiny garden or even a window sill, there's always something that you can grow that will taste wonderful and save you some money.

In fact some of my tastiest ever onions were grown in two tyres!

Sue xx