Living a contented creative life.

Well, all I can say about the weather is that the garden is enjoying the rain! A little sunshine and plenty of showers are suiting the flowers and most of the vegetables. Not so much the gardener who can’t do much in these conditions.

Much to be thankful for though. The roses have been better this year. They usually struggle in our poor soil but are flowering more and looking healthier.

The pond has a build up of algae so it needs some barley straw extract but the tadpoles seem happy and the water lily has sent up one beautiful flower. Another bud is poking upwards so I’m hoping for more.

My other lilies have survived the ravages of lily beetles and are beginning to open. I planted some mixed Asiatic lilies in spring and I’m hoping for some pretty colours. So far, only the white ones have opened their faces to the sun and rain but they’re looking good.

A couple of years ago we had a small wildflower bed which was lovely but I haven’t been able to reproduce it since. However, surprises still pop up. We had pink campions in Spring and now two chicory plants have grown. The chicory are very tall and have the most beautiful blue daisy flowers.

I scattered marigold (calendula) and cornflower seeds in another bed. Sadly, only four cornflowers have grown but the marigolds have germinated well and will soon be a golden show.

Talking of gold, the yellow loosestrife ( Lysimachia) are flowering now and I can see them when I’m near the kitchen window. A cheerful sight, even on a dull day.

These have a variegated leaf. I noticed that one or two stems are plain green. This reversion to plain green sometimes happens with variegated plants. Usually it’s best to cut out the plain parts but I don’t mind with these as the flowers are the important feature.

Here are some other little treasures which caught my eye.

I have a clematis which flowers on the top of a bushy tunnel. I think it’s called “Comtesse de Bouchard”. Because of its position it’s difficult to fully appreciate the lovely flowers. So I was really pleased to see that the woody stem has grown new shoots which bear flowers lower down where I can see them properly. Here’s a photo of two of them.

I feel way behind with my vegetable growing this year but I’m trying to catch up. I’ve sown peas again and “Autumn King” carrots in the polytunnels, more basil, lettuces and radishes.

The tomatoes are doing well but nowhere near ripe yet. I have kohlrabi to use,  broad beans, Spring onions, carrots, potatoes and courgettes, as well as onions and garlic I harvested earlier. Parsnips, leeks, kale and sprouts are coming along for winter. So we won’t starve!

A warning to anyone growing brassica plants ( cabbage family). It’s time now to closely cover them with fine netting to keep out the cabbage white butterflies. They should be about very soon although butterflies are noticeably scarce this year. As much as we want to encourage butterflies we certainly don’t want caterpillars on our sprouts, cabbages and the like. Put them in place before the culprits show up.

The garden is untidy. The paths need sweeping and there are plenty of weeds in places. The weather and old age are significant problems. Not ready to give up though.

Next year will be our 60th wedding anniversary! In that time we have experienced many different homes, gardens and jobs. Little money early on encouraged us to be resourceful and to use our imagination. Make do and mend became a way of life.

I’m by no means an expert on anything but with all this experience I’ve picked up lots of tricks over the years. I have always tried my own way to do things. Too often ideas become fixed and go unchallenged. I look for simpler or more effective ways and try to pass on these useful methods in my blog as often as I can.

From gardening to cooking my home-grown food, preserving, inventing recipes, upcycling old furniture, sewing and knitting, writing poetry and painting. I’ve had a go at all of them and try to be innovative and practical.

I hope you’ve found some of my ideas interesting and enjoyed the photos. Please feel free to comment. I love to hear from readers.

With you again in a couple of weeks. Bye for now.

Summer has arrived at last! Warm days, sultry nights, an abundance of food in the garden and flowers to lift the spirits. The garden is scented with honeysuckle and roses.

Hmm! Since I wrote this the weather here has turned cold and drizzly! But never mind, it will pass and the garden needs it so I’m celebrating the good times.

I have been busy with strawberries. The season is short but so generous. Lots of delicious glowing scarlet berries for now and plenty squirrelled away in the freezer for winter desserts and my favourite strawberry jam.

I love all summer fruits but strawberries are a special treat. The colour, the shine, the flavour! So appetising and announce Summer like nothing else can.

I have two small rectangular raised beds with lots of strawberry plants which have gradually converged to form a tangled mat. The beds have a dressing of homemade compost in Spring when the leaves begin to grow. Then I put a mulch of coir around the plants and apart from watering, that’s it. No fertiliser needed. A few snails help themselves but don’t take many fruits. I carefully wash and trim the berries and any nibbled ones are cleaned up and frozen for cooking. For the last few years I have harvested kilos of strawberries. Organic methods do produce results.

I made strawberry ice-cream. Just a small amount to enjoy straight away because it freezes really solid if I put it in the freezer to keep. I made custard from whole milk, custard powder and sugar. When it was cool I stirred in some stewed and sweetened strawberries, chilled it in the fridge then put it into my ice-cream maker for thirty minutes. A bit soft. I could have churned it for a while longer but very nice. Delicious and no harmful additives. I should do it more often.

I use baskets a lot for harvesting fruit and veg but I also find them good for other things. Not only are they useful but there is something so pleasing about a basket. A perfect shape, a comfortable handle and lovely materials from natural fibres. I bought some from a Pound Shop years ago and they’re still doing good service and I’ve picked up others here and there or had them as gifts.

I’ve planted my squash in boxes of homemade compost in a sunny spot where they can sprawl across a warm concrete surface. Sadly, neighbourhood cats have found the boxes and soiled them. So annoying. We’ve tried putting holly leaves on top but they have been swept aside.  Now trying sticks poked into the soil as well as the holly. Fingers crossed.

I have two squash  plants for my favourite “Buttercup” variety and this year I’m also growing some “Little Gem”. The “Buttercup” are so tasty but they are a bit big for us so I thought I’d give the others a try. I hope they will match up in flavour and storing qualities.

Winter squash are a handy vegetable because they will store for about three or four months without having to process them in any way. Roasted or in soups they are delicious treats.

Courgettes are coming on nicely. Our neighbours very kindly gave me two plants and they’re doing well. I hope to have a good supply later on for pickles and chutney.

Apples and pears look promising. The June drop is taking place at the moment. This is when the trees shed excess fruits after the exuberance of the Spring blossom. The paths are littered with baby apples and pears but enough will grow and at the end of Summer I will be gathering in the harvest.

A kind friend on Facebook sent me some oriental poppy seeds last year after I admired her lovely photos. I sowed the seeds, kept the plants in the greenhouse over Winter and planted them out in Spring. Finally, after much anticipation, I have beautiful flowers. I already have scarlet poppies in another part of the garden but these pink ones are such a romantic colour in my border.

So many lovely flowers to enjoy at this time of year. Here are a few I captured with my camera as I walked around the garden. Mallow, red “Flower Carpet” roses and Feverfew, blue Scabious, Campanula, white Antirrhinum, yellow flowers of the shrub Brachyglottis, “Handel” roses, scarlet Salvia and not sure about the white daisies, perhaps Mesembryanthemum.

Here’s a lovely feather I found on the path.

Our tiny lawn was reseeded in Spring and we’ve let it grow to strengthen it and hopefully to benefit wildlife. Some lovely flowers have appeared. Yes, they’re weeds, but they’re lovely.

Been enjoying new potatoes, broad beans or peas with mint sauce. Peas are almost finished. I will sow some more in one of the polytunnels. Keeps the pea moth away so we don’t have any annoying little grubs inside the pods. Had black fly on the broad beans but, as I said last time, it isn’t a big problem. Ladybirds have benefitted from the feast.

I haven’t painted for a while but here’s one I did a while ago. This Still Life is one painted with acrylics on a canvas board. I enjoy trying to capture the light and reflections on shiny surfaces.

I hope you’re enjoying the sunnier days and warm, scented evenings. With you again in a couple of weeks. Bye for now.

Well, the weather has not been kind! June is usually a month of sunshine, warm evenings and summer pleasures but not so far this year.

The garden has not let me down however. There is still much to enjoy and lovely colour to brighten the dull days.

I have a rose called “Vielschenblau” which is very temperamental and usually sulks but this year it’s splendid and giving me great pleasure. It scrambles through one of the pear trees and is a picture right now. The flowers are an unusual purple colour fading to pink with an open centre which is good for bees. Arranged in clusters they look very pretty.

Campanulas are putting on a show around the garden, flowering freely wherever seeds have been blown by the wind. I love them and leave them to flower wherever they choose. Most are a deep blue, possibly purple, while others range from palest lavender to white.

My “Sarah Bernhardt” peony has disappointed this year. Only two flowers. Lovely, though and I will enjoy their fleeting beauty.

Outside one of the tunnels a large verbascum, also known as a mullein, has grown right beside the door. It’s not easy to open the door but I’m reluctant to move it because it’s full of lovely mullein moth caterpillars.

It’s so important to preserve such creatures because they’re sadly declining rapidly. I’ve seen hardly any butterflies so far this year. Perhaps when the weather improves they will reappear. I hope so.

Other treasures are dotted here and there. The pink campions are still flowering and look pretty with blue geraniums. The yellow flowers of the herb Rue are a lovely contrast to the bluey-green foliage. My “Patio” rose has pretty pink flowers and even the hawkweed pleases me with it’s orange “fox and cubs” flowers.

At last the peas are yielding fat pods. Many of them don’t make it to the pan because I love the taste of fresh raw peas straight from the pod. One of the summer garden’s delights. Along with the first of the new potatoes and home-made mint sauce, they’re a special treat. Especially when strawberries are ready too.

As usual black fly have found the broad bean plants and are clustered thickly around the tops. I’ve pinched out the top few inches and discarded them to get rid of this pest. I never use sprays in my garden. It really isn’t necessary. A few old tricks can solve most problems. The plants will be fine now and produce lovely beans for a few weeks.

I held back from planting my outdoor cucumbers because the night time temperatures were so low. Now it seems to have warmed at night just a little, I’ve put them into the garden to grow on and hopefully in a few weeks I can start to enjoy them. I grow a variety called “Marketmore”. Small, juicy cucs full of flavour once the bitter peel has been removed. I also use them for pickles and chutney. I’ve always found them good reliable plants for our climate and they don’t require the fuss of greenhouse cucumbers.

A glimpse of the ornamental parts of the garden.

With my cooking head on, I had an idea for a savoury flan with the flavours of a pork pie but lighter in texture and with an added ingredient. It’s really delicious served cold with a salad or some chutney. Here is my recipe.

Sausage and Apple Flan

Make pastry for an 8 inch/22.5cm flan dish, with 1 cup of plain flour, one third cup of sunflower oil, one quarter cup of cold water, whizzed together in a food processor. Press into the greased flan dish, making sure the surface is covered. Place in the fridge while the filling is made. Or, use your favourite pastry recipe.
350g Sausagemeat with onion and herbs
2 Sweet Apples
1 large Egg
50g Bread (crusts can be used)

Peel and core the apples.
Heat the oven to 190C/170C for fan oven.
Slice the apples into the food processor.
Add sausagemeat, the egg, bread pieces and salt and pepper. Whizz to combine well.
Fill the pastry case with the mixture.
Bake for 25 minutes.

If only plain sausagemeat is available, add a small onion and a pinch of dried sage.
Although we enjoyed this straight from the oven it was even tastier  served cold. Can be frozen if it's for another day.

Here’s a little poem I wrote a while ago, inspired by the weather. Putting a positive spin on our disappointing June.

Garden in the Rain

Rain splashes on the paving
And brings up unexpected shades.
Drenched leaves are gently waving
With glistening drops on grassy blades.
The sky is dull and overcast
Yet the garden sparkles in the rain.
Such a pleasing contrast,
Why should I complain?
Diamond droplets drip from flowers,
Astonishingly beautiful to see
And those life-giving showers
Refresh the blooms and also me.

I hope you have your own lovely flowers to enjoy and perhaps the sun will shine for us all very soon.

Bye for now. With you again in a couple of weeks.

June! The beginning of Summer. A month of roses, strawberries and peas fresh from the pod. So much to enjoy. Sunny days and warm evenings to look forward to.

Meanwhile, there’s much to do in the garden. Slugs and snails are a problem this year. Just managing to keep on top of them but they’re having a feast on my lupins. Weeds galore! Lots of loveliness though.

The “Veilschenblau” rose is scrambling prettily through one of the pear trees. It has an unusual purpley flower and although it’s a bit temperamental I love to see it when it performs well. “Paul’s Scarlet” is also blooming now with rich red flowers and my favourite campanulas have self-seeded everywhere with their wonderful blue bells.

I have planted celeriac, “Prinz”, in the polytunnel to grow for next winter. I don’t give them much space as I haven’t enough room but I don’t need big vegetables. I’m only cooking for two and we don’t eat big meals. Tennis ball size is fine for adding extra interest to food. I’m not aiming for super-size veg. Taste and texture are the important things to go for.

Potatoes are looking good. By the middle of the month I will scratch the soil away to find delicious small new potatoes. Fabulous with fresh mint sauce. Planted “Ulster Sceptre” in March. The leaves look healthy and the flowers are lovely.

Bit disappointed with my garlic this year. I had just a small harvest and about eight bulbs had rotted. The remaining ones will not last for long. Gardening is always a gamble even with care and attention. The few I have will taste good though. They have a fresher, sweeter taste than shop-bought garlic.

I used the last of the cabbages. I made my cheesey potato bake. Steamed the cabbage over the boiling potatoes then made mash with Cheshire cheese crumbled in with a spoonful of soured cream. I spread the cabbage in the dish, sometimes I add onions sauteed in the microwave first, then I spread the mash on top. Baked in the air-fryer for 15 minutes at 150C. The topping is crisp and toasty. Lancashire cheese is also good for this. Cheddar can be used but needs to be grated before mixing into the mash. A simple, satisfying and economical meal. One of our favourites with some chutney.

Foxgloves have been wonderful this year. I even found three growing in one of the polytunnels. Couldn’t bear to throw them out, so they’ve flowered. In the garden a lovely collection sprang up from seed blown by the wind.

Poppies are putting on a show. The Welsh poppies have been abundant this year, in glorious yellow or orange. Their silken petals shine out on even the gloomiest day. The oriental poppies are fabulously dramatic with their scarlet and black flowers.

Other lovely things have caught my eye.

On a wet day, I tried my latest idea for cakes.

These are another variation of my Sweet-Treat Squares. I’m so pleased with them. Here is my recipe if you’d like to try them. You will need a large, greased, baking tin. I use a roaster, 30 x 25cm (12 x 10 inches).

Orange and Sultana Squares

1 small Orange
80g Sultanas
4 large Eggs
200g Golden Sugar
215g Self-raising Flour
2 rounded teaspoons Baking Powder
15g Bran
200g Sunflower Oil


Grease the tin with a little oil.
Boil the kettle. Place sultanas in a heatproof bowl or jug and pour boiling water over them. Leave to soak.
Scrub the orange, then grate onto a chopping board.
Heat the oven to 180C or 160C for a fan oven.
Put all the other ingredients into a mixing bowl.
Add grated orange zest.
Mix well.
Drain the sultanas and add to the mixture. Mix again.
Spread in the greased tin and bake for 25 minutes.
Check it's baked in the middle by inserting a skewer. If it comes out clean, it's done.
Or press the middle gently, if it springs back it's done.
Allow to cool, then cut into squares.

Delicious orange flavour, juicy sweet sultanas and a lovely crumby texture. They freeze well if you need to keep some.

I love my Art Deco pottery. Bits I’ve collected over many years from charity shops and flea markets. Lovely colours and patterns.

I hope the weather will be kind to us now. Enjoy whatever comes your way and cherish every moment while the sun shines.

With you again in a couple of weeks. Bye for now.

Halfway through the month and the lovely hawthorn flowers which grace the beginning of May have shed their petals. The garden is bursting with new life and the promise of more to come.

The polytunnels are giving us crisp lettuce and tasty radishes for delicious fresh salads. If I just nip out the crinkled leaves from around the middle and leave the central leaves they will keep supplying new growth. No need to pull up a whole lettuce. I always do this with “Little Gem”, our favourite lettuces.

The garlic is ready to harvest and has just sent up flower shoots. These, known as “scapes” taste of garlic and are a tender alternative. I nipped them off to prevent the plants from bolting and I used them in our favourite Italian-style salad.

Normally, for this I rub a little crushed garlic around the bowl to flavour the olive oil but as I’m waiting for my garlic harvest I snipped some of the scapes into the oil instead. Lots of flavour. It was very tasty.

For this salad I use basil. I’ve sown the seeds with the tomatoes in the greenhouse, so will be enjoying it soon. When it’s out of season I buy a pot from the supermarket. I can keep it going for weeks if I give it a drink of cold tea every day.

Outdoors, the kale is sending up flower buds and is almost ready to come out. Not yet though, because the buds are a treat, either raw or cooked. If I keep pinching them off they grow more and I can keep this going for a couple of weeks. Very nutritious and a pleasure to eat.

I’ve also discovered that if I remove just the head of a cabbage and leave the outer leaves, sometimes the stump will make new growth if it’s kept watered. This cuts down on space as less plants are needed.

I normally sow my runner beans this month from seed I saved from last year’s pods. This time though I decided to cut down on work so I bought some plants from a garden centre. I also bought Brussel sprouts and lettuce to save time and effort. Because I’ve grown from seed for many years I feel almost as though I’m cheating by buying plants but I’m not getting any younger and the garden is a lot to manage. I don’t ever want to give up gardening but I need to make life a little easier.

The roses have started to bloom. Although they struggle in our sandy soil I usually manage to coax them to produce a few flowers.

Tulips have finished but I captured the evening light on a lovely one before it finally dropped its petals.

The Aquilegias are wonderful this year. Beautiful shades of pink and purple are giving us such pleasure.

Comfrey is flowering now. It makes a great plant food, especially for tomatoes. It’s smelly but easy to make and very effective. Just cut it down with leaves, stems and flowers. Chop them up. Put it all in a bucket and fill with water. Leave for a couple of weeks then pour off and dilute as needed. Costs nothing, resourceful and organic. According to the organisation, Garden Organic, the variety of comfrey called “Bocking 14” is the best for this purpose.

On a wet day I baked my banana and cranberry loaves. I had four small ripe bananas to use up and it was an ideal day for working indoors.

Delicious served as buttered slices. My very easy recipe is in my Earthy Homemaker’s Cookbook. Follow this link if you’d like to find it.

https://geni.us/eANQu

I hope your gardens are full of tasty food and glorious flowers and your days are filled with pleasure. Bye for now. With you again in a couple of weeks.

The merry month of May! Such a lovely time of year with longer days and more sunshine. So much to enjoy with blossom, birdsong and Summer yet to come. Lots going on in the garden and kitchen.

Delicious mint was ready to use. I love  mint so I made five small pots of mint sauce and froze them. Easy to do in my food processor.  I normally just use apple mint. It has a sweeter taste than spearmint but I hadn’t quite enough so I used a mixture of the two.

I just wash and strip the leaves from the stems, dab them dry, put into the processor, cover with malt vinegar and sugar and whizz them until the mint is thoroughly chopped and flavours combined. Fabulous taste to have with new potatoes and lamb in Spring and just as delicious with old potatoes and bacon in Winter. It’s just like fresh when it thaws.

The apple blossom has been wonderful. I think, of all the fruit blossom, it’s the loveliest. Sadly, it doesn’t last for long. The petals are scattering like confetti around the garden. Not a problem, they soon disappear.

My Clematis montana “Elizabeth” is sprawling around the tops of the fruit trees looking romantic.

Underneath the fruit trees this year a lot of self-seeded Campion, a wildflower, have sprung up and are looking so lovely right now. Such pretty flowers. The little orchard looks like a woodland garden.

At Christmas my son gave me a bag of mixed bulbs. By the time I could plant them I thought it might be way too late but I put them, pessimistically, into the ground. I needn’t have worried. They have come up beautifully. Lovely tulips which are now in flower and some daffodils which are still in bud.

These warmer days and damp evenings are ideal for growing. The broad beans are flowering well and promising to produce some tender beans in a few weeks. The blueberries have lots of blossom so will provide some delicious berries later on. The little wild strawberries which grow all over the garden have pretty flowers and will bear tiny red strawberries for the birds and mice to enjoy. We will have plenty of cultivated berries for ourselves.

A few more beauties which caught my eye.

On a very wet day I baked a new cake recipe which came to me one night when I couldn’t sleep. Here it is.

Sweet Apple Squares

2 Sweet Apples
4 large Eggs
200g Caster Sugar
225g Self-raising Flour
2 rounded teaspoons Baking Powder
20g Bran
200g Sunflower Oil

Grease a large baking tin. I use a roaster, 30 x 25cm (12 x 10")
Peel and core the apples.
Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan oven.
Grate the apples coarsely into a mixing bowl.
Add all the other ingredients and mix well.
Put mixture into the tin and bake for 25-30 minutes.(It took 27 minutes in my oven.)
Cool and cut into squares.
They make lovely puddings either warm or cold with custard, cream, yoghurt or ice-cream.
Even better when they're a day or two old, if you can resist them for that long. They also freeze well.

More of my Sweet-Treat Squares are in my Earthy Homemaker’s Cookbook. All very easy to make and very satisfying.

I hope you’re enjoying the season with lovely flowers and birdsong. Bye for now. With you again in a couple of weeks.

April is a busy time in the garden with seed sowing, planting and cutting back. I’ve sown French beans, kohl rabi, carrots, parsnips, celeriac, peppers, radishes and Spring onions. Enjoying fresh cabbage and kale. More about the garden later.

You may remember I’ve been experimenting with making homemade yoghurt and was deciding whether to buy a yoghurt maker. I was reluctant because I like to be self-sufficient if I can but began to wonder if it would make it a bit easier. The milk has to be brought to the boil, then cooled to about 43C. It’s a bit of a faff, to be honest, so I thought perhaps there might be a better way. So I gave in and bought a yoghurt maker.

Unfortunately, to my dismay, when I read the instructions the heating of the milk still had to be done in a separate pan beforehand! The so-called yoghurt maker simply holds the temperature throughout the hours it takes to develop. It doesn’t make the process any easier, after all. Plus it didn’t improve on the quality of the yoghurt I made with my own method.

Perhaps there are extremely expensive machines that do all of it. I don’t know but I’m not prepared to fork out that amount of money and have another large gadget cluttering the kitchen. Not to worry. I shall probably carry on making it now and then.

A few sunny days soothed my disappointment as I could work in the garden and enjoy lovely flowers.

Apple blossom is opening on the trees. My favourite fruit blossom. Rosy buds opening to a beautifully delicate shade of pink.

My clematis “Freda”, a kind gift from my sister, is opening her lovely flowers.

The hellebores are still producing a few flowers and the self-seeded wallflowers have been such a pretty sight.

The berberis has grown tremendously and is putting on a wonderful show. It grows a bit too fast and it’s extremely prickly but it looks so fabulous in Spring and it’s evergreen so I forgive it and enjoy what it has to offer.

Here are some more Spring delights.

Wildlife is busy in the garden. Tadpoles are whizzing about in the pond, ladybirds are mating, shield bugs around on the leaves and bees buzzing everywhere.

My “Roma” tomato plants were growing like mad in the windowsill but the nights have been very cold so I was wary of putting them in the greenhouse. My husband came to the rescue and fixed up a heater to prevent frost damage. So I planted them in the greenhouse bed where I hope they will thrive and produce their delicious tomatoes for us later in Summer.

We’ve had some atrocious weather though. One day it was far too wet to work outside so I gathered up all my bits of frozen fruit to make jam. I had strawberries and plums which I’d harvested from the garden and frozen and some blueberries I’d bought which were disappointingly tough.

Weighed them, stewed them and added an equal amount of sugar, stirred to dissolve then boiled rapidly until it was setting. Apples would have been a useful addition because they’re rich in pectin which helps jam to set. I couldn’t find any but I suspect there are some lost in the mysterious depths of the chest freezer! It took a while to reach setting point when a spoonful on a cold plate begins to wrinkle. Got there in the end.

Jam may not be a nutritious food but one of life’s real pleasures is a slice of freshly baked bread, slathered with butter and homemade jam. Delicious!

Not much I care to watch on television these days so I painted another picture. This one is “Sunlight and Shadows”. When I saw the photo I’d taken in the garden I loved the way the sun was highlighting the poppy petals but the camera gave intense shadows among the leaves. I’ve tried to capture that with my painting. Drawn first in pencil then painted with gouache.

Let’s hope the weather will now improve and we have many enjoyable days in the garden or out and about. With you again in a couple of weeks. Bye for now.

April showers! Feels more like a monsoon at times but between the downpours there are moments with bright blue skies, pure white billowing clouds and welcome sunlight.

As I write the wind is whipping the house walls and the trees are swaying. The pear and plum blossom has been lovely but is now falling like snowflakes.

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Insects are busy. Ladybirds are visible all over the garden and very welcome because they eat aphids. I found two different kinds of caterpillar in my anemone flowers. I photographed them and left them in peace. I don’t mind sacrificing a flower or two.

Sadly, the only butterfly I’ve seen for a couple of weeks was dead in the greenhouse. They fly in through the roof vent but can’t find their way out and flutter about until they die of exhaustion.

My Spring cabbages are growing well. These “Hero” ones form a ball head in two or three weeks time but I usually end up with too many to use at once. I decided to start using them while they’re not quite mature. This year the leaves are enormous. Allan took a photo of me bringing one in from the garden. It was nearly as big as me and filled the sink.

I steamed it over boiling potatoes. I had plenty for two servings so the first day we ate it with mashed potatoes, bacon and mint sauce. I made and froze the mint sauce last summer. Just like fresh when it’s thawed, and delicious. I popped the extra cooked cabbage in the fridge.

The next day I made my cheesy potatoes. I boiled potatoes, mashed them with Cheshire cheese and added a little soured cream. While the potatoes were cooking I softened chopped onion in a little olive oil in the microwave. Then I added the cabbage and topped it with the cheesy mash. I baked it in my tiny airfryer for about twelve minutes at 173C until nicely browned and heated through.

Lancashire cheese is good for this too. Or Cheddar, if you prefer a stronger taste.

This is such a satisfying and homely meal. Very tasty with some ketchup or chutney. It can of course, be cooked in the conventional oven. My full instructions for this are in my Earthy Homemaker’s Cookbook. Here’s the link if you’d like to see this and my other recipes.

https://geni.us/eANQu

The tomato plants are coming along nicely. I potted them when the true leaves had formed and I’m keeping them on a warm windowsill for a while. Too cold at night in the greenhouse just yet. I have to turn the pots a few times a day to even out the light from the window or they will stretch too far towards it and become leggy.

As my regular readers know, I love surprises in the garden. This year I found wallflowers growing under the bird feeders which hang in the pear tree behind the house. Perhaps the seed was in the bird seed mix but it might have blown around the corner of the house from a border in the front garden. Wherever they came from, I’m well pleased. Such beautiful colours and fragrance.

So much to do in the garden now so baking needs to be quick. I made my super-quick brownies. Easy to do and only take 20 minutes in the oven. A sweet treat full of chocolate flavour. Really nice just as they are but extra good with some icing. They freeze well too. If you have my cookbook you’ll find the recipe under Sweet-Treat Squares.

While I’m relaxing I love to paint. I have a challenging new work in progress. Two glorious poppies with the sunlight shining through the petals. Difficult to capture but enjoyable to try. More of that next time.

And finally, a few lovely things in the garden at the moment.

I hope you’re managing to dodge the downpours and enjoying every minute of Spring sunshine. With you again in a couple of weeks. Bye for now.

March 20th is an important date on my calendar. Not only is it the Vernal Equinox and therefore the start of Spring but it’s also our wedding anniversary. The day of the wedding it rained, snowed, hailed and blew a gale! 59 years have passed since that day. Much to be thankful for and hopefully, still much to look forward to.

So, here we are at last, with true Spring! Longer days and a few more opportunities to work outside with a bit of sun on our backs. More glorious colours appear all the time. Here’s a selection of what there is to see in my garden right now.

I planted a marsh marigold (Caltha pulustris) in aquatic compost several weeks ago. Allan placed it in the pond in a perfect spot and just the right depth with the few little leaves above the water. It grew well and now it’s a blaze of bright yellow flowers. So lovely.

Our neighbours asked if I would like to see their big pot of Spring flowers and perhaps take a photo for my blog. What a pleasure to see! It’s so beautiful. A mass of brilliant blue muscari and anemone blanda. My photo really doesn’t do it justice.

Their camellia was a picture too, covered with perfect crimson flowers. I think it must be in an ideal position because camellias need to be out of the early morning sun. If the flowers are frosted in the night they need to thaw slowly. If the morning sun warms them rapidly the flowers go brown and the buds fall off. Not a problem with these, as you can see from this one.

I planted out the lovely broad beans I bought from our local nursery. They are a variety called “Bunyards Exhibition”. I kept them in the unheated greenhouse until they were a few inches high and looking sturdy. I think now they will withstand weather and pests. A couple of leaves have been nibbled by slugs already but it’s not substantial damage. They’ll be fine. As a precaution we scattered some organic pellets around.

I really don’t like to kill things though. Most of the creatures in the garden do no harm. I found lots of lovely snails this week as I tidied the borders and among the branches of my clematis “Freda”. The shells are striped in cream and brown and in the clematis they are pale yellow. I will leave them to get on with their lives.

I took out the last of my celeriac crop and weeded the tunnels. I sowed “Katrin” carrots. Not grown these before so I don’t know yet whether they will be good. The tunnels look tidy now and have lots of new seeds waiting to spring to life. Lettuce, spring onions, carrots, parsnips and kohl rabi will germinate soon now that the soil is a little warmer.

Indoors, some of my tomatoes are giving me trouble.

I’ve grown “Roma” many times. They’re a favourite big plum tomato which we thoroughly enjoy. This year I thought I would also try a variety called “Italian Plum” from Garden Organic’s Heritage Seed Library.

I sowed both types in my homemade seed compost and kept them on a warm windowsill. Both varieties germinated and started to form true leaves after a few days. The “Roma”. on the left of my photos, are looking good but sadly the “Italian Plum” have curled leaves and don’t seem to be thriving.

Garden Organic have told me that this isn’t normal. They advised me to keep them separate and they will replace the seeds if they continue in this way. It’s a disappointing setback because it takes a long time for tomatoes to fruit in my greenhouse.

I love the little surprises which a garden brings. There’s always something of interest at any time of year. I found this little poppy seed head lying on the soil. It’s a lacy skeleton and beautiful in its simplicity.

Plenty to do indoors, while the weather plays havoc with garden plans. I enjoy being in the kitchen when I can’t be outside.

I’m still attempting to make yoghurt. I bought a thermometer and was very careful about the temperature of the milk but for some reason it didn’t set quite as firmly this time. It tastes really good though and keeps well, if we can resist it. Two pints (just over a litre) of whole organic milk fills three of my small preserving jars and they fit together in my thermal cooker to keep warm overnight.

I might buy a yoghurt maker but I’m dithering on the decision. I really like to be be able to make things myself using simple techniques, under my own steam. It goes against my inclinations to give in and have a machine do it for me. Not that I’m against gadgets, I appreciate them and have various helpers in my kitchen. It would be so easy with a machine though to warm the milk to the correct temperature and hold it for the time it takes for the yoghurt to set. Still considering it because with the price of organic yoghurt the machine would pay for itself in no time at all.

With Easter about to happen I’ve made my Iced and Spiced Squares. These are so much easier than baking hot cross buns. They have the same spicy warmth and fruity goodness to enjoy. A lovely crumby texture with a layer of fruit at the bottom. The lick of icing at the top is a sweet treat.

The recipe is in the cakes section of my Earthy Homemaker’s Cookbook. By the way, if you have my cookbook, in my list of ingredients I include dried milk. I feel it adds to the recipe but it’s not strictly necessary if you don’t have it handy.

They freeze well if they’re not all needed at once and I think they taste even better when they’re a day or two old.

I painted a picture of one of my “Buttercup” winter squashes. I grow these during summer. Drawn with pencil from my photograph and painted with gouache. Not colourful enough for me though. Next time I must paint something with fabulous colours. This monochrome painting doesn’t satisfy my soul.

I hope you have a lovely Easter and your days are filled with sunshine. With you again soon. Bye for now.

Although I don’t want the year to rush by I’m really glad it’s March. In a couple of weeks Spring will be in full flow and the drabness of winter will burst into colour.

Time for using up the winter supplies and make way for fresh new vegetables. I’ve almost finished off the parsnips and celeriac. The winter squash which I kept stored in the house were delicious but the last one has been eaten and enjoyed. Roasted in my little airfryer for a few minutes, the orange flesh was sweet, tender and tasty.

New parsnips have been sown in the polytunnel ready to start them again for next winter. They need a long growing season. Not sure if they’ll germinate as I had the packet of seeds for a while. I’ll wait and see but parsnips don’t always do well with old seed. Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

Now enjoying the cauliflowers. They don’t look posh but they taste wonderful, full of flavour and very good steamed. Spring cabbages are not far behind. Peas are about an inch high so will be a while yet. The new shoots look promising.

I sowed tomato seeds in trays of my own sowing medium, made from leafmould and homemade compost. They’re now tiny plants and have just developed their true leaves. Time to pot them individually in small pots and will keep them warm in the house until the risk of frost is over. “Roma”, my favourite, on the left and “Sugar Italian Plum”, a new one for me, on the right.

A few pretty flowers are giving me pleasure here and there in the garden. Lovely soft pink bellis daisies, vibrant crocuses, cherry blossom, hellebores as black as night, the creamy bells of clematis cirrhosa and delightful corydalis.

Some lovely fat rose hips are hanging from my “Handel” climbing rose among the winter clematis. At last the frogs have spawned and I found a lovely magpie feather on the grass.

We have two enormous conifers. We were afraid they might topple onto a neighbour’s house in a storm, so reluctantly we had them cut back. Very pleased with the job done by a local tree surgeon and his assistant. Best tidying up afterwards we’ve ever had.

Saddens me to think of what the birds will make of it but it had to be done. A weight off our minds.

While I’m not busy in the garden I love to bake. I have a new recipe to share. Here is my version of coffee and walnut cake. You will need a large baking tin. I use a roaster, 30 x 25cm (12 x 10 inches).

Coffee and Walnut Squares

50g Walnut pieces
1 heaped tablespoon Instant Coffee granules
175g Demerara Sugar
4 large Eggs
200g Self-raising Flour
2 rounded teaspoons Baking Powder
20g Bran
200g Sunflower Oil
2 tablespoons Milk

Grind the walnuts in a food processor or nut mill.
Mix the coffee with 2 tablespoons of boiled water.
Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan oven.
Grease a large baking tin.
Put all ingredients including the made coffee and ground walnuts into a mixing bowl and mix thoroughly.
Spread the mixture in the greased tin.
Bake for about 20 minutes or a minute or two longer.
Press the centre to see if it springs back. If it does, it's done.
Allow to cool.
Cut into squares and ice.
To make the icing: 
In a jug or bowl, mix 1 teaspoon of coffee granules with a few drops of hot water until dissolved. Add icing sugar until it forms a thick but spreadable icing.
Spread on squares and top with a walnut half.

Lovely crumbly texture, taste good and very more-ish. Add this one to my cookbook if you have it and let me know what you think if you try it.

I’m experimenting with making yoghurt. My first attempt was a bit runny but tasted good. Doing a bit more research I realised that I hadn’t heated the milk to the correct temperature so it hadn’t set properly. I’ve since bought a food thermometer and I intend to try again. I’m using organic whole milk and organic yoghurt as a starter. It has to have live culture to activate the process. I don’t want to buy a yoghurt maker with more plastic and another gadget to store in the kitchen. I intend to use very clean, hot jars and my thermal cooker to keep them warm. The cooker doesn’t heat up, it just maintains the temperature. I’ll let you know whether I succeed or not.

All the joy of Spring is ahead of us. I hope you’re enjoying daffodils and sunny days wherever you are. Bye for now. With you again in a couple of weeks.