A month in the country
I didn’t plan my month in the country. At first I just wanted to take a few days off from blogging. Then it became a week – two weeks and more. Then I decided that I’d take the entire month off. August 12th this year was The Cottage Smallholder’s sixth birthday. Six years of blogging, finding new friends and learning. Blogging ultimately means shifting stones. There’s no point in just being a town crier. When I started blogging I had no advice, no map or planned route. I had no idea that there might be treasure involved. I’ve since...
read moreI never, ever thought that I could get angry with a chicken
But I did. I was so angry with Hope that I wanted to rip her apart with my bare hands. Hope has been toying with being broody all summer. She’ll sit for a day or two and then decide she doesn’t want to sit on eggs any more. If a hen stops being broody there are various tricks that you can do – such as putting her in a dark box for a day or so. If you’re going to try this don’t forget to give her food and water. Hope would have nothing to do with a dark box. She screamed and screamed until I felt sorry for the rest of the flock and...
read moreVintage Britains Lead Toys and more. I am selling my private toy collection on eBay!
So what did we do when we took a holiday break recently? Well we stayed in Cheveley, which was good as the weather was so hot that it was just like being abroad. It was really too hot to work in the garden so we decided that the time was right to set up my vintage toys eBay shop to start selling my vintage toy collection. Actually this is not just a shop, it’s an emporium. Unless you know me very well you wouldn’t guess that I’ve invested a lot of time, money and energy acquiring a substantial collection of lead and other vintage...
read moreEasy cod baked with cheddar cheese and crispy breadcrumb topping recipe
This recipe is so simple and delicious. The melted cheddar cheese and crisp topping keep the fish moist and the combination is true comfort food. Fish can be a bit tricky to cook. If you grill/broil or fry it the window for the fish to be perfectly cooked is very small. However, if you bake your fish that tiny window often extends to a vast 30 minutes. Two or three minutes will not ruin your supper either way. If oven baked fish takes 30 mins it means that you can have oven baked chips too! The problem with developing our own recipes is that...
read moreFlowers from the garden July 2012. One day late
About 18 months ago John (in the village shop) and I made a plan. I would order 100 carnation plant plugs, grow them on and supply the village shop with flowers. Carnations last very well as cut flowers, no chance of them wilting after just a few days. Perfect. When I was a struggling wooden toymaker I always bought carnations every week. These are the one flower that can go on and on if you change the water often and deadhead in the vase. Eventually the smaller buds on the stems flower and you can have a mini flower arrangement beside your...
read moreFresh tomato salsa recipe. How to turn your party leftovers into treats
This is my second recipe in the series of how to turn your party leftovers into something delicious that you’d actually like to eat. This is a fun challenge and everything has been great so far. I was faced with a small bowl of sliced tomatoes left over from the party. There were loads of whole tomatoes too but they can easily be incorporated into other dishes or even frozen in bags – no need to blanch – to pop into stews during the winter when no home grown toms are available. Normally a bowl of sliced tomatoes that could be turned into...
read moreLettuce soup recipe. How to turn your party leftovers into treats
This recipe is for a light, fresh tasting summery soup that is delicious either served hot on a chilly day or chilled on a warm summer’s night. This is the first in a series of recipes that are designed to use up the food that’s left over after a party. Of course if you are faced with a glut of lettuces this would be a perfect recipe for those too. If you think about lettuces for a moment it’s surprising that a vegetable with such a large range of varieties, textures and flavours is generally just served as a salad or bunged into...
read moreCottage Smallholder Summer Party 2012. Complete and unexpurged report
Danny was up at five am hacking through the undergrowth – whilst I snored above. So most guests made it to the front door and into the kitchen to offload generous foodie goodies and get fixed up with a drink. Then everyone was propelled out into the garden and sunniest day that we’ve had for weeks. We were a small but perfectly formed party. Actually our parties are not ‘parties’ as such, they are more hangouts. Loads of eating, sipping and laughing. There is always an undefined queue for the capacious swing seat and a lot of...
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