Cut flower seeds to sow yourself in June or July for harvesting next year
Izzy Bee stopped by the blog today and asked if I could give information on the flowers in my monthly bouquets as she is interested in growing her own flowers for cutting. I will update my June flowers from the garden post over the next few days. Growing your own flowers at home is a very eco friendly thing to do – no air miles, no chemicals to keep the flowers blooming for longer. Home grown flowers have a softness and charm that a florist can rarely replicate. Growing your own flowers also saves loads of money, compare the price of a...
read moreRecipe for rare fillet steaks with a green peppercorn and cream sauce
I spotted a fillet of beef joint on the Tesco butcher’s counter. It had a good dark colour and I reckoned that it would taste great. As a payday treat I asked for two small fillet steaks about 2cm/0.8 inches deep. I rushed home with the bounty – Danny would cook the steaks and I’d make the green peppercorn and cream sauce. Green peppercorns are sold ‘wet’ in small jars of brine. They are crunchy and reasonably hot but don’t have the kick of dried black peppercorns. I love them. One of the easiest sauces to make is a...
read moreUpdate on our new colony of Buckfast bees after three weeks
I grabbed the chance between showers to go into my hive of Buckfast bees this afternoon. They got very agitated initially but settled down after a while. And so did I! The key thing to remember when examining a hive is to keep calm as possible. When I begin to feel a bit overwhelmed by the bees (these supposedly calm bees were dive bombing my veil) I always think of the indomitable and kind August Boatright and her advice to Lily in the novel The Secret Life of Bees: “I hadn’t been out to the hives before, so to start off she gave me a...
read moreSucculent meatloaf recipe
“Have you ever cooked meatloaf, Conchita?” Meatloaf sounds so vile. It has never jumped out of the cookbook pleading “Cook me, eat me.” “What I mean is that we haven’t got a meatloaf recipe on the website. I had it once in America and it was good. It’s supposed to be economical…” “OK I’ll give it a go.” I have a vague memory of being served cold meatloaf as a child. The hostess whipped off its cover with a flourish. It lay on a giant oblong serving plate, looking very large and brown and dead. I can remember the pattern...
read moreThe Pekins are now three months old
At three months old the Pekins have crept into a very special place in my heart. They are beautiful little birds with large eyes and feathered feet. They communicate with each other with teeny, high pitched cheeps. Although they are still tiny, I’ve been letting them out of their run to mix with the rest of our flock for a few hours each day. Initially their steps into the big run were tremulous. And then they had to negotiate the Krypton Factor of finding the open door when they wanted to return to the Pekin Pagoda. A couple of panicky...
read moreRaspberry recipes on The Cottage Smallholder site
I love raspberries. Could eat them every day. When I was working in London and dining out a lot, I would often order fresh raspberries with a sprinkle of castor sugar for dessert. Friends tucking into waist expanding desserts would think that I was mad or on an impromptu diet. They didn’t realise that each savoured mouthful took me into the heart of a long summer’s day. Luckily for me, raspberries are packed with vitamins and minerals and are classed as a super food. But the time that it takes to harvest them makes them rather expensive to...
read moreAngela’s recipe for elderflower champagne
Elderflower champagne is a wonderful drink and this article shows you how to make it. One of the secrets is in preparing the water you use.
read moreYour chance to win a £100 Argos voucher to spend on something for the garden!
It’s time for another Cottage Smallholder Grand Draw. We have linked up with Argos this time and the focus is on their fantastic range of garden log cabins. They are sponsoring the super prize of a £100 Argos gift voucher. Ever since I read the books by Laura Ingles Wilder as a child, I’ve fancied having my very own log cabin. Danny shares a similar dream and would love a sturdy studio space in the garden which could double as an extra summer bedroom. Knowing Danny, he’d have heating installed in a jiffy and use it as a year round...
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