Frost! Frost and I have quite the love/hate relationship. We’re not the greatest of friends as my garden struggles through winter and I do my best to take extra care of my plants, sometimes to no avail. But the first frost also signals the time for the sloe harvest. And, in our house, the sloe … Continue reading The Sloe Harvest and Making Sloe Gin
I never really came across crab apples when I was a child, they were just this mysterious miniature apple that people sometimes talked about. I never really thought about them until the last couple of years when I've been walking down our road stepping over tiny apples on the pavement in the Autumn thinking it … Continue reading Picking Crab Apples
I really enjoy planting and growing things that I can eat. I can appreciate a decorative plant, for sure, but when it comes down to it and I'm choosing what to do with my garden's fairly limited real estate, I'm going to prefer planting food. So getting this Plant Theatre Gourmet Flower Kit for Christmas … Continue reading Gourmet Flower Kit from Plant Theatre
There's something about September. I'm almost even more excited to spend time outside in September than I am in July! I recently had a brief escape to the Cotswolds and spent an entire walk through the countryside staring, almost rubbernecking, at hedgerows full of hawthorn berries, elderberries and crab apples! One of the most abundant … Continue reading Gathering blackberries
The beauty of foraging is that there's something to be picked at any time of year, from wild garlic and elderflowers in June, to the myriad fruits, nuts and other goodies that can be gathered in September and into the autumn. There are few things that make me happier than filling the freezer with wild … Continue reading My Golden Rules of Foraging
This time of year always sees a rush of Instagram and blog posts about bluebells and wild garlic. You know what - until I actually started looking for wild garlic I had no idea just how abundant it is! As soon as I could identify it's long thick leaves and spidery white flowers I started … Continue reading Wild Garlic: finding and using it
A Year in Dinners 