As a child I used to enjoy walking up and down country lanes near where I lived foraging blackberries from the hedgerows. My grandmother used to make classic blackberry jam and the entire process was a part of the autumn feel. More than 40 years later it still is, though now I get to do the foraging close to my own house. Blackberry jam is lovely and I've made blackberry … [Read more...] about Spiced Apple & Blackberry Jam
gardening
Fresh Salads With Ingredients From my Garden
For the last few months I've been doing "meal prep". What that means in simple terms is that for at least 5 days of the week, when I'm not "away", two of my daily meals are prepped in advance. I prefer to mix things up a bit when it comes to my evening meal, but being fairly consistent about breakfast and lunch makes things quite a bit simpler. So most mornings breakfast … [Read more...] about Fresh Salads With Ingredients From my Garden
Enjoying the Harvest From my Garden Already
It's the end of April, which isn't exactly peak harvest season. However I'm already being able to enjoy at least some of the harvest from the garden. First off there's things like herbs - the rosemary finally found a space it seems to like and is thriving. Freshly cut rosemary goes well with so many things and the you really cannot compare fresh herbs with their dry cousins. … [Read more...] about Enjoying the Harvest From my Garden Already
Making my own Cucumber Pickle
It's been 3 years since I got my greenhouse. The first couple of seasons had their ups and downs, but by and large I was quite pleased with the crop of tomatoes I got. I was able to use the tomatoes for daily cooking, as well as making plenty of preserves like chutney for the off season. Sadly this year the tomatoes simply have not thrived. Whereas previous years I had a glut … [Read more...] about Making my own Cucumber Pickle
Jam and Chutney Season
It's coming towards the end of August, so we're now into what I like to call "jam and chutney season". Admittedly you can start making jam much earlier in the year if you want to and of course the same is true of chutneys. However, being a little more traditional, I associate this time of year with tomatoes, apples and blackberries. Last year I made a variety of different … [Read more...] about Jam and Chutney Season