Most edible things that are to be cooked taste better when they’re somewhat caramelised. Meat, onions, garlic, they’re all improved once the sugars inside have been slightly toasted, and sweetcorn is no exception. Ah, sweetcorn, where have you been all my life? Silly question really because the answer is obviously “in the freezer” but that […]
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Back when the raised beds were first finished in our kitchen garden, I was at once utterly thrilled that they were ready and also a bit panicked that it was too late to really sow any summer vegetables. So it was in a rather lazy frame of mind that I decided on the spur of […]
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This summer I have become a woman possessed. What started out as casually bringing a few courgettes along on playdates as a novel hostess gift culminated last week in me landing a rather shocked friend with a massive amazon box full of marrows and courgettes. It was so heavy I couldn’t even carry it, I […]
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I’ve been growing courgettes for years but it was only last year that I realised I was doing it all wrong. We were staying at the glorious Pig hotel in the New Forest and wandering around their lovely kitchen garden when I spotted some monster prickly leaves. Intrigued by their similarity to courgettes, I moved […]
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When I think of gardening, I think of my mother first and foremost, but I also think of her parents. I used to love visiting them when I was a little girl. The sun always shone in my grandparents garden and my memories are all of riotous flowerbeds full of colours and a lovely birdbath. […]
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Karma really does have a sense of humour. Every time I get a bit too puffed up with smug smallholding pride, out comes her little pin ready to deflate me. We had some friends from London visiting this weekend and amongst the other home-grown delights we planned to serve them I thought we could throw […]
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I’ve always loved Autumn; the crisp bright sunshine, the first fires at home, the crunchy leaf walks, the harvest and the glorious foliage. I love it so much that years ago, Mr Land Girl and I decided to have an autumnal wedding in a Portuguese vineyard near where I grew up. It’s unfortunate that neither […]
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We have a new project on the horizon. It’s not absolutely certain yet but we’re pretty sure we’re going ahead. All will be revealed anon but until then I thought I’d show you what that means for the garden. The squash and pumpkin vines were so lousy with blight that they looked just dreadful and […]
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This is a really easy and tasty seasonal dish using home grown basil from the garden that I often make when I”m short of time. We are ardent carnivores but tend to eat vegetarian food during the week and this dish is absolutely delicious. We eat unholy amounts of garlic and so that sauce packs […]
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It astounds me that even my tiny little garden is providing quite this much produce. I harvest at least one “thing” a day, whether it’s a small handful of strawberries or a bunch of herbs. In fact, it’s only because I hadn’t realised how much was ready to eat that I haven’t been working out […]
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London to Land Girl 