Yesterday I watched as our four store lambs were slaughtered and went from bouncy vivacious sheep to hung and carved carcasses. It had a greater impact on me that I could possibly have imagined and so I wanted to write about it. When we moved from London to the countryside and decided to keep animals […]
Read More
I feel incredibly spoiled in saying this given how lucky I am to have all of our growing space, but I am sometimes paralysed by indecision when it comes to growing. Coming from a tiny terraced garden where I had so little space, I’m slightly overwhelmed by the amount of potential I have here. I […]
Read More
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 […]
Read More
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 […]
Read MoreThere are certain foods that I have on hand at all times because I like to add them into whatever I’m cooking whenever I can. Garlic is one; I add at least a whole head whenever I’m cooking 99% of my repertoire. Chilli peppers (capsicum annuum) are another. I never used to enjoy spicy food but […]
Read More
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 […]
Read More
I grew up in Portugal and there, we believe that soup is important. It’s practically a sixth food group all of its own. In winter here in the UK I’ve brainwashed Mr Land and the children into believing that a hot bowl of soup before dinner every day is the norm. In truth, it’s so […]
Read More
I have already realised that we grew far too many courgettes this year (although we’re yet to throw any away, we just keep pressing them on people). But I didn’t realise that our summer squashes might follow suit. I used to grow pumpkins up trellises in London because I had no space – vertical growing […]
Read More
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 […]
Read More
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 […]
Read More