The failure of the peppers

 There 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 […]

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Accumulation of courgettes

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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Leave the spinach be

Like millions of people my age, I remember the magical boost that spinach gave Popeye. Although we’ve since learned that it’s not quite the powerhouse that the illustrators would have us believe, it’s still extremely good for us and is something I regularly add to our everyday meals.  It’s such an easy thing to stir […]

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Planning a small urban garden

I am a massive Pintrest fan (LoveAndGarlic if you must know…) but when it comes to gardening, it fails me miserably. A search for “small gardens” invariably shows up a load of results that are all larger than the footprint of my whole house. Such is the problem with not living in America, land of Pintrest […]

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Potting on

Once the first flurry of joyous seed sowing starts, I find that things quickly settle down to a comfortable rhythm of sowing and potting on. So it was with a big smile on my face that I proceeded to move the first of my tiny sprouts into small pots on the weekend. I think that […]

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The first seedlings have sprouted!

Last week I was in a rush to take the GarlicBaby to the local aquarium. I was putting the babyseat into the taxi when I turned my ankle on an uneven bit of pavement and broke my foot. Apparently I have a Lisfranc injury, which is pretty appallingly bad when you consider that it happened […]

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