Hot soup for the coldest November in 104 years!!!

Brrrrrrrrr.... This is the perfect lunch for today's weather.


Fennel soup


Serves 4


Ingredients:


60g butter
2 chopped fennel bulbs
2 chopped onions
1 pinch of Chinese 5 spice
1 litre vegetable stock




Melt the butter in  a large saucepan. Pop in the fennel, onion and Chinese five spice then cook for about 20 minutes (it needs to be soft but not browned).


Add the stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes.


Blend until smooth. Stir in a dash of double cream if you don't mind the calories. It's just as yummy without though. 

A garden makeover

This is a very beautiful garden in Winchcombe set in the grounds of a lovely old house. 

'Easypeasy transformed our own shambolic veg patch into a beautifully planned area of raised beds with neat bark chip paths. Jane's planting plan combined all our requests in a very attractive design, and within a week or so of her planting seeds, the children were excited to see shoots poking through.

 A few weeks on, we are enjoying daily delicious fresh salad crops with the promise of beans, peas, carrots, beetroot and courgettes still to come. The children are still enthusiastically watering, picking and eating the veg - even spinach! I would wholeheartedly recommend easypeasyveg. Professional, reliable and creative. They did all the hard work and we are enjoying the easy and most pleasurable part of the process.'

Francis House

Competition

For your chance to win this beautiful trowel and fork set by Spear and Jackson simply tell me in no more than 30 words what your favourite piece of garden equipment is and why.


Please send your answer along with your name and address via the contact page on the website at www.easypeasyveg.net or email me at jane@easypeasyveg.net


Goodluck


See website for terms and conditions.

My garden diary

There's something wonderful about writing a garden diary. It's a great way to keep a record of everything you've planted. When you planted it and where you planted it. If your crop was hugely successful or a big flop!


It's wonderful to look back over the years and see what you were up to.... and what the weather was doing.


Planning ahead for the coming year is a crucial part of vegetable gardening. I'm sure if you're reading this you will know you need to rotate your crops for 4 years to stop the build up of pests in the soil and to stop the soil getting stripped of the same nutrients.


I often refer back to my diary which has planting plans, names of favourite varieties of tomatoes I've enjoyed and ones I haven't! Photos of the first crops appearing and the greenhouse under a foot of snow.


I hope this inspires you to do one of your own.

Happiness manifesto

Experts believe they have found the essential ingredients to make a person's life happier. In an unusual three-month experiment, six specialists from a variety of disciplines worked to improve the happiness levels of a typical  UK town. The experts tried and tested 10 simple measures in the quest for happiness.   Plant something and nurture it

Take time to talk - have an hour-long conversation with a loved one each week Phone a friend whom you have not spoken to for a while and arrange to meet up Give yourself a treat every day and take the time to really enjoy it Have a good laugh at least once a day Get physical - exercise for half an hour three times a week Smile at and/or say hello to a stranger at least once each day Cut your TV viewing by half

Spread some kindness - do a good turn for someone every day

Count your blessings- at least five times at the end of the day

....it works for me!

5.31 pm-hob action

My hob has been very busy today-boy do I know how to live! 


Top left: We've got the last of the homegrown potatoes par boiling ready to be turned into *baked rosemary potatoes at Biddy's house later, to accompany her salmon.


Bottom left: Milk infusing with clove studded onions, ready for the bread sauce that's being taken to mums for a big roast dinner on Sunday. 


Bottom right: And finally a wonderful onion marmalade made by Dean which will go very nicely with cheese and biscuits later.


* Par boil baby potatoes (allow for about 4-5 each depending on how hungry you are). Drain then toss in a good glug of olive oil and a small handful of chopped rosemary. Roast until brown-probably about 30 minutes.


My mouth is watering and my hair smells of eau de onion....time for a shower!

Delicious green beans and tomatoes with salmon

Hmmm... this is a delicious recipe that uses green beans from the garden (from the freezer this time of year) and the last of the tomatoes that are turning red on the windowsill.


Serves 2


Preheat the oven to 180c


1. Par boil the beans for a few minutes and drain.


2. Place 2 salmon fillets in a baking dish and cover each with  a slice of Parma ham. Scatter the dish with a handful of olives, a handful of baby tomatoes and a handful of pine nuts. Then place the beans around the salmon, making sure the parma ham isn't too covered up-so that it goes nice and crispy when baking.


3. Drizzle with olive oil and bake for approximately 20 minutes.

Utterly yummy-serve with Rosemary potatoes (recipe coming soon!)

Something hot on a cold day

I've just picked the last of my chillis from the greenhouse, they have been fantastic all summer long but now its getting colder the plant is starting to shrivel up and shed its leaves. 


I'll give them a quick wash and dry then place them altogether in a freezer bag (whole) and freeze. 


Next time you need a chilli just take what you need out of the freezer and chop. It's a great way to have homegrown chilli's all winter and much cheaper too!


Stay warm x

Spring 2010

This is the first Easypeasy garden I did last spring. 

It was quite a challenge but I needed to get one under my belt. So with the plot measured and planned out our work began with the heavy task of clearing the allocated space, old crumbling brick paths and sad old shrubs were dug, pulled and coaxed from the heavy clay soil. Having no upper body strength whatsover this was not an easy day-let's just say I couldn't even speak that evening!

The raised beds were then built and put in place, paths laid and gorgeous soil tipped in.

It's time for the fun bit, there's just something about planting a seed and watching it grow into something tasty that makes me happy. 

Just a few weeks later and it's like a miracle has happened-things are sprouting and sending out shoots. What could be more satisfying than popping out to the vegetable patch, picking a few ripe tomatoes,courgettes maybe a handful of basil and knocking up a salad that is still warm from the sun. No nasty cold tasteless stuff out of the fridge.

Joy,joy,joy

A magnificent ram inspired mint jelly

There was this magnificent Ram up the fields today. Wilfie and I were watching him. What can I say he was very ....macho and has a field of about 100 ewes to well....sort out. He was looking very proud and pleased with himself. Just think of all those gorgeous lambs frollicking about in the spring-which brings me nicely onto mint jelly.

ingredients

1 kg green apples
 (500 ml) water
a small bunch of fresh mint 

 (500 ml) distilled white vinegar
sugar 
3 tbsp chopped mint
a few drops green colouring (optional)

method

1. Wash the apples, cut in quarters and put in a preserving pan with the water and the bunch of mint. 

2. Simmer until the apples are soft , then add the vinegar and boil for 5 minutes. 

3. Strain through a scalded jelly bag and leave to drip for 1-2 hours. 

4. Measure the juice and return it to the cleaned pan. 

5. Add 800g sugar for each litre of juice, and bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. 

6. Boil rapidly until setting point is nearly reached, add the chopped mint and colouring, if used, then boil steadily until setting point is reached. 

7. Remove from the heat, pot, and cover immediately. When cold, label and store.