Patriotic Eton mess - fit for the newly weds

So the wedding is all done-the vows exchanged and the balcony kiss applauded ... now lets get down to the business of food! What a great excuse to make this old favourite-red, white and blue Eton Mess! 


Break up a packet of meringues and add double cream (whipped up to a nice thick consistency), chopped raspberries and strawberries, top with blueberries and serve-delicious.


Bottoms up Will and Kate x

my mouthwatering supper

Ummm... this was my dinner last night....


Pork steak-marinated in olive oil, fresh ginger, garlic and soy sauce.


Mozarrella and tomato salad with black olives, glug of olive oil, torn basil and a sprinkle of salt.


Green salad with Asian dressing: In a jam jar with a lid or salad dressing jar mix together 2 parts rice vinegar, 1 part soy sauce, 6 parts olive oil, small amount of sugar, large pinch of ground ginger and half a clove of crushed garlic - shake together then dress salad.

The chiminea was stoked up with wood foraged from our daily dog walks, the steaks need to go on for about 5 mins each side. Perfect supper to end a great Easter holiday.

Tasty beans

So many amazing beans to choose from-I like to grow a few different ones otherwise I get bored of eating them.


French beans are my favourite-so easy to prepare and go with anything. Purple beans look really beautiful but turn green sadly when cooked. And of course the staple runner bean-old friends.


Beans are so easy to grow-sow them in a small pot about 3 beans to a pot-just poke them down into the compost about 1-2"deep. I put mine in the greenhouse and about 2 weeks later up they pop- you could also put them on a windowsill or indeed put them straight into the ground in situ. Once they are about 4" tall I shall pop them in the ground. The structure is already up. I normally plant 2 beans per each bean pole then if one gets eaten by the dreaded slugs it doesn't matter so much.


You can grow them very successfully in pots too-you'll just need to keep them well watered. 


I have a lovely recipe on my website which uses Salmon and green beans check it out at: www.easypeasyveg.net


While you're there I have a great competition to win some nice garden tools-why not enter?  I haven't had many entries yet so you never know-UK only I'm afraid.

Log pile house

This is our cute new log pile house knocked up - by the wonderful Mr Drew out of old bits of timber and stained a very pretty green to match the fence!


Much better than having a big pile of wood taking over the garage floor.


Now we just need a bit of sunshine so we can fire up the Chiminea and get barbequeing.

How to grow your own peas

Growing peas is one of my favourite things. My peas never make it to the kitchen-I stand in the garden and scoff the lot as they get nice and juicy in their beautiful pods- I regard this as one of the veg gardeners perks of the job. I never let them get too big otherwise they loose their sweetness.


So this is how I do it
Place 2 bean poles roughly 1ft apart and make troughs in the soil about 2" deep along each line-see picture. Water the troughs thoroughly.


Space your peas about 2-3" apart and push gently into the soil-so they don't move about when you cover them over.


Now construct your supports-I do a miniature version of my bean structure-See picture-Push short canes on the inside of each pea line into the soil slanting towards the centre and secure with string. Then fix a head cane along the top and secure. Take a look at the pic-it will become clearer!


Cover the peas over with soil.


If the peas look like they need more to cling onto when they come up I thread string around the poles to help them climb.


You can use old twigs for supports which look really nice.


Bingo - job done! 

Planting veg with my lovely friend

What a wonderful day Biddy and I had planting up the veg beds that we constructed last year. 


We planted a salad bed first with lettuce seedlings-instant veg plot in about 10 minutes!


Then onto a potato bed-earlies in now then main in a few weeks time.


Strawberry plants in another, then up with the canes for the beans and peas. Courgettes, carrots, beetroot, leeks ..........in! Still a few things to plant in the greenhouse.


Such a productive day- Biddy looked so happy surrounded by planted beds in one corner of the garden and her happy hens in the other.


It was great to plant together and share what I've learnt over the past few years.


Here's to many years of happy gardening x

How to plant onion sets

Here's how to get those gorgeous onions on their way.

I bought my sets (small onions) a few weeks back when I had my annual seed buying trip to the nursery.

I like to do white and red onions as that is what I like to eat-you could also do Shallots in the same way.

So once again (there's a pattern starting here) I mark out my rows by placing a bamboo cane across my raised beds-so much easier than fiddling about with bits of string.

I place the onions on the surface of the soil about 3" apart ( you can get away with putting your crops slightly closer in a raised bed than you could directly in the ground). The rows are about 10" apart from each other.

Once I'm happy with my spacing I gently push the onion- root side down into the soil so they sit with their top halves out of the soil. Don't bury them.
I then tamp down the soil so that they stay in place.

You'll need to keep an eye on them in case the birds take an interest in them and move them. My dog is quite interested! Every now and then I glimpse out of the kitchen window and see him standing on top of the beds-I think he thinks I've put them there especially for him!

So it's as simple as that- they should be ready to harvest when the leaves start to turn yellow-mid to late summer.

I've got a really tasty onion soup recipe somewhere-I'll dig it out and put it on the blog.

Rhubarb, rhubarb...

My mum gave me a beautiful terracotta rhubarb forcer last summer-the stems that grow in the dark are so pink and delicate.


I found this lovely recipe for rhubarb, cinnamon and brown sugar muffins-nice served warm.


Makes 12 muffins
Ingredients:


300g rhubarb-chopped
3 tbsp golden caster sugar
300g plain four
1tsp baking powder
100g golden caster sugar
1tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
200ml milk
100g butter- melted
sugar to sprinkle


You will need a muffin tin and paper cases.


Preheat oven to 180c.


Bake the Rhubarb in the oven with 3tbsp of sugar for about 10 mins-then drain and cool.


Mix flour with baking powder then add the rest of the sugar. Beat the eggs, milk and butter.


Stir all the ingredients together and spoon into cases.


Sprinkle with more sugar and bake for 25-30 mins.


I've baked the discarded eggshells to place around the base of tender seedlings to keep those horrid slimy slugs away.

Planting potatoes

My potatoes are nicely chitted so I decided in between making spinach,feta & filo tart and knocking up a tomato salad for supper I would quickly pop them in the ground.


It took about 10 minutes max.


Step1.
I had a look at my planting guide to remind myself where they were going!.


Step 2
Then measured out lines of 24 inches apart-I use bean poles as a ruler- take a look at the pic below-it will become clear!


Step 3
I then placed my potatoes 12 inches apart along the rows.


Step 4
Each potato needs to be planted 6 inches deep - then label the rows. 


I've planted 3 rows. 


I'll plant another 3 rows of the main crop in about 3 weeks time.


It was so easy-and they taste so much better than anything you can buy in the shop.