Yes . It has been a while since I last blogged. Not that I have been idle. Quite the opposite, in fact. The thing is we’ve been having a bit of an overhaul of the Country Gate plot and garden. Plants have come – and some have gone in an effort to create a thing [...]
Archive for the ‘gardens’ Category
Salad days
Posted in container gardens, Local food, slow food, soups and salads, tagged companion planting, edible landscape, salads on May 15, 2012 | 4 Comments »
Three cheers for fennel!
Posted in herb garden, medicine chest and cleaning cupboard, school gardens, tagged fennel, fennel tea, home remedies, Roamn herb garden on January 1, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
It’s that time of year when a bit of over-indulgence may tip you over the edge. Listen up people! Forget New Year’s resolutions of abstemious diets. What fun is that? Think of me as your post-Christmas fairy godmother and let me introduce you to the wonders of fennel tea.Not uber-exciting at first glance, I grant you but [...]
Apple Days, chutney and a small homage to Downton Abbey
Posted in orchard, pantry, pudding club, tagged Apple Charlotte, Apple Chutney, Apple Day, Downton Abbey, Downton Pippin, October Half Term activities on October 26, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Our kitchen has been the site of an enormous apple mountain over the last week or so – which is all very appropriate considering that October 21st was Apple Day, when communities up and down the country celebrate the humble apple. We have but one apple tree of our own at the moment - a highly [...]
Cotswold Inspiration
Posted in food for the soul, out and about, school gardens, special places, tagged Daylesford Organics, Garden Organic, horticultural training for teachers, places to visit in the Cotswolds, school gardening clubs on October 18, 2011 | 3 Comments »
Sometimes it does you good to get away for a day or two – even when the logistics are not dissimilar to planning a military operation. So, having arranged a veritable army of ‘aunts’ to manage my three children and their increasingly complex commitments in the absence of BOTH their parents for the first time in their lives [...]
Seed time, Harvest and new beginnings
Posted in monthly jobs, school gardens, tagged Dig for Victory gardens, instant gardens, River Cottage, Rocket gardens, school gardens, September gardening tasks on September 20, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Happy New Year! In case you’re wondering – I haven’t lost the plot. September has been the start of the year for as long as I can remember. I imagine it has everything to do with my agricultural roots and perhaps a little to do with being a teacher. Farm tenancies traditionally start in September as do school years. The previous year’s crops are [...]
The Flower and Vegetable Show
Posted in gardens to make, Special events, tagged Flower and Veg Show, Gertrude Jekyll, miniature gardens on September 12, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
It’s that time of year when allotment holders and gardeners up and down the country dust off the white plates to display the brightest and best (and in some cases,biggest) of their produce at the village hall. Yes. The season of the local Flower and Vegetable Show is upon us. I am competitive by nature, [...]
Things to do in the Summer hols….5. Go on a scavenger hunt
Posted in family time, gardens to visit, out and about, special places, tagged scavenger hunts, Stourhead, summer holidays, summer hols activities, The Scraptors on August 31, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Scavenger hunts are right up my children’s street – on their own at home, as a party game with friends or to keep them going on a long walk when spirits flag. All children have a natural urge to explore and hunts have the added advantage of giving parents a perfect opportunity to teach their children [...]
Soapwort……..what on earth is that?
Posted in herb garden, medicine chest and cleaning cupboard, tagged guerilla gardening, herbs, Jekka McVicar, plants for poor soil, Roman plants, soapwort shampoo on August 24, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
We like to grow something different every year on the allotment and this year we grew soapwort. I sowed some from seed for a Roman herb garden I planted up with primary school children and had a bit left over. Some founds its way into a sunny space on the allotment and the rest was planted guerilla-style [...]
St Swithun’s Day
Posted in feasts and festivals, veg patch, tagged St Swithun's Day on July 15, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
St. Swithun’s day if thou dost rain For forty days it will remain St. Swithun’s day if thou be fair For forty days ’twill rain nae mair.’ Whether you’re weather watching today or whether you’re not -Happy St Swithun’s Day. May your next forty days be filled with sunshine – even if it’s of the [...]
Bee friendly
Posted in out and about, wildlife gardens, tagged bee friendly plants, Spring Fayre, Troughs at Avoncliff on April 15, 2011 | 2 Comments »
I’ve been so busy on the (recently enlarged) plot of late that I have rather neglected the blog. Where have you heard that before? Anyway with the allotment just beginning to come to the end of the hungry gap, 500 squash seeds and a load of salad coming on nicely in the school polytunnel, and [...]
