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Celeriac and Thyme Soup
Celeriac is a root vegetable which tastes like mild celery. It can be used in many different ways,grated or chopped raw as a salad and it is really good in soup. In this soup I have used it with the herb thyme as I love this combination, but it would be good with cumin too. On this occasion I used dried thyme but if you have fresh it would be lovely. You will need the following 1 medium Onion diced 1 tablespoon Olive oil 4 Carrots diced 1 Celeriac (about a 1lb or 1/2kg in weight) diced 1 medium potato diced 3 Bay leaves 1 teaspoon of dried thyme 1 teaspoon of verdurette or 1 stock cube 1 litre or 2 pints water Salt and Pepper to taste (be aware that there is salt in the stock cube and the verdurette) Grated cheese … Read entire article »
Nettle Soup (Garden Forage)
This is a very simple soup as all the ingredients are fresh from the garden apart from the onion. A few tips, when collecting the nettles or ‘stingers’ as we call them for the very obvious reasons, wear gloves, cut only the very tips and it’s probably better to not use after the end of June when they become tougher. Also be careful where you collect from, nettles grow freely so take care not to use any that could be polluted. The vegetables I have used today are those found in my garden at the moment (Late April). The taste of the cooked nettles is quite similar to spinach and when there’s not to much growing in the garden it is lovely to have something to use that is fresh. You will need the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Food freebies, nettle, Recipes, Savory, Soup
A few photos from the garden in Spring.
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Filed under: Gardening, Uncategorized
Recycling and Potting on.
I potted on some of the tomatoes, as they had outgrown the seedling paper pots and seedling trays. To pot on I have been using recycled coffee vending machine cups that I have washed and cut three holes in the bottom. They are big enough to let out any surplus water and will take most plants up to the planting out stage. Of the tomato seeds planted most have done well, without too many losses. The Alicante and Black Russian in particular have done well but also the smaller varieties such as Tiny Tim. The potatoes planted early this month are starting to break through the earth, and are being banked up to encourage them further. The carrots are now up and flourishing in the planters that we have used again this … Read entire article »
Filed under: Gardening, Veggie Plot
Planting the Sugar Cane.
Its been a week of new things; I have planted my first sugar cane. It arrive fresh from a site on Ebay, a length of about 2 1/2 feet or 75cm. I cut it into three pieces leaving plenty of room for the shield like buds to sprout. It has to be kept warm and moist to shoot, so the radiator that wont turn down seems to have found a use. I am hoping it will live happily in the garden through the summer months once it is established along with the lemon grass which continues to grow and now has side shoots too! It’s all so exciting when new trials see success. We have also trialled many varieties of potatoes which are new to us, we would usually go … Read entire article »
Filed under: Gardening, Uncategorized, Veggie Plot
Carrot and Lentil Soup
This was thought up on the spur of the moment and the result was really good, its a thick and warming soup, packed full of flavour that you could exchange the lentils for something like bulgur wheat. The lovage is my newest herb in the garden and is really worth growing, it smells something like celery but when cooked gives real body and depth. I love it and would not be without now. Many thanks to my friend Pam who gave me the plants. You will need the following 1 lb Carrots diced 8 oz Onions diced 3 sticks Celery chopped 1 oz of butter 4oz Red lentils 1oz of Fresh Lovage chopped 2 teaspoons of Verdurette or 2 vegetable stock cubes 2 pints of water Pepper To make the soup Add the carrots, onions, celery and butter and saute until … Read entire article »
Home Brewed Ginger Beer using Brewers Yeast
If you don’t have the time or don’t want to make a ‘fresh ginger plant’ (see post) then I believe this is the next best option. Have a go and let me know what you think. You will need the following to make the Ginger Beer. 1 sachet of brewers yeast 2lbs of sugar 1 jar of ground dried ginger 1 to 2 fresh lemons 1 sterilised jar the hold the ‘plant’ 3 sterilised recycled ‘pop’ bottles Milton sterilizing tablets or liquid to sterilise the jar and recycled plastic ‘pop’ bottles Muslin cloth to strain the ‘plant’ Ginger Beer Plant 1 sachet of brewers yeast 2 teaspoons of sugar 2 teaspoons of dried ginger 1 clean sterilised jar with cover cooled boiled water Add all the ingredients into the jar and stir. For six days add 1 teaspoon of sugar 1 teaspoon of ginger To make the Ginger Beer Now strain … Read entire article »
Filed under: Beverages, Home Made Ginger Beer
Seedlings progress
The seedlings that were set in March are all growing on strongly, and have all been potted on to give them a little more room to grow, although the house is now looking something like a greenhouse as every window ledge seems to have some seedlings growing on it. The first photo’ show my Lemon grass, this was grown from a piece bought at the local supermarket and I can’t tell you how pleased I am to see it grow. The second shows some of the squashes in their recycled coffee cups, I just wash them and snip a few holes in the bottom and hey presto they are ready to use to pot up! The third show various tomatoes, some more lemon grass that’s not quite taken off yet, and some lovage, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Gardening
Sunny Spring Sunday
Sunday we spent the day in the garden, it was a beautiful warm and sunny day. I have taken some photographs to keep you up to date on what we have been doing. The ‘veggie’ patch has now been extended into the garden having taken over what were two rose beds some long while back. One now contains the Jerusalem Artichokes and the other dug over on Sunday, now has early potatoes in it. The plan is now to use another side flower bed as a further bed for the runner or pole beans. It already has some rhubarb in so it is half way there. The flowers are going have some vegetables for company, I sure it will work out fine in the end. In the Autumn or Fall I … Read entire article »
Filed under: Gardening, Veggie Plot
Making Home Made Ginger Beer
Ginger Beer, ahh the best fizzy drink going. Well that’s how I feel, now I want to share the recipe that I think is the very best. This has been an experiment for me and I hope that if you try it you will agree that has been successful. I will give alternatives to give quicker results which I will go over in a later post. I love the idea of using just four ingredients. Its so simple and is so natural too. The ‘plant’ is a simple natural yeast culture grow in a glass jar from the ginger. You will need the following to make the Ginger Beer. 2lbs of sugar 1 piece of fresh ginger about the size of your thumb 1 to 2 fresh lemon 1 sterilised jar the hold the ‘plant’ 3 sterilised recycled 2litre ‘pop’ … Read entire article »
Filed under: Beverages, Home Made Ginger Beer


