Every year I sit down for an hour or so at the end of January and do the Garden Birdwatch for the RSPB. This year I did it again and (as always seems to be the case) the weather was windy and cold. The number and varieties of birds in my garden always seem to…… Continue reading Garden Birds – RSPB Birdwatch
Month: January 2019
Tomato Blight
Blight is one of the killers for anybody who wants to grow tomatoes. The problem is that many other problems (sunburn, windburn, magnesium deficiency) show similar symptoms to the early stages of blight so any grower has to make a decision whether to remove the infected plants to try and save the rest of the…… Continue reading Tomato Blight
Recipe: Vegetable & Pearl Barley Stew
A quick to prepare tasty vegetable stew which can be modified by adding more vegetables as you like. Preparation is simple then it sits in the slow cooker until you’re ready for it. As usual things from our garden are in italics. Ingredients (for 4) 200g of butternut squash and/or sweet potato diced; 10g dried mushrooms…… Continue reading Recipe: Vegetable & Pearl Barley Stew
Tomatoes for 2019
Now is the time of year when I seriously start thinking about what cultivars I’m going to grow. I have limited space and, over time, I’ve reduced the number of different varieties and plants I grow from a maximum of 70 down to 35 last year. These are my criteria for choosing: What new cultivars…… Continue reading Tomatoes for 2019
Recipe: Chicken Stir Fry with Szechuan Pepper
This is a quick and easy to make stir fry which can easily be modified to suit your tastes. We served it with rice noodles and it took about 25 minutes altogether as we could prepare the vegetables at the same time as stir frying the various ingredients. As usual things from our garden are…… Continue reading Recipe: Chicken Stir Fry with Szechuan Pepper
Recipe: Gluten Free Mincemeat Muffins
Gluten Free Mincemeat Muffins Having made my mincemeat and successfully converted some of it into mince pies, I have enough left (it made 2.5 jars) that I have to find other things to do. So I tried (successfully) these simple muffins. You’ll need a muffin tray and 12 muffin cases. Put the cases into…… Continue reading Recipe: Gluten Free Mincemeat Muffins