Many years ago I read a historical novel where the Russian Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna having moved to the Netherlands after marrying the future King William II was reported to complain that the wet Dutch climate was not suitable for…
You know how many people feel an inexplicable attraction towards a certain country and its language? I know someone who spends every vacation in Ireland, a woman who learns Spanish for no particular reason and I even heard of a…
Judging by the number of views the hot tomatillo chutney recipe from last year gets these days, there are currently many gardeners somewhat struggling with the tomatillo harvest. Tomatillo falls in the same category as zucchini: vegetables that are so…
If you grow any type of squash, summer or winter, you probably know that it produces two types of flowers: male and female. The male flowers are on long slender stems, but under the female flowers the fruits are already…
A couple of weeks ago, following the post on growing edible flowers, I gave you a recipe for very pretty, very easy to make edible flower and cream cheese canapés. Guess what? These canapés are just as pretty and even…
You know what our most valuable crop is at the moment? Blackberries. Last week I saw organic blackberries for sale, the tiniest box (150 g) going for 2,35 Euro. That same evening I picked more than a kilo, which would…
As I confessed/complained before, tomatoes are a difficult crop for us. One of the vegetables we like the most, yet one of the most difficult to grow. This year I decided to stick with early bush types, in the hope…
We came back from our holiday 11th August and just about the first thing we did after unloading the car was heading to our allotment. Visiting your vegetable garden after more than four weeks absence, can be a little scary,…
Do you remember how everything was better when we were young? The summers endless and the sun brighter? I also clearly remember that wild blueberries were plentiful every summer. I remember how I went to the woods to pick them…
To be honest , canapés are something I hardly ever bother to make. Adding one more dainty dish to the menu when entertaining, is often the thing that can bring you one step too close to a nervous breakdown. But…
One of the main objections people have to planting edible gardens is that they think that a garden planted with just useful plants won’t be a pretty sight. Well, I think it’s perfectly possible to plant a beautiful garden filled…
Our summer holiday this year coincided with a massive heat wave. It was so hot during the day that we took to taking a siesta and any gardening (any outdoor activities really) was done either before 8 a.m. or after…
There has been a lack of vegetable recipes on this site lately, the reason is that we were on holiday in the Czech Republic and while we had access to lots of seasonal, wonderfully ripe fruit from my parents’ garden,…
I am into memory keeping. Apart from fitful diary writing, I also take a lot of pictures and even occasionally organize them into photo books. This year I started the biggest memory-keeping project to date – a Project Life album.…
Most of the recipes that I share are centred around seasonal produce. We grow a lot of what we eat and eating with the seasons is a pleasure, not a restriction. But I like how my birthday cake this year…