The time is here. The day I’ve been waiting for. I’ve been away for a few days and when I came back, my veggie patch was a jungle! And so drumroll please…. I’ve picked my first courgette of the year!!! Previously I’ve only ever bought plants from the garden centre but these were actual 50p for ten from B&Q seeds. I’ve nurtured them and loved them each day and now they’re rewarding me with my dinner!!!  

When I was starting to thin out my other seedlings a few weeks ago my mum suggested taking the biggest ones to eat, and leaving the little ones to come on rather than the traditional method of pulling the weaker ones and composting them. So I’ve done that with my carrots and I have enough for dinner there too. Don’t laugh, but I really want you to know just how carrotty they smell.   

And some kale… So here’s my dinner for tonight! I think I’ll make a cottage pie to go with it even though it’s the middle of summer. It’s pretty nippy out today so I think that will go down a treat. I’ve got onions that another friend gave me from her allotment last week so honestly there won’t be much on our plates that’s not been grown by me or one of my pals. It doesn’t get much better than this.  And I wonder why people keep calling my husband and me Tom and Barbara?   

I got given some red gooseberries at the weekend too so I’m thinking I might whip up a gooseberry and elderflower fool for afters… A friend said this morning that her husband made one yesterday and after googling to see exactly what one was, I think I shall try! I’m going to go with Auntie Delia’s recipe as she’s never let me down yet. It’s basically a bit like crumble by all accounts and in this one you pop some elderflower cordial in with the gooseberries and some sugar. Seriously, what is not to like there?

Oh the good life 🎶

Last week I took out my first lot of rocket that had gone to seed and so I’ve planted some more and I found some spring onions seeds that I’d not had space to put so those have gone in too with the last of my ‘late’ potatoes which are maris pipers. In hindsight, half a row of rocket would have been fine and staggering the planting means you end up with longer for picking! There’s next year of course. I’m learning a lot that’s for sure as I go along. Cannot expect to be a genius straight away.

My aim (you may as well know it) is to be able to have grown the lion’s share of the first Christmas dinner that I serve for my family at the new house. Spuds, snips, sprouts, carrots. I have literally no idea if I will manage it this year to be honest as everything is seeming to be coming on a bit late for me but stranger things have happened…

Cross everything. x