Garden Envy and Irrelevant Baby Photo.

Here is a picture of my baby laughing , not directly relevant.

So Spring is in full swing, we have a couple of tomato plants in (heirloom varieties of course!) and the broccoli is bravely producing sweet sprouts eagerly eaten as soon as they are picked. I don't know what purple sprouting tastes like cooked! The rocket (arugula, roquette, whatever) has bolted but I find the leaves are still tasty and the flowers and seed pods can add interest to salads and stir fries too but over all I miss my garden at this time of year. 

The tenant from our old cottage has been up to ask me about caring for the hazelnuts and apricots and telling of the sunflowers and pumpkins he is planting and I feel a pang of envy. I am not a green thumb, I am a messy and chaotic gardener and can't even grow a proper radish but it seemed to lift my mood to get amongst the soil and randomly garden. Courtyard gardening with one small bed and some pots doesn't have the same feel, the margin for error is smaller than my lack of attention to detail allows and although I am growing some fine herbs I wish I had the space to try artichokes and I wish I could focus enough to grow some decent greens.

Considering the abundance of reasonably priced and excellent quality local produce around here it is a First World problem really. If I had time I would join a community garden but really I just want my own patch of dirt to muck about in and have the kids getting filthier than they manage in this concrete compound we have here (actually you would be surprised how filthy they can get!). 

Until I have this again I will continue to sprout (Oh I love sprouting but now use an automatic sprouter!) and grow herbs and enjoy and be grateful for the great natural food I can buy locally.

Productive times...

I have been feeling like I am being lazy and not making the most of things but when I take stock of what has been happening over the last couple of months I haven't been doing as badly as I thought I had. there has been foraging and growing and cooking and all sorts...
I have been picking blackberries and made jam and apple and blackberry crumble topped pie.
Foraged some elderberries and made elderberry cordial. I would post a recipe but it is a bit from here and a bit from there and no firm recipe. I did use honey and cloves as I wanted it to be a wee bit medicinal and hopefully ward off winter coughs and sniffles

I have started ordering seasonal local veg boxes again and due to having two large cauliflowers I have now tried my hand at making piccalilli. I am supposed to wait 5 weeks before eating ...5 weeks? Oh dear, patience is not my strong point at all. My recipe is based a bit on the hairy bikers and a bit on the River Cottage recipe, if it is good I shall claim it is my own and if it is terrible I shall blame Hugh Fearnley-Whittingsall! Having the boxes is a great fun challenge, finding ways to use such lovely produce and have as little as possible go to waste. there are lots of leafy greens as well in this one.
The garden (being a courtyard really) has courgettes, chillis, volunteer pumpkins (seemingly ubiquitous and follow me around to every house I move too!) little tomatoes and we found some baby carrots today (gobbled very fast by two small boys!) as well as all our usual herbs. 
Today we planted purple sprouting broccoli (hopefully not too late) radishes (I think it is too hot but master 5 reaaaally wanted some) and some beetroot having rejuvenated the soil with some blood and bone, chicken manure and cow manure.
I am now attempting to rest a while as it is over 30 degrees C again. Oh and I must go check on the solar dehydrator  I have made from a silver lined insulated bag and see how the pears and apples are doing now.
OK, so writing it all down makes me feel better, throw in making a few loaves of bread, several kilos of yoghurt, some blogging on a major parenting site, eldest starting school (now that has mucked up my schedules!) and expecting baby number three in September ( I think the nausea is subsiding now) whilst still running the business things have been reasonably productive (and reproductive!) in their modest pootling along sort of way, sometimes taking stock of your life can be very beneficial!