How to garden in this weather?

It seems that extreme weather has become the norm now and having had a week or two of extremely hot dry weather I am sitting here with cold wind whistling about and panicking slightly about not having made preparations for Autumn as it feels so Autumnal...right now.
The courgettes are flowering and tomatoes valiantly trying to ripen (the wisteria growing above them is very vigorous and despite my constant cutting light is limited). I am back to making yoghurt and bread and my own pizzas (whilst this weather stays cool enough for the oven to be on!) as well as nut butters, tahini and blackberry jam (free, foraged from about the neighbourhood) in the beloved Thermomix. I made the vegan cheese mentioned in the last post, I didn't have flavourless coconut oil so I used the normal organic stuff. It set and looked sort of cheesy but I couldn't face it, it made me feel ill to think about eating it, I am not meant to be vegan it seems as I have this reaction to a lot of "subsitute foods"and it looks like our little man is fine with small amounts of cheese so after all that fuss the chickens got it! Oh dear, but they did love it!

I have been lucky enough recive a review copy of Dave Hamilton's book "Grow Your Food for Free, well almost" and I am enjoying it immensely so look forward to a run down on it soon, it is just the sort of book that those interested in the Dull Roar Philosophy would love!

A sudden change of gear.

I am typing this from my "new" office which is is reality a couple of years older than me and has all the wood paneling and green laminex to support it's claim on 70's chic. The weather is wild and wooly, rain battering the windows, the awnings (green) and moaning and flapping but we are all snug inside our new house/offices.

It feels like home already!

Just before the move which happened last Tuesday in earnest I received my THERMOMIX posted from Spain with an amazing looking collection of Spanish recipes which I am having to teach myself to read and even though I haven't really got any recipes for it yet I am having so much fun experimenting with food in the wonderful beasty. I have used it at least once a day for the last two weeks, often more, two or three times in the day.

There is an amazing amount of recipes, forums, blogs and videos for Thermomix use and I must say I can't wait to get into some of the more wholefood-ish recipes for the new addition to the family. Luckily our new kitchen is very long galley style (also there are so many powerpoints and cupboards in this house) so Thermomix can have a corner all to it's self. 

The garden is tiny at the new house but I am sort of looking forward to the challenge of some innovative container gardening, I have just found a stash of strange abandoned things like old sleepers and bits of galvanised iron sheds and cuts from water tanks round the side of the enormous shed which Darling Husband looked at with horror but I think could be a great place to find materials for raised beds, chicken coops and scrap metal for some pocket money!

Unfortunately the weather is too wild for any outside photos today.