The tiny alpine variety of strawberry that grows wild might just be the tastiest strawberry there is. The minuscule fruits, sherbet sweet and deeply flavoursome, melt in the mouth in seconds. We have a small patch of them growing in the dappled shade of some rosebushes. We also forage a few extra from the grassy…
Summer
Borage Leaf, Pea and Garden Mint Soup
The borage pops up in the vegetable patch every year without fail. It would almost be considered a weed if the dark green leaves and starry flowers weren’t so welcome in our garden. We grew a few borage plants in a module tray in our first year here and planted them out in the corners…
Pine Needle Vinegar
There has been a lot of rain here over the last couple of weeks. The ground is saturated with water. The stream is swollen and lapping at the edges of the daffodils. And the geese have found themselves inundated with muddy, pond-sized puddles to dabble in. But, in the moments of sunshine between heavy showers,…
Mulberry, Goats Cheese, Rocket Leaf and Fennel Toasts
We tried our first mulberries at a family barbecue on a sweltering summer day. There was a sprawling black mulberry tree by the garden wall, crooked and aged. It looked like something out of a fairy story. Enveloped below its heart-shaped leaves were fruits so ripe they were falling off the branches and smooshing on…
Garden Soup and Carrot Leaf Pesto
Every couple of weeks during the summer and early autumn, we make a big pot of soup with fresh vegetables and herbs from the garden. Whatever is in plentiful supply at the time. That way none of our surplus veg go to waste. We usually squirrel some portions away in little freezer tubs, ready for…
Herbed Omelette with Griddled Courgette, Halloumi, and Nasturtiums
One of the lovely things about growing our own food is being able to pop outside and literally pick our own meals. Breakfasts, lunches and dinners are built around whatever is flourishing or newly appearing in the veg beds, orchard and herb patch at any given point in time. Yesterday morning, before the rain came,…
Beetroot, Cocoa and Sea Salt Cake
This year we have two different varieties of beetroot seeded alongside the rainbow carrots, chard and parsnips in the vegetable patch. The classic looking Rhonda, which we grow every year for its well-flavoured, deep magenta bulbs; and the Italian Barabietola di Chioggia, which produces beautiful rose red roots with fabulous pink and white striped flesh. …
Gooseberry Soda
In the dappled shade of an enormous cooking apple tree sits the gooseberry patch. Three sprawling bushes that produce an abundance of bright green, delicately striped berries. They dangle from the branches like Japanese lanterns. Neighbouring the gooseberries at the moment is an untamed bed of nettles (that we haven’t had a chance to strim…
Cherry, Vanilla and Cinnamon Clafoutis
We have had a bumper cherry crop this year. The two trees in the orchard have been so laden with fruit that their branches have arched and drooped with the weight of the hefty bunches. The ruby cherries, speckled with flecks of pale orange and yellow, are beautifully sweet, and full of juice. As the…
Summer Berry Sponge Flan with Blackcurrant & Apple Jelly Cubes
The summer fruits are slowly starting to ripen in our fruit cage. Pink raspberries take centre stage, their browning canes beginning to droop with the weight of their developing bounty. A smart row of blueberry bushes edge the front of the cage; a mix of varieties that will each fruit at a different time in…