When I moved into my new house I was really pleased to have a “mature” garden, full of interesting plants, bushes and even a pear tree. It has a real cottage garden look to it. It was actually a little… Read More ›
Fruit picking
Wild Plum Jam – from the hedgerows
I absolutely love the turn of the season when the hedgerows start to go wild and there is fruit everywhere. Not just blackberries but sloes, elderberries, hawthorn, rosehips and crab apples, amongst other things. I spend a lot of my… Read More ›
Blackberry and Lime Polenta Cake
The hedgerows where I live are full of ripe blackberries at the moment and I have discovered new places to pick them not too far from home. I didn’t manage to do any fruit picking this year as I found… Read More ›
Chocolate Birthday Cake with Strawberries and Cream, and New Adventures
If you’re a regular follower of my blog you’ll have heard me mention my friend Frin who, amongst other things, runs the Boot Camp I struggle to get through twice a week. But there will be no more Boot… Read More ›
Apple and Pecan Cake with Maple Syrup Icing
My friend Vana has given me a lot of apples already this year and has just brought me another couple of large bags-full from her Grandad’s apple trees, as her Grandad very sadly passed away recently. He had two apple… Read More ›
Making fruit jellies: Redcurrant and Blackberry Jellies
I haven’t made a lot of jellies in the past for a couple of reasons. Firstly they seemed all a bit too much effort, and secondly I thought it was a waste of good fruit: a lot of it gets… Read More ›
Apple and Elderberry Crumble
When you are out picking blackberries, don’t forget that elderberries make a good addition to a crumble too! Elderberry trees tend to be found in the same sorts of places as blackberry bushes so if you are lucky you can… Read More ›
Making Blackberry Gin and Vodka – and Llama Trekking…
You may recall that recently I have given tap dancing, cheerleading, indoor sky diving, wakeboarding and singing a go, all thanks to a group I belong to with the aim of trying out new experiences. Each month or so one… Read More ›
Pear and Blackberry Muffins
So the days are drawing in and the air and light are different. Autumn is on its way. Which, while it means an end to the long days of summer, is still a good thing in itself. New fruits and… Read More ›
Plum and Almond Squares
This is the perfect recipe for using up any extra plums that you can’t quite manage to eat fast enough: you might be lucky enough to have a plum tree, or friends with plum trees. I got these in my… Read More ›
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