harvest time and moving time.

The big news is, on Saturday, James and I will be moving into our new house in Bristol.  I am so excited to have everything back out of storage and start again the challenge of making another rented house somehow our own.  I can't wait to have my own kitchen again and to set up a nursery for Bump and, most of all, I can't wait till James isn't commuting 2+ hours every day to work and we will have some time to spend together in the evenings!

But I am sorry to be leaving the family home again.  It has been a squeeze -  six (sometimes seven or eight if the girlfriends/boyfriends stay) in a small cottage with one bathroom has occasionally been a little chaotic - but it has also been so good.  I mean it has been pretty perfect being able to reap the rewards of a bountiful garden despite having put in none of the legwork first, not to mention waking up daily to the sound of chickens!  Mostly though it has been so good to spend actual time with my mum and her partner despite their insane workloads; it has been so good to just be here and be with family again.  I am going to miss this small, bustling house badly.



Moving news aside, these pictures are of the latest haul from the garden.  The courgette plants are finally starting to die back but it would appear they won't leave without one last push.  And the beans, well they certainly aren't going to be stopping any time soon!  It is incredible that such a small space can produce so much.



The Curly Kale has however failed to thrive.  Three guesses from the picture below who is responsible (and the first two don't count)!



Cheeky things.

I am going back now to sit in the garden; with only a few evenings left here I can't afford to spend them inside!

Strawberry Farms and Earl Grey Jam.

The small town my family live in in Somerset is commonly described as the arse end of nowhere.  Whilst the surrounding area is beautiful, it really doesn't provide a lot in the way of 'activities'.  Going on a date has to become a little more imaginative when restaurants aren't really a thing round here and the one coffee shop has opening hours I have yet to comprehend but appear to be approximately one hour once a month.

So instead we went on a strawberry picking date.  I hadn't been to a pick-your-own in years; I forgot how incredible they smell.

Following the strawberry picking date we enjoyed a jam making date, then, best of all,  a jam eating date.  We made the Strawberry and Earl Grey jam from Piccante Dolce, which was just wonderful.  Who knew that strawberries and Earl Grey tea could be such a perfect combination?
I sense this is a date we might be repeating.  (NB - please excuse the ridiculous hair - turns out there is no dignified way to grow out a short hair style!)

From the garden (and a mean sugarsnap pea and coriander slaw).

We have eaten outside every evening since I moved back.  We eat late in this house; my mother and her partner run a local artisan pasta business which is exceptionally demanding and my mother is a full time nurse on top of that.  They are busy bees.  But in the evening, when they return from their busy days we all sit down at the table outside, eat together and talk until it is dark and we can no longer manage the mosquitoes.  And somehow the siblings are always able to sense food being laid on the table and they reappear from the ether to join us.

Supper looks a lot like this every evening.  Almost all the ingredients are sourced from the garden and then topped up with treats that the pasta-lords have managed to trade for at the farmer's markets during the week.  Simple, local food at its very best.

I don't tend to share too many recipes on this blog.  Don't get me wrong, I cook a lot but I am also aware the blogosphere is so full of incredible cooks that I feel there is little requirement for me to contribute.  But this slaw, this sugarsnap pea and coriander slaw, fully deserves its moment.



This is a vague recipe with vague amounts.  Quantities for a rustic slaw are a no-no, just play with it and it will work.

Gather as many sugarsnap peas as you can (if you haven't got a wonderful mother growing them, I know they can be quite pricey) and slice thinly.  You could grate them but I think it would be even more fiddly.
Then in another bowl mix an even amount of mayonnaise and yoghurt (enough to coat the sugar snap peas).  Chop a clove of garlic until it is basically a paste and mix it into the mayo/yoghurt mix.  Roughly chop a good sized bunch of coriander, stalks and all, and mix it in.  Squeeze in the juice of half a lemon (or a whole lemon if you are lucky enough to have a tonne of peas) and season with salt and pepper as you like.  
This is a mean slaw and it keeps perfectly in the fridge for a couple days (I couldn't comment on whether it lasts longer, we ate all of ours).  Eat with everything; sandwiches, barbecues, fish, who cares, it goes.

in the garden.

So here in Blighty we are experiencing a bit of a heat wave or what the rest of the world might call 'Summer'.  As a nation we seem to be a little slow on the uptake; I popped to the shops earlier and was met by a sea of burnt faces and interesting tan lines.  My neurotic habitual slathering of SPF 50 is finally paying off.

My mum's garden has gone crazy, the glut of rain followed by intense sunshine seems to have sent plants into overdrive.  The courgettes are practically firing off the plants whilst James and I continue to pick our way through the harvest of Alpine strawberries.  Baby bump is growing solely on chorophyll and sunshine!  James got his introduction pack for his first grown up doctor job today, he starts in two weeks.  I am starting to dread the end of this sun filled limbo.