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An Eco-Friendly Christmas?

A little while ago I saw this article via Twitter about a ‘Merry Eco Christmas’ and it prompted me to think about my choices around this time of year. I’ve commented on a few of the points made below:

The first item on the least deals with food waste, something that I don’t think is any worse in our house at Christmas than any other time of year. That’s not to say that we don’t waste food, unfortunately we do, but mainly vegetables that can go into one of our compost bins. At Christmas, with it just being Ashley and myself (and occasionally a friend) eating Christmas dinner, I don’t bother with the traditional Turkey. Even a small one would be far too big for us and I’m quite happy with a good quality chicken on the table. Even so, there’s usually leftovers but a curry, risotto or stir fry usually takes care of that! This year we have our home grown parsnips to roast, but I don’t think our Brussels sprouts have grown enough to produce by Christmas – but you never know! I will try to make the effort to buy some local fresh veg – there are plenty of farm shops around here to choose from. To be honest, I can’t see any mince pies, puddings or cake being wasted around here! Ashley and I have made our own Christmas cake and I have promised myself I will make my own mince pies rather than buying them this year!

A few years ago, I decided to try to use mostly brown paper rather than pretty Christmas themed wrapping paper. I did add little bits of wrapping paper to brighten things up, but mostly it was brown paper. I thought that I was being more ‘eco-friendly’ and maybe I was, but realistically it’s down to the recipients of those presents to bother to recycle it. Our paper recycling bag sits in the corner of the living room each Christmas day to encourage us to put used wrapping paper straight into it.

The point about turning the thermostat down a degree is irrelevant to us! We don’t have our heating on at all as a rule! The wood burner in the living room does a grand job of heating most of the house (it’s only little), and we only put our central heating on if it’s unbearably cold – which is rare in Cornwall, and not generally until late Jan or Feb.

I must admit, I’ve never chosen Christmas cards based on whether they come from recycled sources or not! I usually buy a few at least, even if I’m making the bulk of them, so this year I will try to pay more attention to whether or not the card used is recycled. I always recycle cards that we receive though our normal council recycling.

On a final note, we don’t host a Christmas party or have friends/relatives to stay so no extra waste on disposable party plates etc!

All in all, I don’t think that we do too badly on the points mentioned in the article I read…..

….HOWEVER…..

There’s a lot more that I feel we could do; changes to how much we spend on presents and the types of things we buy, how much extra food we buy at Christmas (even though not much goes to waste!) and I’m sure many other things. I’m just not too sure on how prepared I am to make that leap into a much less commercial Christmas! But I must try…

Meet Penny!

This is Penny, the newest addition to the garden! She’s a pretty thing, isn’t she?! Unfortunately, ‘Red’ passed away a few weeks ago but soon after, this little lady was offered to us. She’s fairly young and had just started laying before we got her. Penny has been friendly from the start and will follow us everywhere! ‘Blue’ took a few days to tolerate Penny, then a week or so to really relax in her presence. We were lucky to never experience any real fighting between the two, and the worst Penny got from Blue was a few pecks. Now, they cuddle up together at night and stay pretty close all day so I think their bickering days are behind them!

Happy Anniversay!

Today it is 7 wonderful, busy, trying, exciting and love filled years since I married my best friend! Our wedding day was filled with love; our love for each other and our friends and families love for us. As a relatively young couple getting married, we didn’t have a lot of money. Without ever asking, our loved ones contributed in their own way to make our wedding day special. From an old school teacher who (along with his wife and father in law) documented our day in photos and video for free (the video was a blessing as my Grandad was too ill to attend after major surgery, and my uncle stayed to look after him) to our friend, Nathan, hiring a posh car and being our chauffeur for the day (we weren’t bothering to hire cars as my Mum lived right next door to the church – a hired car was a big expense that we didn’t feel was worth it). The vicar, who we were friendly with, did his best to keep all of the church fees as low as possible for us and (we didn’t know this prior to the ceremony) said that the collection for the church during the ceremony would go towards paying fees. Another friend kindly played the organ for us, and a colleague of mine did a great job of my make up (I’m useless at it!). There were many more acts of kindness from friends and family that really made our wedding day so special, and made love the focus of the day rather than money. I think it also set us on a path to a wonderful marriage, where we have been able to appreciate some of the simpler things in life. We have certainly had some tough times, and a man with less patience than Ashley may have left me long ago! If Ashley has faults, being loyal and strong are not amongst them!

I don’t think we just ‘had a wedding’ or ‘got married’ – from the very beginning we created a partnership, a marriage, a life together. And every step of the way, our friends and family have been there for us and Ashley and I have been here for each other. May there be many, many more years of happiness and hopefully some more adventures to be had!

Celebrating my 30th birthday!

Ah yes, 30 years old…. Something I have sort of dreaded but also sort of not been worried about at all! I’m aware that doesn’t make sense at all, but there you go! As my birthday fell on a Monday, I decided to spread out the celebrations over the weekend before. Dinner was at my best friend’s house on Saturday, with flowers, fizz, presents (a gorgeous necklace and earrings), birthday cake and handmade cards from my Godchildren. Sunday saw a visit from old school friends; a Chinese takeaway, more cake and reminiscing over old photographs! Monday, Ashley pretty much waited on me hand and foot, we relaxed at home opening cards and presents (and stuffed ourselves silly with chocolates and leftover cake!) and went out to the garden centre to replace some pots that got broken recently – but once there, I had no desire to buy anything and was feeling a bit blue to be honest 🙁 Later, we went to the cinema to watch ‘The Martian’ in 3D (enjoyed very much) and stuffed ourselves with pick and mix sweets! Overall, a great weekend and so far, I don’t mind being 30 one bit! Ashley and I are both feeling pretty fat today though! And the diet starts again!

Planning ahead

September is when I generally ~~start thinking about~~ admit that I’m thinking about Christmas! Sorry, I said the C – word. Some people can wait until December 1st to even consider it, but for me (and I’m sure many other crafty types), late September is the ideal time to start working on those handmade gifts and planning others.

I usually try to make a bag of homemade food items for friends and family to add to their (often) shop bought gift. This year I hope to make many more presents than usual, alongside the usual food ‘hamper’ – wish me luck!

I’ve started with a couple of jams and jellies that have Christmas spice flavours, such as an apple jelly with cinnamon and cloves and a plum and mulled wine jam. The former has worked well and looks great in the little jars, but the jam hasn’t set properly and I think I may have burned it a little. ? I’ll have to try again I think. I’d like to find another recipe for something similar with Christmas flavours to make a trio of little jars to give. I’ve also started a gin flavoured with blackberries and apple. That was very simple to put together in a jar and needs to be left for about 4 weeks to infuse the flavours before bottling.

I’ve recently taught myself the basics of knitting and have a tutorial for a basic fingerless glove that I have tried so that’s probably going to be a gift for a sister in law or two (or three)! I learnt to crochet a couple of years ago, although never really made it past making blankets or other very simple projects. There are some great ideas out there on the Internet for crocheted gifts so I’ll probably look at those again.

I think I’ll be getting my little sewing machine out before Christmas too!

Cards are something else on the handmade Christmas to-do list. I started making my own greetings cards a few years ago and for a couple of years made all birthday, anniversary, Christmas and other celebration cards. For the last year or so, I’ve found it far too time consuming to make all of my own Christmas cards and have just made a few for immediate family members. These days I seem to really struggle for inspiration and motivation to make cards and have used a lot of shop bought birthday cards this year. But I will make the effort this year to make as many Christmas cards as I can; a few more elaborate cards for immediate family and I think I’ll try to come up with a fairly simple design that’s easy for me to replicate over and over for more distant family and friends.

I think my biggest challenge this year is going to be actually finishing all the projects that I start. I have a terrible habit of getting distracted by a new project halfway through the last, and ending up with five half finished things!

Do you have any ideas for handmade gifts? What would you like to receive as a handmade present?

September on the allotment

Things are still looking quite good on the allotment. As you can see, the leeks are doing well and I think that some might even be about ready to use. Unfortunately, the wind has been a bit too much for the sweet peas and they are all at quite an angle! But they are still flowering well, so I will keep picking them! Last weekend, Ashley and I made 2 new beds, we will let them sit over winter and start planting in spring. We dug up the first of the parsnips to have with our Sunday roast – I was expecting them to be a bit small still but boy was I wrong! They are absolute beasts! And very difficult to dig up as they have grown down into the packed earth under the shallow bed – I think I’ll put them in the deep bed next time! I have heard that parsnips are better tasting after frost, but these were delicious! There are still plenty of runner beans to be eaten and they are going down well in all manner of meals. The summer fruiting raspberries are finally booming (although only getting 5 or so ripe ones at a time).

As my kale seedlings were completely neglected whilst we were away, I bought some ‘ready made’ to try out. I also got some cabbage and purple sprouting broccoli. A few of each of these have gone into the top middle bed and promptly covered with fleece as the cabbage whites are very active still.

Next on the ‘to-do’ list is sorting the poly tunnel for winter planting. I would love a raised bed (or two) in there to keep some more tender plants going over the winter, and the shelving needs organising to make it more productive. Ashley has also mentioned making me a cold frame at home, so he has plenty to be getting on with!

Blackcurrant jam

Earlier in the year, we enjoyed our best yet blackcurrant crop and so of course I made jam! I love blackcurrant jam made into a hot drink or simply spread on toast. As the blackberries were ripening at different rates, I picked them as they were ready and froze them until I had enough. Freezing them in a single layer on a baking tray before bagging or boxing them prevents them from all sticking together – not sure it’s really needed for jam making, but that’s the way I like to do it! I found a simple recipe on the BBC food website which was easy to follow for a newbie jam maker such as myself. I made the jam in 2 batches, just in case I made a mistake – I didn’t want to ruin it all! As it happened, I overcooked the first batch. It’s still perfectly useable and doesn’t taste burnt, but is rather solid in the jar! The second batch seems just about perfect. The smaller jars quickly found their way into my Mum and Grandma’s cupboards! I’m now looking forward to the blackberry jams and jellies and other hedgerow delights available at this time of year!

Hello September!

Well hello there! I must apologise for my absence but it has been a busy old summer! I have been looking after an unwell Grandmother (who is much better now, thank goodness), had my brother, sister in law, nephew and neice visiting, then a week away in the Lake District for our first holiday in 7 years! I have been doing allotment visits in between but unfortunately not nearly often enough and have been quite unmotivated to write about it. But here’s to a new month and hopefully a more productive one.

I think that September is one of my very favourite months of the year. Once the school holidays have finished, the weather inevitably cheers up and Cornwall goes back to being a relatively peaceful place! The evenings are still relatively light and I can still enjoy being out in the garden. There is plenty of veg to be harvested (assuming I have bothered to tend to it!) and more to look forward to. My absolute favourite thing about this time of year is the wild berries that can be harvested for free. I popped out for a quick wander with Ashley earlier this evening and was gutted that I hadn’t taken a bowl to pick blackberries. I wanted to go back out as soon as we got back but unfortunately the rain started – I will be out there tomorrow picking them I think. Last year I made blackberry jam and I like to make a few blackberry and apple crumbles for the freezer. I like to add a bit of cinnamon for a really warming flavour on a cold winters evening. Nearby, there is an apple tree that I have picked apples from in previous years, but it is quite tricky to get at!

After our week away, one of the first things we did was, of course, take a trip to the allotment to see how things were doing. We were greeted, unsurprisingly, by lots and lots of weeds and about 6 giant marrows. I gather there was a fair amount of sunshine and rain whilst we were away so the courgettes grew and grew! The heaviest weighs nearly 10lbs!

There were no runner beans to speak of (only the tiniest start of beans) a few days before we left and I have since picked a bag full of good sized beans and a couple of super long ones, over 30cm in length! I’ve never grown runner beans before and have to say I’m very pleased with them. I have blanched and frozen some and kept a few fresh in the fridge for the week. There will be plenty more to harvest in the weeks to come. The peas have been cropping fairly well, though I haven’t stayed on top of picking them as much as I would have liked. There are some pods that have started drying out on the plant, so I will leave them to dry and save them for seed next year. The swiss chard is still going strong, though I’ve long run out of ideas to use it up! Our harvested onions have dried well and should keep nicely, I wonder how long they will last us – I use quite a lot of onions. The leeks are looking fabulous! I’ve only tried growing leeks once before, and the neighbours cat sat on the seedlings and killed them. I can’t wait to get using the leeks, I’m not sure if I can start using them now but I think most need a bit longer to grow. Next year I must plant them a little deeper and maybe earth them up a little to blanch (i that the correct term?) the stems a bit more. I like the green bits on leeks though, so I’m not too worried about that. Unfortunately, whilst we were away the cabbage whites got to the brocolli and brussel sprouts and have done a fair bit of damage. We might still get a bit of brocolli as the heads have started developing on a couple of the plants, but I fear that the Brussel sprouts may be past it. I planted out some dwarf french bean plants (that had been started in the greenhouse) before we went away – these haven’t done much. The sweet peas are going strong and I think we will have quite a lot more flowers before the end of September.

I have started planning for winter and next year at the allotment. I should have already sorted seedlings and young plants such as Kale, but I haven’t so I’ll be keping an eye out for small plants being sold locally. If I don’t see any for a reasonable price, I’ll leave it until next year and try to be better prepared. I would like to get the blackcurrant bushes from our back garden moved to the allotment soon, then I might actually have some flowers in my garden next year! I’m thinking about having quite a few flowers at the allotment next year too – you can never have too many pollinaters! Next year, I need to make some proper fruit cages as the temporary netting around the raspberries isn’t big enough – the plants are outgrowing it and it’s quite difficult to get at the ripe berries. There will be blackcurrants to protect next year too. I need to re pot my patio plum tree soon, it has grown well this year and needs a much bigger pot already. We have mulched an area big enough for 3 medium sized beds so they need creating this winter, and all of the beds already there need a good layer of compost and/or manure. We are very fortunate to have a ready supply of fresh and rotted manure and we have 3 compost bins on the go with the chickens doing their bit too! We also found out that well known coffee shops such as Starbucks (other coffee shops are available) will give you bags full of used coffee grounds for free and this is a great addition to a compost heap.

So plenty to be getting on with and plenty of lessons learned as we near the end of our first summer at our allotment.

Strawberry and Elderflower Jam

Whilst reading though posts on the wonderful Lavender and Leeks blog, I saw this recipe and couldn’t wait to give it a go! Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough home grown strawberries so had to use shopbought. I was excited to have another use for my home made Elderflower cordial! As the recipe calls for half an apple, and there was no mention of removing the apple at any point, I thought the texture would be better if I peeled it – a mistake as those of you that are experienced jam makers will know! Apparently the most of the pectin found in apples (pectin helps the jam to set – the whole reason for adding the apple) is in the core and skin. My first attempt at the jam resulted in a very runny (but tasty!) jam that wouldn’t set. Good job I only made a small batch! So after a chat with my Uncle who has starting making jams in the last couple of years, I tried his suggestion of putting the chopped apple in a muslin cloth (tied up) to make for easy removal at the end of the process. The second batch set perfectly and is destined for Grandparents and the lovely couple who allow us to use their field as our allotment. I can see several more batches of this being made over the summer!

Onions are nearly ready!

Last weekend, Ashley and I decided to dig up all of the onions at the allotment. We had planted red and white onions, about the same amount of each. They had started yellowing and most were looking a very good size, they spent a day or two out in the sun and then we put them in the greenhouse to finish drying as the weather has been a bit up and down. A couple had gone to seed and so hadn’t really developed a bulb but overall a good harvest. We also put in some time clearing weeds that we’re starting to take hold on the newly vacated potato bed and around the onions. I’m a little ashamed to say that we haven’t really been to the allotment much this week – the plants in the greenhouse are going to be feeling a little sorry for themselves! And I expect the weeds will have used the time to ‘stretch their legs’! When will we learn to go there more regularly?!
I’m hoping that the weather is now warm enough to get some late runner and dwarf runner beans in the empty beds, also a fresh sowing of chard and possibly some peas. There should be plenty of room in the beds for the cauliflower and kale that I thought I’d try out (that’s if the seedlings have survived the recent neglect).

I think tomorrow will have to include a visit to the poor, abandoned allotment! I expect there will be courgettes galore, Swiss chard to be picked and maybe even some peas ready for picking! We had some peas the other day in a stir fry – they were quite small so not really worth removing from the pods so I cooked them whole, they were very yummy! I wonder how long until Ashley is sick of stir fry allotment veg?! I must look up some other recipes to use the veg – I’m not the worlds best cook I’m afraid!