grow your own


10 Kid friendly apple recipes – Cooking with kids 10

We live in a new build house, well I say new build, it was when we moved in eight years ago.  One of the first things we did to our garden was plant an apple tree.  We have watched that tree grow each year hoping for apples and finally this year we got more than the three we have previously had from it. The boys have been desperate to pick the apples for over a month and we have had to hold them back.  Eventually they had a fun afternoon picking all the apples they could and eating a fair few too.  MadDad had to hoist them up to pick them […]


A weekend in the garden 25

I married a farmer’s son, so it was inevitable that we were going to grow stuff in the garden and not just flowers.  This became even more important to us when we had children.  We wanted to show them where their food came from and to encourage them to grow their own.  This year we are growing shallots, potatoes, carrots, parsnips, peas, runner beans, broad beans, cabbages, cauliflowers, salad leaves, radish, spring onions, tomatoes, strawberries (in hanging baskets) and an array of herbs (dill, basil, cress, flat parsley, chives, mint, sage and fennel). Center Parcs challenged us to share with you a day in our garden for this months Tots100 Center […]


The evolution of our vegetable patch in the garden 7

As the years have gone on we have learned that we just can not grow carrots. That cabbages are hit and miss for us and although we can grow onions they are actually really inexpensive to buy so are not best use of our tiny bit of land.

This year we have planted new potatoes, cabbage, sprouts, broad beans, peas, strawberries, tomatoes, peppers (in the conservatory), pak choi and salad leaves. We have three raised beds which have the peas in one, potatoes in another and broccoli and sprouts in the other. Each year we rotate what is in each of the beds and as soon as the potatoes come out in a week or so we will be planting some winter kale and other winter greens (spring cabbages).

We have two large barrels which both have broad beans in this year. We want to encourage the boys to eat them and growing them is often the best way for us to introduce a food to them. In fact the peas never get from pod to plate, just pod to mouth! We are growing strawberries in hanging boxes and baskets, but they are very small this year. Perhaps we need top replace them next year. Has anyone else had this issue?

Tomatoes are also grown in planters and we have one tumbler in almost the flowers, which has done remarkably well.

I also have a number of pots with herbs in including Sage, Chives, Mint, Rosemary, which remain outside all year round and we have more tender ones in the kitchen including Basil.


Gardening with Thinly Spread 5

Chris at Thinly Spread and Kate at Kate takes 5 have teamed up to produce an idiots guide to gardening with children. Even though we have raised beds, I usually leave the gardening to MadDad and the boys, but this year these ladies have inspired me to take charge and join in.

The week before last me and the boys planted tomatoes, sunflowers, peas and beans and put them in a tiny plastic greenhouse that I purchased from Aldi.