Cucumber’s are pretty easy to grow from seed indoors. A bit like their courgette and squash cousins, they do tend to dominate a bed and need a close eye when fruiting but we like em!
Just planted one out in our Heath Robinsonesque wired frame.
Healthy looking cucumber plant
We have a real glut of rhubarb and a lonely jar of crystallised ginger in the fridge. As proud owners or the fabulous River Cottage Preserves Handbook, written by Pam Corbin, thought we would adapt her early rhubarb jam recipe which you can find on the River Cottage website. We used the ginger mentioned above instead of orange. It’s currently setting so will report back in a few days once I’ve managed to get some on toast!
In the meantime, here’s a few of our own photos, please do visit the River Cottage website or buy Pam’s book if you would like her full recipe.
Love this time of year when broad beans really start to come into their own. Has to be one of my favourite ingredients to make lunch from. The following serves two.
Toast some sourdough, lightly boil beans, tear Buffalo Mozzarella, couple of slices of Serrano Ham, chop half a chilli, one clove of garlic & a medium bunch of mint, squeeze half a lime, add 10 table spoons olive oil, salt and pepper to take care of the dressing. Assemble lunch as follows; toasted sourdough first as your base with ham, then mozzarella, beans, dressing and then add some home grown fried purple sage leaves as a tasty crunchy final touch, eh voila, summer on a plate!
Lovely fresh broad beans straight from the veg plot here at Vernons
Our Chamomile Flowers are out in force again this year. I took inspiration from a great Blog – Ryan’s Garden to follow his recipe on how to make Chamomile Tea. Here’s how I did it in photos (thank you Ryan for a great recipe!):
Take pair of scissors, cut off as many Chamomile Flower Heads you think will fit on a baking tray
What a year weather wise, mild winter leading to serious drought followed by torrential Biblical rain, gale force winds and the odd spell of sunshine. Despite all that Mother Nature has thrown at us so far, we seem to be doing ok Veg wise in the following:
Lettuce, Spinach, Coriander, Rocket, Broad Beans, Onions, Rhubarb, Garlic and Lavender are also behaving well.
Planted the strawberries last September, they are now coming up trumps with delicious red fruits. Putting the Barley Straw down seems to have a made a difference in that we can actually pick strawberries for pud for the first time.
Top Tip: Barley Straw £3 a bag from Pet Shop. One bag just about did the lot.
Strawberries begin to deliver
Welcome to vernonsgoodlife your grow your own guide with handy hints and tips we’ve picked up from friends, family and the wider world.
There’s nothing quite like pulling your dinner out the ground. We hope this green fingered guide to our time at Vernons Farmhouse in North Essex inspires you to start your own veg patch today.
Happy growing!
vernonsgoodlife
Paradise at Vernons – our plot at home
vernonsgoodlife 