Huddersfield Festival of Light

Huddersfield Festival of Light is an annual festival held in my home town, Huddersfield in West Yorkshire. This year they had 2 AMAZING gardens of lit up flowers. It. Was. Awesome. 

Take a look.

I wish my garden looked this good.

Cheeky Gardeners Christmas

 "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas"... so they say! I don't know about you, but being a bit skint this year I have decided to spread out the festive shopping a tad, so that I'm not forking out for everything all in one go. Here I have put together some ideas of what you can get your gardening wife/husband/buddies

Post Carden 

£7.65

"Once opened & unfolded into its garden plot, simply sow enclosed seeds & add water. In a few days your card will start to grow & will keep for 2-3 weeks."

Hen & Hammock

£11

"A gift for a guerilla gardener, these clay grenades filled with seeds & compost can be thrown on to waste land to create a wildflower paradise!"

Visionary Soap
£10.75
"Perfect for soothing dry or chapped skin, this Rosemary & Lavender Fairtrade gift set is ideal for the gardener in your life."

Tree2MyDoor

£34.99

"Send a Fig Tree gift & let them make their very own Fig Rolls! Brown Turkey Fig Tree produces gorgeous fruits, great for deserts, if you don't eat them on the way from the tree to the kitchen!"

Culture Label

£44.99

"All year round gift for novice gardeners. Allotinabox is a quarterly supply of seed boxes containing everything you need to grow your own food!"

So there you go, I just did your Christmas shopping for you.

And if any of my family, friends or the boyfriend are reading - Any (or all) of the above would be very gratefully received if you put them under the tree this year. Thanks!

Always Having So Much Fun With Veg.....

 

Who needs to be outside just to have fun with veg? Not me.

How To: Grow Garlic

I am one of those people who puts FAR too much garlic in every single dish I make. I am a MASSIVE garlic fan, I do love it. I don't like to let it just sit on the shelf, I get through about 3 bulbs a month, so it only seemed logical that I grow my own.

We often think of garlic as a crop grown in hotter countries, but it's a member of the onion family, & can actually be grown in the UK. 

To grow good garlic, you need good stock. There's no point in trying to grow from a bulb bought in a supermarket. Chances are it's Spanish, bred for a warmer climates & it will not thrive in a British summer. You need to buy varieties suitable for our weather. I asked my local greengrocer, who was a gem & actually got me some British grown garlic specially, & he didn't charge me a penny (bless his cotton socks).

Usually garlic is best planted around October/November time. Use a dibber to make holes around 4" deep & about 8" apart each way. Break the bulb into individual cloves, be careful not to damage them, & drop into the hole pointed side up. Fill with soil & more or less forget about them until spring.

I actually also put down a bit of card as mulch, so that the growth of the garlic is not stunted by weeds, & the bulbs are also protected over winter. I will obviously remove this card after the worst of the winter spell is over with.

The bulbs are harvested when the leaves begin turning yellow in the middle of summer. If you leave them too long, the cloves will split apart & you will have problems storing them. Use a fork to dig them up carefully.

Sometimes the garlic plant will grow a flower spike or scape. Snip this off as soon as possible. These are actually quite tasty snipped up small & used as a spring onion in a salad, but with that garlic taste which is soooo good. If you leave them, the plant puts energy into seed rather than fattening the cloves.

Updates will follow, when my garlic has grown a bit more....

An Introduction To Cosmo The Cat

Cosmo is my cat. He likes to keep me company in the veg patch, mainly because he likes rolling about in the dirt after I have dug it up (I always thought this was more of a dog thing...). He also likes sitting ON my vegetables.

Yes Cosmo, that IS my beetroot plant your bum is resting on.....

I also put out some stale crackers for the birds earlier today, which Cosmo got his paws on.

"Wait. What's that? Can I eat it....?"

"Yes, it turns out I can! Om nom nom!"

Then time for an afternoon beverage......

Ladies & gentlemen, Cosmo the cat.

Get your pumpkin action on!

So, the carving is done & you find yourself left with a sad looking pumpkin just begging you not to chuck them out? You’re not the only one. Unfortunately, the majority of 'used' Halloween pumpkins go straight from ghoulish window décor, to  fill the nearest landfill where they will eventually contribute to methane levels that are already too high. How sad.

  If that doesn’t sound right for your, here are some alternative ideas for giving that scary lantern a second use & how to bid it a suitable and proper farewell. 

Upcycle It to Food

Creating a yummy autumnal dish with your pumpkin is probably the most obvious way of stretching out your pumpkins life & use. Scoop out the 'guts' of the pumpkin & create a number of delicious, scrumptious treats:

 pumpkin butter, pumpkin smoothies, pumpkin bread, pumpkin soup, & so many more. The seeds themselves are also fantastic when roasted.

Grow Your Own

  Of course, save those seeds you have scooped out of your pumpkin, dry them out on a window sill, then pop them in a bag. Seal the bag, then whip it out when it's planting time next year! Easy peasy.

Feed the Birds 

Yes, literally. Zoologists have confirmed that feeding pumpkins to birds is safe. 

There are also loads of zoos which accept pumpkin donations, then feed them to their animals as local, seasonal treats (green, sustainable, organic zoo food!). Your zoo might even offer a chance to take your kids in & watch (& since lions are on the top of the list for being pumpkin lovers, I imagine this could pretty cool).

Treat Your Skin 

Pumpkin is full of rich vitamins, enzymes & even essential amino acids, all of which benefit your skin. They also boast alpha-hydroxy acids that are known to decrease the appearance of wrinkles. So if you’re in the mood for a homemade face treatment, a basic pumpkin puree is a wonderful place to start. Leave on for approximately 10 minutes & use as a gentle exfoliator when rinsing off.  For a softer, gentler version, add in some honey & a little bit of cream or milk. 

For extra exfoliation, mix in cream and brown sugar.

 Final Goodbye 

 For your pumpkin’s final resting place when you have got your use out of it, simply break up your pumpkin to add to your own compost pile. It will turn itself into a really rich part of your soil ready to fertilize & delight your spring plants in a few months.