We moved into Forester's House a year ago today. It was roasting as we drove down the A90, the dashboard thermometer read twenty-six degrees. When we finally got here the heavens opened and we ran for cover indoors. A busy day was brought to a standstill as we did not dare to brave the storm to run between the van and the house dragging boxes, bits ( Read more... )

I started off by planting every single tomato seed I had into little modules. There were over twenty and nearly every one of them sprouted. So I moved them all to small pots, placed them in windows, and they grew to between six and twelve inches tall. Yesterday, I moved them to bigger pots so that they have plenty of space. The books said leave 45 ( Read more... )

I think February had started when I noticed tiny wee pine cones on the Christmas tree we have in the garden. That was the first sign of life slowly emerging this year, but it would be a long time before much more would come through. Well into March, almost every morning brought frost to the garden, and the shaded side of the house would barely ( Read more... )

Last summer I grew tomatoes, chillies and peppers on the windowsill. The tomatoes were especially good. They were much more textured and flavoursome than Tesco's. The chillies came in abundance and I still have some in the freezer. They were mild, so far as chillies go. Unfortunately the plants did not last the winter. Mo nurtured the peppers, and ( Read more... )