Monthly Archives: February 2017

February 2017 Growing Update

A romanesco growing at our allotment.

A romanesco growing at our allotment.

February has been a busy month for us. We’ve been enjoying our crops from our garden and allotment, and busy planning for the coming months. Regular readers will have noticed that there were no growing updates for the months of December and January. In truth there wasn’t a great deal to write about. We were rather busy every weekend over the festive period, and with the days so short at that time of year, getting outside and cultivating before or after work didn’t seem like it would be a practical option. In short we spent very little time in the…

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The Smallholder by John Seymour Book Review

John Seymour The Smallholder

The Smallholder by John Seymour

The Smallholder by John Seymour – Book Review. Background: This book is part of a three book series entitled ‘The Country Treasury’, published in 1983. The other two books are The Shepherd and The Woodlander. All three were written by John Seymour and illustrated by his wife Sally Seymour. In each of the books Seymour interviews people living traditional country ways of life and work. In this book Seymour tells the stories of four families who live on smallholdings. He covers how they got started, the challenges they have faced, their everyday routines and how they have managed to turn their…

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Spiced Plum Jam Recipe

Spiced plum jam recipe

Spiced plum jam recipe

This spiced plum jam recipe is one that we have been perfecting for the last few years. We settled on this mix of spices when we used to make a spiced jam from foraged damsons and crab apples. When we moved to our current house a couple of years ago, there were so many plum trees in the garden that we started making it all plum. This is how we have made our jam the last two years and both batches were absolute triumphs. Ideally you should include a good few plums that aren’t yet quite ripe, as they are…

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