Harvests and Mystery Chefs

They’re getting bigger every day. Soon time to dust down the chutney pan and load up the shopping trolley with vinegar. It’s that time of year where if I forget to go out in the garden for a few days, I’m then inundated with armfuls of produce that I “have to do something with - QUICK!”. We’re novices at this growing lark so I’m sure we’ll find other ways of staggering our crop but for now we have umpteen lettuces, umpteen courgettes growing into marrow and give it a few months - a squillion apples.

I set about looking for recipes and came across this site which made me laugh. I was looking at it’s silly flashing icons while making one of the recipes for tea and then it started dawning on me. This all looked familiar. I seem to remember this funky cookery show on TV from my youth. I’m sure it was on late at night advocating anarchy in the kitchen backed by loud guitar music. But there’s more to it than this… I go back and look at the site some more. Oh yes, there were 2 crazy “mystery chef” characters. Then “plink” the missing piece of mental jigsaw slots in. There’s mention on the website of an incident where the “Mystery Chefs” were guesting on another TV show and threw a plate of spag bol over Johnny Vaughan while he was presenting a link. Why should this ring a bell? It was me who booked them as guests on that show!

 

Compare & Contrast

Can’t believe my lilac easter tree has thrown up all these shoots and flowerbuds in about 8 days. Cottage Smallholder reports that if we leave them in water, they’ll grow roots and we can plant new lilac trees! Nature. Literally blooming marvellous.

 

“We Sow The Seed…”

…nature grows the seed”. Isn’t that the quote from Neil of “The Young Ones”? And it’s true what they say about kids allowing you to enjoy the simple things in life again, through their eyes. We planted some tiny sunflower seeds and look what happened?? Blimmin amazing.

Months ago, we planted some small bulbs that someone gave us. We didn’t really know what they were. Imagine our surprise when this happened! (Still don’t know what they are infact. Anyone else know? Look like grape hyacinths?)

We can’t really lay claim to the sowing of this one as it’s a bud from the lilac tree out the front. Still lovely to look at though.

I just hope the caterpillars don’t get them. Ruddy pests!

Here’s another shot of the mystery “hyacinth / bluebell” flower. Perhaps my brother in law and landscape gardener extraordinaire can shed some light? (coooey!) I think the bulbs came from him in the first place…