Countdown to Chelsea 2012

5 sleeps to go! I've got my ticket at the ready....


heres a Brunnera I bought in the sell off last year doing very well... I wonder what I,ll get when the bell rings this year, maybe Diarmuid's pyramid house...

Of course if you don't follow Chelsea flower you'll wonder what I'm going on about... Let me just say its the greatest flower show on earth and I've got me a ticket!!!

5 sleeps to go...

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Malton food festival ...

So I came home on Friday night sneezing and by the time the kids were in bed I was coughing and wheezing up a storm. Whoever invented the phrase 'manflu' hasn't met me - by bedtime I was convinced I was dying!

I fully intended to wallow under the duvet for the weekend until we realised that Saturday was Malton Food Festival. There was nothing else for it - a double dose of medicine and a woolly jumper and we hit the road...



As did everyone else - it was packed! Not surprisingly though as the produce on offer was amazing...

We bought some delicious Provolone...



Cakes and brownies...






And caught up on some of the demonstrations by visiting food writers...



We caught a bit of Tom parker Bowles and Matthew Fort cooking mackerel and eating Pork scratchings...



It was standing room only, but to be honest it was a great atmosphere with no one pushing or shoving so nobody minded.

After all that hard shopping some refreshments were called for - and there were plenty to choose from...


I had strawberry cider which i could barely taste because of the cold, but i figured as it was the colour of medicine it must be doing me some good!


The minis loved it - especially the chocolate fountain...


We brought back our haul..


The pork scratchings are Pony girls - she loves 'em. The passionfruit curd is most definitely mine!all that was left to was to come home and start sneezing again - anyone got a tissue?


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Weeds I can live with...

In between the rain I've been trying to keep on top of the weeds, only some are too pretty to part with...


I don't know it's name but this beautiful purple flower has self seeded all along my borders. It looks so kapow! against the Euphorbia that right now it's my favourite colour combination in the garden...



I'm hoping this year it will self seed more and more and more..


And it's a good excuse not to go wild with the weeding!

Do you have any weeds you can't live without? Or is it just me!!!


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Huevos heaven - Yorkshire style...

Okay so its not a typical Yorkshire Breakfast, but it is my favourite, and the only one guaranteed to get me on my feet after a late night....

Huevos Rancheros - Yorkshire style...

The onions (from our garden) are sauteed in Yorkshire Rape Seed oil from our local producer Gold from the Wold

 then they get a good sprinkling of smoked paprika - my concession to non yorkshire produce! I get mine from gardengirls shop in Finchley, London - 'Tony's continental'. They're on facebook, check them out if you're ever near, they do the best stuff, often hand packaged by gardengirl herself and at the best prices...

 but enough of the advertising...back to the Huevos...once the onions are soft and smoky I tip in a good portion of chopped tomatoes - if Im being very good they're frozen ones from last years greenhouse haul...if i'm being honest they're usually from a tin1 But I do add some chopped chillis which are usually from the freerange windowsill and then season good and proper ...

 Then in go the eggs...fresh from the hen...

 these go in the oven and bake until they're ready...just perfect!

and then there's only one thing left to do...scoff the lot...delicious!!!

So they might not be true Huevos Rancheros - but they work for us....

All sold out...

So sale day came, and we sold...and sold....and sold. I fully intended to take lots of pictures as more and more plants arrived and we filled the hall - but there were people coming in an hour before we officially opened and that was it - we never stopped until there was very little left, like these sad lonely onions!

 I had great helpers thank goodness, citygirl, Kgirl my oldest bud (not literally old that is!), BH, Freerangenan and the marvellous ladies from All Saints church amongst others made sure everything went to plan. Even ponygirl got in on the act...
                                                

We took over £300 in 2 and half hours. Not bad going when you consider most plants were under £1. There were flowers, veg, herbs and cake - what was not to love??? We had some amazing donations, compost bins, pots, even a mini green house! It was great fun selling and talking about plants and if i'm honest i'm already planning next years event...

by the end of it we were pretty tired...I caught these usual suspects napping on the lawn!

There was a glass of two of fizz to be had after all was tidied up...and a very very good nights sleep...

It's sale day!!!

Despite my worries that we wouldn't have enough stuff...it's started to arrive...


Geraniums,salvias,mints, montbretia, sprouts, bleeding hearts, pots and compost bins and the rest...now all we need are customers! Fingers crossed...



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There's something in the woodshed...

Look closely and you might just see our newest visitor...




A broody blackbird has chosen our woodshed to make her nest and now we daren't touch the logs in case we disturb her! I think BH is secretly thrilled, mostly as it stops me lighting a fire every time the wind changes!



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Digging and planting...and a plant sale to prepare!!!

Its been a big weekend in the Freerange household. Been as it was bank holiday we couldn't resist the urge to hire heavy equipment and do a spot of digging...

Believe it or not this was a pile of bricks and rubble on Friday, and while it may not look so pretty just yet, to me it looks fabulous - fabulously rubble free...hooray!

 And by Monday it looked like this...

                                       

Ahhhh....happiness is a full skip! Blimey we really need to get out more!

On the planting front its been all hands to the deck. Im holding a plant sale in our village this Saturday to raise funds for our village church. It sounded like a great idea when I suggested it last year but now I'm panicking ...the green house is only half full...

 Ive only got 3 more days to take cuttings and get potting - yikes!

On the plus side, the cuttings I took last weekend are already taking well. This is the Eau de Cologne mint I grew last year...it smells amazing...

and my phone is starting to fill up with messages to say that friends and neighbours have been taking cuttings too...phew! fingers crossed we'll have stuff to sell after all...

Now I just need people to come...I sense sleepless nights ahead...