Vivi's Kitchen Garden

I’ve been having a big sort out of all my fabrics and now that they’re all grouped by project I’m just about ready to get sewing again. I’m also giving you your final lockdown challenge (I hope!) and catching up with how the other challenges went.

Today is another day for laundering and pressing…….but I have a new little friend for company. Hahahaha, what happened next made my howl with laughter.

We’ve had a couple of frost days in the last week so my attention turns to protecting the things that could be damaged by the cold………it’s all about the deck bits today…..and a cheeky little harvest. Will it be ‘all fur coat and no knickers’?…

Hurrah! Now that things have calmed down a bit in the garden and the kitchen I’m finding a bit of time to read again. I’ve really missed reading so it was great to start back with a couple of really wonderful books. I’ll make a note below where you can find them if you’d like to read them too.

With the last big harvest in it’s time to relax a bit and get on with some of those ‘little’ jobs. Today I am focussing my efforts around the herb bed including planting a new Taunton Dean perennial kale to take the place of my old one. I also harvest some Rosemary and talk about the ways I use it.

Oh it was such a joy to open the box of linens from Kate yesterday…..I wasted no time getting stuck into them. Here’s a quick update…….but you might want to pop to the loo first as there’s lots of gentle, tinkling water sounds……

A lovely box of vintage linens has arrived at the Cottage in the Sky direct from the Lime Green Sofa….thank you Kate! I delve into some of them here with you and talk about ideas for repurposing the damaged pieces. I then get distracted by one of my sketchbooks from a few years ago…….a happy waddle down memory lane. Many of the damaged pieces will be repurposed (lovingly, of course) as sketchbook/journal covers…….and I can’t wait!

It’s time (overdue) for one of my favourite harvests of the year – the flint corn! As I harvest I chat about growing them, harvesting and how I use them. Then it’s time for some more crop and drop and winter bed prep. Last year I made a tisane from the silks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnlYo8G86Ec

On a chilly, misty morning I am excited to take the first peak at the broad bean experiment! I also check in on the recently planted garlic and enjoy some new, gifted seeds and bulbs.

Eek! What an odd post bag which starts with a rather scary, very formal looking, reprimand from Defra! I feel thoroughly told off for something but don’t know why. Never mind….the rest of the post is lovely……and the post to come is exciting too. Here’s Kate’s video of the suitcase of tired treasures some of which will be coming my way. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hV6R4XEdfcE