Vivi's Kitchen Garden

After too long away from the garden due to weather and health issues I need to get stuck in and catch up on some of the outstanding autumn jobs……..I really don’t feel like it so I have to force myself to do it…….and then the sun comes out.

It’s the beginning of December and after a few tricky weeks the garden is not where I would want it to be………but there is food…..so I will enjoy what I have and deal with the rest when I get time…..

After harvesting my flint corn cobs I saved the silks as I heard they were good for making a healing tisane (or tea). Here I take my first sip…….and explore using tinctures to preserve medicinal herbs.

I have been gifted a kit for growing my own mushrooms…..let’s get stuck in and get it underway. I also have a little chat about a charity ‘project’ I have coming up next year.

Being frugal means one can’t chuck money at a ‘problem’…..we have to find a way around it ourselves without spending a penny…….I muse on this as I finally get around to something long-overdue………a haircut.

Warning: this video contains a full 9 minute piece of classical music. For those of you who know it, enjoy where it goes. For those of you who don’t know it please sit back, relax and immerse yourself in it…..and enjoy the denouement…..you will definitely recognise it. The piece is from ‘Orphée aux enfers’ by Jacques Ofenbach.

I’m continuing to make the most of any dry day by catching up with some long overdue jobs……today I need to deal with some thugs in the herb bed. I also get to catch up with the progress my new neighbours ‘M&M’ are making…..

Grab your knitting or crochet……or your dried beans to pod and join me on the sofa for a good old natter while we get some work done.

There are a few places in my garden where I have a bindweed problem……I’ll never be completely rid of it but there are a couple of things I can do to minimize the impact it has on my crops.

After yet more delays, some of them down to the weather, I finally get back to the garden and harvest the Flint Corn. I’ve never harvested it this late….or after so much rain…..so I keep my expectations low…