Globe Artichokes

These really divide people.

I love the faff and the messiness of eating this delicacy and I think it's all worth it for the amazing taste - my wife doesn't! Only my younger daughter liked them as well so I doubt they're going to become a regular feature in this house! 

Looking at the four heads in the picture above, they all came from the same packet of seed, a purple variety, so I think it's fair to say the seed company had some cross pollination! Might have to let them know if I can find the packet! 

We simply boil ours for around half an hour and serve with a little butter. The hearts in the middle taste divine! 

They are pretty much they only thing you can eat where you seem to end up with more than you started with.

These were heads off plants I sowed this year as well, I was reading somewhere today how they don't harvest them the first year, but I've never had any problems with them.

So where do you stand on this giant thistle with edible flower buds?

Love it or don't think it's worth the effort?

Eden - Paradise Lost - Episode 1

So last year there was a new program started that put a load of people into the highlands in Scotland with the aim to "start again" a premise I could really get behind. 

I really enjoyed it on some levels and on others was left feeling frustrated, more by the way it ended.  

Channel Four dropped the program (without telling the people in the experiment) and as a wrap up they've put together five programmes to show what happened after we stopped watching last August.

I watch the first one last night and it was good to see the program again but immediately I was struck by the fact that I only seem to like a couple of characters out there. This might be down to editing but who knows! 

I think this is the main failing of the show, they seem to have put in the wrong people, maybe chosen for their skills or looks but not vetted for their social skills. I remember years ago watching Castaway 2000 (where we got Ben Fogle from!) and there was whole programmes on how they chose the people for it. They chose people they thought would gel as a team, who would lead, who would stand back and support, etc. Not saying this worked, but the Radio Times even gave a list to the producers of Eden of things to avoid, the main failing of castaway was the productions obsession with conflict and Edens seems to be the same. 

I get the impression that these days they try to pick people that won't get on as they think it makes better TV - this time I fear it may have back fired! A years worth of arguments doesn't make for big viewing figures. 

The leadership thing is really important as well, a group like this won't function well without a strong leader, from the viewing there doesn't seem to be one that stands out. That said the program is heavily edited to show one aspect of the show each time, maybe we'll see some leadership qualities in later episodes. 

Bullying seems rife with some group members feeling like outcasts. Food is being rationed for a year that's supposed to last for 3 months, making everyone tired, hungry and angry, this affects everything and there's no telling the difference it 's making to how people behave! 

I'm still going to watch the other episodes but can help feeling this was an opportunity missed. 

Did you watch it?

What did you think?

Weed Pressure Stops Me Growing More!

Dad thinks I farm nettles!

Weed pressure is what makes organic gardening on a large scale very difficult. The land has a huge seed bank of weed seeds that really take some controlling and although I'm probably dealing with it the best way possible this year I wouldn't say I'm on top of it!

Who else is suffering with weed pressure?

What do you do to stay on top of it?

Latvian Soup Peas

So one storage crop is now safely gathered in, my soup peas!

Now I'll level with you, I've not grown these or used them for cooking before but I thought they sounded interesting so I hope they taste good! 

They grew amazingly well (and looked beautiful), but in this country we never have quiet enough dry weather to dry them on the plant outside so instead I picked all the pods and put them on some drying racks I'd made. If I had more inside space I could have picked the whole plants and hung them up.

After about three weeks they'd dried out so all the pods were crisp and easy to break. 

My wife and I sat and podded all the peas whilst the girls were preparing some french beans for the freezer. Not a bad job outside on the patio in the sunshine. 

Although not the most impressive haul, we harvested about 2kg (4lb ish) of dried peas from a 10ft by 30" bed, I could have also sown them a little thicker if I wanted as well. 

Who else grows peas for drying?

How do you use them?

Vlog 7 - Sheep & Chickens

I've put together another vlog! 

Lots fo high lights from the last few weeks and a walk around the homestead. Make sure you watch the end as there is the cuties video of my daughter trying to say "Peas if you please!", makes me chuckle every time I watch it! 

Thanks for watching and let me know what you think!