Last couple of days

I have had a busy couple of days, both in the garden and out.
I have recently been finished from work due to my ill health and I was treated to dinner, at a Toby Carvery, with my friends from work.  It is very easy to eat at the carvery because I choose what I can eat without worrying about hidden gluten.  I even had a desert, Eaton mess, which is a real treat for me.
My friends presented me with a voucher for B & Q and another for M & S, so I spent yesterday trying to decide what to buy for my garden.  I thought about a piece of decoration, which is nice, but in the end went for something which would be more useful, two blueberry bushes and more strawberry plants.  I aim to also replace my rhubarb plants which have been eaten by a grub.

Other things I have been doing include planting out paty pan squashes and green beans in one of the raised beds.  I have made wigwams, with string around, for the beans to grow up.  I planted the new strawberry plants in a new planter but I will need to keep an eye open for the slugs and snails.  They get where water wouldn't.

Today I am making a makeshift tomato grow house for the tomatoes I grew in my experiment.  I have a set of shelving which I don't use and I have placed them within a large poly raised bed which my OH bought me for Christmas.  I am using bubble wrap around the outside of the shelving, held together with duck tape, with a pull down door.  The bubble wrap is left over from when I insulated the greenhouse, something I will not be doing this year.  It's too much trouble for too little reward..

A new product for me to enjoy

The problem with having a gluten sensitivity is not being able to enjoy the products which you enjoyed before the onset of the illness.

One of my many downfalls had been crisps, particularly Kettle Chips.  I love the sweet chilli flavour ones and must admit that I miss not crunching on them.  Not every day, mind you, just that special occasion.  

Imagine my delight when I had a text from my OH asking did I want some.  I ask him to check to ensure there was no gluten in them because I knew my other favourites all contained gluten so therefor a total no no.  He googled the company and found that all their products were gluten free, prepared in a gluten free environment.  Yipee!!!!!!!

Now I know this sounds daft but believe me when I say, to be able to enjoy such a treat is an important issue when someone eats gluten free. 

Tomato Experiment

I once read that, to keep costs down, when growing tomatoes, use the seeds from your home grown toms.  So I thought I'd give it a go.  The seeds are difficult to harvest.

I dug out the seeds from my toms and spread them as they were over a piece of kitchen roll and allowed them to dry out a little before I rolled them up and marked them as tomato seeds.  I popped them into my seed box and left them until this spring. 

I filled a tray with compost and placed the unrolled paper over the compost before covering it with more compost.  I watered it well and covered it with a propagator lid to, I hope, germinate.  It only took a few days of watering for the seeds to germinate and I now have a tray full of strong healthy seedlings waiting to be pricked out.  The paper isn't a problem as it composts down in the process. 

Fingers crossed that I have a batch of strong tomato plants ready to yield me a bumper crop this year.  I am now wondering if there are any other fruit and veggies I can use this method on.

I am interested to know if anyone else is growing plants experimentally............

Nearly, Very Nearly................

Having to eat a gluten free diet I often miss things which I used to enjoy, such as cakes, biscuits and pizzas.  Not that I ate a lot of pizzas but I enjoyed them now and again and although I can buy gluten free pizza bases and make my own.  Unfortunately, pizza bases as with all gluten free items, such as bread take some getting used to, so imagine my delight when I heard that a big company had created a gluten free pizza.  Heaven.....that is until I received this............

NFCA Stops Use of Controversial Gluten-Free Seal 

 Controversy over Domino's pizza being sold as gluten free has prompted a national celiac support group to "suspend" use of the kind of certification seal it gave the pizza maker.

The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness announced that it will discontinue use of it's Amber seal. The seal is given to restaurants that get staff training regarding gluten-free meals but don't guarantee that meals are free from cross contamination in the kitchen.

Oh well onward and upward........

More Sowing and Taking Cuttings

This is the second day of gorgeous get in the garden weather.  I have taken the opportunity to spend some quality time in the garden.  Yesterday I set up the raised beds and built the cold frame (B & Q).  The cold frame has been languishing in the shed for over two years because it is a flimsy thing and kept blowing away.  I have now found it a new home behind the greenhouse which offers it some shelter from the gusty winds we have here.  

I have christened one of my raised beds by sowing spring onions, radish, broccoli and mange tout directly into it, covering the seeds well, hoping the wind won't blow them away.  They have a good coating of well water compost over them. Also, down in the garden I sowed carrots and swede so fingers crossed for me please.

I have a lovely couple living next door to me who are trying to establish their garden and as I have quite a few bushes in my garden I spent some time taking cuttings and potting them on.  I love this way of gardening and geraniums are the easiest of plants to cultivate in this way.  I used to use rooting powder but now I place them straight into good compost and water well, or place the ends in water and watch this space.  

Hope you have all had a good garden day today

Busy Day in the garden

 Yesterday I went to the recycling centre to dispose of and recycle some items that were broken and some I no longer wanted.  They have an area where you put donated items which are taken to charities to either use or sell on.  It is a great idea.  On the way back I came across these raised beds which cost me £5.  I bought 2, so £10 well spent.

 Asda had compost on sale at 3 bags of 70 lt for £10.00 which was better value than B & Q.  I had a bag and a half in the shed so I placed that in the first of the beds, added a couple of buckets of well and semi rotted compost from the bin, and then filled it with a bag of the new compost.   I did the same with second bed.  I placed one bed under my pergola and the other on the patio as I am restricted with space.  I aim to grow pati pan squashes and a medly of beans in my beds as well as perhaps spring onions.

 I seemed to have a few days of bargains.  I also picked up 3 x 24 plants from B & Q at 3 for £12.  I got trailing lobelia, marrigolds and another flower which I don't know but it is pretty.  I am going to use them to fill the wall baskets, the beds and the lobelia to trail over my rockery.

The wall baskets

   

Busy Few Days

Home made, gluten free banana and walnut cake

 I have had a busy few day days.  I made a gluten free banana and walnut cake which was gorgeous.  Due to GF flour being made from different ground vegetable flours it tends to soak up the liquid very quickly and so your baking can taste very dry and unpalatable.  To counteract this problem I usually double up on the liquid, this ensures that the cake is light, fluffy and very tasty.

Lactose free yogurt

I love yogurt but have found that I can't tolerate milk.  It causes the same bloating and problems which I get when eating gluten, so I try to keep away from it.  However, I found this wonderful lactose free milk in the supermarkets.  It is about 3 times more expensive that a litre of milk but it does last me a while.  I read about making yogurt with lactose free milk, so I thought I would give it a go.  The yogurt was lovely, and next time I'll leave the yogurt to mature for 10 hours which should leave a well set yogurt.

New Blackcurrant Bush

I bought myself 2 gooseberry bushes for £5 each, which turned out to be a waste of money.  Both bushes have lost all their leaves, so I doubt if they will every produce fruit.  However, today I purchased a blackcurrant and a gooseberry bush and they cost me just over £11 for the 2 and they are twice the size of my previous purchases.  I am now deciding whether to leave them in their pots or to put them in the garden?  I'll let them settle for a few days and see how they go before I decide.

New Gooseberry Bush

I also sowed runner beans, dwarf french beans, wax beans and pati pan squashes.  My tomatoes have germinated and when they are stronger I'll plant them in the grow bags the OH bought me for Christmas.  I also have gherkins and cucumbers germinating.

My potatoes shouldn't be long before I harvest them and then get ready to chit my second crop.

What have you been busy with this week?

Holidaying abroad

We have just returned from a weeks holiday in Benidorm, Spain.  I was a little wary of eating abroad as there is the worry about the gluten issue, but I worried for nothing.


In Spain Sin Gluten means no gluten and their shops seem to have a better choice than ours do over here.  They actually do large slabs of cake as well as good biscuits and their rolls are made from 3 types of corn flour which makes them far more palatable than some of the bread on sale in the UK.  


I was lucky as the dinning room staff took me under their wing and prepared fresh vegetable soups for me every day and even freshly cooked meats.  I was impressed by their diligence and support.  And of course there were lots of fresh salads and fruit available.  I still miss my puds..........