Community Farmer Day

Do you sometimes feel that life seems to fly by? For me that's just what is happening at the moment. I've had a number of very busy weeks at work and I am gradually getting used to dealing with the new demands and volumes of work in my job, whilst trying to have a bit of a work life balance...it has been a little tricky but I'm slowly making it work...so I'm posting something today that I wanted to write a while ago but I haven't had the chance...

A few weeks ago I decided to take a day away from my normal weekend routine to do something completely different. I got involved in something fantastic that cleared my head, made me feel great, enabled me to spend a day outside in the fresh air and made me feel really energised at the end of it. I decided I wanted to give my time to something that I felt passionate about...I decided to become a volunteer for a day at The Community Farm.

The Community Farm in Chew Magna was set up in 2011 as an organic farm to grow yummy vegetables for organic vegetable boxes. The Community Farm "aim to reconnect people with the land where their food is grown"...one of the things letting them fulfil this are Community Farmer Days that the farm run, alongside many other community initiatives.

I have been wanting to do something different with my time and have been thinking about volunteering for a while. When I think back to what being a volunteer meant when I was younger, it was being made to go (or feel you have to go!) every week. However this was totally different, the volunteering at The Community Farm suited me perfectly, you can just sign up when you want to go using a list of dates on the website, there is no commitment to go each week which suits my lifestyle perfectly. After seeing a few email newsletters from the farm about what was going on that month I decided to sign up. Each time I read about the volunteering on the newsletter I had a gut reaction and really wanted to have a go, so I signed up with one of my best friends and the gut reaction paid off...we had a fantastic day.

On Saturday 21st June my friend Kate and I headed off to Chew Magna, a beautiful part of the country just 25 minutes away from Bristol. We signed up to spend a day volunteering prepared to get stuck into whatever the farm needed us to do that day. We did well to pick a day with good weather, it was a really warm and sunny! Armed with sun cream, lots of water, hats, bags of enthusiasm and big smiles we began our Community Farmer Day experience...

We started the day with a steaming cup of tea, some freshly picked strawberries and got ourselves settled in the yurt for a briefing about the day with Ian, the Volunteer Coordinator. The room was buzzing with people itching to get started. As a group we had three tasks that the farm were keen to get our help with while we were there. The tasks involved weeding around the leeks and lettuce in one of the fields, planting courgettes and creating a row of bean poles. There were about 18 of us who were ready to get stuck in, there were a mix of newbies like Kate and I, and others who had been before.

Kate and I decided to take the first part of the day weeding around the lettuces, we worked in our pair moving down each row and managed to complete the weeding on two rows of lettuces in the field in the morning...it felt like a huge achievement. The sun was beating down and it was hard work but it felt very therapeutic getting rid of the weeds and watching our progress as we worked up and down the field!

About 12.30pm we stopped for a lunch break and tucked into some freshly picked salad leaves, tomatoes and strawberries from the farm to top up our packed lunches. Everything was so yummy and freshly picked that morning.

After lunch we were given a tour of the farm and saw a range of plants, vegetables and fruit that the farm were growing. We saw all areas where the farm grow things and we learnt about how the farm is run and how the local communities get involved. The farm is set next to the Chew Valley Lake and has some amazing views, it must be a great place to work!

We saw how the farm grows crops under cover as well as in the 22 acres of fields. A range of crops including cucumbers, tomatoes, chillies, herbs were being grown undercover, and courgettes, potatoes, leeks, lettuce and strawberries were being grown outside.

After our farm tour we came together as one team to create a row of bean poles. A pile of bamboo poles and twine came together after a hour or so, filling the length of the field. We all were given task to get the job done, whether it was pushing the bean poles into the ground or tying the tops of the poles to the guideline wire. We all worked hard as a team and had some time left at the end to plant the beans!

I planted these beauties...

Hopefully by now the beans will have germinated and will be growing, and making a bit of progress up the poles.

It was a day I will always remember. Ian kept us motivated all day with his enthusiasm and we spent the day with a lovely set of volunteers that I'm sure I will get to meet again sometime soon. The day felt that we were given real responsibility to help out at tasks that would make a difference and helped the farm function that week. The experience definitely gave us the opportunity to reconnect with the land and see how things are grown.

Late afternoon arrived and we headed home feeling super pleased with ourselves. We felt a real sense of achievement that we had managed to complete the tasks that we had been asked to get involved in during the day. I loved the day as it enabled me to combine the chance to do something for the local community, to learn some new skills and see how organic vegetables are grown on a large scale.

I went away buzzing with enthusiasm and had a spring in my step that stayed with me all weekend. I've found voluntary work I love and something that I'm definitely going to sign up for again in a few months time. I'm really looking forward to going back.

February in our courtyard garden

Over the past few weeks I've been dreaming about our garden and planning what I'm going to grow this year. Our outside space is a shady courtyard garden, it's a unique urban space sheltered by the wind and our own peaceful haven in the city.

At this time of the year I enjoy noticing the changes occurring in our courtyard. The light levels improve, there are new visitors popping by to use our space, and there are small buds forming across some of our plants, all signalling the garden waking up from its winter slumber. It has been a really wet winter so our space has been really damp and grey. I didn't get round to planting bulbs last autumn so our space has been looking in need of some love.

Our courtyard is rather shady making growing plants sometimes a real challenge. I'm gradually learning what does well and not so well in our urban garden. Over the years I've had many gardening disasters but also some great successes. This year I'm going to embrace our space and try again to make our garden productive and a fantastic space to spend time in.

I enjoy growing flowers and herbs in containers and pots and always try new things each year to see if they will work. I've been longing for a dry weekend to get out in our courtyard and to start making our space look more spring-like. Last Saturday that moment arrived! I took the opportunity to enjoy a rare dry morning in our courtyard. The weather was sunny and warm, perfect conditions to get outside in the fresh air and sort out our space. I took a trip to our local garden centre and picked up some primroses, daffodils and hyacinths to add to our window boxes and pots in our garden.

I came back with a little more than planned! I bought a few new tools, some brand new herbs to plant out, two types of potatoes, a few packets of seeds and some new compost.

On Saturday I had a limited window of time so I decided to focus on planting up our window boxes with primroses and daffodils

and adding the other flowers to a few pots by our back door creating an instant change to our garden.

I'd forgotten how therapeutic getting out in the fresh air and planting things can be. With months of being inside and having to ignore our outside space, the chance to get out in the garden to tidy up and plant flowers made me feel more alive.

Seeing our window boxes with the bright pink and yellow primroses perks me up every morning and gives me a spring in my step.

Over the next few weeks I'm going to plant some seeds and prepare the potatoes ready to plant, I'll let you know how I get on and keep you updated with the progress of our space.

Today is the last day of February and the last day of winter! Spring is moments away. If you have chance this weekend why don't you try growing something. Whether it is a small pot of seeds on a warm sunny windowsill, or a window box with a few herbs or flowers, growing something however small will help you welcome in spring and say goodbye to the winter blues, bringing new life to your space.

Let me know how you get on, I'd love to know what you are planning to grow this year.

A long weekend :: Time to get crafty

A few weeks ago I decided to book myself a long weekend. I had planned to take a few days off work to dedicate to my hobbies and to start making the Roman blinds that we so desperately need in our lounge to keep us a little warmer this year. A combination of still trying to understand the instructions in the Roman blind kit I've bought (I'm starting to write my own!), and the fabric not being chosen in time, has meant that this part of my long weekend had to be moved to a few weeks time. I managed to get lots achieved instead!

Having two days off work before the weekend meant I could catch up on writing a few blog posts and taking photos. I spent my time enjoying cups of tea, eating toast and jam, waiting for Christmas decoration deliveries to arrive. I filled our home with music I haven't listened to in a while and alternated between Radio 2 and 6Music. I enjoyed relaxed lunchtimes having home made soup for lunch and then pottering round nearby Clifton Village and visiting my favourite shop, Pod, minus the weekend crowds. I had the time to use our local post office, and visit our local charity shop to drop off a few bags of things following a clear out. I indulged each afternoon drinking tea from my special Emma Bridgewater mugs and eating triple chocolate cookies from my pretty plates. All of that interspersed with time to craft. It was absolute heaven!

I had chance to start making the cushion cover I have been planning to make for sometime. I enjoyed having the time to think about the structure of the cushion and loved playing with some of my newest fabric.

On Saturday we went out for brunch with friends and walked home along the floating harbour near our home, enjoying the crisp fresh air. I had time to appreciate and enjoy where we live without rushing around.

I spent some of the weekend sorting out my Project Life album and printing out photos to get myself up to date. I love Project Life and I'll tell you more about it on another blog post soon.

On Sunday I continued crocheting granny squares whilst nursing a bad cold and cough.

I had fun gathering supplies from my paper and scrapbooking stash for Christmas card making. I've started pulling together the supplies I'm planning to use for Journal Your Christmas and December Daily this year. I'm getting really excited about a craft filled December and taking the time to capture all the details in my photos.

I've really loved having the opportunity to take a few days out of my normal routine and do things I love. I like to get up early, keep busy and make the most of the free time I have. I think it has recharged me, perhaps I relaxed a little too much! I have ended up with another cough and cold in the space of a month. I don't know how I've managed to get unwell twice in such close succession, both times have been when I've really relaxed! Oh well, the perfect excuse to snuggle on the sofa and crochet.

I'm definitely going to make time for a long weekend of hobbies again in the future. I've got some time off before Christmas to really get into the spirit of things. What do you love doing when you have a bit of down time?

A fabulous day of baking :: Bake With Maria…well, with Marianne!

On Saturday I spent the day baking. Taking time out to bake is something that I rarely do at the moment and I didn't realise how much I missed it until this weekend. I used to really love baking. I’ve baked Victoria sponges, scones, cupcakes, muffins, cookies, shortbread and loaf cakes in the past but have got out of the habit of making time to bake. I started to grow despondent following a few baking disasters with a particularly fierce oven, and always ended up making things in a rush. However attending a course this weekend changed how I want to experience baking moving forwards. The passion I have for baking was sparked again by a really fantastic class I attended. The process of combining simple ingredients to create delightful cakes on Saturday brightened up the cloudy October day, and was the turning point I needed to get inspired to pick up a whisk again.

I was very lucky to be treated to a day of baking at the Bake With Maria baking school, thanks to Mr C’s sister and brother-in-law. The weekend started with an early morning train journey from Bristol to London. Armed with a latte and the November copy of Red magazine, I set off feeling really excited and ready to learn. Until recently I had never been on a sewing class, and a baking class was equally as new to me. I learnt to bake watching and learning from my very talented mum, watching Delia and Nigella on TV, and reading copious baking books and trying a few things out. Looking back at the home economics lessons I had at school I realised I was never really properly taught the basics, but this class filled the essential gaps in my knowledge.

Mr C’s sister, Rachael, and I met up and headed to The Baking Lab in Swiss Cottage, London for the class. We arrived at The Baking Lab and had tea and delicious biscuits to fuel the morning of baking and learning. The class we attended was the Cake Baking Masterclass led by the extremely knowledgeable and super talented pastry chef Marianne Stewart (@MarianneBakes). The course was 5.5 hours long and we baked three different cakes, firstly a Moelleux au Chocolat (Chocolate Torte), then 12 Mini Carrot Cakes with a cream cheese frosting and candied carrot strips to decorate, and finally a lemon drizzle cake.

We watched Marianne skilfully demonstrate her recipes with a full how-to demonstration per cake. We learnt about the basic techniques used within each recipe, what each stage of the baking process should look like, and general tips in relation to baking skills to use during each recipe. There were practical skills too, so how to zest lemons, tips including wrapping cling film round your mixer while making icing so you don’t have a kitchen covered in white dust, and recommendations on equipment to use. After we were shown how to make the cake step by step, we then had a go ourselves following the helpful and detailed recipe handout.

Half way through we had a break for a very delicious lunch prepared by Marta, The Baking Lab Manager, and sat chatting sharing baking stories.

Our group of 8 who were taking the course were lovely and we all were quite candid about our baking disasters and level of skills! We had the opportunity to ask lots of baking questions and each were answered. We learnt things about why a cake mixture behaves the way it does, so I now understand why some cakes rise like volcanoes and why we experience problems with paper cases sticking or falling off! Both things I've experienced. I felt I learnt more in 5.5 hours of baking than in all my years of baking so far.

The day was truly fabulous and the course really surpassed expectations. What was unique was that each recipe involved different techniques, volumes and types of ingredients that were different than the ‘standard’ recipes. During the class we used good quality equipment, the highlight for me was having the chance to use a Kitchen Aid mixer. I was in heaven and I felt like I was on the Great British Bake Off! Unfortunately our kitchen at home wouldn't fit a Kitchen Aid mixer. Even if we had space I'd never make a decision about the colour I’d want!

At the end of the class we got to take home our creations in cake boxes that were supplied and left full of inspiration to get baking. After the class I sampled the cakes with a friend over cups of tea and we agreed they were yummy and had to hold back from scoffing the lot in one sitting!

On Bake with Maria’s website the strapline is ‘Bake yourself happy!’…well I certainly did on Saturday. Thank you Marianne for inspiring me to get in the kitchen and bake again, and thank you Rachael for taking me!

A walk in the countryside: Chew Magna

In mid-September Mr C and I went on a country walk with friends. Living in Bristol we are lucky to be a short drive away from a number of great places to visit. We decided to take walk from Chew Magna to Chew Valley Lake and back again. We wanted to combine the walk with catching up with friends, a pub lunch and the chance to pick blackberries on the walk and hopefully sloes if we could find them. I bought Mr C a handy little book, Food For Free, last Christmas and we took with us as it fitted perfectly in Mr C’s back pocket of his trousers.

The weather was perfect for a walk, cloudy at first and later on the clouds broke to deliver a little bit of sunshine.  It took us only about 30 minutes on our walk to stumble on a bountiful crop of berries. At first we started to collect blackberries...

and to our surprise found sloes growing close by!

Inspired by the opportunity to make apple and blackberry crumble and our own sloe gin we set about collecting the berries. We took so long picking berries during the first part of our walk we managed to miss lunch in our destination pub, so instead we had a half pint of cider and some crisps to tide us over until we got back into the village. Later on during the walk we found elderberries too and also picked some of these.

We walked through some lovely parts of the local countryside, through fields of cows...

a field full of the clover with the largest leaves we’ve ever seen...

  

and a recently harvested field...

We got back to Chew Magna and had a late lunch in the quaint garden of a cafe on the high street...

We then headed home after a fantastic day out. Delighted with our collection of berries we promptly put the three sets of berries in the freezer to keep them until we had everything we needed to make a things from them.

I feel really lucky to live only a few miles away from somewhere we can get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and enjoy the tranquil countryside. Why don't you plan a walk near where you live to explore somewhere new, spend time with friends and see what berries you can find.

Over the next week or so I'll let you know what we have made with the berries we collected!

The Simple Things

What is your simple thing? Maybe it's the smell of freshly cut grass, walking through crunchy Autumn leaves, listening to the rain, going for a picnic with friends on a beach, growing your own herbs, giving a handmade gift wrapped in brown paper and ribbon...these are a few of my favourite simple things.

One of my truly favourite simple things in life is receiving post through our letter box. Magazine subscriptions, parcels and fabric orders...I know that they will be on their way during the month but I still get so excited when the post arrives. Even more so, unexpected post, such as cards or letters from friends and family, brings a pure pleasure and a warm feeling inside that you just don't get from an email. Knowing that the post will bring news to read, things to discover, inspiring ideas of things to make and places to explore, makes it one of my favourite simple things. 

I love opening the post, settling down with my favourite magazines over the weekend, whilst snuggling in a blanket on the sofa with a cup of tea (and maybe a slice of cake!). I have a passion for magazines and love having the latest issues arrive at home in the post. The magazines that I adore, and have subscriptions for, include Elle Decoration, Red, Country Living, National Geographic, Easy Living, Jamie, Mollie Makes and now one more...

I'm excited to tell you about a new magazine launch happening this week called The Simple Things, from the makers of Mollie Makes. Out on the 6th of September, The Simple Things is...

" a new magazine celebrating the things that matter most. Featuring a gorgeous blend of interiors, gardening, cookery, lifestyle and crafts, The Simple Things is about taking time to enjoy the simple pleasures in life – a walk in the country, making a warm inviting home, sharing food with loved ones, gardening, traditions worth reviving and memories worth cherishing.

It’s about knowing that there’s no satisfaction like that at the end of a long muddy walk, no pink so pretty as freshly-cut rhubarb, no perfume to compare with your own home-grown flowers. It’s keeping your dad’s old typewriter just because it’s beautiful. It’s an empty beach on a Sunday morning. It’s backpedaling. It’s the Simple Things. "  

The magazine blurb sounds just what I'm looking for at the moment that other magazines just don't bring. As well as a magazine there is a lovely The Simple Things blog too with lot's of inspiring posts and the first issue cover reveal too.

On the blog you'll find a digital sampler of The Simple Things magazine where you can take a sneeky peek inside the magazine before The Simple Things launches this week. The digital sampler shows the stunning photography, inspiring content and beautiful layout inside the magazine.

I'll be rushing home on Thursday to indulge in one of my favourite simple things...a warming cup of tea and a brand new magazine. I can't wait for The Simple Things to arrive!

Rainy summer days

Most places in England have been experiencing a very wet summer over the past few months. Grey clouds, heavy rain and blustery wind have outnumbered the dry sunny days where I live. The one thing that brightens the rainy days for me is the opportunity to use my favourite red and white Cath Kidston spotty brolly. I love the wooden handle and its cheery bright pattern, it cheers up a rainy walk to the train station.

The rain has been great for the garden as I've hardly needed to water the plants, however the downside has been the continual battle with the many slugs and snails. Here's an insight into how our courtyard garden is doing this summer...

I'm waiting patiently for the tomatoes to grow. Small flowers have started to form however with the combination of the lack of sunshine and warmth they haven't done very well so far.

The mixed lettuce bolted and the bumper crop has given us endless salad leaves perfect for creating quick tasty meals.

The lillies flowered for a few days but were very quickly battered by heavy rain and winds. After so much time waiting for them to flower we only got to enjoy them for a short time but they were worth the wait as there were so many flowers this year.

The hardy fuschia has flowered over the past few weeks and is elegantly displaying its pretty blooms.

The strawberry plants are flowering...

...their delicate flowers are so very beautiful.

There are pea pods forming on my patio pea plant! I've never grown peas before. They are so satisfying to pop open and see what has grown inside. We have managed to enjoy the small crop of peas from a few of the pods so far.

The herbs have done well and we have a huge supply of mint, chives and parsley.

The pepper plant on our sunny sheltered windowsill is growing a bountiful crop. I will need to keep a close eye on this plant as it was invaded by tiny snails this weekend.

I'm delighted with how the garden is growing, despite the unseasonal weather. It is the best year so far for growing plants in our courtyard. I hope that the summer will bring more sunshine and warmer weather so that the plants will continue to grow well.