My purple sage has flowered
Thursday, 2 June 2011
Friday, 15 April 2011
oh happy day
Went out this morning and found seedlings! Lots of them. Eyebright we had had already, and borage, but now we have angelica, purslane, par-cel, betony, wormwood, clary sage and lots more, including, best of all, comfrey.
Add that to lemon grass indoors, and mandrake, which has been in our bathroom for the past month - to the bemusement of the fitters putting in our new kitchen.
Tarragon has come up everywhere, cuttings of southernwood have taken well and we are well-stocked with beautiful old favourites such as lady's mantle and viper's bugloss.
Stock levels are beginning to build up, which is crucial commercially as well as gratifying personally.
It has been particularly satisfying to talk to customers from last year who have reported how well plants they bought from us survived the winter and are thriving in the early warm weather.
We are going to have our widest and most interesting range of herbs yet this year - just as well given we are doing more plant fairs and markets than ever.
We will be at plant fairs in Market Harborough throughout the summer, the University of Leicester Botanic Garden and - the furthest we have ever been - Market Deeping, as well as our usual Leicester and Kibworth farmers' markets and Leicester Food Festival on May 29.
Add that to lemon grass indoors, and mandrake, which has been in our bathroom for the past month - to the bemusement of the fitters putting in our new kitchen.
Tarragon has come up everywhere, cuttings of southernwood have taken well and we are well-stocked with beautiful old favourites such as lady's mantle and viper's bugloss.
Stock levels are beginning to build up, which is crucial commercially as well as gratifying personally.
It has been particularly satisfying to talk to customers from last year who have reported how well plants they bought from us survived the winter and are thriving in the early warm weather.
We are going to have our widest and most interesting range of herbs yet this year - just as well given we are doing more plant fairs and markets than ever.
We will be at plant fairs in Market Harborough throughout the summer, the University of Leicester Botanic Garden and - the furthest we have ever been - Market Deeping, as well as our usual Leicester and Kibworth farmers' markets and Leicester Food Festival on May 29.
Sunday, 20 February 2011
Time to wake up
The garden is beginning to emerge from hibernation and it feels as though we are, too. Mints are starting to send up shoots, so is the tarragon and the elecampane. The sweet cicelies are starting to push up from their shady spots and we are on the lookout for the first of the ramsons.
We are sowing like mad, including quite a few new species that we are trying this year, such as horehound, mugwort, motherwort and red orache. We are also adding a new type of basil a blue, to go with the African blue that went very well last year. This new variety is supposed to have an excellent flavour. We will report back.
To give us the space we need, we have taken on a Victorian greenhouse at our friend Sandra's farm. This is a very exciting development for us - a major expansion that means we might finally get our patio back!
Sales are being finalised. We will be at Leicester Farmers' Market on the first Thursday of each month and Kibworth Farmers' Market on the third Saturday. That's a change of date and there is also a new venue - the old Grammar School in the centre of the village.
We will be at the University of Leicester Botanic Garden plant fair on July 3 and a range of fairs and events to be comnfirmed.
We are sowing like mad, including quite a few new species that we are trying this year, such as horehound, mugwort, motherwort and red orache. We are also adding a new type of basil a blue, to go with the African blue that went very well last year. This new variety is supposed to have an excellent flavour. We will report back.
To give us the space we need, we have taken on a Victorian greenhouse at our friend Sandra's farm. This is a very exciting development for us - a major expansion that means we might finally get our patio back!
Sales are being finalised. We will be at Leicester Farmers' Market on the first Thursday of each month and Kibworth Farmers' Market on the third Saturday. That's a change of date and there is also a new venue - the old Grammar School in the centre of the village.
We will be at the University of Leicester Botanic Garden plant fair on July 3 and a range of fairs and events to be comnfirmed.
Tuesday, 14 December 2010
The trouble with craft fairs...
....is that that you always end up spending any money you make on the fab products on other people’s stalls.
This week, for instance, we have been at Oakham, Kibworth and Uppingham and look what we found:
Beautiful stained glass robin from Cathi at Shedglas Design
Spiced, herb-filled Christmas bauble (or three) from Jo at Maid in England
Lovely blue pottery candle holder
Yummy Christmas pudding fudge -you can smell the rum the minute you open the box
This dinky ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ badge from Rhubarb Designs, Leicester
And last but not least, this reindeer from a very nice man in a narrow boat near Kibworth.
We also bought Myrtle a plague rat from Dougals Den in Oakham. I would show you a picture but she gets so excited playing with it the photo goes all blurry.
This week, for instance, we have been at Oakham, Kibworth and Uppingham and look what we found:
Beautiful stained glass robin from Cathi at Shedglas Design
Spiced, herb-filled Christmas bauble (or three) from Jo at Maid in England
Lovely blue pottery candle holder
Yummy Christmas pudding fudge -you can smell the rum the minute you open the box
This dinky ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ badge from Rhubarb Designs, Leicester
And last but not least, this reindeer from a very nice man in a narrow boat near Kibworth.
We also bought Myrtle a plague rat from Dougals Den in Oakham. I would show you a picture but she gets so excited playing with it the photo goes all blurry.
Friday, 10 December 2010
Soap frenzy!
In the thick of the sales season with our soaps at the moment, with Kibworth farmers market and three big sales to go before we can put our feet up - and, more importantly, start to think about our herbs for next spring and what the frost has been doing to our polytunnel.
Soap sales have gone far better than we had anticipated, thanks to Sian's enticing recipes- so much so that we have had to frantically make more to ensure we are fully stocked for Stamford Christmas Market on Sunday, Oakham late-night shopping on Monday and Leicester Christmas farmers market on December 22.
This is what out kitchen looks like at the moment. And the living room. And the "storeroom" (i.e. third bedroom).
Sunday, 14 November 2010
Have your cake and wash with it
Just a quick entry today - too busy dreaming up new soap recipes.
Latest are figgy pudding, which looks like it has whipped cream on top and does have a dusting of brown sugar, and ginger chocolate, inspired by Sian's favourite Green & Blacks variety. This one has cocoa powder and ginger scent.
Why these flavours? Nothing to do with us both going on a pre-Christmas diet. Obviously.
Both will be unveiled in a couple of weeks at Leicester Guildhall and Parklands leisure centre, in Oadby.
Pictures to follow in a day or so.
Also a recipe for iced rosemary cake supplied by a friend. So we have to make that up and as it's research the diet doesn't apply.
Latest are figgy pudding, which looks like it has whipped cream on top and does have a dusting of brown sugar, and ginger chocolate, inspired by Sian's favourite Green & Blacks variety. This one has cocoa powder and ginger scent.
Why these flavours? Nothing to do with us both going on a pre-Christmas diet. Obviously.
Both will be unveiled in a couple of weeks at Leicester Guildhall and Parklands leisure centre, in Oadby.
Pictures to follow in a day or so.
Also a recipe for iced rosemary cake supplied by a friend. So we have to make that up and as it's research the diet doesn't apply.
Sunday, 31 October 2010
Cleaning up
Just a brief entry today - very busy making soaps for our Christmas fairs. It is good to be making use of dried flowers and leaves from our garden. Some of the plants have been raised by us from seed and now they are decorating soaps created and produced in our kitchen.
First outing for today's soaps will not be for a month or two because they need time to cure. But (and here's some we made earlier) our soaps will be taking pride of place on our stall at Leicester Farmers' Market on Thursday.
We will have a few of our herbs there as well - the evergreens and hardy, including winter savoury and rosemary and perhaps a few myrtles.
Next dates after that are as follows:
November 13 - Kibworth Farmers' Market
November 20 - Oakham Christmas market
November 21 - Leicester winter food festival
November 27-28 - Leicester Guildhall Christmas Fair
November 28 - Parklands leisure centre, Oadby, Christmas fair
December 2 - Leicester Farmers' Market
December 3 - Gilmorton Christmas Fair
December 9 - Uppingham late-night shopping
December 13 - Oakham late-night shopping
In addition - and we are very excited about this one - we will be at Stamford Christmas Fair on December 12.
We have never ventured outside Leicestershire and Rutland before, and the fair promises to be a spectacular event. We will see if we can conjure up some herb and soap surprises for this one.
As if we were not busy enough preparing for these, it is definitely time to overhaul the website. Look out for much-improved and expanded herb descriptions in the days or (more likely) weeks to come.
You can check the progress at http://cookslaneherbs.co.uk
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