Tuesday 2 October 2012

Fooling Nature

The weather seems to have played a strange trick on the seasons this year. It's as though the plants and animals are not quite sure what has happened. The birds seemed to think that Spring had arrived this September, getting up early to chirp loudly every time the rain eased off. The elderflower made the same mistakes, still springing up thick and fully flowered along the railways until well into the start of this undeserved autumn.

But the good news is, my chilli plants don't seem to have noticed the difference as I have kept them snugly inside. They have grown more prolifically than we first imagined and now the first chillis are making their way out into the world. I have no idea how big they will get, I'm just hoping I get to eat them before the aphids do. Here are a couple of the plants in the minature greenhouse Sal bought. It's awesome:



The next project is Christmas tree seeds. They have been germinating in the fridge but need planting now if we are to have seedlings by Christmas. I keep thinking about one day having a home-grown Christmas tree in the front room... All this wind and rain has made me feel prematurely festive and nostaligic.

Having the plants around the house and living so close to the independent shops in Slaithwaite has made me want to try even harder to become more sustainable in my shopping choices. Today, I popped to the shop for some tuna but they had none. The lady suggested I tried their sustainably caught smoked mackerel instead, which I had never tried in my life. So I said yes, and a delicious lunch followed. It reminded me that you don't always have to get exactly what you fancy.

Sometimes something new can be good for you.

More updates soon, I am contemplating compiling a list of winter veggies that you all can help me decide what to make with over the next few months. I see a lot of soup on the horizon...

A x

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