Delicious pear chutney recipe

 I have just finished the last of the pear chutney that I made for Christmas. It was the first time I have ever tried to make a chutney and it is really simple to make. 



 Much easier that jam making, so don't be put off by the thought of special thermometers, sugars and pans, there is none of that here. 

Chutney is really easy to make and a great way of preserving your harvest through the winter months. 

Here is my recipe for delicious pear chutney. This a delicious chutney recipe using lightly spiced pears.

Sowing in yoghurt pot seed trays

I have started to sow my seeds today in little yoghurt pot (well custard pot actually) propagators. If you have read my tips on planning a fruit and veg garden you may be a bit confused by this.

I used to (well the last two years that I have grown veggies) sow outdoors, partly because I found it less daunting as a novice and partly because I didn't have the space to start seeds off in doors.

Well this year, armed with all I have learnt in my previous growing seasons, I have cleared off all the windowsills in the flat, (had to stop myself from clearing off my sons bedroom windowsill too) and have decided to use them to sow my seeds in doors.

My plan is to start off some early in doors and then do a later sowing outdoors. By staggering the sowing in this way I hope to lengthen my growing season and to have veggies ripening at different times so I won't have too much of a glut.

Free Seeds

I have just picked up a copy of February's Grow Your Own magazine which came with 4 packets of free seeds. Actually I only bought the magazine for the seeds.

I have never bought any seeds that cost more than £1, (although I'm sure that will change as I get more in to the varieties of  veggies) so I worked out that as the mag costs £3.99 I would be paying around £1 per packet of seeds and I got a lovely mag thrown in for free.

There are more free seeds with the March mag, and there probably was in the January mag as well, but my news agent doesn't have any of those.

Other gardeners may well be getting some free seeds with a magazine, I am getting a free magazine with my seeds!

Why I LOVE Wilkinson

Wilkinson is one of those old highstreet stores, opened by J.K.Wilkinson in Leicester in 1930 and now boasts over 335 stores nationwide. Think Woolworth without the clothing. In fact they seem to be going from strength to strength now that poor Woolworth has met its demise. Oh how I miss Woolworth.

Anyway, Wilkinson is helping me get over my Woolworth grief.

So why do I love Wilkinson? Well they have a very good value gardening section, selling among other things, gardening equipment, seeds and compost.

Give your compost heap a nice cup of tea

To speed up the decomposition process and enrich the compost, pour a few cups of strongly brewed tea into the heap. The liquid tea will hasten decomposition and draw bacteria, creating a desirable rich compost.

You can use a generic supermarket brand for this, your compost heap will not mind that it is not Earl Grey. Using the tea is a much cheaper option than buying a commercial compost maker.

How to sterilise jars and bottles for preserving

This is an easy method which uses the oven for sterilising jars and bottles for preserving.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 350°F/ gas mark 4.

Wash the jars in warm soapy water, rinse and dry thoroughly with a clean tea towel.

I add vinegar to the soapy water and the rinsing water to remove any trace of grease and smells from the previous contents of recycled jars.

Arrange the jars on a baking sheet so they are not touching.

Place in the oven for 5 minutes.

If the jars are to be filled with hot contents, leave the jars in the oven and remove carefully one at a time using oven gloves.

If the jars are to be filled with cold contents, remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Fill the jars with the chosen contents, cover with a waxed disc if using and seal with your choice of lid.

Merry Berry Vodka

I have just finished the last of my Merry Berry Vodka that I made for Christmas so I thought I would share the recipe.

Christmas can be a difficult time to hold on to ideals of frugal living. The very idea of scrimping and scraping seems at odds with the whole atmosphere of Christmas time, filled with festivities and feasting.

But I refused to be defeated by Christmas cheer and instead of thinking about all the things I couldn't afford to buy, I began to think about how I could obtain or make them more cheaply.

Merry Berry Vodka was born, a very festive coloured vodka based fruit liqueur drink. I did some costings for Merry Berry Vodka which work out to £0.80 per 100 ml, compared to a branded fruit vodka which cost £1.86 per 100 ml.

The Merry Berry Vodka costing does not include the cost of the jars as I reused jam jars saved from my recycling. If you want to give this as a gift you can decant it into a more decorative bottle. Amazon has a large range of bottles that would make lovely gifts. Click here to go to Amazon.

The vodka I used was the cheapest I could find and cost £8.95 for 750ml, you can of course use a more expensive vodka if you can scrimp to it.

Here is the recipe for Merry Berry Vodka.

My tips on planning an edible container garden

Two years ago (January 2010) I decided to start growing my own fruit and veg to save money on supermarket food bills. My two problems were that I was (and still am) a complete novice at gardening and my garden is covered in concrete. I had no idea where to begin.

One evening I saw some dwarf fruit trees being sold on a TV shopping channel. They came with 30 litre pots that they could grow in. Imagine growing fruit trees in pots! I ordered 4 trees, apple, pear, peach and plum. They were delivered as bare roots and were so easy to pot I was encouraged to try more.

Despite my lack of knowledge, I have successfully grown carrots, beetroot, salad leaves, peas, tomatoes, onions, courgette and I am even trying out some winter veg (broccoli and parsnip).

January is the perfect time to begin thinking about starting a garden. Seeds start to be sown outside from March/ April time and some can be started off from as Early as February if sown indoors. Start planning what types of crops you want to grow and where you are going to grow them now, and you can start getting together the equipment you will need.

Here are some of the tips I have learnt and I encourage anyone, no matter how little knowledge you may have about gardening, to give container gardening a try.