April in the garden - is spring finally here?

My first 'real' day in the garden of the year, yesterday. I love spring gardening, the greenhouse is a cosy place to work, rather than being roasting hot. Working on the beds is relatively straightforward as there isn't too much growing. And there aren't many weeds yet - a sure sign that Spring is only just beginning to take hold!

Still, as long as they've survived the shock of being moved to the cold frame last night (we've a light frost this morning), we should get a nice crop of early broad beans this year.

There's plenty of seeds and seedlings on their way inside the greenhouse. I also got around to fitting the capillary matting I bought about 6 weeks ago, to see if this helps with the endless watering required at this time of year - I'll keep you posted!

And I took advantage of the sunshine to prepare all the growing beds for the season ahead, and to finally plant the potatoes which have been chitting in the kitchen since late February.

Fingers crossed for a better growing season in 2013 than we had last year!

More things I've made and some toddler-sized sewing first steps

The month of March has mainly been about making. Specifically, I've been sticking to my 2013 goal for generally improving and expanding my needlecrafts and have completed three satisfying projects.

I finished my train project hat just at the point when I thought, 'rats, I won't get much wear out of this at this time of year'. I've since worn it every day to ward off the bitter chill of an English springtime!

Sis-in-law's third baby finally arrived so I got to improve my crochet skills with a pair of bootees, courtesy of a pattern in Simply Crochet mag. They weren't perfect, but hey, the baby won't notice and they should help keep his feet warm at least!

And finally, I completed my first real project using my new sewing machine (I say 'new' - I've had it since November...) I'm not sure why, but I was completely daunted about getting to grips with my sewing machine. I don't remember much about using one from school, other than it seemed to take most of the lesson to get the things threaded, and the only project I really remember completing was to design and create embellishments for a hat - not terribly useful!

So I decided for my first real sewing project in years that, rather than starting with something simple and gradually building up my skills, I'd dive right in and make a dress. At least it was for my toddler, so the cutting out and actual sewing was on a fairly small scale, but I did still need to learn how to:

- cut out from a pattern
- hem
- topstitch
- sew on a curve
- and create buttonholes (really incredibly simple with the buttonhole foot, which is much easier to use than it looks)

The fabrics are an organic needlecord in yellow, and an organic cotton by Cloud9 (Algeria Hearts in Pink), both from Ray Stitch.

And because I never have been able to follow a set of instructions all the way through without adding a couple of extra bits, or tweaks, I decided that instead of the applique design for the skirt I'd add a couple of pockets, which I then designed and made up from scratch.

Here is the finished article:

And here it is being modelled by Isobel!

Lessons learnt?

1. It always pays to 'seal' the raw edges of fabric - the needlecord I used for the dress constantly frays along the raw edge (inside the hem) - it would have been a good move to run a zigzag stitch along these edges before hemming/joining (but this wasn't included in the pattern instructions and I didn't think of it until I was already finished!)
2. Keep the big picture in mind - I was so busy trying to make sure that the belt loops were straight and level that I almost made them too tight to get the ribbons through.
3. I rather wished I'd made the pockets just from the lining fabric, rather than adding the needlecord 'binding' to the top.

I've been rather bitten by the sewing bug now and have a long list of 'next' projects in mind - oh dear, I'm not sure that I'll manage to get out into the garden at all this year!

January in the kitchen (part two): chocolate or coffee marmalade?

No January in the kitchen would be complete without some marmalade. I've made the orange-stuff enough times now that I'm becoming an old hand - dispensing with the cooking thermometers and the recipe book time guides in favour of a certain 'sense' that setting point is upon us.

To keep the thrill alive, I decided to kick off my 2013 marmalade journey with some innovation. Leafing through my copy of The Flavour Thesaurus by Niki Segnit, I came upon two obvious flavour combinations for oranges: chocolate and coffee. Perhaps less obvious in the context of marmalade, but with a glut of sweet oranges building up in the fridge, I thought I'd give it a whirl. I couldn't find any recipes online, although there was a bit of chatter about a Sicilian-made coffee and orange marmalade, which you only seem to be able to get in the US. I therefore had to make up my own versions, using a basic marmalade recipe (from my trusty Pam Corbin's River Cottage Preserves) and adding cocoa/coffee at the relevant stage - both recipes make a lovely dark, rich-looking marmalade, with the chocolate one looking particularly decadent! For anyone who wants to give them a go here's what I did:

Orange and coffee marmalade

500g sweet oranges
3 heaped tbsp strong cafetiere coffee
1kg demerara sugar
40ml lemon juice

1. Scrub the oranges, remove the buttons, then cut in half. Squeeze out the juice and reserve, then slice the peel into thin/chunky strips (according to how you like your marmalade).Put the sliced peel into a bowl with the orange juice. Add your 3 heaped tbsp of coffee to your cafetiere and fill with c250ml boiling water. Leave to steep and then pour into your bowl with the peel and orange juice. Add a further 1 litre of cold water and leave overnight/for 24 hours.
2. Transfer everything to a large pan, cover and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat to a low simmer and leave for up to 2 hours until the liquid has reduced by one-third.
3. (If you have one, you may want to transfer everything to a preserving pan at this stage). Stir in the lemon juice and sugar and bring back to the boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Boil rapidly until setting point is reached (do the plate test!) - this should take about 20-25 minutes.
4. Stir gently to dispel any scum and pour into warm, sterilised jars and seal immediately. Keeps for 2 years.

Chocolate orange marmalade

500g sweet oranges
4 heaped tbsp of cocoa powder
1kg demerara sugar
40ml lemon juice


1. Scrub the oranges, remove the buttons, then cut in half. Squeeze out the juice and reserve, then slice the peel into thin/chunky strips (according to how you like your marmalade).Put the sliced peel into a bowl with the orange juice. Make up your cocoa in 500ml hot water (my jar instructed me to first make a paste before adding additional water) and then pour into your bowl with the peel and orange juice. Add a further 750ml of cold water and leave overnight/for 24 hours.
2. Transfer everything to a large pan, cover and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat to a low simmer and leave for up to 2 hours until the liquid has reduced by one-third.
3. (If you have one, you may want to transfer everything to a preserving pan at this stage). Stir in the lemon juice and sugar and bring back to the boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Boil rapidly until setting point is reached (do the plate test!) - this should take about 20-25 minutes.
4. Stir gently to dispel any scum and pour into warm, sterilised jars and seal immediately. Keeps for 2 years.