Most people's attitude to construction waste from their building project is "I didn't want it so why should anyone else". But, hand-on-heart, the most fulfilling part of our building works so far has been finding a home for materials that would otherwise go to landfill. Through the desire to bin as little as possible I've [...]

My poor tomato plants have caught blight. It's the same as the dreaded potato blight and tomatoes grown outside are particularly susceptible to it. Anyway, all is not lost because I've salvaged lots of green tomatoes and am going to make green tomato chutney. There are many versions out there but this one is my [...]

This is a very old recipe of my grandmothers and it's great for when you've got pears that refuse to ripen. Spiced Pears 1kg of pears 500g sugar 300ml wine vinegar 2 tsps whole cloves 2 tsps mixed spice powder 1.5cm of root ginger 1 tsp of cinnamon powder Peel and core pears and cut [...]

While you're proficiently turning the rosemary and chorizo sausages on your BBQ or in my case frantically spraying water to dampen the flames and salvage what's left, have you ever thought about what's in the charcoal that you're cooking with.  Or given a thought to how it's made or where it comes from? Charcoal is made [...]

It's this time of year that I fantasize about long summer evenings in the garden with a glass of rosé watching the kids do unrelaxing things like pelt each other with waterbombs. Now is a great time to browse online for discounted outdoor furniture so that when the sun eventually arrives you can enjoy every last drop [...]