Blue spotted cuckoo bee

I was watering the one of my enormous catmints today (Nepeta six hills giant) and spotted (no pun intended) what seemed to be a blue spotted bee.  I followed it for a bit till I could get a closer look and there it was, a bee, black with bright blue spots and buzzing around the … Continue reading →

Originally posted on Gardeninggrrl:
Goji berries are one of the “superfoods” you hear about these days: lots of vitamins and antioxidents. They make a great addition to any smoothie, or can be eaten straight from the bush. Gogi Berry Flowers Originally from China, Goji berries are becoming increasing popular in North America. Who knew we…

Today’s tomatoes

Today’s tomatoes.

Curry powder from scratch

For Christmas last year, the other girlfriend got a funky orange spice grinder and we’ve been waiting till just the right moment to make something delicious.  During one of our online treasure hunts for recipes, we came upon a promising sounding one for madras curry and thought we’d give it a go. Recipe is at … Continue reading →

Blue banded bees

G2 took this shot of a beautiful Australian native blue banded bee on some lavender. We were so excited to find this bee in our garden. It’s much fatter than the European honey bee but a lot faster and its blue bands are visible in flight which is how it caught her eye. The following … Continue reading →

G2’s first attempt at chutney

We’ve reached that point in the season where all of a sudden there’s tomatoes, eggplant and zucchini by the kilo and the eating can’t keep up with the growing. The other girlfriend decided to turn some eggplant, tomato and zucchini into an indian chutney. We think it looks tops, particularly in those little granny-inspired jars … Continue reading →

Summer eggplant and tomato harvest #1

Our first summer harvest. Green zebra, yellow currant and yellow low-acid tomatoes plus one of many cucumbers (the first that lasted long enough to pose for a picture…). Harvesting with a lovely basket makes it all the nicer we think – very River Cottage! (in case Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is reading this….)