Let them eat cake

We are now well into the hungry gap. The last knobbly celeriac helped stretch some frozen cauliflower purée into soup, the final half bucket of potatoes are beginning to sprout  and I am left with a few small bags of broad beans lurking in the bottom of the freezer. In the absence of anything green […]

The Lost Garden

While the gardener was away the chickweed made a bid for world domination in the vegetable beds and secured its empire with an outer defense of 3 foot high nettles. Now this is obviously a tribute to the fertility of my soil but I must confess that after a month of neglect I was probably […]

Waving not drowning

The Hebridean Gardener’s Lament “its cold, wet and windy” or in my case the grumpy gardener blues is yet to be replaced by the sunny morning tuneless whistle as I pull on my red woolly hat and wellies and march off to the garden. In the “edgy islands” spring does not officially start until May […]

Mind the Gap

Nothing but blue skies……With high pressure over Scandinavia and the jet stream well to the south the northerly air flow has turned the islands into a frigid riviera. Long sunny days and balmy temperatures of 5°C, which in the lightest wind become a chilly 1°C, are perfect for brisk walks along the beach but hopeless […]