What the Flower?

Remember when I was disappointed that my beautiful variety of daffodils didn't quite stun me in Spring the way I'd hoped?  Turns out they were just having a lie-in. Yes folks, these are photos of my lovely white Tete a Tete daffs from JULY!

{4 Hour Body} The First 2 Weeks

Number One and I have been on the Four Hour Body slow carb diet for two weeks now, and I have to say I am stunned.

Weight loss for week 1 was 7lbs for me and 9lbs for Number One.  Can't wait to weigh myself tomorrow night as I have definitely lost more and am already about half way to my desired weight.

 I will undoubtably be sharing (blethering) more about this in the coming weeks, but for now I want to show off some of the creative meals that I have had.

Yes, cutting out pasta, rice and potatoes makes dinner time a bit more of a challenge, but I love cooking and this diet is a good reason to invest time into finding and inventing new recipes.

For those of you who think a slow-carb diet is boring, and are eating nothing but plain chicken and beans, check out these mouthwatering culinary delights from my kitchen. :)

Our fav.  Sauteed cabbage and mushrooms with marinated chicken.

Beef and vegetable stir fry 

Creamy spinach, steamed broccoli with thyme and lime cod.

Great for lunch or snacks.  Tuna, green beans, broad beans and seeds in a balsamic dressing

Smaller is Better!

Photo by James Attaway 

I lived in Texas for a while, and let me tell you, when they say everything is bigger in Texas, they ain't kidding!  The first time I was served a pork chop (an inch thick and about a foot wide) all I could do was splutter "What size of pigs do you have over here?!"   However, size is always a matter of perspective, and on our tiny island, big isn't always better.

In fact, when shopping for fresh produce now I tend to look for smaller fruit and veg as it usually packs a bigger taste.  In fact, put "Baby" in front of just about any vegetable and I'll add it to my basket over their pompous, inflated, tasteless big brothers any day.

Case in point: strawberries.  Sure, we all know we are supposed to eat seasonal.  Seasonal produce is fresher, more environmentally friendly due to a lower carbon footprint in production and transit, and heck it just tastes better!   The problem is knowing what is in season at any one time.   These days everything is available to us all the time, and let's face it... most of us are so out of the natural grow-your-own loop that we are clueless as to what grows when.

Well, right now let me tell you that strawberries are in season, and if you want a good example of the difference between fruit in season and forced year-round produce, pop one of the teeny odd shaped berries in your mouth this month and compare it to the watery, bland giants that you see the rest of the year.

Enjoy what our country gives us naturally, when it gives it, and experience tastes and textures the way that nature intended.

Win £100 of Homebase Vouchers!

Share you summer gardening plans on the Get Into Gardening forums this week and you could be selected to win £100 of Homebase vouchers.

I suppose I shouldn't share, since I will be entering, but hey, I am just nice that way. :)

Here's the link:

http://www.getintogardening.co.uk/getinvolved/forum?plckForumPage=ForumDiscussion&plckDiscussionId=Cat%3a1c53ed59-44ce-4737-bebb-02efb85b3758Forum%3a83129a06-3177-4eb3-a9d7-bb5811830848Discussion%3a8d75cbd4-aa4f-473c-b2eb-1e0cb003c125

{Recycling} Earth Day Eco Picks

Happy Earth Day folks!  I just finished a post on my work blog about Easy Eco Tips for the Office, but really most of my Earth Day activites are centred around my gardens.  I'll be shopping for plants this afternoon, but have already made two purchases to help me be a more eco-concious gardner.

I've been looking at these items for a while, and Earth Day seemed to be a good excuse to treat myself. :)

Newspaper Potter.

I actually hardly ever have newspapers in the house, but I do have an abundance of magazines, flyers, envelopes etc that I am hoping I can use.

I have no shortage of pots at the moment, but as I am hoping to sell many of my young plants to raise money for charity this gadget should prove to be a useful tool, and I have a few ideas for marketing ideas too. (I'll keep you posted!)

Rapid Root Trainer

These pots are as much to save my poor wee seedlings from my clumsy and impatient fingers as they are to reduce waste.

Trying to untangle, tease out and replant my delicate seedlings I think I killed most of them. Luckily I had planned for my inexperience resulting in a high mortality rate, so I had banked on numbers saving my garden from a total loss!

I look forward to using these pots to create seedlings that will grow neatly, allow me to check root development, and easily transplant into their final home.

Garden Themed Social Icons

    

In my other life... when I am actually earning money instead of playing in the dirt... I am an online marketing and branding consultant.  A fancy title which basically means I have made so many mistakes while experimenting online that I am finally qualified to tell people what works.

While browsing around my Twitter feed the other day I found some fab social icons in garden themes, that I just had to share here.   Originally from a roundup of over 40 free sets.

Feel free to download and use for your own blog or site, and be sure to comment if you know of other great webby stuff for gardeners.

To Prick or Not to Prick

I suspect that I will face this kind of dilemma frequently in the coming months, as I plunge my hands further into the gardening world.  This time, I had to decide whether or not my lavatera seedlings were ready to be pricked out.

The proper answer is probably no; they are small and fragile and not over-congested, but they have started to wilt, and I suspect this is because the egg carton I planted them in is too shallow for their developing root systems.   Keen to spend some time gardening today, as well as experiment, I decided to prick out half of them and leave the other half.

We'll see what happens in a week!