Cyclists as far as the eye can see

The London Cycling Campaign's Big Ride was wet and grey but still 10,000 people turned out.

Marvellous stuff.

Window sill gardening

The window sill garden corner is looking a bit more green!

We've got lettuce, lavender, lemon balm, parsley and sweet pea seedlings emerging. Plus, four trays of mixed salad leaves, each at a different stage on their eventual progression to my plate.

I think the oldest are ready to by munched on any day now!

Kew Gardens: I suspect they have a hose pipe ban exemption...

A weekend or two back, when the sun was shining and it seemed summer was well and truly on its way, we took a day to visit Kew Gardens.

It was beautiful, of course. Daffodils, cherry trees and magnolias flowering around every corner. Not to mention the multiple Victorian green houses, which are spectacular in both engineering and greenery.

 

We wandered.

Had a picnic.

Slept in the sun.

I'm aware of how idyllic and clichéd this is sounding. I also had a mild attack of the fears on the tree top walk. Less idyllic.

Kew is undoubtedly worth a visit if you're in London. They are currently running a two for one deal on entry with National Rail tickets. Plus,there are a handfull of nice pubs on Kew Green should you need refreshment on the way home. 

I needed it, especially after my brain that decided I didn't like heights only after I'd climbed all those steps to canopy level. Thanks brain.

As a memento I collected a handful of small, but perfectly formed pine cones for crafting purposes.

Some have been reinvented in different shades of blue/gray and strewn strategically placed about the living room. 

Watch the world

Leftovers idea: crustless quiche

I love Tuesdays.

Tuesday is the day my Riverford veg box is delivered. 

It's like a vegetable-based Christmas every fortnight.

However, by Sunday or Monday night we often end up with odds and ends of vegetables and no inspiration of what to do with them. 

Especially when we know a whole new batch will be arriving in a couple of days.

I hate wasting food, so I'm always on the look out for quick, leftover veg ideas.

One of my favourites is crustless quiche.

- Collect all your left over vegetables together. Blanch where necessary.

 

I've got left over kale, butternut squash, some sprouts, peppers and asparagus. 

- Pre-heat oven to approximately 200°C

- Dump them in a lined tin, or in this case a silicon mold.

- Cover with a well seasoned egg/milk mixture (for this 8in tin I used 4 medium eggs and the same volume of milk)

- Grate a strong, hard cheese on top

- Cook for 15-25 minutes until the egg is cooked through and the cheese is browned.

My battle with mint, the Zombie of plants

Do you want a garden full of mint? Go for it. Its really easy.

The tricky part is having only a little bit of mint in your garden.

When I de-weeded my new garden I discovered one of the two mint plants that were there had died.

Don't feel sorry for it though, mint is like the un-dead.
It's really bloody hard to stop it taking over.

Zombies are a doddle compared to mint.

While the main plant had died back, under the ground thick roots had spread out throughout the garden and were sending up new plants all over the place.

While this is what you see on the surface:

This is what you find underground:

I'm not totally heartless though. I dug up every new shoot and re-potted them.
I'll have enough mint to last a life time.

Be warned: If you're going to plant mint into a garden, plant it out in a pot, not straight into the ground.

A quick Sunday snack: Dandelions

After a hard morning's gardening, lunch time was very welcome.

Butternut squash pita

Homemade goats cheese

Tomatoes

Dandelions from the morning's weeding.

Dandelions are pretty much indistinguishable from mixed salad leaves. And they're free!

The large leaves can be quite bitter, so get them while they're still young.