My homegrown harvest, March 2016.

This month's harvest is much like last month's harvest.  But I'm happy with that, it's pretty happy-making to be eating plants I put in the ground last year!

These spring onions were in a pot by the kitchen windowsill, and have been there all winter.  They'd grown so close together they were impossible to pull out, so I had to dig them out in a clump.  They're the nicest, most springiest onions I've ever grown. 

I'm still eating from my rainbow chard and perpetual spinach patches, I think the plants will need replacing soon so I'll sow some more seed.

I'm trying to make room in my front garden raised bed to plant some carrots, so I'm thinning the onion and garlic planted there now.

How's your garden?  Have you been harvesting anything or growing anything happy-making and good?

Check out my gardening pinterest board for loads of lovely gardening inspiration.

Joining in with Harvest Monday.

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Photo an hour, March 2016.

This month's photo an hour day was Easter Sunday, the 27th March.  I took part on Instagram.  

Photo an hour in organised by Jane and Louisa, anyone can join in and post their hourly photos on social media throughout the day.  Why don't you join in next time?

Here's my photos,

12pm - We had an epic lie in, followed by vegan pain au chocolat for brunch.

1pm - Still sleepy eyed and on the sofa, watching Sunday Brunch.

2pm - Unpacking.  I still have stuff in boxes, they get unpacked and put on these shelves in the spare room.  Now we have bookshelves in the living room, there was space on the spare room shelves for more unpacking to go.

3pm - At mum's house.  This is her Easter display.  We made the sock bunnies with my nieces.

4pm - In an effort to do some exercise I walked up and down the alley at the back of our house.  You can see allotments to one side and a pretty National Trust house to the other.

5pm - Deciding which Easter treat to eat first.

6pm - Just checking if I have any sprouters in the greenhouse (I didn't) and putting my charity shopped bucket and basket in to hold my tools and string and things.

7pm - A weekend wouldn't be a weekend without a Neighbours catch up.

8pm - The best thing I unpacked today, socks I've been looking for all year!  I have pairs of socks again!

9pm - Magical unicorn lush bath time.

10pm - I posted a cheeky wanted ad for a worm composter on freegle and someone's offered me one!

11pm- The Easter Bunny says goodnight! 

I peeked back at last March's photo an hour and I was still in my little flat, had chips at Wetherspoons and curry at mums!   

Did you take part this month?  Let me know I'd love to see!

 

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Library love.

What have you been reading?  I've picked up some awesome library books in the last couple of weeks,

Kindred Spirits - Rainbow Rowell.

I liked this book fine, but it wasn't my favourite by Rainbow Rowell.  I liked the main character, Elena, and loved the twist at the end, but the story just didn't grab me.      

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl - Ryan North and Erica Henderson.

I really, really love Squirrel Girl.  This collection of the first 4 Squirrel Girl comics is so cute and funny.  Doreen Green tucks her tail into her trousers and goes to college, while saving the world on the side.  I love tippy-toe her squirrel friend, the inclusion of Iron Man and her knitting room-mate.  I've had the Squirrel Girl theme song stuck in my head for weeks though!

The First Rebellion - M.C. Beaton.

I feel a bit ashamed for liking this book so much.  On the one hand it's full of bluestockings, feminists and the story is so engaging I Need to know what's going to happen!  But on the other hand the women are kissed, sometimes forcibly, in the manner of a she-says-no-but-likes-it-really Mills and Boon romance.  Which makes me feel a bit uncomfortable.  But not so uncomfortable that I'm not going to read the rest in the series. 

My Tiny Garden - Lucy Scott and John Cardwell.

I love this kind of book with photos and stories of lots of inspiring gardens.  These are all tiny gardens, and I especially like the one on a houseboat!

Check out my other library book reviews too!

Have you read anything lovely lately?

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Garden March 2016.

I've been planting seeds this month!  Only a few, as it's still a bit chilly, but seed planting time makes me soo happy! 

I planted some 'Lipstick' sweet peppers, they're an early variety and I bought the seeds from The Real Seed Catalogue.  They're currently hanging out on a sunny windowsill under polythene while they germinate.

I also planted some 'Casablanca' potatoes in some slightly too small pots.  I just want a few new potatoes really, so hopefully my experiment will be a success.  

My other big big excitement this month has been taking delivery of my new shed and mini greenhouse.  So far just the greenhouse up, it arrived flat packed and I would have liked to have done it myself but I managed to hammer in 3 nails, badly, before having a strop.  I would never have been able to build it on my own, it didn't have any holes pre-drilled or proper measurements.  I have IKEA level DIY skills, good job I had a boy to kindly help me! 

This is what the area looked like before, 

And after!  (I've been painting the fence 'Jasmine White' too!)

I'm about half way there with the fence painting.  

Here's my little garden chum this month, a ladybird warming herself up in the new greenhouse.

This time last year I still had my balcony garden at the flat, all those spring bulbs in pots are planted in my garden now! 

I can't wait for things to start growing properly now it's spring!

I've already got forget me nots and tulips coming up!

I want to garden plastic free this year as far as possible, here are some articles I've been using for inspiration and research,

3 cool tips for plastic free gardening from My plastic free life.  There are also good ideas and ponderings in this post on plastic free planting and replanting too.

Ways to get plastic out of your vegetable garden from Rodale's organic life. 

This article from Soft Landings seems to have some useful info on what types of plastics are safer to use.

What's happening in your garden this month?  And do you garden plastic free?  It is even possible?!

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Earth hour 2016 - have an earth hour party!

Happy Earth Hour day! 

In case you didn't know, Earth Hour is a yearly event where people all over the world turn off their lights for an hour to show that they care about the future of the planet.   

I wrote a little thing about having an Earth Hour party for Cut Out and Keep's blog, there's ideas for yummy vegan snacks, homemade candles and pretty recycled decorations.

image from cutoutandkeep.net

Are you doing anything fun for Earth Hour this year?  

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Charity shopping, the one with the BEAUTIFUL German coffee set.

I had a moment in the charity shops this weekend.  I spotted something I Loved and it make my heart skip a beat.  

And then I had to guard it from other shoppers while the shop staff decided on the price (trust me to pick the only item on the shelf with no price sticker!).  I swear, I almost growled at a man who got too close to it!

Look!  Made in the German Democratic Republic coffee pot and 4 cups.  It's so beautiful!

£4.99, local charity shop.

I've always wanted one of these retro wooden antelope, and now I have two!  I don't recall ever seeing a tiny baby one before either, but he's so cute.

99p and 49p, local charity shop.

I like this plant pot.  I have another similar but bigger one too.

50p, local charity shop.  

Have you bought anything so lovely it made your heart skip lately?  I hope you have! 

Don't forget to check out my many, many other charity shopped treasures, and follow me on Instagram to see more! 

Linking up with Vintage Charm and Flaunt it Friday.

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Make one small change, grow organic, non-gm seeds in your garden.

Adopting eco friendly habits can be easier if they're taken one small step at a time.  Lots of small changes add up to a big difference.

Growing your own vegetables is fun and good for the environment.  Some fruit and veg seed has been genetically modified though, meaning they've had extra genes added to them to give them different characteristics.  These new characteristics are more suited to commercial growing than growing in your own garden.  And the GM seeds have never been tested, in case the findings damage the profits of big seed companies, so they could grow dangerous crops.  

To be sure of what you're getting buy only heritage, non-GM or organic seed.  These kind of seeds often produce yummier fruit and veg, with a longer growing season and you can save the seed from them to grow next year.  I usually buy off Ebay (I like Premier Seeds Direct who have certified organic seed) but I've given The Real Seed Catalogue a try this year and I was really impressed with their range and prices.   

For further reading try this article on why GM seed is stupid and this one on why you should grow real seed.

Check out my other small changes to help you live a greener life!

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J-17 magazine, nineties and noughties fashion.

The way I dressed as a teenager in the 1990s has become retro!  Here are some pages from my collection of J17 magazines, 

I definitely used to stick stickers in my hair, and I had a sparkly tummy necklace too (I can't remember what we used to call those, belly chain??)!

Want to see more of J-17 magazine pages?

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What do vegans eat? Vegan meal and snack ideas.

When people find out I'm vegan they always ask 'what do vegans eat?'.  

These are the vegan meals and snacks I've been eating lately, 

VBites meat-free hotdogs.  Joe and I have been craving hotdogs so I found these VBites ones in Holland and Barretts.  They smell and taste extremely like meat hotdogs, so much so that I felt a little suspicious of them!  They're a little too salty for me, I can definitely only eat one at a time, but they definitely satisfied my need for a hot dog (I haven't had one for 19 years!).     

Morrisons sticky ginger buns.  I kept seeing these on vegan websites and twitter accounts and I had to try them.  They are very sticky and gingery and very nice for a treat.  And only £1 for 6.

Booja Booja hunky punky chocolate ice cream alternative and Almond Dream mint chocolate chip ice cream.  I have two tubs of ice cream in my freezer and I am a happy girl indeed!  The Booja Booja vegan ice cream is my favourite ever.  It only has 4 ingredients and it's super chocolately and delicious.  I'm not so sure about the Almond Dream mint choc chip, it tastes a little toothpaste-y and it's not as creamy as the Booja one, I probably won't buy it again but I'm struggling through it regardless!  I picked up the Booja Booja vegan ice cream from Holland and Barrett and the Almond Dream vegan ice cream from Asda. 

Jus Rol vegan croissants.  I've talked about these yummy vegan croissants before, but this is an extra special version.  I made vegan chocolate orange croissants by rolling Asda vegan orange chocolate buttons up with the raw dough, before cooking.  They were so sickly but so good!  

Koko dairy free plain yogurt.  I've been excited to try this vegan yogurt, especailly because I like the dairy free milk so much, look out for a review later in the month to see what I think!

Asda beastie bites.  Asda's own version of Monster Munch.   I'm so glad I read in the 'Accidentally Vegan' section of this month's issue of Vegan Life Magazine that they're suitable for vegans.  They come in roast beef and onion, sizzling hot and pickled onion flavours and I think pickled onion are my favourites!

Can you recommend any new and delicious vegan friendly meals or snacks to me?

Disclosure - I have been provided with a free digital subscription to Vegan Life Magazine in return for reviewing this publication.  I even have my own page in the vegan bloggers section of their lovely website!   You can subscribe to Vegan Life on paper or digitally.  There's also a handy app for digital subscriptions.  All opinions are my own and always will be.

(Please note - these products are vegan as far as I can tell - items have suitable for vegetarians or vegan labeling, no dairy/eggs in the allergy section and the ingredients list contains no animal ingredients that I can see, please remember recipes sometimes change, please check for yourself if you're in any doubt.)

 

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Easy green actions and articles, March 2016.

Here's this month's round up of easy green actions and interesting eco-friendly articles,

www.foe.co.uk

 

Sign Friends of the Earth's petition asking for no third runway to be built at Heathrow.  And read more about the Heathrow 13 too.  

I love the idea of the Food is Free project.

Sign Sum of Us' petition asking Lidl to adopt policies that reduce waste.

Have we reached 'peak stuff'?

"Purging your possessions using the KonMari method is really only the first step to un-learning this mindset. He recommends shifting mental focus first by purging, followed by making an marked effort not to “re-stuffocate” and then most importantly by shifting the money you would normally spend on more stuff to memorable and enriching experiences."

theguardian.com

Wouldn't it be magical to have an exercise bike that powers your house?

moralfibres.co.uk

 

Check out Wendy's blog post on how to have an eco-friendly period.

Sign Greenpeace's petition asking for renewable energy not nuclear power.

Follow me on Twitter for more eco-friendly and green goodness everyday!

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