How to make vegan potato cakes with leftover mashed potatoes.

What kind of person has left over mashed potatoes I hear you ask!  Not me usually, but if I know I want to make potato cakes I deliberately make double the amount of mash then try not to eat it all so there are actually leftovers. 

Potato cakes are my favourite thing to make and eat at the moment, and they're really easy and cheap to do!

You'll need, 

leftover mashed potatoes 

flour (any kind will do!)

oil

seasoning

anything else you want to add in - I like chives or spring onions in mine.

1.  Add a spoonful or two of flour at a time to your mash, and mix until it forms a stiff dough.

2. Add any seasoning (how much depends on if your mash was seasoned already) or herbs if you want to use them.

3. With floured hands take a golf-ball-ish sized amount of mixture, roll it then flatten it between your hands, then put into a medium hot pan with a little oil in in.   TOP TIP - cold mash, that's been in the fridge before you use it, is a lot easier to handle!

4. I carry on making potato cakes and putting them in the pan as I go.

5. Cook for 3 or 4 minutes per side, until they're golden brown, then serve hot, or keep in the fridge or freezer.

See, easy peasy!  I like them for breakfast or lunch with lots of vegan margarine spread on and sprinkling of sea salt.  If you make a big batch they store well in the fridge or freezer too.

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Diary of a suburban permaculture -ish garden, February 2020.

Look at this little blossom! 

It's a cherryplum and I hope the weather doesn't go too crazy and blow the blossom away before it gets pollinated!  And look at these crab apples, still holding on, I love the colour of them.

It's been so long since I wrote about my garden.  And that's because my camera's memory card corrupted so I've lost like a years worth of photos.  But I have a new camera and a new memory card and I'm backing everything up like crazy!

I got some pennies for Christmas and I used them to buy this b-e-a-oootiful new trug.  I have lots of bulbs to plant and I still haven't planted them all - woopsy!   I also bought some mini fruit trees from Thompson and Morgan, the kind that stay really small for pots on the patio, the trees are nice but there were grubs in the pots (maybe vine weevils!) so I wouldn't buy these ones.  But I'm looking forward to having 2 new apples, a pear, a plum and a cherry!

I made this cute little project one winters day.  I hope to collect lots more cute little tins to make a little display somewhere. 

My back garden raised beds still have some chard going in them, but not much else.  There's messy bits everywhere that need dealing with, and theres Still that big pile o' dirt at the back of the garden that I'm running out of inspiration for!  My potting table broke too, I need to find a new one. 

My little garden robin is still keeping me company. 

In the front garden raised beds I've been picking kale and chard all winter.  The overwintered onions and garlic are going strong too. 

Can you tell I haven't done any proper gardening since last year??! 

Luckily the flowers don't mind a neglectful gardener and carry on blooming anyway! 

How are your gardens?  Have they survived the winter?  And the storms?  I hope so!

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Easy green and eco friendly actions and articles.

I don't feel like this year has got off to a good start in terms of the environment, politics, or feeling particularly hopeful, but there's always something we can do, so here are some of them and some positive things to read too,

This year I'm following along with Spiral Garden's #52climatesolutions.  Every week they're posting one simple, practical, do-able thing you can do to start to tackle climate change, check them out on Instagram if you want to take part. 

Sign Wendy from Moral Fibres petition, asking the UK government to ban microplastic glitter on greetings cards. 

#teamtrees is a fundraiser set up by a youtuber (I'm too old to know who, sorry!) with a goal to raise enough to plant 20 million trees by the end of 2019.  They've raised enough to plant 21+million trees so far and are still taking donations - you can donate trees here, they cost $1 each.

Sign Greenpeace's petition asking the UK government to act on climate change emergency now! 

Positive News have loads of great articles up at the moment as part of their 'Hope 100' project, go and have a look if you need something positive and soothing to read. 

I love Lindsay's post on individual eco-friendly actions, where they're good, where they fall short and what to do next - just what I needed to read!

My local council is taking part in Plastic-free-February, and is asking residents to sign up for weekly emails with plastic-reduction tips - is your local council doing anything similar this month? 

I don't think anyone's missed the terrible and heartbreaking bushfires in Australia this year.  If you're looking to donate try these charities... 

• Australia's Red Cross Disaster relief and recovery fund help support evacuation centres and recovery programmes for the affected communities.
• Local fire services, like the NSW Rural Fire Service and Queensland Fire Service, are accepting donations directly.
• The Salvation Army Australia also have a disaster appeal - they deliver crucial support to local communities as the fires rip through the country.
• Find a Bed has been set up for families who have lost their homes. It connects people with Australians and landlords from abroad with property in affected areas.
• WIRES Wildlife Rescue need funding, and more volunteers to help save the animals. The charity is already asking Aussies to help make pouches for small marsupials.
•  Victorian Farmers Federation was set up to help farmers whose land has been destroyed in the fire.
• The CVS Foundation of volunteer firefighters is a team of volunteers who have been working non-stop, putting their lives at risk to help save people, animals and homes.
• (I've taken this list from online, and checked the links and organisations myself, but please double check before donating)
• 
  

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Vegan review - Doisy & Dam chocolate drops and crunchy balls.

Allll over Instagram I keep seeing these Doisy and Dam vegan dark chocolate drops (aka vegan smarties!!!! vegan m&ms!!!!!) and crunchy dark chocolate balls (aka vegan maltesers) so I had to give them a try! 

I found these in Holland and Barretts, for 99p for a little bag.  Doisy and Dam seems to be a nice, vegan company with good ethics, is corp B certified and is palm oil free.  The only thing I don't like is the plastic packaging, that has no recycling info on it, it's no different to many other brands packaging, but I wish it was better.

I love the D&Ds, dark chocolate drops.  They're are soooo good!  The chocolate is dark and rich and the coating is crunchy and sweet.  They're a dark chocolate, vegan version of m&ms or smarties.  The drops in my packet were all chipped, which wasn't very aesthetically pleasing, but didn't make much of a difference otherwise.  I want to get more of these and decorate some cakes with them, when I was a kid cakes were always deocrated with simple white icing and smarties and I miss that! 

Unfortuately the Ballers weren't to my taste.  Both myself, and non-vegan-husband put these in our mouths and said 'no!', which is never a good sign.  The chocolate is really bitter and the middle is  very hard and crunchy and tastes weird, not malty and melty like a malteaser, which is what I was expecting.  Ack.  Plus you only get 10 in a packet, which would be quite disappointing, if you actually liked them. 

Have you tried these?  What did you think?

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Charity shopping.

I love charity shopping, here's some lovely things I've been buying...

I have many small niblings, and I'm only buying secondhand or eco friendly presents this year, so this lovely hedgehog on wheels, that looks brand new, will be going to one of them for their birthday this year.

Hedgehog on wheels, £3, local hospice charity shop.

In the same vein, I picked up these lovely games for between £2 and £3 pounds each, they're in really nice condition (apart from the counting game is missing one yellow hoop!), so will be played with or given to the niblings.

Children's games and puzzles, £2-3 each, local PDSA charity shop. 

I LOVE these shoes!  They were £15 including postage from eBay, they're soooo cute! 

Red or Dead Jade shoes, £15, eBay.

My mum gave me this super lovely beaded food cover from the charity shop she volunteers in.  I'll use it on my jug of juice in the garden in the summer.

Beaded food cover, present, local Oxfam shop.

My mum's husband volunteers in a different charity shop, and he kindly picked up this air dry clay for me - what can I make with it?! 

Air dry clay, present, local Salvation Army charity shop.

I try to resist crafting materials, as I have so much, and I haven't actually had any motivation or inspiration to craft for a while, but I couldn't walk past this fabric for £1 a piece, or these scrabble-style letter tiles, I'm sure they'll come in handy, either for me, my Rainbow guides or for crafts at work!

Fabric, £1 each, local Sue Ryder charity shop.  Scrabble tiles, 75p, local hospice shop.

Have you bought anything good from the charity shops lately? 

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5 reasons why I'll be voting Labour on Thursday.

Hello!  The UK general election is on Thursday 12th December and you can vote (for Labour, if you're planning on voting Conservative I hope you please conveniently forget to vote!) between 7am until 10pm, don't worry if you've lost your polling card, you can still vote without it so long as you're registered to vote. 

I'm honestly scared of what'll happen to our country, and to myself and my friends and family, if the Conservatives win.  I'll be voting Labour, and here's why,

1.  The NHS.  I REEEALLLY don't trust the Tories to not make a terrible deal with the USA where they allow healthcare to become very expensive.  I need a new asthma inhaler every 6 weeks, in the USA these cost $175 - $300 each. (Warning, skip this bit if you don't want to hear about my cervix!)  I'm currently having a smear test once a year, these cost between $20 - $200 each in the USA, I've also had two colposcopies in the last 12 months, these cost between $200 - $600 dollars each.  Imagine how gutting it would be to have to pay two thirds of your monthly income, and being unable to pay your monthly share of the household bills, so a doctor can use a telescope thingy to look at your cervix to check it hasn't turned cancerous.

2. My job.  800 libraries have closed since 2010, due to the Conservative government's unwillingness to give proper funding to local councils.  I would quite like to keep my job thank you.   And libraries have free books, PC access, advice, community spaces, community activities, and staff who will listen to the grumbles of many old and lonely people.

Labour's Manifesto to rebuild our public services

3.  The environment. The Tories have been in charge since 2010, and what have they done for the environment?  Not much apart from allow fracking...  The Green Party seems to be the best choice for tackling climate change, but I honestly don't think they'll get in, Labour has a really strong Eco policy and are more likely to get in (if we all vote for them, please!)

Labour's Green Industrial Revolution Manifesto

Greenpeace's summary of the Climate debate 

4. I just care about other people - and I don't feel that the Tories do (unless you're rich).  And I think everyone should be taxed fairly.  I'm happy to pay extra tax to support people who need help and to put money into schools, hospitals and public infrastructure so everyone who lives here can have a nice life.  

Labour's Manifesto to Tackle Poverty and Inequality

5.  I like what the Labour Party stands for.  I know loads of people won't vote Labour because they don't like Jeremy Corbyn.  I happen to like Jeremy Corbyn, but it's not just him you're voting for (no-one voted for Boris, remember!?) it's for the whole party and what it stands for, as well as all the labour MPs and prospective MPs.  There's a whole load more working and middle class, women and people from BAME backgrounds in the shadow cabinet than there are in the Tory party. 

About the Labour Party

Labour's shadow cabinet

Here's some more reading for you,

Labour party website

Labour party Instagram

Jeremy Corbyn's Instagram 

Simple Politics

Vote well my friends.

Vote Labour.

How I made my DIY, eco-friendly ish, pompom duster

I don't want you to get the wrong impression from this blog post, I don't particularly like housework, but I did need a new long handled duster thingy, and I really didn't want to buy a new plastic one.  I'd had an eco friendly one on order for a while but it turned out to be out of stock, and my lightshades just keep getting dustier, so I had to do something.  

A quick google found lots of DIY duster options, ones sewn out of microfibre cloths, fabric scraps or wool, crochet or knitted dusters and all sorts of other inventions.  I really didn't want to get my sewing machine out, and I happened upon a tutorial for a DIY pompom duster (the photos aren't great but you get the idea - it's a big pompom on a stick.).

Making a pompom duster is super easy, but I'll tell you how I did it anyway.

You'll need - wool or yarn (I wanted to use cotton yarn, to be more eco friendly, but I couldn't find mine, so I made do with synthetic yarn), a big stick, garden twine, glue with a nozzle.

1.  Make a huge pompom.  I wanted mine to be as big as my handspan, so I measured my cardboard pompom maker to that size, which for reference is about 6 inches.  I made my pompom using the instructions from The Craft Train, which is the easiest method I've found for big pompoms!  

TOP TIPS - I used two strands of wool held together to make my pompom quicker. Tying a big pompom is quite tricky, I used garden twine to tie the middle of my pompom, the wool just wouldn't hold it. I didn't trim the pompom into a neat ball, all the different lengths of yarn will hopefully make for more effective dusting.

2. Find a big stick and push it through the middle of the pompom.  I used a bamboo garden cane that I plucked from the pot of a dead house plant.

3. Glue the stick into the pompom.   This was a bit tricky to do and I feel it will be tricky to explain, but I'll try.  I used a tube of contact adhesive with a long nozzle, and (with the stick in position through the pompom) slid the nozzle where I could feel the stick was, then squeezed glue out, and repeated several times all the way round.  I put the duster on some newspaper with a can of chickpeas on top to weigh it down and make sure the glue stuck.

4. For extra stability I tied the end of the garden twine (that I used to tie the middle of the pompom) round the stick. 

4.  Wait for the glue to dry then get on with your dusting.

Next time I'd like to make a more eco friendly version, using natural fibres and no glue, so it'd be biodegradable, but for now I'm quite pleased with it.  It looks like a giant dandelion flower.  And I made it for free, with stuff I already had lying around the house, in about half an hour (not including glue drying time!).  

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