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Buddy before his hair cut – I think it’s cute (hehe), Mr Rigg does not. Buddy says it was hot.
Yesterday we spent a couple of hours at the allotment digging up our potatoes – I can’t believe the amount and size of some of the potatoes we dug up.
So just from one row…
We dug up this overloaded basketful of gorgeous red skinned potatoes…
Our first breakfast at Cornish Tipi Holidays consisted of a Cornish cream tea. I know, it sounds sinful, but really how different is it to eating bread with butter and jam? Not too different in my mind. Anyway, all that matters is that we were on holiday and it was delicious. Gone too quickly for a photo though.
After breakfast we headed down to the lake in search of a canoe or boat. Unfortunately all of them were out in the lake, but a lovely kid called Dillon handed Nick a rod and some bread and encouraged him to have a go at fishing. Although neither of us are into fishing, it was quite fun to have a go.
Our first potatoes dug from the allotment, already eaten this week as baked potatoes with plenty of salt, pepper and butter, and the tiny ones in a pasta dish with green beans and pesto. I know it’s a bit late to be digging the first potatoes, but we were a bit behind in getting them into the ground this year.
We recently spent a long weekend in Cornwall, staying at Cornish Tipi Holidays and finding delicious food to eat nearby. Cornish Tipi Holidays is a magical site in North Cornwall (not far inland from Port Isaac) where you will find tipis dotted throughout a woodland valley, and at its heart a beautiful lake.
Our tipi was called ‘Overlake’ set in a woodland clearing high above the lake. We were shown around the site by the welcoming warden, Oggy, before we unpacked the car and settled in. At University my studies focused on the First Nations of Canada, and as such I have always had a love for their culture and history. Whilst I primarily studied the North West Coastal nations of Canada, who built houses from cedar planks, it was pretty special to get the chance to stay in a Plains style tipi.
Mr Rigg recently did his back in and spent a week doing this…which as it happens is Buddy’s favourite sleeping pose…boys…
I could live off meals like this at the moment: tasty, simple and stuffed full of vegetables. This was a leftovers meal, the pan-fried summer vegetables I’d made the day before, cooking sliced onion, peppers, and courgettes in olive oil before adding a couple of chopped plum tomatoes from a tin (not the juice).
The potatoes had also been boiled up the day previously, and these I crisped up in the frying pan – something my mom used to do a lot when I was growing up. All popped on a plate with a dressed salad (a creamy quince and cider dressing bought from Bath Farmer’s Market) and a big dollop of herby cream cheese.
Last weekend Mr Rigg and I headed to Cornwall for a long weekend. In order to break up the 5 hour journey we set off after work on Thursday and made a stop-off in Somerset, staying at a beautiful B&B called Farndon Thatch.
Arriving at about 7pm we decided to stop at a local pub for dinner before checking in. We came across The Crown Inn at Fivehead, where we were met with a warm welcome and a menu prided on being homecooked by the owners Steve and Jacqui. Mr Rigg couldn’t resist a curry and I went for a slice of homemade venison pie.
And what a slice it was – huge, stuffed full of flavoursome meat, and possibly the best pastry I’ve ever had. It wasn’t cheffy or fancy food, but just really nice homecooked meals, just what we needed. We were also entertained by a stunning fish tank with living rocks and a host of unusual creatures.
Today (unexpectedly!) I am part of a feature in the Independent newspaper on the 50 best farm shops. I say unexpectedly as it was supposed to be going in next week – but it’s come out a week early.
I just wanted to correct a mistake as well, in the paper it says that this blog, Eat the Earth, is the sustainable food newsletter of the National Trust. It’s not. This is my own, personal blog about the food I enjoy growing, eating, cooking, and discovering.
There seems to have been a bit of a muddle and they’ve combined two elements of what I do. I am a volunteer editor of an internal sustainable food newsletter for the National Trust, but it’s not anything to do with this blog. I also just write this blog in my free time. So apologies for any confusion.
I love wandering around our allotments, mainly feeling sad that ours doesn’t quite cut the mustard! I find it so interesting to see the different ways in which people grow things, how some plots are wild and sprawling, while others are neat with wooden boards and smart sheds.
So here’s a look around our allotments in Partington…
I love the brick path that has been set into the ground…
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