First Foods

Yesterday was a very special day. Arthur had his first ever solid meal. Until yesterday he was happily feasting on milk alone, morning, afternoon, evening and at times night. But now he has entered the wonderful world of food. It slightly sad; he's growing up fast - five months have gone in a flash.But ultimately I am really excited for him! In preparation for the big food event, I steamed and pureed carrot (organic of course!) for him the previou night, packing the orange mush into some ice-cube trays. It seems only yesterday I was doing the same for Lily. I'm looking forward to gradually introducing other vegetables and fruit to his diet and once he is six months there are all the other foods for him to try such as bread, cheese, fish, cereal, eggs, yoghurt, pasta and rice ..the list goes on. I hope that he will grow up to have a healthy relationship with food and that, like me, he will grow up to love food and will have many happy food memories.
Bon Appetite Arthur! x

Happy Birthday Charlie / Questioning our Allotment ...

Yesterday was Charlie's Birthday. He has reached the grand old age of four years. Lily went along to his birthday party with a box of lollipop cupcakes that I made for him. A combination of cake and lollipop seemed suitable for such an occasion!

This week I am facing a race against time as far as utilizing the veg in my fridge. I still have quite a bit left from my weekly veg box, plus a surprise harvest from a trip down to the allotment over the weekend. Beetroot, carrots and potatoes were the hidden gems waiting for us on our weed covered plot and we were given an armful of courgettes from Keith our allotment neighbour. Our poor old allotment ... it really does need starting again from scratch. Our previous three seasons were purely a dress rehearsal it seems. I often question why we took on our allotment. We've our own demanding business to run, two young children, a house that needs decorating and fixing in many places ... the list goes on. So why when you can by vegetables for pennies do we struggle on with mother nature to grow our own? I don't have an answer really. It's the simplistic relationship with nature, the endless marvel of seeing seeds grow into beautiful beautiful harvests (if the slugs, caterpillars, pigeons etc don't have first pickings!), the wonderful mix of friendly folk from babies to old-timers in their eighties and beyond you find down the allotment, the education it provides Lily in knowing where her vegetables come from - very early on she knew her calvo nero from her fennel. If you've ever grown anything for yourself you will understand our reluctance to do the sensible thing any time challenged family should do and cut our loses and let the supermarket look after our vegetable needs. We're going to continue to work towards our dream allotment paradise complete with raised beds, a mini orchard and a brick built barbeque. It might take ten years, but we'll get there in the end!