Eat your fruit and veg...

Did anybody else grow up loving The Good Life? I don't know whether it made it out of the UK but it is an old British Sitcom first shown in the 1970s (here's a summary if you don't know about it). I don't know whether that first planted the seed (get it?! I'm sorry) or not but I have always loved the idea of 'living off the land'. I have always loved to be outside but apart from a failed attempt at a veg patch when I was about 10 (I don't think my interest even lasted a year) I've never really had the chance to see whether this admittedly idealistic dream is something that could be reality for me. The funny mishaps on a British sitcom and trips to my Grandparents' farm don't really show how much hard work it really is to grow (and rear) your own food.

But it's still there. A little niggle, a little dream of one day having my own veg patch...and actually knowing what to do with it! Since we're currently renting we're limited to growing plants in pots but it's been fun to finally have a go at growing something! We had a mini disaster at the beginning of the year involving strong wind and our very unstable mini greenhouse which set us back somewhat but this year we grew carrots, spring onions and were gifted tomato and runner bean plants. We pulled our huge crop of carrots last week - when I say huge, I mean it made less than one serving (but we savoured each miniscule carrot!). We're getting to use the spring onions as and when we need them, and the first of the tomatoes are just beginning to ripen...I can't wait until we can start eating them!

As well as growing veg, we've also been trying really hard to make them a bigger part of our diet. I wouldn't say we neglect to have veg but they're always the side show. It's been fun trying out new vegetarian dishes and also new ways of having veg on the side. I recently bought The Great British Vegetable Cookbook and I haven't stopped reading it, it's so inspirational! 

It endorses seasonal cooking, categorising the book into seasons, and giving each vegetable it's own section. It has tips on storage and cooking techniques, as well as fab recipes. One of things I like most about it is that it is not a 'vegetarian' book...it's just a book trying to motivate meat-lovers and vegetarians alike to just eat more veg. A lot of the recipes can be adapted into a main course, appetisers or side dishes. I've only had the chance to try out the roasted pepper salsa so far, but that was delicious!

What are your thoughts on growing veg and eating seasonally? I love the idea of it but it seems pretty hard to sustain...especially when so much fruit and veg is available year round at the supermarkets. A goal of mine is to visit the local farm shops to see if we can source our veg from there...since one serving of carrots isn't exactly going to see us through Winter!

Side note - My blog is far too small and far too full of cake for the National Trust to send me a vegetable book to review, so it goes without saying that all opinions on the cookbook are my own ;)