RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Of gardening, I don't know very much. This being my first ever visit to Chelsea Flower Show. The floristry impressed me more than the garden did. Elaborates scenes made out of flower arrangements, of which some where truly incredible.  

Tall Ships Event - Greenwich -

Greenwich and Woolwich have been buzzing for the past four days. More than 600,000 visitors so far have flocked to the borough to take in this year's tall ships event. 
 

With the last tea-clipper on dry dock at Greenwich, the borough was the natural place for such a festival to take place. And, a festival it was, there was a real party atmosphere. It was incredible to see so many (50) majestic boats gliding on the Thames.

 

He and I were among the privileged press members to board the Iris on Sunday morning. Though the weather was overcast, it was slightly surreal to see familiar sights from a very unfamiliar angle.

The final parade was spectacular. If you have missed the festival do not despair, I am being told that the event will reoccur in 2017.
 

Latest, an update on the event from the Greenwich media team: The final figures show that there were 1.1m visits to our event sites. People truly voted with their feet and turned up to the event in huge numbers but we have also heard from many local businesses who have said that they had their busiest ever days on record!

My Places to See Before I Die by Solange

Lists, I worship lists. Do I have a Bucket List? you bet; and each time the plane touches down in London, my mind wanders off to the next destination. It hasn't always worked out. At times, I have had doubts, would a place let my dreams down? have I invested too much into "my" ideas about a destination?

Imagine how liberating it would be to leave your Bucket List to Lady Luck. That's exactly what HomeAway.co.uk is doing for you with Places to See Before You Die. Input a few details including your interests, (photo is optional, but rather fun) and hey presto, your personalised list appears on a cute passport, accompanied by all sorts of information on the various destinations.

And here is one I prepared earlier:

So what did I think of my new lists of places to see? Here are five of my favorite destinations from the list:

Borneo in 2018 when I will be 54

 

 

Holidays = sea and what better destination that the third largest Island in the world. When I was in my 30's, I went to Indonesia on the drop of a hat. It's a place which is close to my heart. During one of these visit, we went to Borneo. We lived on a boat while going up rivers in the jungle. We stopped to play with Orang-outans. Borneo is a destination up there with my best travel memories and I have been longing to visit the Malasian side for a while for all its attraction and not only because the food might be fantastic.

The Dead-Sea in 2028 when I will be 64

Here Lady Luck got confused. I visited the dead sea and really, this was not my cup of tea. 

I almost lost my life when we were sent to a mudspot, way out of the beaten track by some jokers who thought they would play a trick on these silly foreigners. 

Got to admit, it was stupid of me to run to the sea not realising that the brown patch in front of me was some kind of "quick mud," incredibly hot, bottomless and in the blink of a eye, I was sinking.......Got out by a miracle, very burnt and trembling with fear.

The Transiberian in 2032 when I will be 70

Travel is the motto. Often it is not the destination that matters but the journey. There are journeys which are mystical. By the age of 70, I'll probably be patient enough to travel this incredible route. The longest in the world, stretching  from Moscow to Beijing, crossing through Mongolia. Another excellent guess here, I look forward to it.

Rottenberg in 2040 when I will be 76

 

Germany, never figured anywhere on my own list but what is nicer than a  surprise? Rothenburg ob der Tauber looks as pretty as a picture. Can't beat a medieval town centre awash with wooden beam-laden buildings. 

Rothenburg is situated in Bavaria, on the Romantic Road. When I'll slowly head towards 80, I hope that romance will still be on my mind. However, if it's not the first thing on my mind then, Rothenburg sounds quite tranquil and relaxing, I also read that it has a very nice market.
 

Homeaway.co.uk site offers more info about each destination, read more about Rottenburg

Katmandhu in 2046 when I will be 82

 

It's a fun game isn't it. As it's a game, I cheated a little. Katmandhu appears earlier on the list of places to see before I die but I wanted my fictitious journeys to end on the top of the world. I can well imagine revisiting one of the first places I visited. For the symbolism, for the big wheel of karma, In order to close the circle. What a lovely idea.

If you'd like to create your own bucket list here is the link again

Disclaimer: Sponsored post Thank you to HomeAway.co.uk for allowing me to publish my thoughts about their micro-site

Urban Eden's in the Sky - By Alex C - Guest Blogger

A month ago, Pebble Soup team attended GBC photography workshop. Mid-conversation someone mentioned edible walls. That immediately grabbed my attention. That someone is Alex C, a soon-to-be blogger who is passionate about the quality of the food she eats and very knowledgeable when it comes to growing her own. she was in her fifth sentence when on the spur of the moment, I asked her if she wouldn't mind writing a post about it. Here it is

Urban Eden's in the Sky

I’ve always wanted to grow my own food, particularly herbs and spices. Their culinary and therapeutic properties, really fire up my imagination and taste buds.

Second to none for adding unusual specialist produce, difficult or expensive to buy, to your repertoire, some of my homegrown favourites include cavolo nero, Vietnamese coriander, borlotti beans, elephant garlic, sea kale, callaloo, edamame, tomatillos, goji berries, quinoa, and golden raspberries.

Don’t so don’t let lack of space put you off like I did. You see I only have a balcony. Although it’s south facing, it’s tiny. Worse still it’s overshadowed by huge trees that blocks out virtually all heat and light for most of the day.

©Growing Culture : My small balcony

Focusing on what I didn’t have, rather than what I was blessed with, my growing ambitions remained on the back burner for several years.

Eventually, I realised I’d best try and work with what I have. There’s no need to help supermarkets make superprofits. If you lament deteriorating food quality, service, and, poor value for money join the club and start growing your own It was time to start showing it my small balcony a little love.

Investigating how to get the best out of my space led to the following discoveries

1. Quite a few fruits, vegetables and herbs thrive in shade,
2. Produce you can start/continue growing in the autumn-winter period include leafy greens, broccoli, salads, perennial herbs, beets, beans, assorted berries,
3. The only way is up for space-challenged city dwellers like me, i.e. gardening up and along, walls, balconies, window sills, fire escapes and roofs.

There is plenty of helpful advice and support on vertical gardening available in the form of workshops, books and blogs.

©Growing Culture

A couple caught my eye with their sage advice, innovative ideas and practical tips for growing edible Edens in the Sky:

Mark Ridsdill Smith’s, founder of Vertical Veg, sprinkles his magic helping city dwellers get the maximum benefit from their tiny spaces. Passionate about what food growing can contribute to city life, health and sustainability he provides online information and workshops on vertical gardening. Check out his excellent free step by step guide on getting started The Art of Growing in Small Spaces.

 ©Vertical Veg

       For years Mark yearned to grow his own produce, but like me, believed his small London property wasn’t suitable. Finally, after years languishing at the bottom of allotment waiting lists, he started experimenting on his small balcony and was amazed to discover the amount of produce he was able to grow.

© Vertical Veg One year he grew more than £900 worth of produce!

In The Edible Balcony, writer Alex Mitchell, shares her DIY punk philosophy to growing edibles when space is a premium. Challenging assumptions that that you need a large amount of space to succeed it is packed with creative real life ideas. Here are a few inspiring examples for space starved growers featuring recycled materials such from old hat stands to colanders, mugs, guttering and shoe holders. It was certainly killed off my allotment envy.

 Source: The Edible Balcony by Alex Mitchell

Growing. Eating.

Ultimately vertical gardening allows you to eat fresher, tastier and more nutritious produce at a lower cost to the environment and your pocket. What’s not to love. Quick and easy things I love to make with my bounty include

• herb oils and vinegars, salsas, pestos
• simple dishes with anything deep, dark green like Cavolo Nero

© Growing Culture Wilted Cavolo Nero with Black Rice Red Thai Fish Cakes and Sprouts

Cavolo Nero is an Italian staple. A key ingredient of the well-known Tuscan bean soup Riboletta, it is also commonly used in a wide variety of dishes including risottos, pastas and frittatas.   Unaffected by the cold and most diseases, Cavolo Nero, a member of the kale family requires little attention and gets by in partial shade. Accordingly it is fast becoming an edible garden staple. Buy some seeds online or at the garden centre and follow the instructions for autumn planting.

I love it’s rich, earthy flavour. I like it best lightly cooked dressed with some simple chilli garlic oil. Great food that makes the palate sing.

Helpful resources mentioned in this article :

The Edible Balcony by Alex Mitchell 

www.verticalveg.org.uk

Here’s another great starting point too:

www.urbanorganicgardener.com 

If you would like to contact Alex, drop her a comment below or tweet her @growingKultur

Week-End Pictures: Stilton

The countryside around Stilton looks stunning this time of the year.

Traditionally May Bank Holiday is an opportunity to do a bit of cheese rolling in the high street but this year the Molly-dancers stole the thunder

Photo-credit : He.

Snapshots: The Ossuary in Kutna Ora

It is hard to believe only a couple of weeks ago, we were heading for Prague where we would contemplate snow and one of the weirdest "temple" ever made by man; giving a whole new meaning to the expression "man made".

Prior to Prague, we had decided on an overnight stay in Kutná Hora. A small provincial town, eastward from the capital, reached within an hour by train. It is easy to see why it is refered to as the little Prague. The historical center has lovely bonbon box facades, churches, cathedral or in proper touristic terms " an architectonic jewel of the European significance".  Like Paris intra-muros, it has its own vineyard.

In the morning, we headed for the Ossuary, a bus-ride away. Settle in your armchair here is a precis: in Seldec, in the mid 10th century there was a cisterician monastery. 100 years later the King sent Henry the abbot of Seldec to Jerusalem. Henry came back with a handful of earth from Golgotha which he sprinkled over the cemetery of Seldec.

The cemetery became famous and people from all over Europe wished to be buried there. Around 1400 space became sparce, therefore the current abbot had a church build with a chapel designed to host the bones from abolished graves. Seldec's fame and few wars meant that 40 000 squelettons had to be dealt with.

Cut a long story short, we are now, in 1870, enters a wood carver Frantisek Rint who somehow was given free reins to arrange the bones the way he saw fit and here is what he did:

Let's start the visit:

The fragility of life is put in perspective 

Left of the main altar and the coat of arms of a noble family

The Pièce de résistance is the chandelier.

Wild Behaviour

Once upon a time, the work station used to look over an narrow street worthy of an Oscar Wilde's fairy tale bar the O2 which provides the backdrop to this urban scenery. Then, entered the developers and what was a flat garage became a 2 storeys maisonette with a couple of bedrooms, one is possibly the smallest room you'll ever see.

The mechanic was evicted but a row of lock-ups remains. Now the work station looks over a flat roof. I have got to say that nothing much happens on it and little distracts me from typing away. Except, yesterday when a vixen and two foxes provided an extraordinary spectacle, gekkering, barking and screaming as they fought on the rooftop.

Friday's pictures at Fortnum & Mason

Christmas 2011 started on Friday at Fortnum & Mason when the decorations looked like so:

and the nibbles like that:

Lets Make Christmas was a great idea which turned out to be an enchanting event,

where Dan Lepard, the baking guy at The Guardian, cast an expert eye on 50 food-bloggers' handmade Christmas gifts, such as these

Before announcing the winner in each category:

In Pickles and preserves, Botanical Baker for her Blackberry Curd

In Alcohols / Drinks, Jaynerly for her Damson Slivovitz

In Sweets, Orange and Thyme for her Cranberry and Port Mincemeat Pops , below

The best baked goods went to Claire's handmade cakes for her amaretti biscuits....but indeed everybody was a winner as we  each got to take away a gift. What a brilliant idea Vanessa Kimbell had and what work that little dynamo must have put in....thank you, Vanessa, you are a legend.

Week-End Pictures: Fresh & Fantastic Aldeburgh Food Festival

At the week-end, I attended the sixth Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival. I was very impressed by the extraordinary abundance of local products. Compared to the last Hampton Court (London) Food Festival which offered little with long queues and manyer grumpy faces (probably due to the high prices), this festival had a party atmosphere.

It was packed but cheerful and dynamic, it appeared extremely well organised. Local producers were so enthusiastic that I could have bought everything. The celebration run over two weeks with the week-end events in Snape Maltings.

I came back with a week supply of fresh vegetables and flour, to try, from an independent local miller which I need to check out the state of play with millers and flour. My friend at the Wye bakery will be able to help me out with this research, so watch this space. 

I have got  one last plea: Please, do ask me again next year.