Tibetan butter tea

As I ramble around the garden whilst summer continues to progress towards autumn, I find myself constantly assessing the borders and their contents, making mental decisions on what should be moved and where, and what has outlived its usefulness. Several borders are due an overhaul, with plants removed and split or removed as required, and the soil enriched before they are replaced, but that will have to wait till later in the season. This exercise has made such a difference in other borders, and I have found it well worth doing.

Growing tea at home can be rewarding and fun. The best part is, you can also grow it in your balcony or patio! There’s nothing like watching a tea plant grow and sipping a piping hot tea made from the homegrown, organic tea leaves! Here’s everything about Growing Tea Leaves at Home!

Nature’s marvels often come in unexpected forms, and butterwort plants (Pinguicula spp.) are a testament to this. These captivating botanical wonders are visually appealing and boast a fascinating insect-trapping mechanism. This article will delve into growing Butterwort, uncovering their secrets and providing insights!

One of the things Ryan and I like to do is sit and make a cup of tea in the garden, for which we use a Kelly Kettle that can quickly boil water using very little fuel (even in inclement weather). We’ll enjoy it even more when the garden is finished and we have somewhere to sit!

It’s a couple of days until the next stop on my virtual book tour, so it’s time to take off the pith helmet and put my feet up with a cup of tea and a biscuit. In a recent interview, I respond to a question I was asked about my favourite biscuit – which has to be Snickerdoodles. You can’t buy them, you have to make them, and they have nothing whatsoever to do with Snickers chocolate bars, or peanuts in general. They are a divine, spiced* biscuit (cookie) that’s very moreish and goes very nicely with a good cuppa.

My parents are coming to visit today, to ‘see the garden’ (which is probably just a convenient excuse for them to visit). I am a little apprehensive – not least because it doesn’t look like it’s going to stop raining all day. We were going to have a barbecue; we’ve thought better of it.

There’s nothing quite as British as a nice cup of tea, and sitting down for a good cuppa can certainly brighten up your day. A tea bush is unlikely to thrive in most UK gardens (although there are a couple of tea plantations) because of the climate, but there are plenty of herbs that are easy to grow and make a refreshing brew. They’ll even grow well in containers – so they make ideal plants for a windowbox or a patio. Having them close at hand means you can harvest leaves as and when you need them.

When I was younger, I used to be a fan of cream cakes – especially chocolate eclairs and those cream-filled meringues. As I got older I moved onto cream teas, preferably with clotted cream. When my body decided it no longer wanted to digest cow’s milk, I kissed all of those things goodbye.

Last week’s outdoor ‘cooking’ experiment didn’t involve lighting a fire – I relied on solar power!

On Saturday my garden went from this:

Crew at the International Space Station capture Typhoon Noru [Image credit: NASA]

Work has started on the hard landscaping for the garden – a large patio, paths and hard standing for two sheds (or a shed and a greenhouse) will appear soon. We’ve had to move everything out of the way for the work to be done, and the garden is more or less unuseable. It won’t be long until it’s finished, but a couple of days ago Ryan and I decided we were going to make tea in the garden anyway.