Grow your own ingredients

You don't have to read very far through a 17th century cookery book to realise that if you want to try out some of the recipes then you are going to have to get your gardening gloves on. 

This year I am hoping to try pickled nasturtium buds and green pudding with marigold flowers.  I have bought the seeds.  I managed to dig over a flower bed during a freak afternoon when the sun actually shone and both my children played nicely for 2 whole hours.  All I need now is a bit of warmth! Hear that weather, we need sunshine and heat or else gardeners and farmers in this country are not going to be growing very much at all.

I did want to try preserving broom flowers, the local garden centre had some nice, compact plants that were about to come into flower some weeks ago now but there was no point buying one as the ground was way too cold to dig.