Scotland 20

1 year ago garden, gardening blogger, Scotland

7 Supreme Scottish Gardening Blogs Features Square Sparrow. Gardening in Scotland is not for the feint-hearted!.

We were thrilled to be featured in this autumn list of top gardening blogs by the lovely folk at Thompson & Morgan Seeds. Our garden here at The Sparrowholding is still – even after 20 years! – very much a 'work in progress', and we have so much we still want to do.

selection of homegrown vegetables in trug

Nothing to beat vegetables homegrown in a Scottish garden

Our major impediments (and the reason for the sporadic nature of our gardening blog posts!) continue to be time and money, but even though we may have to cut corners at times and not do everything the way we'd like to, we still have the pleasure of tucking into our own produce for six months of the year (from asparagus and fresh herbs in May through to late plums and fresh herbs in early October) – not to mention leeks and parsnips during the winter months. If you’d like to see more of our photos and short videos, do check out our Facebook, Instagram and YouTube accounts.

Quick shout-out this month for our long-suffering polytunnel, which is a life-saver at times. Literally, a life-saver in mid-April, when it can provide much-needed shelter for newly born lambs, protecting them from sudden spring snow showers and freezing rain. Even our rough-tough Shetland ewes are grateful for a windbreak during the worst of the weather.

Mark you, the little blighters don’t show much appreciation, as the minute they are unleashed in the garden, the first thing they do is try to scale up the side of the polytunnel and put their sharp wee hooves through the plastic. New polytunnel plastic sheeting may be required soon at this rate!

This winter, we’re planning to cut back Vinnie the Vine significantly, as we noticed during our five days in France last summer just how draconian/vicious the pruning of the vines there was. And we presume that in the land of grapes, they know precisely what they are doing. Our hope is that if we follow suit, the savage Gallic approach might help promote the growth of more grapes – a feature that has been significantly lacking in the last couple of years! We’ve had lots of vine and vigorous leaf growth, but very little fruit.

HunterGatherer is sharpening his sheep/vine shears as I write…

https://blog.thompson-morgan.com/7-supreme-scottish-gardening-blogs/

1 year ago Family, Food & Drink, Livestock, Scotland

Perth Show: where town meets country each year

Whoosh! The past few weeks have flown by, with August already nearly over, and my great intentions to blog about my visit to Perth Show earlier this month have so far shared the fate of myriad other items on my 'to do' list, i.e. they are not yet done! However, Perth Show is such a fun family day out that it would be remiss ... or indeed jolly poor show (pun intended!)... if I couldn't find half an hour amidst the frenzy of everyday life to encapsulate the essence of this fabulous 'town-meets-country' event, which takes place each year on the first Saturday of August on Perth's gloriously green South Inch.

In our haste to get there in sufficient time to wander round the showground for a few hours before picking up SuperGran's secret 80th birthday cake (of which more anon), we cleverly forgot to visit the cash machine in Kinross to source some legal tender for the man on the entry gate, who – it transpired – wasn't armed for credit card transactions. Fortunately, the said kind gentleman advised me that I could buy a ticket online, so I hovered by the entrance on my iPhone and did the necessary. [Note to self for next year: buy online tickets the night before!]

In a previous life, I used to be a regular exhibitor at Perth Show, accompanied by my posse of pedigree Shetland ponies, so the Shetland ring was naturally one of the first places on my itinerary. Another priority, unsurprisingly, was the sheep lines, where a futile search for Shetland sheep revealed that they don't figure on the otherwise prolific list of sheep breeds at the show.

perth show jewellery tarrag naegal necklace

Ideal for equine lovers everywhere - Tarrag Naegel's jewellery lines are inspired by the farrier's nail.

Perthshire on a plate stands at Perth Show

D.G. Lindsay's fab Chilli sausages, Nick Nairn's demo for Quality Meat Scotland, and a cup of Coffee Ground's great coffee: there was plenty to enjoy!

Next stop was the craft tent, where DD1 spent a happy five minutes perusing Tarrag Naegel's gorgeous equine-themed jewellery. Her eye was caught by a new line that features the characteristic farrier's nail pendant plus an additional silver nail shaped into a circle. [That's one Christmas present sorted...]

The final pit stop on our speedy show circuit was the Food and Drink tent, where I could have happily spent the rest of the day browsing the fabulous fare on offer. From gloriously decadent pink raspberry meringues from Mhor to healthy fruit protein snacks from a fabulous health food shop whose name I can't remember (please do let me know if it's you and I'll happily mention your name!), the array of stalls catered for every taste. Better still, we found HunterGatherer in a new role, assisting at the stall of an exciting local start-up, Strathearn Cider Company. DD1 tried out their medium sweet and medium dry amber apple nectar, promptly pronouncing herself to be a fan of both varieties (and she wasn't just saying that because her godmother is a co-owner of the company!!). Our attention was also taken by the Madderty Micro Flavoured Gins stand on the other side of the tent. So much choice - and all local Perthshire companies :-)

All too soon, our flying visit to the Perth Show had to come to an end, as our next destination, the Celebration Cake Station, was due to close at 3pm. A quick trip up Tay Street, along the banks of the eponymous River Tay, and we were there, eager to see how the cake I'd ordered a couple of weeks before had turned out.

As ever, we were NOT disappointed: it was a perfect, personalised cake creation to mark the occasion of SuperGran's 80th birthday! All six grandchildren, her two bridesmaids (from a few years ago...), FarmerBruv and I had each nominated an item that made us think of granny.

The items atop the resultant confection ranged from pink high heels to her old school crest, and from a sheaf of wheat (symbolising her hard-working childhood on her parents' farm) to a four-leafed clover (she had FarmerBruv and Yours Truly searching for those in hayfields for most of our childhood - excellent way to keep children occupied!). The superb birthday lunch the following day at Huntingtower Hotel was a joyous occasion, with the lovely Caroline Trotter on hand to take some stunning shots for posterity.

All in all, despite the odd (metaphorical) hiccup, August has been a pretty good month here at The Sparrowholding :-)

2 years ago Family, Food & Drink, Scotland

Lunching in luxury at The Peat Inn. If You're a True Foodie, Heaven is a Place in Fife.

The Peat Inn restaurant with rooms – located in the eponymous Fife village

Several months ago (all right, January 2016 to be precise!), the gift of a luncheon deal voucher from a thoughtful friend allowed HunterGatherer and Yours Truly to fulfil a long-held dream – a meal at The Peat Inn Restaurant in Fife. Precisely why it has taken me until now to write this blog post is a mystery, and I’m not even going to attempt to excuse my appalling tardiness at putting pen to (virtual) paper. However, I’m now going to right that wrong, and what speaks volumes about that long-distant luncheon is that so exquisite was the whole Peat Inn experience that, even after all these months, memories of the panoply of flavours which tantalised my palate that day are still indelibly printed in my mind.

The lounge at The Peat Inn: spacious yet cosy...

As anyone who knows me well will confirm, I appreciate good food – and I positively adore great food. So as we drew up in the car park at The Peat Inn Restaurant that January day, anticipation was rife in the Sparrowmobile. Unfortunately, the weather had been far from inspiring during our drive across from neighbouring Kinross-shire, and an East coast smirr (a mist-like precipitation, for anyone unfamiliar with Scots) was doing the Fife scenery no favours.

However, if we felt a tad sad on account of the dismal climatic conditions outside, our melancholy was banished the moment we entered the comfortable and spacious lounge at The Peat Inn, where the warmth of the blazing fire was surpassed only by the warmth of the welcome extended by the team of immaculately presented staff.

A welcoming fire greets winter guests in the lounge upon arrival.

Our coats were whisked discreetly off our backs, our order was taken efficiently and unobtrusively, and within a matter of minutes a slate adorned with assorted amuse-bouches arrived with our drinks. It was an auspicious start, and to our delight the gastronomic good times just kept on coming.

Having heard so much about the culinary genius of Chef Geoffrey Smeddle and his team, we should not have been surprised. Over the next 90 minutes (we were in no rush, and neither did the staff rush us), one delicious dish followed the other.

An amuse-bouche or three, anyone?

A mini Burns Supper

To mark the imminence of Burn’s Day, a soupçon of haggis was delivered in a quaint little dish, accompanied by a delicious creamy sauce, and not long after this, our starters arrived. HunterGatherer’s penchant for onions saw him select a whole baked Langside Farm (near Kennoway) onion stuffed with oxtail, onion purée and finished with Parmesan chips. I opted for the Anster cheese mousse– although the said mousse came in the form of a parsnip. Yes, you read that correctly – a parsnip… For this dairy delicacy had been sculpted in such a way as to resemble a bona fide parsnip (see the photo below if you need proof!). It has to be said that I’m a huge fan of Anster cheese anyway, but this fabulous and unusual presentation merely enhanced the flavour.

They may look like parsnip chunks, but they're actually Anster cheese mousse sculptures and they tasted out of this world!

My glorious cheese starter viewed from afar so you can fully appreciate its beauty.

Onion skin stuffed with meat and a sprinkling of cheese. HunterGatherer's idea of heaven on a plate :-)

For our main courses, HunterGatherer opted for roast breast and confit leg of wild mallard duck, while I favoured the pork fillet; both dishes were served relatively simply compared with our more ornate starters, and were accompanied by a scattering of perfectly cooked vegetables. HG seemed delighted with his duck, and my choice certainly didn’t disappoint either. The superlatively smooth parsnip puree (you may have gathered that I’m a fan of parsnips!) was a particular triumph.

My main course: the parsnip puree was simply sublime :-)

HunterGatherer opted for the duck main dish

Despite being married to a ‘sugar gourmand’ such as Yours Truly, my better half doesn’t ‘do’ desserts, which left me the weighty (no pun intended!) responsibility of being the sole partaker of pud. It was a tough job, but somebody had to do it… And I was very glad that I did, as the tangerine sorbet which accompanied my chocolate parfait was a veritable treat for the taste buds – neither too tart nor too sweet. However, just to ensure that my sugar levels didn’t fall too low, I felt obliged to sample the cuboids of luxurious fudge and the triangular 3-D fruit jellies which were served with HunterGatherer’s coffee. They created a fabulous and fitting finale to a meal that ticked every gastronomic box with gusto.

The utterly delectable tangerine sorbet was a big hit with Yours Truly.

Bravo to the entire team at The Peat Inn! Their service was faultless from start to finish, and Chef Smeddle’s menu was simply outstanding. Even had I not been fortunate enough to have been in possession of a gift voucher, it would have been well worth the cost of £22 per head incl. canapés, amuse-bouches, homemade bread and homemade butter. We will certainly return.