Courgette Flower.

If Winter can signify the end of a year, Spring however represents the start of a new one. We can all start afresh, what went wrong is all in the past. It is about trying, or trying again with lessons learnt. Every year, I must say that I am full of projects from the start of January up until April when, by then, I would have started most of them.

My Curly Parsley upon the Patio.

Now (2022, start of Feb), I did struggle to grow Parsley over the years, but I managed to do so. How? I learned by trying and trying again. This year, my Flat Parsley and my Curly one will be there: Ready, Steady, Plant and Cook! It is already settled pot wise but refreshing everything ensure vigorous growth for the year ahead.

I'll be there, the Four Tops

My ideas in Spring turn mainly towards gardening to have fresh Veg throughout the year. However all my plans do not turn out as I would love to in one way or another but most of the time they do so which is rewarding. Tomatoes, Chillies and Courgettes never failed me every year but I must confess that to add new things to try your hands upon is always a window to be explored.

Growing Cucamelon in the Garden. This was very interesting even if our harvest of them was fairly on the small size. We enjoyed the experience and the taste/test of what we did get.

Our Cucamelon Harvest. At least it was small enough to not loose any of them.

In all fairness, for this year I am going to go for what I know how to grow rather than not. However I have a few additions which require learning as I go along. I am trying my hand at growing Cabbages and Brassicas of different sorts. It will be interesting to see how that new project will develop in my London Garden... I am more used to growing different types of Kale.

Purple Curly Kale from my Garden. It is ever so nice in a Stir Fry.

Another scheme for 2022 is to have more flowers to attracts Bees in the Garden. Of course I went for a packet of seeds which should do the deal which is printed on the front. But I also went for Flowers I do like a lot for their colours, scents or the memories they do bring about for me. I didn't go for colour scheme despite liking to do so normally for my Garden, I am just going 'Kaleidoscope' this year: the anything goes under the rainbow. My main concern was to look after Wild life but also as I am mobility challenged, it was a way, almost, to give back a little of the Garden back to nature. Send, seal and delivered, I am yours. Look after yourself with all my gifts, I will surely get much pleasure to see everything grow when I can't walk. From my window, I  will watch the seasons one after another.

The stray Sunflowers 2017. They did grow for Bird Seeds being scattered about by Birds which we are feeding. Ever since I do grow Sunflowers every year. Either they grow on their own, but I also choose some to decorate the Garden. This year it will be a mix called Total Eclipse which consists of Lime coloured Sunflowers and Chocolate coloured ones. It should provide a nice contrast.

In my Spring gardening and cooking plans are also Courgettes, growing and eating them. I have two kinds of Courgettes so far but I intend to get more. I love them and grow them almost every year. The plan is to try an array of recipes with them and with Courgette Flowers. 

Fried Courgettes Flowers.

Spring is truly the birth of a new year and the first of April was the mark of that new year but as the calendar changed to begin on the first of January the first of April became April's Fools day for the people who didn't know that the calendar had been changed for some reason or another. However April is truly the time when we can begin to try to grow plants outside safely. Therefore it is a time to plan what you want to grow for the year. But also it is a time to plan for what you could do with the outcome of it. Hence searching or creating recipes if you expect a glut of one Veg or another. This year as I write this paragraph is 2023. Beans, Peas, Courgettes, Pumpkins, Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Sweet Peppers and Chillies, but also Onions are expected. 

 One of our late Harvests of the last Tomatoes and Chillies. Plant in Spring then you will have plenty to pick up until October. Always collect the fruit and veg when they are ripes throughout Sring and Summer to encourage more to come in late Summer and early Autumn. 

Therefore, an idea to do in the Spring as well as gardening is to write recipes for what you have planted, or searching for some in magazines, books or the internet. I am a keen addict to food magazines where you can get inspired to try new recipes. Suscribed to Good Food Magazine, it is often that I will cook one or many recipes presented in their pages. Depending on the month, the recipes are for the most consistently seasonal. For exemple, me not liking Rhubarb a great deal of a lot, I tried the Rhubarb crumble Muffins of Sara Buendel, who had her recipe within the BBC Good Food Magazine, and it made me change my view upon Rhubarb which is so seasonal in Spring.

The Rhubarb Muffins just enhanced whith Hazelnut Crumbs. They were little delight of flavours.

Other Magazines I do like when I can get them are Olive, Delicious, but also the Sainsbury's monthly Magazine. My partner sometimes accused me to be a Food Magazines hoarder for I never throw them away therefore I have piles and piles of them on my shelves with some dating back from before 2010. But behind my back he clears some away to my great disappointment. Lucky that I am not doing tit for tat and clearing off all his tool gadgets which are cluttering the place.

My collection of Cookery Magazines does extend to my collection of Culinary Books... It is a maze that you could be amazed, for I am such a foodie. 

Apart from Magazines you can find inspiration from culinary Books. Some of them are based on Seasons and some are not. But nonetheless you can find a fair few recipes in the others which can suit Spring very well. And lets not forget that if you end up with a glut of certain vegetables or fruits in the Garden at the end of Summer, or Autumn those can be very handy. It can give you a glance to what to do or try with your future harvest. As I have an entire bookshelve full of Cook Books, which bend every single shelves of it, I can tell you that I am very found of them.

Seasonal Cookbook can be restrictive but they also can highlight a respect for what is truly available within the Season therefore avoid forced food being done or air miles being necessary. It is partly ecological.

Revealing my top three would be very hard and even my top ten of chefs and cooks I do admire who therefore have their Books on my shelves. It is like a treasure trove of culinary knowledge to have at hand. I could mention Mary Berry, Keith Floyd, James Martin, Gordon Ramsay, Carluccio, Robuchon, Nigella Lawson, Rick Stein, Jamie Oliver, Heston Blumenthal, Marco Pierre White, John Torode, Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall, Delia Smith, the Roux lineage or legacy and many more... The list is truly endless.

I have been collecting Cook Books since I was twenty. For me they are like a valuable stamp collection to make my life better for my appetite and stomach as per say. But I will add for my general wellbeing. They do make me happy.

Then I do like trying to get very old Books, some from decades or centuries passed. You discover wonders of recipes from the past which can still make you feel very hungry today. To be honest, a good digging through to acquire such Books can be hard, but worth your while, they can be inexpensive from a library shutting down then the Culinary Books are going for pennies or it can be very expensive if you find the very, very old ones. 

Those little books are full of gone by recipes but also of recipes which are still with us but did evolve through time.

But in Spring, your ideas are for your future harvest therefore what to do with it, especially if you happen to have a glut of a particular Veg, it is nice to head to the books beforehand to know how to deal with it. It is a dig before the dig or picking up the goods of your Garden. To my surprise I have five Cucumber plants on the go this year which are doing very well. I sow five seeds expecting only one or two to show up but I have the all entire lot. Therefore I am preparing myself for a glut of Cucumbers. So the question is what to do with it.

Spiced Cucumbers with Sesame Seeds  and Coriander. 

It is good in the Spring to prepare yourself for what could be coming later in the year, just an idea. Another idea is to use what are in Season in terms of Fruits and Veg during the Spring. These are mainly Rhubarb, Asparagus, Broccoli, Celery, Radishes, Turnips, Early Potatoes, Garlic and many Herbs. Some roots Vegetables are ready for the pick up as well like Parsnips, Mooli also called Daikon, some Carrots. And above ground you can have the results of lots of varieties of Cabbages, Winter Salads, Kale, Cauliflowers and Broccolies and let us not forget the good old Brussels Sprout. 

Mooli also called Daikon from our garden.

Therefore the sowing done in Autumn can reward you with a harvest in Spring. As I said I am not particurlaly fond of Rhubarb but my partner likes it a lot so Spring is a season to learn how to deal with what you have at hand readily as a grower or a shopper. Personaly I do not grow Rhubarb but I do cook with it on occasion with a nice Rhubarb Crumble. But I much prefer when my forest and Wild Strawberries appears in the Garden at the start of May and throughout the Summer. Why do we have a feast of Strawberries at Wimbledon?: The warmer days are finally here.

Forest Strawberries. Those small little beauties are delicious. It is hard to pass by one without eating it straight away.

We do not grow Asparagus for lack of space but we are (me particularly) liking them a lot when they are in season, hence Spring. I tend to consider them as a posh Easter treat for Brunch but, gosh, do they go well with Fish at Dinner time. You must try Asparagus in Quiches and Pies as well.

Ham Hock, Asparagus and Chives Quiche Pots Pies served with roasted Tomatoes.  It is simple but very satisfying.

Broccoli is a Vegetable which we do grow on occasion but buy them more often. Plenty are available in Spring when they are in season, therefore fresh more than their all the year round kind found in the shops. To be honest on rainy days in Spring especially during hail or April showers, I do like a Broccoli and Stilton Soup topped with Croutons and Lardons... Simple but ever so comforting.

Spring is really the season for tender stem Broccoli.

Celery is a Spring staple. It is so versatile: you can eat it raw with a Dip. Or use it to enhance a Stew, a Stock, a Soup or as a side for a dish. It is usually a very understated Vegetable not unlike the Carrot but it does give flavour to a dish. If I do not grow them, I can reveal to you that I use them a hell of a lot mainly for making a good Stew or Stock.

Home Made Celery Soup.

Radishes, we do grow them in the Garden, trying different varieties. Of course, my preference is the French Breakfast variety. The other one is the Daikon. Their pepperiness is most welcome to many Dishes or Salads.

Radishes. Their swet pepperiness is very welcomed when the warm days are upon us.

Then we have the Turnips, Celeriac and the Parsnips, all of them can be used in Spring. If I tend to roast Parsnips glazed with either Honey or Maple Syrup, for Turnips I use them mainly in Stews, as for Celeriac they can be the master show if salt crusted and baked or used for bringing up very nice Soups or a body to Sauces.

Celeriac Soup.

Here we go, ideas for Spring do not have to be far fetch. It can be provided by what is in season right here right now and fetching recipes with the best of the crops of that season. Easter is the right time to bulk up your ideas or to try new recipes for it is a festive period. 

Duck Eggs from Clarence Court.

Then as I said gardening, planning and cooking will keep you to keep busy for an entire year.

Spring Hellebores.