The begining.....

Not so very long ago we successfully completed a family project that became lovingly referred to as “our year of inconvenience”

This was a self inflicted project that we had literally stumbled into after too much cheap wine and good food. Fueled by an alcohol induced enthusiasm for our allotment, family excursions to the woods, the smell of fresh bread, and the desire to teach our children to appreciate their food we dramatically decided to evict convenience foods from our lives for a year.

The plan was to grow, forage and make as much of our food as possible and to use independent retailers and local markets in preference to supermarkets.

Our year was punctuated with all the trials and tribulations one might expect from a family with three lively, opinionated, confectionery and crisp loving daughters. However, since we have completed the project, all three have requested that we start it again because "we preferred it when we made everything."

That's a pretty reassuring testimonial I think, especially if you take into consideration that a year and a half ago as we embarked on the project Lolly announced that she was,

“going to spend her birthday money on food”

and Tilly, who is prone to nostalgia, would often drift off on a trip down memory lane to the distant time where a cheery faced Sainsbury's delivery man would unload crates of bulging orange carrier bags for her to unpack.

Even at Christmas (9 months in) their Santa Wish lists all included Hoola Hoops; not the traditional waist whittling toy but the edible version – potato rings in a variety of flavours.

So, with Christmas fast approaching. With our finances at another low and with the children eager to embrace a more “home made” lifestyle again there couldn't be a better time to kick start the venture again. This time though we are planning a way of life not a time limited project and I am going to share our adventures, mishaps and top tips on this blog.

Second time around we definitely have a clearer picture of our purpose and how it can best be fitted into our lives. We will continue to shop locally for our fresh produce (meat, fish and vegetables) but because this is also about achieving a better quality, healthier and tastier diet for less money, we will use supermarkets for some of the raw ingredients such as tinned tomatoes, flour, butter, milk, sugar etc. As much as I would love to purchase organic flour, milk and butter from the local deli we just can't justify the extra cost at the moment.   The crops that we grow on the allotment will also be chosen for their high yield/cost effectiveness and usefulness - we won't bother with potatoes or carrots for example as these are so cheap to buy and our past carrot experience has been poor and surprisingly tasteless. Spinach is another vegetable that we won't bother with. Whilst we grew it very successfully it took up a good deal of space and than reduced down to almost nothing when cooked, There are also a number of wild plants that can be used in place of spinach. Its surely got to be more fun and exciting to stir some fat hen leaves or stinging nettles through a risotto than chucking in a few handfuls of spinach before serving. Children seem to love the novelty of it as well!