In my kitchen…
… is this incredible bunch of basil. We bought it from the local farmers market nearly 3 weeks ago, and it just keeps growing. We stripped is back to make pesto, and just keep filling the jar up with water, now we get small leaves for pasta sauces, pizzas and bruschettas. 
In my kitchen…
… is this pile of books helping us along our self-sufficient path. Stephanie Alexander’s Kitchen Garden is an inspiration to me, hopefully we’ll build her worm farm soon. Backyard farming inspired our foraging adventure. And this incredible Complete Guide to Self-Sufficiency has been a wonder.
In my kitchen…
…we have a box of seeds. Hopefully this will supply us of vegetables for the year. They will be in the ground soon, but J doesn’t want to miss out, so I’m waiting until he gets home to plant. We’re also going to try planting by the moon cycle, recommended by a friend. Have you ever tried it? 
In my kitchen…
…there is 6 bottles of home-made tomato sauce. I spent the whole of last weekend making these with my mum’s recipe. They’ve turned out perfectly. I can’t wait for a BBQ where we can use these!
In my kitchen…
…Maggie grows happily. The lovely Celia (Fig Jam and Lime Cordial) posted me some dehydrated sour-dough starter, and I have been so excited to make my first ever sour-dough loaf. What a wonderful experience to bake your own bread. 
In my kitchen…
…our sodastream sits on the bench, waiting to provide us with all our soda waters needs. It was an anniversary present from my parents and through those hot days it got a work out. The perfect addition to iced tea.
In our kitchen…
….well not really, it’s actually in our laundry, we have a mushroom kit. It’s an experiment to see if it’s worth while growing mushrooms, compared to buying them, we worked out that we’d need to grown roughly 2kg of mushrooms to make the cost worth it. It’s also been very exciting watching the little white dots appear on the surface of the compost. 
Pop over to Fig Jam and Lime Cordial to see what others are doing in their kitchen in March.
I love how you made your own sauce. That looks very dark and rich. And it’s amazing how that basil keeps growing. Maybe you’ll be able to plant it. I’ve been wanting a soda stream for ages. They were all the rage in the 70’s xx
I thought to plant it, but our basil is finally coming up in the garden, so I imagine that soon we will be inundated with basil.
I had no idea you could do that with basil. Thanks for the tip. I am very interested in the mushroom experiment. Don’t forget to post an update. Thanks also for the reminder that I need to get on and order my seeds. Although it is still to hot here to plant.
I saw our first mushrooms this morning, I cannot wait to cook a mushroom, tomato omlette (with home grown eggs of course).
I loved peeking into your kitchen! Love the idea of home made tomato sauce and growing your own mushrooms!
The sauce is delicious! And this morning I saw our first mushroom, it’s about the size of the top of my thumb.
How exciting!
It really has been so exciting!
Those mushrooms! I’ve been looking into getting a log that has mushrooms implanted into it- they say you can get 2 to 3 good harvest per season. I’m excited to see how your mushroom experiment works out.
And hello to Maggie from her sibling Thing Two- happily bubbling in my kitchen this morning!
Thanks for sharing, Clare!
The mushrooms are coming up now, so I’ll be interested to see hwo many we get. I can’t wait to see how Thing Two goes.
Hooray for Maggie! Thank you for taking such good care of her, Clare! I’ve always wanted a Soda Stream – we go through gallons of soda water, so it wouldn’t be a bad idea. And good luck with the mushroom kit – we didn’t grow many when we tried, but I’m pretty sure we were doing something wrong.. 😉
I don’t think you can do much wrong with mushrooms, i’ll be interested to see if it’s worth having one. So this first one is an experiement. I can’t wait to make my next sourdough loaf.
I’ll be very interested to see how your mushroom experiment goes Clare. I’ve been toying with the idea for ages now but wasn’t sure if it would be worth it.
Love the look of all those books. I can’t wait to see how your garden grows.
Isn’t it great when you get more than the bunch out of a bunch of herbs?
I’ll let you know how much we get out of it, and if it’s worth it. Really, even if it isn’t, it’s pretty exciting to see them come up. I love that our basil is still growing!
You have a very productive kitchen – a kitchen to be proud of. I have mint in a corner but nothing much else is growing in there, but lots of cooking gets done.
Thank you! I’m loving having lots going on in our kitchen, it’s a very busy place at the moment.
This is so great, I love how busy your kitchen is!
I can’t wait to see the results of your sourdough. I tried making it last winter but I just don’t think I had the right conditions, as my loaves weren’t really rising at all.
I will be posting a sour dough post soon. It’s been a wonderful adventure!
Hi Clare
Your sauce looks fab. Love the name Maggie for your starter. I have a little bichon called Maggie:)
The sauce is delicious! I also love even that she has a name, Maggie has become part of our little family.
I’ve never tried moon plantings but I am a little intrigued by the idea. I’d love to know how much difference it makes.
My friend says it makes a huge different. I haven’t planted any winter/autumn crops yet as it’s still too hot. But next full moon I will definitely give it a go.
Clare, I am envious of your mushroom kit! I used to grow mushrooms regularly decades ago, but the two last kits have been a waste of money (they’ ended up poured into the compost). Isn’t Celia the best!
Celia is definitely the best! I’m not sure that we’re going to get enough mushrooms to make it worth while, but it was interesting to give it a shot.
How good is soda stream?! I just like soda with ice and lime. NOM. Loving hearing about what’s happening in your kitchen!
A soda stream is the best! Thanks Cass!