Late winter/early Spring is the time of year to get your potatoes in from Christmas and summer eating.

So lets take a look at our lives now. Who is overwhelmed by too many things, too much to do, too many projects begun but never finished, toxic people, feeling stretched too thin and never seeming to have enough oxygen to breathe into the sort of lives we really want.  That’s what an unpruned bush or tree is like and now is as good a time as any to put some thought into our changing that.  What do we want in our lives and what fruit are we looking for? This is an act of simplifying life.  Getting down to what is important to us in any branch of our life, cutting out what we no longer want, or what’s draining us, pruning back unnecessary stuff so our lives can spring forth into life, and we can start to see over time, the fruits of our labours rather than the round and round sameness of the lives many of us leave.

It’s still winter here in the south with the promise of more cold conditions to come - so don’t be fooled by the occasional warm springlike days we will get this month. They do get the sap rising in both gardener and garden alike however, so it is okay to get excited about the new season.  There’s always plenty to do, even if that may involved sitting in front of the fire planning, but planning is important to get the most our of ll the hard work we put into our gardens.

Tips for getting started on planning your new season vegetable garden.

June has arrived and with it the beginning of winter proper.  This is the month of the winter solstice where we experience the shortest day/night around the 21st of the month. We call it mid-winter but it’s really only the beginning of the 3 main winter months here in the southern part of the globe of June, July and August.  Of course if you live on the other side of the equator it is the summer months.

Aaahhh – the approach of a New Year – the time when many of us, irritated with ourselves for not being where we thought we should be or wanted to be by the end of the old year, resolve to do better next time.  So we come up with another list of resolutions, probably the same as last time and also like then, ones we are not likely to fulfil. For a lot of women (and men) weight comes very high on that list and we promise all sorts of thing to ourselves in the drive to do better. We resolve to make all sorts of changes, often all at once, starting on 1 January every year. How has that been going for you so far?

The time of the year when preparing a fabulous desert the day before is such an asset is now - Christmas time when we seem to have so much to do and so little time to do it. I always find that no matter what happens when it comes to hosting family meals, if you have a fabulous desert hidden away that you can bring out when the time is right, then all is forgiven and forgotten. And what can be more fabuolus than pre-rolled balls of homemade plum icecream served in an icebowl you also made several days before, to accompany a white chocolate cheesecake - you guessed it - made prior. Its the classic, “here’s one I prepared earlier” scenario.

Christmas is one of those times where everyone seems to loves tradition and that includes a lot of the treat foods you associate with your own childhood festivities. I still remember the year my clever and creative sister made a gingerbread house which took pride of place on the china cabinet. Mum always made the Edmonds cookbook Belgium Biscuits which we stuck together with homemade jam and had a lot of fun icing. I have done it with my own children and still do- even thought they are all grown up. The smell of the cookies baking definitely brings back good memories for me and I hope they do for you.