My 2 New Chilli Plants and Lovely Market Food.

I am really lucky to live in a place where twice a month (on a Saturday) we have an abundant farmer's market. Today I was excited to see some new stalls, one was even selling unusual chilli plants. And here they are (well two of them), unfortunately I was too excited to actually write down the names of these two chilli plants so I can't introduce them to you properly.

I was drawn to the first one because I thought the colour of the flowers and the leaves are breathtakingly purple. 

I also admired it because this plant is not afraid to make it obvious that it is part of the Solanaceae family. So this beautiful thing is closely relation to the deadly nightshade plant and I think the flowers are nearly identical.

The second plant I bought because of my greedy side, I saw this plant groaning under the weight of all its baby chilli-peppers and I thought *yum*. I really love hot food and I can't wait for these little beauties to turn a blazing red so I can add them to my cooking and maybe even make some chilli oil and Harissa paste.

The stall holder said that this purple will fade to yellow and then ripen to a fiery red. 

I also picked up a few other bits and bobs from the market. I picked up some raw milk that is produced from local 'happy' cows. I like to try and support the local farms, one way for dairy farmers to make a decent living is to sell milk like this straight to the customer. Its been all in the news lately about how the money that farmers spend producing milk is actually higher than the price that is being paid for it, which in turn is slowly killing the industry. I was raised on raw milk so I know that it works for me fine (Ed can also drink this milk whereas he can't drink pasteurised). But you may want to do your research before trying it.

We bought garlic from the market too, this one is called Bella Italiano and apparently the flavour is really strong, it smells lovely and I have promised Ed that I will make some garlic bread with it, so we will probably be stinky after eating that.

You have got to love Wobbly Bottom Farm cheese. The name is just fabulous and always makes me smile and the cheese from here tastes so good that you could easily eat enough to make the name ring true. This is pesto cheese, I have never seen this before but the taste is amazing, it is really basilly and tastes like green (my friends always laugh at me for saying things taste like colours). I can't wait to try and cook with this lovely cheese, I bet it will taste amazing in summery salads too. Food always tastes a million times better from the market.

Hope you are all having a good weekend.

Plant Sale Adventure in the SUN

I woke up this morning... and it was sunny! If you are not from the UK you may not be aware of how much rain we have been having the past few month. So when I saw that delightful fiery ball in the sky I knew I had to go and see what adventures there were to be had. Ed and I meandered down the street from where we live and there was a plant sale. I don't have many vices in my life but books and plants (especially herbs) make me weak at the knees. 

 I love having a good fondle of the leaves. 

 I thought the pink and yellowy cream of these flowers were just beautiful, kind of pudding colours. 

I love this bloom so much, unfortunately I was so excited about the prettiness of it I forgot to see what it was called. The colours reminded me of poisonous mushrooms.

I couldn't believe how big these bulbs were! I think they were for some sort of lilly, probably that grew right up to the sky.

Lavender *sigh* one of my most favourite plants in the whole world. But I am a bit of a purist and my affection is plainly pointed towards English lavender, I just think it is prettier and smells nicer... but maybe I'm just biased.  

All the colours, all the beautiful knowledgable little labels peeking from behind the plants like a joyous paper headstone.

Daisies always remind me of my lovely mum, they are her all time favourite flower.  

I have to be a little restrained at plant sales or I would just buy everything. I was very good today and only bought one plant, its possibly one of the cutest herbs ever, it's a thyme called Rasta. The leaves are so tiny and it has miniature, lavender-pink flowers that open from crimson-red buds in summer.

 The colour of these make me think of tequila sunrises *yum*.

We ended up walking past the green grocers and I couldn't help but buy some local raspberries that Ed and I shared in the park in the sunshine. It was a very relaxed morning. Now I have to get ready for my hen do tonight *eek*.