The Paraplegic Farmer

Have you ever spent the day outside in the cold only to come indoors and really fancy something nice and hot to tuck into. If so then try this recipe, lovely served up with Garlic bread. This recipe serves two and you will need: 2 Chicken breasts 1 Tin of tomato soup 2 Medium onions sliced 3 Garlic cloves sliced 4 Thai dragon chillis Small tin of baby carrots (we used our homegrown carrots) 1-2 tsp Dried Italian seasoning 25g Butter 150g Cream cheese  Quarter cup of water Pepper to taste Method: Mix the melted butter, softened cream cheese, soup. water, Italian seasoning and pepper together and stir until blended. Cut the chicken into strips, put into sauce pan with the onion, garlic and chillis then cover chicken with mixture and carrots then cook slowly on the hob for about an hour or until cooked through. Alternatively you can add all the ingredients into a slow cooker and set it going for about six hours. Check that the chicken is cooked all the way t...

Its that time of year again when there is very little in the way of gardening jobs that I can do. Some things I can, like take care of the greenhouse and keep the plants in there watered and fed. But Tina is doing a pretty good job of keeping on top of the rest. This has given me more time to focus on photography again and at this time of year when we are feeding the birds its great to get outside and get some shots.  We have a few different visitors come into our garden, the main ones being Sparrows. Also we have a lot of returning Great Tits and Blue Tits a Robin and some Blackbirds and also some Finches. I always get confused with Finches and what sort they are so I'll just call them Finches. Photography I find is a great way to get you outdoors and connected with nature. What better way to spend an hour or two watching and listening to the wildlife in the garden. Even domestic wildlife in our case as when our dogs start they scare off the birds so I just photograph them...

  I've come a long way since April 2016, not wanting to blow my own trumpet but I think I have achieved quite a bit considering. The latest in my long list of things I must try happened just this afternoon. We have had my sister staying with her kids and whilst here said made use of our bath. Now I've not used it since before April 2016 but it got me thinking about trying to get in. And then of course trying to get out.  First hurdle was getting in the bathroom, there is a huge step up into it. It was quite easy really, put the wheelchair up to the step and then went off the front of the chair and onto my knees and then across the bathroom floor. Then it was a case of pushing up onto a stool getting undressed and then into the water, easy when you say it quickly. Getting out was just as straight forward. A trick I have learnt is to not over think how you are going to do something and just crack on. That's how I get my best results!  The gardening s...

Fresh red chilli pickle Lal mirch ka achaar   I love Indian pickles, my first experience of said pickles was a jar of Pataks chilli pickle that we picked up to try. I ended up putting it on everything from my cheese sandwiches and salads right through to curries and cooked meals. I have been searching the internet for a good recipe so we could make good use of our massive chilli harvest.   For this recipe you will need: 1/2 cup of Fresh Red Chillis 3 tbsp Mustard seeds 2 tbsp Fennel seeds 1/4 cup Mustard oil 1/4 tsp Asafoetida (we used ground mace) 3 tsp Salt 2 tbsp Lemon juice First up you need to cut up the chillis, I cut them in half and then slit them along the length. I also left the seeds in as we quite like the extra heat.  Now put the chillis into a bowl and cover them with the salt, this will draw out any moisture in the chillis. Leave them sat in the salt for an hour minimum, longer would be better. Now you can tur...

The time has come! That's right the time has come to sort out our compost. We have had a compost heap for as long as I can remember, but what have we done with it? In short.....Nothing! So its now time to do something about it. This is what our compost heap looks like at the moment.  It contains the usual suspects like grass cuttings and garden waste. The heap starts off fairly high and does indeed compost down quite a lot. But we never do anything with it. And with the price of compost getting more and more expensive we should really be using what we have got. So we built a temporary compost bin! I say temporary as we have some works planned for next year which shall include more permanent compost bins. But this will do for now, the plan is to compost all garden waste, kitchen waste and brown waste. Brown waste will be stuff like cardboard, egg cartons, egg shells. I'm not sure of the ratios that are needed, but I'm guessing to aim for ab...