Advice & Inspiration For Your Garden

light-as-a-feather courgette cake

This is my favourite cake, very simple to make, perfect every time, truly light, and utterly delicious with an equally light, non-claggy filling in the sandwich. It’s a recipe from our veg grower Anit

Grilled figs with lemon and pomegranate

A perfect late summer and autumn pudding, when figs are plentiful, (we grow ‘Brown Turkey’ here and even from a 3-year-old tree we can hardly keep up with the harvest). Serve with a dollop of yoghurt

Spaghetti with beans and tomatoes

This is originally a River Café recipe that I make all the time for supper when the beans and tomatoes are abundant and utterly delicious. Pick the beans snappy and small rather than large and slightl

Lemon Soufflé

An extremely lemony mousse – tart and delicious – at its best when citrus is fresh and plentiful as it is right now in the early months of the year. You can also make this with blood oranges. Note tha

lamb fricassee

This is a light and summery Greek dish, packed with herbs, using lettuce as a wilted green. It’s one of my favourites and so easy to make.serves 4-6900g boned shoulder or neck fillet of lamb1 large o

Canterbury Apple Tart

A totally delicious and warming recipe. We make lots of these when we’re quiet, to freeze and then gently heat to serve warm as a different option to cake in our café at our open days.serves 7-8For th

Dakos Salad

I love the island of Crete, particularly the mountains and their valleys bang in the middle, and I love the nature and the food. I make the Greek-inspired salad at home when the tomatoes are at the be

Blackberry Cranachan

This is a child-friendly version of a Scottish classic of whisky, cream, raspberries and oatmeal. In this one, I add pudding wine instead of whisky, and I make a sweet granola with toasted oats. This

Sweet Cucumber Pickle

This recipe is excellent for the long-term storing of cucumbers. It’s sweet and tangy, with a good crunch, and is delicious eaten with potato salad, cold meat and pates and in Cheddar cheese sandwiche

Rhubarb and Star Anise Bellini Mocktail/ Rhubarb & Star Anise Spritzer

Serves 6500g rhubarb3 tsp caster sugar1 star anise1 bottle of champagne or proseccoPut the rhubarb, sugar, and a splash of water in a pan and bring to simmer until the rhubarb is soft. Take it off the

Ice Cream Meringue Cake with Poached Ginger (V)

Serves 8-103 tbsp damson puree 1 tbsp boiling water 750ml double cream1 tbsp of caster sugar 3 pieces of thinly sliced stem ginger1 tbsp ginger syrup For the Meringues6 egg whites1

Garden fritto misto, in tempura

This is a fabulous and versatile summer garden harvest meal – the best baby vegetables, edible flowers, and herbs. Simply deliciousServes 10-12750ml sunflower or groundnut oil A handful of crinkl

Pumpkin cornbread

Serve this delicious savoury bread with soup or strong cheeses, such as Stilton, mature Cheddar or a hard goats’ or ewes’ cheese. The bread is lovely toasted and freezes well. Makes 1 x 450g loaf25

Anita’s Victoria sponge

A classic Victoria sponge uses the same weight of sugar, margarine and flour as the eggs. A large free-range egg usually weighs 56g. Using a plant-based spread rather than butter gives a lighter spong

Claret cup

Rather like a posh sangria, this is more subtle and less sweet because it uses good-quality red wine and sparkling water instead of plonk and lemonade. It’s ideal for when the weather is lovely. 

Dairy-free spiced plum cranachan

Start preparing this the day before, so the filling can set in the fridge overnight and then be assembled and the fruit add in no time when ready to serve. We serve these in clear glass tumblers. Suit