I've been growing veggies out in the garden, that much is known. I've also been trying my hand at growing mushrooms. I love mushrooms as a food, but I'd always kept my distance from any knowledge of how they're grown, for fear of grossing myself out a little too much to enjoy them on my plate. But, a few weeks ago, me and my Dad found some easy-as-you-like mushroom growing kits in a DIY shop in Denbigh. The kit consisted of a polystyrene box, filled with some straw-like stuff and a bag of compost. The instructions indicated to store the compost and straw at separate temperatures for a couple of weeks, then to cover the straw with the compost, lift the lid and leave in a cool place. Mushrooms were promised after another couple of weeks. Indeed, three crops of mushrooms are promised.

Well, after following the instructions diligently, it seems my first crop is here!

I had some for dinner last night, and they tasted really good. It really did mess with my mind a little, eating something which has been growing in amongst some mouldy compost in my under-the-stairs cupboard, but I guess this is me getting in touch with where mushrooms come from. Not everything's as glamorous as apples and blossom.

So, I've got some tomatoes growing nicely, but they're taking up rather a large area of my breakfast room right now. I'm also starting off a few runner beans indoors. I'm running out of room!

This weekend then, I decided to have a go at building a small lean-to greenhouse in which to grow them. These things can cost quite a bit of money (as much as £400) if you buy them ready-made, which I don't have spare right now. Plus, I always quite liked the idea of being able to build something like this myself. People always say that the more effort you put into growing your food, the better it tastes!

I feel quite pleased with myself.

...after ten days.

Spring, it seems, is here. We're having the proverbial March winds aplenty, and the the bulbs I stuck in the ground last autumn have popped up to hail its coming.

So, last weekend I took the opportunity to get going on this year's growings. Last year, despite not moving into my house until June, I planted some rocket, runner beans and radishes. Nether of the latter two worked out particularly well, but the rocket was fantastic and we ended up with large amounts of rocket pesto!

Well, this year I'm a little more planned, and have planted a few seeds already. Tomatoes have gone into trays, and basil and sage are now in pots. For the basil and sage, poking a few holes in some old falafel packages has made the perfect containers.

My books have told me that spinach, on the other hand, can be sown out early, so I've put a row of that into my patch out in the back garden.

For a while now, I've been wanting to grow garlic, but unfortunately I'm still very much a novice at this and didn't realise that it was supposed to be planted around the end of December! Again, one of my books tells me that it can be planted out in the Spring, but only if you don't expect to get much from them until late in the year. Let's hope.

About six months ago I joined what is commonly known as a "box scheme". Abel & Cole deliver a box full of seasonal organic vegetables direct to my front door every Tuesday for just £11 a week. It's easy and the veggies taste so much better than the stuff you get in a supermarket.

Since we get whatever is in season, I'm never really sure what's going to arrive until it does. But, I haven't been disappointed yet, and quite often I'll get some foodstuff which I've never even seen before, let alone tasted or would have thought to buy.

This week was my first experience with globe artichokes... I had no idea how to cook or eat them. Luckily, Abel & Cole's website has a recipe section and my girlfriend has also had some experience with the rather complicated method of stripping the leaves with your bottom teeth in order to get to the flesh. Tricky, they are, but tasty too and well worth the extra effort.

In fact, I've upped my order to the next box size up as of next week, as I'm getting through them well before the week's ended. So, if you're interested, then take a look at their website... oh and if you do sign up, mention my name as I'll get a free bottle of wine for the recommendation!

As previously advertised, we went of to Wales again this weekend, to get in some more serious walking.

We camped down at Llyn Gwynant, at the foot of Snowdon, but on Saturday took the long walk from Ogwen Cottage up and over Glyder Fawr and Glyder Fach. I have only done that particular walk once before, a good few years ago, and attempting it again certainly made me feel a bit older! Still, we managed it and felt pretty pleased with ourselves (if a little tired) by the end of the 6 and a half hours.

The photos from the weekend are up on Flickr, and I've also added a new section of this site with more details of this and future walks. Click here to take a look.

The weather was also wonderful once more, and that made the camping great fun. I got to try out my new Trangia 27-8 stove, which is a fantastic little meths-burning lightweight piece of equipment. Mmmm... fried egg sandwich anyone?

Okay, this is one of the wonderful things about sharing photos, writings and music over the net... every now and again you come across something completely unexpected.

Browsing on Flickr, I have just come across an entire set of photos on an otherwise nice and friendly photostream devoted to pizza. More specifically, pepperoni pizza. There are two pages of photos of this.

What is going on? I think I'm going to write to this person and find out.