Blog - Campuccinos

Grow Your Own Spring Onions

12 May 2020

Ever fancied growing your own salad or vegetables but don’t know where to start?

Here is your answer.

Spring onions are super easy to grow and they sprout amazingly fast. To be precise, you’ll notice some growth in just a few hours!

All you need to do is simply cut the greens from your white bulb and place the onion root side down in fresh water.

After just 12 hours you should notice a difference.

3 days later.

One week later.

Then once your onions have formed some sturdy roots you can place them in some fresh compost to continue growing.

Use your new greens as required, snipping from the new growth each day for a fresh salad topping.

If you enjoyed learning how to grow your own spring onions and would like to know how you can grow grow some carrot tops from scraps, click here for our easy tutorial.

As always, we’d love to see if you have a go at any of our easy recipes or scrap growing. Please tag us in your photographs on Facebook and Instagram @campuccinoskent.

Take care, and speak soon. Emily xxx

Greenhouse Update 1

7 May 2020

Goooood Morning!

I hope every one is safe and well.

Today is the last day of my 20s, tomorrow I’ll be celebrating my 30th birthday in lockdown.

We’ve made our own cake, (plant based of course) and plan to have a little bbq party in the garden to celebrate.

I wanted to share my first edible garden update. These photographs were taken around a week ago before my lovely new wood chip carpet was laid.

If you didn’t know already, woodchip works well in deterring pesky snails and slugs who try and devour our beautiful home grown gardens in the midst of the night. Apparently their slimy bodies don’t like to slither over the dry and shardy parts of the wood.

Over the past week we’ve also been trying to encourage ladybirds inside, installing marigolds and chives around the entrance as an enticement as I read these are some of their go to scents.

Ladybirds work as a natural pest control, dealing with the tiny mites and fly you might ordinarily find on your favourite veg.

Morgan caught a couple of his own ladybirds which we added and left at their free will to stay or go ?, amazingly they seem quite at home and appear to be enjoying the ‘beds’ we made them. Lol.

With regards to my plants, the majority have been grown from seed on our windowsill.

We begun our sowing around the end of March when isolation begun as a way to occupy Morgan. Soon our kitchen garden sprouted much too big for the kitchen window and so we invested in a lovely greenhouse which I picked up for just £45 in Aldi. So far so good and one I’d highly recommend if you’re considering a cheap growing option.

On 25th April my seedlings made their way outside and sat on the very empty shelves of my greenhouse.

I’ve adopted a watering in the morning routine which was discussed on The One Show last week, as again this deters slugs and snails preventing a huge amount of moisture you’d trap inside if you was to water at night.

It’s also when our resident ladybirds are very sleepy and generally high in the eaves of my canopy out of harms way (Also, whilst I come to think of it, we installed a couple of lengths of bamboo across the ceiling as a safe place for the critters to hide).

The plants are thriving so far and will soon provide me with a beautiful – and here’s to hoping weird harvest.

First up is Morgan’s beanstalk. We called it that for months since February when he brought it home from school. We joked it was going to get big enough to climb and eventually we’d find a giant at the top. Preferably a golden harp though!

Last week his class teacher confirmed it was a broad bean, more commonly named a fava bean online.

Since February it’s been re-potted around 5 times as it continues to grow and grow! It roughly now at stands about 1m tall.

It’s currently in flower with no signs of beans but I’m lead by Google to believe they’ll be arriving soon.

These pretty greens are Broccoli. They’ll soon need replanting in their individual grow bags.

Being coffee entrepreneurs, we thought we’d use our old coffee sacks to replant the majority of our veg this year as we have them in abundance.

These plants will require a bag each or planting 30cm (a long rulers length) apart in container or bed.

Our sunflowers!

We have a total of 5 this year. One was gifted from a lovely local lady that re-potted last year’s seeds. She placed them on the end of her drive for local children to take and enjoy over our locked down spring. Another I bought as quite a matured plant in Sainsburys and the others we managed ourselves ?.

Cauliflower, urgently in need of a bigger pot. Out of all of my greenhouse plants, this one sulks the most. Without a huge influx of water it sags to the most depressing wilt. Within a few minutes it’s as right as rain and standing tall again.

Like the broccoi these will require a bag to themselves or planting 30cm apart.

Tomatoes. These are commonly sold in childrens growing kits because of how easy they are to care for. I’ve grown trailing varieties before in a hanging baskets. They’ll grow big and strong and hopefully produce lots of fruit. It’s a favourite in our house!

These I will re-pot as they mature and start screaming at me they’re cramped.

Brussels, you either love them or hate them right? I quite like them. Especially in salad for a little tang. Plus, they’re cool to grow and very pretty. I’m not hugely sure what to expect so I’m just going with the flow and hoping for the best.

Cubunger, or Cucumber. Morgans favourite, so…we thought we’d give ut a go. I actually bought this one from a local lady advertising her allotment growth on Facebook. It cost me just a one pound.

It’s having a very slow growth so far but seems bright and happy, it will need replanting soon and a stake as it matures and the fruits become heavy.

Beetroot and Parsley. Both from the Marks and Spencer Little Garden range, which I do have a separate blog post for here.

They’ve started off very well and thriving more since being placed in bigger pots.

The beetroot I need to soon seperate and give individual pots or more space. Each seedling requires around 10cm of growing space.

Parsley you can commonly buy in the supermarket. Once it’s matured you can cut and use as required, leaving the rest of your plant to grow.

Pansies and Forget-me-nots. Both again from the Marks and Spencer Little Garden range.

Once a little more established I’m going to thin the pansies into their own individual pots or a tray to give them a good chance at making this years summer hanging baskets.

My strawberry seeds ??. Not quite a plant yet, but our fun tutorial on how to grow your own strawberries can be found here.

Our eggcenlent shell planters ??.

We made a fun tutorial about these. The eggshells just act as a seedling pot whilst your little plants mature. Once big enough, the roots will emerge from the bottom and you can plant as you would any other degradable pot.

To find out how we made ours, click here.

Inside our eggs from left to right we have spring onions, carrots and radish.

Soon each will need thinning out and replanting into bigger pots to allow for the best growth.

I hope you enjoyed seeing inside of my greenhouse. Please come and check back in a few weeks to see how we are getting on.

Today we are going back up to the end of our garden to clean our dirty pots, thin some of our veg mentioned above and plant some GIANT pumpkins ready for autumn.

Take care everybody, Emily xxx

Grow Your Own Strawberries

30 April 2020

Who doesn’t love a sweet and juicy bright red strawberry?You can buy them all year round in the supermarkets, but have you ever thought about growing your own?Strawberries are perennial so with proper care they should return year after year.

Ours hasn’t matured yet this year, but NOW is a perfect time to get planting and I didn’t want you to miss out on this yummy summer crop and a good yield.

As with alot of my home grown fruits and veg this one can be done from scraps too, you only need one strawberry which hopefully you can spare! ?

Our strawberries were just your regular store bought kind, not anything fancy or picked ourselves. Infact, the couple I spared and saved were those leftover from our strawberry icecream recipe which you can find here.

Now you’ve picked out the weakest strawberry in your pallet to save for this project, leave it to dry out. We recommend around a day or two somewhere dry and not moist. A damp area will see your fruit turn mouldy and black, a dry area like a windowsill will ensure a naturally dried red strawberry.

If you haven’t got time or the patience to wait it’s possible to complete the next action with a fresh fruit, it’s just a bit more fiddly as we found out.

Essentially we need the yellow seeds from the surface of your strawberry. Other tutorials suggest tweezers is the way to go about this plucking each, but we find the digging out method with a cocktail stick a lot more satisfying lol.

Remove each seed, pulling away as much pulp as possible and place on a dry paper towel. Not every seed will take so aim for around 50 minimum to ensure you produce a few sturdy plants.

Now you should let your seeds dry, a day is good in a brightly lit window. The following day you’ll notice a difference in your seeds.

24 hours later your seeds will be dry in appearance and a little browned whilst any remaining pulp should be brittle and fall away easily.

Now is time to sow your seeds. We used an ordinary potting compost with no added extras. Find a large pot capable of housing a good amount of seedlings, with the presumption of that 50% of your seeds will germinate.

Fill your pot 1 inch from the top and place your seeds spread on the surface. Water your seeds into the soil with a small amount of water.

The water will firm each enough into the soil and means you dont need to cover each with a top later of soil. The seeds need a huge amount of sunlight, so place your pot in a brightly lit area away from pests.

You should notice seedlings appear in a couple weeks at which point you can transfer them to individual pots.

A constant source of sunlight should ensure a healthy and large plant. You should pick strawberries as they mature into bright fruits go ensure your plant keeps pushing out more rather than over developing those ready for eating.

Have fun, and as always if you do have a go yourself we’d love to see your pictures. Share with us your strawberries on our socials @Campuccinoskent.

If you enjoyed this why not have a go at growing your own pineapple too! I show you how here.

Vanilla Mug Cake

23 April 2020

Good Morning Campers!

Hopefully you’re all safe and well as we approach the end of another week in isolation.

We wanted to share with you another unhealthy recipe that’s getting us through the misery. Again, it’s easy and you’ve likely got all the ingredients already!

As always no equipment is needed, not even a set of scales. Everything we feature is measured in cup and spoon sizes to make it super simple and fun for children too.

Give it a go, and if you love it as much as us please give us a share ❤️

For our yummy Vanilla Mug Cakes you will need:

2x Tablespoons of Unsalted Butter

1x Tablespoon of Milk

1x Egg Yolk

1.5x Tablespoons of Sugar

1x Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

1x Tablespoon of Baking Powder

4x Tablespoon of Plain Flour

How to make your yummy cake

1. Find a large microwavable mug. The recipe does tend to overflow and spill out of a standard coffee cup. Alternatively you could split your mixed quantity into several cups for a tasty treat for two.

2. Whisk all of your ingredients with a fork inside your cup until it form a smooth batter. Use just the yolk from your egg, discarding the white. The yolk alone will make your cake fluffy, whilst the white will stiffen your recipe which we don’t want.

3. If you’re adding extra goodies to your cake, now is when to do it. We recommend sprinkles for a little colour but you could try chocolate chips, mini marshmallows or raisins.

4. Pop it in the microwave and give your cake a quick 1 minute blast. Check if the top is firm, if not give it a few more seconds upto a maximum of 90 seconds in total.

5. Let your cake stand for a few minutes. The cup will be very hot!

6. Enjoy your mug cake plain, or be extra cheeky like us and top with more sugary icing.

If you have a go at making a Vanilla Mug Cake, please send me photographs @Campuccinoskent on Facebook and Instagram.

If you’ve enjoyed this recipe please subscribe or follow me on socials to see new makes and bakes.

To see my very simple recipe and instructions about how to make very easy Vanilla Sugar Cookies click here.

Rainbow Toast

20 April 2020

Fancy a bright and cheerful breakfast?
Why not paint your toast!

We tried this amazing crafty treat for our morning snack today, I was a little optimistic but it turned out far too good not to share.

All you need is:
Bread
Food Colouring
& Granulated Sugar

Admittedly not the healthiest, but by far the prettiest start to your day.

1. First find a few different pots capable of withstanding boiling water.

2. Add one teaspoon of hot water, one teaspoon of granulated sugar and a fair squirt of food colouring then mix.The edible paint should be of a thick consistency like syrup. This stops your paint from running and turning your bread soggy.

3. Paint away! Experiment with colour mixing and different patterns.4. Toast your slice. I used a standard toaster, popping it every 20 seconds or so to ensure I didn’t crisp our works of art ?.I’d love to see your toasty creations, please send me any photographs of your artwork @Campuccinoskent on Facebook and Instagram.

If you’ve enjoyed this fun activity please subscribe or follow me on socials to see new makes and bakes.

To see my very simple recipe and instructions about how to make very easy vanilla sugar cookies click here.

Take care, Emily xxx

Fresh Egg Pasta

18 April 2020

Did you know that with just 4 ingredients you can make your very own fresh egg pasta?

Its cheap to make, fun to do with children and tastes exceptionally better than the dry pasta from the shelf.

As with all my recipes the ingredients are measured in cup sizes making it super easy for all ages and without need for any fancy equipment.

All you need is:
2 and a half cups of Flour (Plain flour works as a substitute for semolina if you’ve none at hand)
4 x Eggs
A pinch of Salt &
1 x Tablespoon of Olive Oil

Marks and Spencers Little Garden

17 April 2020

These cute Little Garden seedling kits were gifted for every twenty pounds spent on groceries in a Marks and Spencers Foodhall. Each come with tiny little instruction pack and information card about your randomly selected plant.

Inside each cardboard slip is a biodegradable pot, an expanding soil disc and of course your seeds which in this case are cleverly concealed inside a little biodegradable paper square.

To make your soil you pour ontop of the small compost tablet which swells to produce enough to fill each small pot. Much like any other planting you place ontop your paper seed mat and cover in a small amount of soil. Depending on the plant you’re growing you should expect to see different results. The majority of the seedlings offered by M&S have a 7- 14 day sprouting time so not too long to wait. From the Little Garden range in Marks and Spencers I also purchased Morgan a Little Garden tool kit and watering can, both purchasable in store for £3 each. From the Little Garden range we are growing:
Pansys
Forget-Me-Nots
Beetroot
Parsley
Micro Cress
Basil &
Peppers.

6 days on from planting, we have some movement. Our Mirco Cress is sprouting gorgeous greens, each roughly an inch now.

Update: 01.05.2020.

We planted our little seedlings into bigger pots today as each had really healthily rooted in to their pots. As the instructions advise, its possible to replant these little greens – and purples within their cardboard containers as they should be fully disintegrated in just a few weeks.

Here’s some of our 8 healthy plants.

If you are growing your own Little Kitchen seedlings, please send us some photo, we’d love to compare!

If you enjoyed this but missed out on the seedling kits in M&S, why not have a go at growing some seasonable veg in an eggshell? I show you how here.

Grow Your Own Pineapple Tree

17 April 2020

Who ever knew that you could regrow your own pineapple from scraps? Literally, one delicious exotic fruit later and you can grow yourself a whole new plant.

All you need is…. A pineapple!

1. Simply twist to remove the crown and enjoy your favourite fruit.

2. Pull from the bottom of the crown a few of the leaves, leaving about 1 inch of stripped core.

3. Allow your pineapple crown to dry over a few days.

3. Place your pineapple top in a glass jar, filling with water up to the un-plucked leaves.

4. Try to remember to refresh your water at least once a week as it gets quite murky and then wait very patiently.

I actually gave up with my pineapple growth when the top all dried and the core appeared fluffy. Just before throwing the crown I gave it a good shake in the sink to remove the excess water. To my surprise, beneath the manky dried skin there laid the fresh white roots.

I gave my dead top a trim and stood the crown back in some fresh new water. My pineapple crown is now continuing to mature with new green sprouting from the center and longer roots growing each day.

5. When you have well established roots you can transfer your crown to soil and continue its growth in well hydrated soil.

For information about how you can grow your own avocado tree, click here.

Egg Shell Planting

17 April 2020

This is a fantastic way to entertain a child for weeks to come as they watch the ‘hair’ of their painted characters grow.
Of course you don’t need to paint your eggs to enjoy watching them grow.

The great thing here is that once your chosen seeds begin to develop you can literally plant the entire eggshell into the soil. The eggshell will eventually disintegrate providing your plants with extra nutrients.

1. When breaking the shell of your egg, make an effort to do near the top end, removing as little shell as possible (much like when you top a dippy egg).

2. Fill each egg with compost using a teaspoon, compacting down a little and adding more upto a 3/4 full mark.

3. If you do wish to paint, I’d suggest now as a better time as the soil keeps the shell a little more sturdy than whilst it’s empty.

4. Use a finger to make a little well and add your seeds of choice. Fill your well hole with another teaspoon of compost.

5. Use either an egg box or a cut up toilet roll tube to hold upright your precious eggs.

6. Water a small amount each day, tipping away excess water after a few minutes.

In our eggs we are growing Carrots, Radish and Spring Onions.If you do have a go, please send us some photos. I’d love to see your painted eggs!

Update 27.04.2020

Now we have a good amount of growth on our eggs we decided to plant our shells into deeper rooted pots. We cracked the bottom of our eggs and peeled away the shell to reveal the roots.

This isn’t entirely necessary as the roots will make their way through the shell, but for ease and a quicker rooting process and so our eggs could still be seen we chose to expose the roots.

Once our roots were set free we placed our eggs firmly onto the fresh compost and watered them well to embed them in further.

If you enjoyed learning how to plant your own eggshells and would like to know how you can grow grow some carrot tops from scraps, click here.

Carrot Tops

17 April 2020

Who doesn’t have an odd carrot in their fridge? If you don’t, a bag good enough for this little projects costs 40p in Marks and Spencers. And, the best bit is you only need the very top so the tasty vegetable part can still be used for your favourite soup or roasted dinner.

Once you’ve made your favourite recipe, save from discard the end and place it on a small plate of fresh water.

After just a few days you should start to see a teeny tiny sprout.Each day top up your plate with fresh water and soon you’ll have some very leafy greens.

Once each top has established enough of a leafy stem your carrots are ready for planting.

Sadly, you’ll never grow a new carrot using this method but you will grow more and more leafy greens which can be used to make a yummy carrot top pesto, or a delicious salad garnish.

If you do have a go, please send me some photos to share.

If you enjoyed this and would like to see how you can grow your favourite veg out of an eggshell, click here.