Spring has sprung! To celebrate, here are a collection of tips, ideas and inspiration to help you welcome in the new season.
Give your food cupboards a Spring clean
Spring is the time of year when many of us will be giving our house and cupboards a spring clean. If you are sorting out your food cupboards here are some great tips below:
- Mix those leftover biscuits that have lost their crunch with melted butter and use as a cheesecake base or crumble over fruit and ice cream.
Cake that has become dry and passed its best before date can be used in trifle or pour some custard over it for a quick pudding.- Be creative – try substituting your usual ingredients with something you need to use up, for example a different type of tinned beans in chilli, or use couscous instead of rice.
- Follow storage instructions for your food – correct storage can prolong the life of your food and keep it fresher for longer.
- The last drops of jam from the jar can make a sweet complement to your gravy – rinse the remnants with warm water and add to the gravy pan.
- Add ingredients such as paprika, Worcestershire sauce, chilli to your almost empty marmalade jar. Put the lid on and shake the jar to create a marinade to add to meat before cooking.
Having a spring clear out?
If you are having a good old clear out for spring, be sure to reuse and recycle your unwanted items wherever possible. Many charity shops and sites such as Preloved and Freegle will take unwanted items that are in good condition.
Have a look at our A-Z for information on what you can do with your unwanted items.
Love your Garden this Spring
Spring is when the garden starts to wake up and is a busy time for gardeners. If you are busy getting your garden prepared, why not have a look below for some top tips and garden inspiration:
Using what you already have
Here are some great tips on how to reuse some everyday items in your garden. Click on the links below for more information:
- Old tin cans can hold plants and can be great when strung on fences.
- Old CD’s can be reused as bird deterrents to protect your most prized plants.
- Cut old plastic bottles in half to protect your plants.
- Plant markers can be made out of garden sticks/ cane and a potato peeler!
- Tyres can be repurposed into great planters (funky colours optional!)
Composting
The autumn/winter garden & kitchen waste will have started to rot down to produce important nutrients for the new plants and to help produce stronger new shoots on your existing plants.
Remember to keep adding to the compost bin to keep a constant flow of compost for the coming months.
Spring cleaning is not just for the house; hanging baskets, patio tubs and garden beds will also need a good tidy up. Winter pansies and violas, annual primulas and polyanthus all need to be cleared and put into the compost bin. Leftover used compost can also be put back into the bin.
When planting new shrubs in the spring give them a really good water and mulch heavily with compost; the additional moisture that the mulch will hold means that you’ll have to do less watering throughout the growing season.
Click here to find a great tutorial on how to compost, and find out where you can purchase a reduced price compost bin here.
Spring Inspired Recipes
Have a look below for some fantastic recipes that are great for spring.
Spring Vegetable Risotto
Risotto is great dish to use up all of those store cupboard leftovers. This spring risotto recipe includes all the best vegetables of spring!
Slow Roasted Spring Shoulder of Lamb
Why not try a wonderful shoulder of lamb for a change, this under-used tender meat is full of flavour and cheaper than leg. This can be prepared and marinated the day before.
Croutons to go with a salad
If you’re making a salad, perhaps for a picnic or to take to work, why not try making these great croutons to go with it?
Love Easter Hate Waste
Get back to basics with small changes that can make a real difference to the waste you produce this Easter – visit the ‘Love Easter, Hate Waste’ webpage.
