F. Can you tell us a bit about your Somerset cottage?
SB. We have backgrounds in art and design and found that our home and garden is the place where we can be creative. As soon as we viewed the cottage just over 2 years ago we fell in love with it. The thatched cottage is old and full of character – original inglenook fireplace and lovely blue lias stone. We have been slowly renovating it, along with making the garden our own.

F. Have either of you ever lived in the city or have you always been based in the countryside?
SB. We are from the South and South West originally, but before moving to the Somerset countryside, we lived in London for 20 years. At first we absolutely loved the fast paced way of life and all the things the city provides, however we longed for more space, less noise and a better quality of life, especially being closer to nature.

F. What are you up to in the garden at the moment?
SB. It's a busy time in the garden at the moment, especially in the vegetable garden. We recently added a new greenhouse to the space which has meant reorganising the growing area and adding extra raised beds. The greenhouse is now filled with many varieties of tomatoes as well as chilli’s, peppers, and aubergines. We are also trying melons, which is a first for us!
We are slowly learning more and increasing the range of vegetables we grow. The summer months are always a bumper time for us and for around 5 months of the year we are fairly self- sufficient. We are hoping to get better at succession planting, so we have more growing in the vegetable garden over the winter months.
We are also very lucky that the garden has a wide range of fruit trees and bushes. The jam and chutney making will be starting soon. It's been a long time since we've had to buy a jar of jam!

F. What’s your favourite Falcon product and what do you use it for?
SB. We love using the 3 pint jug for displaying flowers. A few raised beds in the vegetable garden were freed up last year for growing cut flowers. There’s something so satisfying about planting seeds and watching them grow into beautiful flowers you can pick for the house.
The serving tray is regularly used for salads and roasted vegetables and the bake set is also a particular favourite - very useful for picking and then roasting up the glut of vegetables from the garden.

F. Is there a specific dish that you would personally make using any of our Falcon products?
SB. We love asparagus season and find that the serving tray is great for preparing seasonal salads. Our favourite salad at the moment is our locally sourced asparagus salad with chives from the herb garden and eggs from our hens (as pictured).

F. Are there any other local companies you'd like to shoutabout? Where do you usually eat, drink, and source ingredients in your local area?
SB. We are very lucky to have a local organic farm shop and café (Pitney Farm Shop & Café ) closeby – it has great seasonal produce and is a friendly community hub. https://www.thepitneyfarmcafe.co.uk & https://www.pitneyfarmshop.co.uk
Our favourite place to eat locally is 28 Market Place, Somerton (28marketplace.co.uk) – they have a restaurant, wine shop, bakery and coffee shop. The service is always spot on and the food is outstanding.

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