Basil and borage

This is a photo of some basil ice cream I made last week and borage iced-water. Yes, really - ice cream made with basil. I saw that Sarah Raven had posted a recipe for it, and I thought I would make it, since I've been growing basil but don't enjoy cooking. Basil ice cream does sound odd, but then mint chocolate ice cream is well established (I once saw a little boy cry, "But I wanted mint chocolate!" when he was mistakenly given chocolate ice cream at Marrocco's in Hove). Basil isn't so very different from mint, is it? Although in flower language, mint means "warmth" and basil means "hate" - which is why I never use basil in arrangements.

I've never made ice cream before and I don't have a churner, or common sense. I used a liquidiser to blend the ingredients, and probably should have used an electric mixer instead. But I took it out and mixed it after an hour in the freezer, and after another couple of hours it was ice cream. And it was delicious - honestly! I used a quarter of the recipe; I don't entertain much and ice cream isn't exactly the sort of thing I can take to a friend's on overheated London trains.

I've also been making borage ice cubes, which gives water a lovely cucumber taste. I think borage is the most versatile flower I've grown - it looks great in arrangements, the bees love it, it's edible, and it looks pretty decorating food. If you've never used it, consider growing it next year. I got my seeds from Higgledy Garden. I have so many borage plants, I gave some to a friend who needs to attract bees to her garden for some of her vegetables to fruit.

And those of you who are still unsure about using basil in ice cream may be relieved to know that I used homegrown basil, tomatoes and a red pepper to make soup. Does that sound a bit better?

Home is where the heart is

This morning I read a brilliant blog post from Duck Egg about decorating a rented home. Duck Egg does lots of gorgeous, vintage-inspired pieces for the home, from animal silhouette fabrics and lampshades to herb pots and kitchen tables. The post included ideas such as getting long, bright curtains, propping up framed prints if you can't use nails on the walls, and brightening up the room with flowers or plants. It's well worth a read if you are renting but want to make some changes to feel like your home is really home.

I had a look through some photos from when I was living in a small flat that felt bereft of personality. I love colour so much, I found it truly depressing to live in a place that was all cream and brown. I didn't do that much, really, partly because I had barely any budget for decorating, but the little things I did - displayed flowers I'd grown or bought, kept a pot of seed-grown basil in the kitchen, made a table runner and tablecloth, baked cakes and served them along with tea in pretty cups and saucers, and put up some cotton bunting that my florist friend, Auriol, had made me - made a difference.

This all reminded me of an interview I read with Jonathan Harvey, the writer of the play and film Beautiful Thing. I can't find it, but I'm sure he said that even though the main family, Sandra and her teenage son, Jamie, lived on their own in a council flat in Thamesmead, Sandra would have made it look as nice as she could. If you watch the film (and I recommend you do - it's very nineties...which I like...but it's such a tender love story, it's my third favourite film), you'll see for yourself.

Not-so-flat flowers

August brought a beautiful array of colour in the garden - the asters have been flowering all month, the sweet peas and chocolate cosmos have continued to blossom, and the repeat-flowering roses have started to bloom a second time this summer. Even the jasmine, still full of foliage, has some flowers.

I've made sure the new flat has fresh flowers every week to brighten it up until it starts to feel like home. There has been a David Austin 'Enigma' bouquet, some roses and a dahlia from The Real Flower Company that I arranged, some florist British bloom chysanthemums (which have a wonderful marshmallow texture), asters and stocks.

There have also been flowers from my family's garden that I've taken over to the flat to arrange. And the scent of stocks, garden roses, sweet peas and chocolate cosmos has been a delight to come home to.

I took a sweet basil plant that I have been growing from seed in the greenhouse to keep in the kitchen. I bought a few different types of seeds from the Jekka's Herb Farm stand at the Chelsea Flower Show. Jekka McVicar is an expert in herbs - I've spent many happy hours reading her book, Jekka's Complete Herb Book, which she signed for me at the flower show. Here is the plant on the day I brought it over, two weeks ago.

And here it is today. It smells yummy - I can't wait to use some when I make dinner!