I could hardly believe it when I looked at the news to read that ‘Grease’ the classic musical we all remember well, with the T birds and the pink ladies is 30 years old? My, where has the time gone?

We all know how fashion goes around in a circle and if you keep something long enough it will actually come back into fashion again.  Well its the same with home economics, we have gone full circle and returned to the 1940’s according to all the latest research.

There has been a massive increase in sales of cheaper cuts of meat, or we are buying a quality joint and using this to make several meals from. So you would have a roast meal, then a cottage pie and soup or stew all from the same joint for a number of days. One thing with the cheaper cuts of meat, you will need to cook them longer and slower and these cuts can be tremendously tasty cooked in such a way.

Along with a 15% increase in shoe repairs and the recycling of clothes. Seamstresses are reporting an increase of business as we are all having our clothes repaired and patched. Even the humble chimney sweep has seen a growth of 28% in business due to the credit crunch.  As all of us start using our open fire places and burning wood etc rather then putting the central heating on.

Even gym’s are experiencing a huge decline in memberships, as people cancel their membership to even train at home or start gardening to keep fit, by growing their own vegetables.  Root vegetables are actually experiencing a revival. However they are expensive in the supermarkets having recently seen a turnip on sale for over £1.  This seems astonishing to me, when you think that just a few pounds spent to buy potato seedlings for example, actually produces around 3 sacks.  My potatoes dug up fresh from our garden are delicious and melt in your mouth bursting with flavour.  At the moment we have swede, turnips, beetroot, onion and tomatoes in abundance.

I love this vegetable rack which really becomes a feature in your kitchen when filled with fresh colourful vegetables. This superb indoor kitchen vegetable rack looks fantastic with its black iron look frame and willow baskets. A round 3 tier vegetable rack in buff & green willow to  give you fruit and vegetable storage. 3 woven baskets each 32cm in diameter and 12 cm deep to hold your fresh vegetables and fruit.

 Have you grown sunflowers? my sunflower has been no way near the height of previous years although I have had alot of multiple heads upon each stem. The tallest sunflower grew to only 5 feet this year. What height has your grown too this year? Send in a picture? or tell me what you have been doing different because of the credit crunch in the kitchen?