Remember, remember the 5th of November

As the nights draw in and the leaves begin to fall, here are The Best Dressed Garden we're starting to think about Bonfire Night celebations.   These are our top tips to get your Bonfire Party off with a bang

1.  Light Up The Way

Theres nothing worse than stumbling around in a dark garden or field trying to find your way to the bonfire.  Light the way with tealight holders hung from trees such as these pretty glass and wire holders. These ones are on special offer at the moment - buy two and get a third one free. 

If you don't want to use candles, try placing hurrican lanterns in strategic positions along the way.  This lantern burns lantern oil and has a tall glass shield so it keeps alight on the breeziest of nights.
Click here for more information

All the lanterns at The Best Dressed Garden have 10% off to celebrate Bonfire Night. 
Click here to see the full range 

2.  An Alternative Bonfire
Not everyone has the space or indeed enough rubbish lying around to have a full bonfire.  A Kadai Fire Bowl makes a great alternative to a bonfire for the smaller garden.

All sizes of Kadai Fire Bowls are available from The Best Dressed Garden and delivery is twice a week at £4.95 per fire bowl

3.  Make your parkin a week in advance 
Traditional oatmeal parkin improves with age and after about a week it will be much more moist and sticky than when it was first made.  This is one of our favourite parkin recipes by Delia Smith

Ingredients
8 oz (225 g) medium oatmeal
4 oz (110 g) self-raising flour
a pinch of salt
7 oz (200 g) dark syrup or golden syrup
1 oz (25 g) black treacle, plus 1 teaspoon
4 oz (110 g) margarine
4 oz (110 g) soft brown sugar
2 level teaspoons ground ginger
1 large egg, beaten
1 tablespoon milk
Method
Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 1, 275°F (140°C).
First weigh a saucepan on the scales, and weigh the syrup and treacle into it.
Then add the margarine and the sugar to the saucepan and place it over a gentle heat until the margarine has melted down, do not allow to boil.
Meanwhile, measure the oatmeal, flour and ginger into a mixing bowl, add a pinch of salt, then gradually stir in the warmed syrup mixture till the mixture is all thoroughly blended.
Next add the beaten egg, and lastly the milk. Now pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake on the centre shelf of the oven for 1¾-2 hours.
Then cool the parkin in the tin for 30 minutes before turning out. Don't worry too much if the parkin sinks slightly in the middle

4.  Serve something warm and alcoholic
A little nip of Vin Chaud always goes down well when you're stood around in the cold.  Try gently heating a bottle of red wine with 4 cinnamon sticks, 5 whole cloves, a piece of orange zest and 4tbsp granulated sugar.  Do not allow to boil and just before serving add 1/3 cup of brandy.  Share and enjoy!

Reduced delivery charges

After an email from a customer who didn't understand the way our delivery charges worked, we came to the conclusion that we were being far too complicated.  So after much discussion, we simplified our charges down to two rates:-

• Firstly, a standard delivery charge of £4.95 to a single UK mainland address, regardless of the number of items in your order.  Not bad, considering what you save on driving, parking and queuing, plus general stressing out.
• Secondly, a delivery surcharge of £40 to a single UK mainland address for when larger items are ordered.  A one-off payment to cover the extra cost of getting a heavy item into your garden.

Of course, we still have some extra heavy items, such as our green oak Ripple Bench, which we will quote for delivery on receipt of the delivery address.  Quotations to deliver items to addresses outside of the UK mainland are also available on request.

This means that our Kadai Fire Bowls and Kadai accessories are now delivered to you for just £4.95, as well as any number of garden lanterns and lighting, bird houses and feeders, garden planters, garden accessories etc

Happy shopping!!

Those 'Not so Hot' Summer Nights

With the recent heat wave taking us all by surprise, its easy to forget that we are actually now into October and the evenings drop cold quite early.   So anything that stops us running indoor at 7pm seems like a good idea, which is why we love these new accessories for our Kadai Fire Bowl.

This Kadai Charcoal Starter is a quick and effective way to get your Kadai Fire Bowl started.  Uniquely designed to light your charcoal and bring it up to cooking temperature without the need for smelly lighter fluids.

Awarded Product of the Year 2011 by the RHS at Chelsea, the Kadai Charcoal Maker is an environmentally friendly way of making your own charcoal at home



 Simply fill with hardwood logs then put the whole unit inside a fully lit Kadai, cover with firewood and enjoy the Kadai firebowl for the evening. The following day, when cool, open your charcoal maker and the wood will have changed into charcoal ready for use on your next barbeque.

For further details and to purchase, visit The Best Dressed Garden online garden living shop