Hello, we are the Cross-Broomes !
We are a family of five living in Cambridge who have recently pledged to grow, forage and make our way to a more satisfying, fun and economical urban family lifestyle.
I believe we are pretty representative of a typical English, urban family. We live in a pleasant 3 bedroom Edwardian semi on the outskirts of the city. Our garden is small, with just enough room to house our pet guinea pig and the girls' wendy house. But we are fortunate to have an allotment plot and lots of friends with big gardens close by. The girls attend the local school and have crazily hectic social lives that we manage to accommodate pretty well, despite them having three different friendship groups and interests.
Our household income probably falls into the average bracket but at the lower rather than higher end. We can't afford to run a car but as Cambridge is geographically very flat and heavily populated with students it is very much a cycle friendly city so we manage well enough and it adds to our environmentally friendly image !
As a family we share a love for cooking, brewing, eating and creative crafting which basically means that all available surfaces in the kitchen and dining room are usually covered with mixing bowls, pans and a good scattering of flour, paint pots, pens, bits of card, string and various piles of “works in progress”. Or as my own mum would describe it, “a mess” !
Marcus now spends his (long) working hours in front of a computer screen but his passion and background lies in horticulture, so gardening, our allotment and foraging is (for the most part) a welcome break. He is also bit of a brewing enthusiast and so while I concentrate on filling our bellies, Marcus provides my liquid refreshment !
Our three daughters have retaliated against and proudly embraced the changes that we have made to our shopping and eating habits. They have pressed sad faces to the window to watch the neighbours weekly food shop being delivered to their door, moaned as a team at having to get dressed to go to the allotment and then bickered as enemies once they got there. They have enthusiastically tucked into bowls of nettle soup, greedily gathered fruit from the allotment and hedgerows and excitedly turned them into icecreams, sauces and sweet treats.
Most importantly though we are all beginning to realise the effort and time that is required to conscienciously grow, nurture, collect and make the food that we eat. With this comes an appreciation and interest that we could not achieve by mindlessly filling our larder and freezer with packaged goods.
I am not for one minute claiming that our meal times are always satisfying, joyous occasions but the girls are definitely more adventurous in their eating habits. I do still hear the claim "Mmmmm, that's really yummy mummy..........but I'm a bit full up" and then seconds later "is there any pudding today?" but generally the clean plates out weigh the full ones so we are definitely getting there !
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