Month: August 2015

So I have just sat and typed practically the whole blog when I touched the wrong thing and whoosh it disappeared, second time lucky hopefully! 

Hubby has returned to work after his two weeks working on the farm, and I have to say he has worked very hard indeed, he would be able to tell you exactly what he has done but as ever once it’s done I can’t remember what it was that needed doing. I do know that we now have some lovely new doors on the feed room, the skip is full to the brim, the wood shed is well stocked for Winter, the orchard is clear of weeds and debris and the longest fence on the farm has been replaced 😃 By his own admission it was harder than going to work lol, I shall miss not having him around every day but I will not miss the endless cups of tea I had to make 😜

Luckily the tractor was fixed just before Hubby’s time off began because we have used it to do pretty much every bit of heavy lifting work there was and even though the repair bill made us wince it was well worth it. 

We didn’t get everything done and he could do with another two weeks but we made great progress. I did help him quite a bit but I still had my regular jobs to carry on with as well, mostly picking and processing. Autumn seems to be arriving early, the apples plums and nuts are already ripening which is adding to the work load, I spotted Cyril the Squirrel out and about on the farm so I know it’s time to collect nuts and the apples are falling from the trees already so it time to start picking those. On Friday I looked at the plum trees and they were starting to ripen so we spent an hour or two picking them then on Saturday we graded them and I made some jam, put some in the freezer, some out for sale and made a few crumbles with the rest. That was just the Victoria plums, the greengage so are next to be picked if the rain holds off and the damsons will be last.

I have also picked endless amounts of beans, squash and cucumbers which are selling very well from the little shed. I harvested the second early potatoes some of which were massive, they have all now been checked and those that won’t spoil have been bagged up for storing, those with holes (it never ceases to amaze me that no matter where you plunge the fork in, it always hits a potato) will be used up first. 

The cat, Bella, finally got the all clear from the vet and Patch did very well after his operation, he was no trouble at all. We have accquired some Guniea Fowl, they belonged to my neighbour down the lane and one day I could see the traffic backing up in the lane, someone came to tell me that my Guniea Fowl were causing a traffic jam, I told them that they belonged to lady down the road and at I would ring her and let her know, two days later we came home to find that they were in our front paddock trying to get in with the chickens, the husband came over and said he was fed up with them getting out and we could keep them if we wanted so we let them in with the chickens where they have been happily living for the past week! They are just about the ugliest bird I have ever seen and very noisy screeching at the pigeons sitting on the fence but also amusing, I think they think they think they are chickens. 

At this point I am going to save the draft just in case! 

Phew I managed to find it again 😝

The glacé cherries I began a few weeks ago are now finished although I don’t think I would go to the effort again, it was a long process for little return, however as they are so precious they will be going into the Christmas mincemeat that I need to start thinking about making. I do love this time of year, just like the squirrel I begin to gather up and store goods for the coming months, all the usual veg and fruit produce for the freezer and then the dried goods such as garlic, onions, potatoes but also things like making plenty of stock from bones ready for winter stews and soups, drying herbs and one weird thing that I do which is powdered mushrooms. Hubby can’t digest mushrooms (there is a whole story of years of pain finally resulting in surgery) but he can tolerate the powder so I buy a couple of large punnets and dry them in the dehumidifier then wiz them in the blender and voila mushroom powder to add to stews for flavour. It occurred to me that you could do this with almost anything, a sneaky trick for getting past fussy eaters I reckon so I may try some other things like Aubegines or peppers absolutely anything really that will dry out well could be powdered and they will never know 😉

The photos this week are of Hubby,s fence, I couldn’t leave that out, a before and after shot, the potato harvest, plaits of garlic, the glacé cherries and other produce.

Have a great week 😄

   
    
    
   

Hubby has begun his two weeks busmans  holiday, taking a break from his regular job of plumbing and spending his time at home on the farm catching up with numerous jobs that I can’t do on my own. So far this weekend we have finally moved the chickens into their new house, cleared the paddocks of various crap that gets left lying around and now that the tractor is finally operational again, dragged half the paddock while the chickens are in the other half. He has also cleared the wood pile that was growing at the front of the house, cut most of it up and stored it ready for Winter use. The orchard has been cleared of stinging nettles and debris from the trees,  the place is starting to look tidy and it’s only Monday! 

Meanwhile, apart from helping him now and again, I have been picking produce and getting it ready for storage or sale. I have had a bumper crop of onions and garlic, they are now drying nicely in the greenhouse. I decided to have a go at plaiting the garlic, how hard can it be after all I do have three daughters and so plaiting hair was second nature when they were younger, turns out it’s not quite so easy to do it with garlic! I have made a bit of an effort but I think the French would laugh me out of the garlic store, it will be ok for hanging in the back room ready for use over the next few months. Cucumbers are growing thick and fast, I keep thinking I really only need to plant one but always end up planting about four, consequently I have an abundance of them as they seem to grow really well here, they won’t be wasted though, If I don’t sell them or eat them them the chickens will be very glad of them. The tomatoes are just beginning to ripen at long last and I can just see peppers beginning to form, they may produce something larger if the weather stays warm enough. Of the new produce I experimented with this year the cucamelon that I decided to try turn out to be a bit of a waste of time, they are tiny and I mean tiny, about the size of a grain of rice lol, the samphire never even materialised but the Water Melons, oh my, they are a different story all together, at the minute they are the size of a small football and growing by the day, I can’t wait to try them and hope they live up to expectations. 

The fruit cage is practically harvested now, there are some raspberries left but I found I was competing with the wasps and I didn’t want to risk grabbing hold of one only to get stung in the process. The soft fruit may be coming to and end but we still have the tree fruits to look forward too, I had a quick look at the trees today and there looks like a haul on all three of the plums trees, greengage, Victoria and damson, if I can get them before the wasps. The apple trees are looking good as well, all except the cider Apple which does not appear to have a single Apple on it, not surprising really as it has been heavily laden for the past few years, I guess it needs a rest this year. 

Bella the cat is having to have more treatment after being speyed, she has developed an abscess, not surprising when she removed the rest of her stitches herself and Patch is off to have his off, if you know what I mean, at the end of the week so I will have two convalescing pets to deal with. 

The egg situation is as usual not enough eggs for the amount of customers, I could sell twice as many very easily the only trouble is I don’t have time to look after twice as many hens so it’s first come first served and disappointment for anyone else. 

On the wildlife front the visits from the Red Kite are becoming more frequent, nice to see It in the air such beautiful, graceful birds, we have had a deer visiting the corner paddock, I haven’t told our eldest yet as she is trying to grow the grass in there for the horses 😝 There are an abundance of small birds still around they seem to change though, earlier in the year it was Blue Tits and dunnocks and now we have wrens and finches flittering about. 

I have been looking to buy grass seed to repair the paddocks, you wouldn’t believe how many types of seed mixes there are for different types of ground, I have decided on a mix for clay soil as apparently it will come back quicker In the spring, I have also ordered a seed mix especially for paddocks with chickens, not only does it have grasses and herbs that have longer roots which will bring up vital minerals from the sub soil but it also attracts more insects for the chickens to forage on, all in all diversifying their food sources and hopefully improving their wellbeing. 

The photos are of my Melons, sorry to disappoint anyone who was expecting anything other than fruit! Hubby happily back on his tractor, our growing woodpile ready for the cold months, the onion and garlic harvest and the cucumbers.

Have a fabulous week 😎