Month: July 2017

Monday: I thought I was doing really well this morning, John is off for the week to do farm stuff providing he doesn’t get endless phone calls 😜 and we were up for an early start. The weather is a bit crap for July and Dad is visiting so I thought I will get some braising steak in the slow cooker and get some bread made then go out and sort the animals. Came back in and the bread timer pinged but the bread dough was still flat, muppet, I have forgotten to put the yeast in, that will teach me not to rush around trying to multitask! I have now added the yeast given it another knead and we will see if it responds, if not I will have to start again. Well the bread did rise so that was good, I also decided to make some more courgette and chocolate cake and I make courgette and potato soup for lunch which was quite delicious.

John is doing well on the task in hand and we got the cement mixer out and mixed up some concrete for the base of the new run but ran out of ballast, to be fair we were using some left over in a tonne bag and it didn’t go as far as we hoped so will have to get some more to finish it off. He was digging holes for the posts and came across a fair few bottles in the ground, plenty of bottle dumps around here as it used to be part of the military camp, most were broken, however one was fully intact and it still has the stopper a rare find indeed, I googled the company and they are still brewing ale today. The area he is digging in has some foundations either from a path or from the old Nissan huts that were once in the front paddocks, or as dad tells me the latrines were also here 😜

Tuesday: A good day weatherwise but we are forecast heavy showers tomorrow so need to get as much done as possible, I had Mia but she fell asleep in the pushchair after her lunch so I was able to take her into the garden and do some dividing up of plants that are going over such as Solomans Seal and Diacsia, I did some Lilly of the Valley and the Tete a Tete daffy earlier in the season.

Wednesday: The showers are here 💦 saves me watering the garden but it’s difficult to get much else done, John worked until he was soaked. I ordered some bantam eggs online as I can’t seem to find any point of lays within an hours drive, so I have set up the Incy again, only trouble is that the automatic pump packed up on it so I will have to monitor the humidity and hope I get it right. I did try moving a broody hen into the rabbit house with her own hut but the minute I put her in there she decided not to sit any longer 😜 bloody typical. I have tried in the past leaving them where they are but the other hens always want to get in and lay in the same place causing problems and broken eggs. 

Feeling a bit stressed today as the job in hand is not moving as quickly as I would really like and if it doesn’t get finished before John goes back to work that will be another half done job and we have plenty of those. 

Made some bread and prepped some runner beans for the freezer, I really need to sort the freezers out as everything just get put on the top and I can never find what I’m looking for. I saw an idea using a felt tip and writing on the top what is in there, I might have to implement this ideas somehow. 

Thursday: The new rabbit/guinea pig run was finally finished to day and I think they like it 😀 certainly much more space for them to run around in than their little cages, nice and secure, wind proof and with a roof, life of Riley! I too, them some weeds to celebrate and all is well, hopefully as they have not all lived together before. Most of the morning was spent finishing that off and tidying up then John and I went for afternoon tea at ten Crazy Bear Farm Shop, a nice little getaway afternoon that Charlie and Macca got us for Christmas, delicious and we bought some goods from the farm shop to bring home for supper later. 

Saw Josh for the first time since Monday as he has been poorly, he went to hospital in an ambulance on Monday night with croup, he still has a really raspy voice bless him but still smiling. 

Friday: Dad and Sue decided to stay on for a couple of days more for my birthday weekend, in the afternoon we tried to put the gazebos up. First one was ok though a little blowy, the second frame went up and then we tried to get the roof cover on and a gust of wind took us all up up and away, bent poles the lot so we abandoned that for the day lol. 

Saturday: Today the family are coming over for a picnic in the paddock with sack races, egg and spoon races, aunt Sally and a bit of dancing. Hope the weather is kind to us as it’s been crap ever since the kids broke up for summer hols😜 We had a good few hours in the dry but the rain came on in the early evening, luckily we had cleaned up the back covered area just in case and so retreated into there until late evening. A good time was had by all 😀

Sunday: Today is my birthday, John did the animals while I cleared up some of the remnants of the night before, then I opened my presents and cards ♥️ did a bit more clearing up 😝 the girls came over with the grandchildren and Martin, Sam cooked me a bit of dinner, and that was pretty much it for the day. 

Monday: All was going well until I discovered that all my lovely pears have been stripped from the tree, it was loaded with them and now they are all gone? One of two things, either we have night time visitors picking their own or more likely the bloody rooks are doing it, we have had hundreds of them in the paddocks this week. There is a I’m guessing, unmanaged, rookery up the road and the numbers are increasing ridiculously. Normally they descend on the chicken feed but as that is now fed inside they are raiding everything else. Disheartened is not the word I can tell you, waited all year for those 😤
I don’t know if we are headed for a harsh winter, or if the long dry spell and then hot spell is driving it but they are stripping fruit bushes and trees before the fruit is even ripe. I have covered the small Apple tree that has some apples left on it although they have been eating them while they are still on the branch, the bigger trees hopefully have enough on them still to get a good crop from but I am beginning to wonder if there is much point to any of this at all 😔 I have never had a year with so many different problems! I ordered a plastic owl with rotating head to see if that works, then I remembered something my Dad showed me many years ago using a potato, a stick, some string and some feathers, I have goose feathers lying round from when they moulted so I made a potato bird and we will see if it works. 

So I gave it half an hour wandered down the garden and there was a crow sat right next to it on the fence………clearly they don’t work lol, might have to try a cardboard cut out of me with a gun! 

We moved the geese back to the front paddock, mainly because they are nervous at the back since the fox attack but also because we are getting a few windfall apples now and they might as well be put to good use clearing them up 😀

Went out this evening to Charlbury to water youngest daughters hanging baskets and put the bins out as they are away, a summer evening drive through the Windrush Valley has to be one of the most beautiful things to do, combines are out cutting the crops, billows of dust in their wake, feeling very lucky to live here. 

Tuesday: Did some picking this morning, got a haul of courgettes again 😜 picked and cooked some beetroot to go in the fridge for eating with my salads, also dwarf beans and runners, and some more self set potatoes, one or two big enough for a jacket 😀 picked a mix of berries and had a power packed berry smoothie for breakfast 😁Mia is here today so lots of playing lol, hopefully an afternoon nap, eventually! 

John cut the front driveway grass while I got the dinner and that was about it for the evening, waiting for the storms now. 

Wednesday: Well we didn’t have storms, not that I heard anyway, but we did have rain, it’s lovely and fresh out there this morning although the temps are already climbing. I won’t be doing any picking today, I will leave the rain to work it’s magic for a day or so mind you the courgettes may well be marrows by then.

The egg customers seemed to have disappeared this week 😝 over the years I have noticed a pattern, the week before the school holidays begin, the egg sales slow right down, my theory is that as most of our customers are older they take the opportunity to go away on holiday before the kids break up, either because they will be looking after the grandchildren over the hols or they want a child free break. I’ve never actually asked any of them but it seems the most likely explanation. 

I said that we have moved the geese partly to eat up the fallen apples, these are from the June/July drop which occurs naturally to thin out the fruits on the tree but I suspect that lack of rain is also causing fruits to drop, most have been ravaged overnight by insects and early birds but occasionally there is an intact rather nice looking apple. I wondered if it was safe to use such early windfalls and googled it, seems I’m not the only one who wants to know, there are, as you would expect, a range of opinions from a scientific study stating that mould spores on the apples are dangerous and you should only eat/use ones picked from the tree to ‘I use the windfalls bruises, bugs and all to make cider’ I suspect the truth is somewhere in the middle. The best answer I found was a practical one that stated it was difficult to peel them for use as they were quite hard, makes sense so for the time being I will feed them to the geese and hope there are still some left come September. While I was looking for info I came across an article by Rose Prince in The Telegraph, and a recipe for apple jelly, it wasn’t so much the recipe that intrigued me but the way the jelly was then used in various ways. 

‘I eat the best of windfalls and make purée out of others, but apple jelly is the real reason I beg windfalls from friends. I put a sprig of thyme in each jar and add it to gravies or eat a spoonful with roasts and grills. I also make a jar without herbs and use it as a base for fruit sorbets or melt it so I can brush it on to a baked apple tart or fruitcake.’ 

That is my idea of a useful bit of information and I will certainly be making apple jelly and using it as described above and as many other ways as I can think of, the article ended with this statement;

‘Squirrel instincts satisfied, I can look at my stored jars of setting iridescent liquid and foresee a winter of goodness. Pectin may be invisible, and apple jelly not the most essential food, but to me it is the difference between a winter that is interesting and one that is dull.’

Rose Prince – The Telegraph 

A girl after my own heart ❤️ 

APPLE JELLY 

Sterilise three or four half-pint/300ml jars, heating them in a low oven or putting them through the dishwasher. 

Put 4lb 8oz/2kg quartered apples into a large, heavy-based pan. Add enough water to cover one third of the depth of the apples. Bring to the boil slowly and simmer until soft.

Spoon into a jelly bag then hang the bag over a bowl. Let the juice drip through the bag naturally, without forcing, or your jelly will be cloudy and will not set well.

Measure the juice, then add 1lb 2oz/500g granulated sugar for every 1 pint/600ml liquid, boil for about 15 minutes, or until the jam reaches 110C/220F or the right setting on a sugar thermometer.

Pour into the sterile jars and place a wax disc on the surface of the hot liquid. It will set into a delicate pink jelly. Add a sprig of thyme once the liquid has cooled. Add juniper for a gamey flavour, or red chillies for a hot jelly.

Thursday: Rain again overnight, found a dead hen in the hut, she had fallen in the water bucket last night John said, I think it’s the one who has been brooding all this time even though I keep throwing her off the nest, some hens you just can’t break. I had a quick look in the veg garden 👀 it’s sprouted like a jungle! I need to go and pick courgettes later before they become marrows, yes a courgette is just a mini marrow in case anyone didn’t know that 😜 

Last night I asked John if he wanted to know what I want for my birthday, normally he asks me and I say ‘surprise me’ not the best idea so, I took matters into my own hands and I decided I would like a ‘nutribullet’, ‘where do I get one of those’ he asked, luckily for him I can order it from Amazon which is exactly what I did and it arrived this morning 😀 I have already had my first nutriblast and I have to say it’s very good, I can see I will be easily able to use up odd bits of fruit and veg in a great way, soup looks like it will be an incredibly easy affair and I’m hoping nuts will easily to pulp into butters. We will see how it goes but I can probably get rid of my juicer and blender leaving much needed cupboard space for other gadgets 😝 

I made courgette (actually marrow but we covered that bit) chutney this morning, a fairy easy recipe, I didn’t follow it exactly but swapped ingredients I didn’t have for ones I did, I also cooked it slowly a lot longer than stated as I wanted a spreadable chutney rather than chunky. 

I’ve been thinking recently about how much I have unintentionally veered away from being eco friendly, convenience is exactly that and it’s easy to fall by the wayside so I will be making a concerted effort to get back on track. A lot of what I do is eco friendly, but some of it definitely isn’t, like the use of plastic for instance, I try to use recycled wherever possible even pegs and I try to reuse but so much of what we use today comes in a handy plastic container or wrapper, and I really wish they would provide paper bags for loose produce like the old days. First step is a bamboo toothbrush I think, I never really gave it much thought until I saw a Facebook pop up for them, now I’ve seen it and thought about it, I need to do something to rectify my years of plastic toothbrushes. I shall take it small steps at a time but I will be thinking a little bit harder when making my shopping choices in future. 

Friday: A squally day weather wise, we have gone from raging sun to wet, windy and colder there is definitely an autumnal feel to the weather, that’s not the only thing, the blackberries are about a month early, are we in for a hard Winter I wonder? 

I prepped some veg I picked yesterday for the freezer, made bread, put some sliced onions in the dehydrator for turning into onion powder, made an onion, potato and bacon bake to go with chicken for dinner and then a lot of visitors descended upon me lol, first Sam and Mia, then the Friday garden help, then Shelley followed by Charlie and then Dad and Sue, full house 🏡 

The rain came down and that was that for the day, dinner was delicious. 

Hold that thought, that was not that as I had stated, it’s hammering down, we finished watching Ripper Street on catch up and John says, ‘you better get your work clothes on’, ‘why?’ I ask, ‘water will be pouring in the chicken run at the back’ ‘what the one you fixed last time it rained and poured in’, ‘yep that one’, ‘why will it be pouring in didn’t you fix it?’ ‘I propped up the roof with wood and it fell down in the week’, ‘you didn’t think to put it back up while it was dry then?’ ‘on your own matey, I would have made sure it didn’t happen again especially when heavy rain was forecast’ so that was that for me but not John 😝😝

Saturday: Wet overnight but a dry start to the day, gave the rabbits and Guinea pigs a good clean out after I had finished the morning feed round, John started work on the fencing at the back of the decking area which will also be the fence for the other rabbit run, we will be concreting the floor of this run so that the rabbit can’t dig her way out. We went out for lunch with My Dad and Sue and that was pretty much it for the day then until afternoon feeding and egg collecting. The egg sales are still flying off the shelf, I wish I could say the same for the courgettes 😂😂 or any of the veg for that matter, last year I couldn’t get them out fast enough this year nobody seems to want them, so next year I definitely won’t be planting as much and will need to think about what exactly I will do with the ground instead, after all there is only so much veg we can eat or freeze. 

Sunday: More rain yesterday evening and overnight and again a dry start to the day, this morning after feeding I cleaned out the duck shed, pick a few veg including cucumbers and then went to sort out the chicken pen that John was trying to sort in the rain the other night. The trouble is once the dirt gets wet the chickens make a real mess, so I scraped it up and moved the water bucket away from the wet area and then Sam and I put a piece of board over the wet soil which will help to dry the whole area up, I think the chickens think it’s a giant mud paddling pool. Dad and Sue called in to see if we wanted to go down to the pub for a pint, John dropped everything very quickly and off we went 😝 

Monday again 😜 Where does the time go? Still no rain and things are looking a bit desperate, I watered the fruit trees we planted in the front paddock as they are only a couple of years old and look like they are flagging. After doing the feed routine and nothing untoward happened, I went straight into the veg garden to do some cutting back and some hoeing. The garlic has developed rust so I pulled that as it’s nearly time, disappointing small bulbs but still useful, it was mostly due to their location under the nut trees and I am going to remove that bed as everything struggles in there. I burnt the garlic leaves and sterilised the secateurs as rust is a fungus that will spread if not careful. Our lovely chap who brings us useful things in exchange for muck has brought some great stuff for making raised beds and I’m already planning where they will go. I’m thinking that they will go on top of the existing beds, which are far too shallow and it’s a struggle to get stuff growing, rather than making a new area, is it sad that I get excited by receiving stuff to make raised beds lol. Picked some dwarf beans, a couple of courgettes and some artichoke as well as raspberries and a few blueberries. The blueberry bushes have been disastrous this year, they had been fine in previous years but seem to have come loose at the roots, they need coming out and possibly replacing or if I can get them back, replanting in new soil. I caught a magpie stealing my cherries, I don’t think there is much hope of getting a crop, they are morello and much tarter than ordinary ones but the birds don’t seem to care they ransack it anyway. Watered the garden in the evening, I am using pumped rain water from the tanks for one half of the garden I don’t how much is left but hope we get some rainfall soon 😝

John spent a couple of hours digging up yet more docks. 

Tuesday: My word it’s very close out there this morning, either that or I am running a temperature! The air is as still as it can be and it feels suffocating, all is well with the animals, I moved Jack onto a bit of long grass to chew it off save me mowing it and I shall spend a couple of hours in the veg garden doing whatever needs doing. If the sun comes out today it’s gonna be hot, good job the tennis is on and I can escape indoors to watch a couple of matches 🎾 

I decided to rescue the blueberry bushes which as I have said are in a sorry state, I dug them up, pruned them right back and have plunged them into a water and rooting powder solution. My first port of call was to test the soil, they need a ph of around 4.5/5.5 so out comes the science bit but the soil seems to be acidic enough so the only thing I can think of is wind rock as the roots were very loose. There don’t appear to be any critters that would harm the roots in the trough and the one in a recycling box on its own is doing fine, so I will see if I can nurse them back to health, if not I will have to buy new ones for next year. I have some tiny little lemons on the lemon tree🍋 nothing on the orange tree mind you but I am pleased with what I have as long as they keep growing. I was thinking of moving them but they seem to like it in the greenhouse and they survived the winter in there although last winter was fairly mild in comparison to other winters, two figs are growing nicely on the fig tree and again I would like to move it but don’t want to tempt fate. I have seen some huge fig trees in the area when I was gardening so it is possible to have a good harvest however the conditions need to be right and they quickly die if it’s not. I can’t see anything on the kiwi and I only have 1 or 2 apricots on that tree. 

Wednesday: 9.30am and I don’t mind telling you I’m flagging already! It’s hot out there and I have managed to do the feed round, water the poly tunnel, pick some raspberries and a few runner beans, sat and shared my coffee break with a red legged partridge. I planted the pumpkin plants yesterday, to be honest I forgot about them and there were about 10 so put some up for sale and sold them, they were doing ok in the greenhouse just getting a bit leggy! 

I think I will be mostly indoors today keeping cool 😎 

Spent the evening watering once it had cooled down enough.

Thursday: Got up early, and I mean early, 4.15 lol, I was going to get up and have an early start anyway but not quite that early, however, I woke up, decided to go into the kitchen and see what time it was as there was daylight outside and discovered it was 4.15, so I stayed up, had breakfast, got dressed and went out into the garden. It was delightfully peaceful, I had the farm all to myself, no chickens, no ducks, no dogs and no humans, as I was pottering around I watched a snail make slow but steady progress across the lawn, just the pace that life should be. They say it will be around 30c today so that’s why I went out and got started, John got up, eventually 😜, and did all the feeding and watering so that I could carry on 😘 came indoors around 11 feeling knackered lol and still hoping for some of these thundery showers! 

Goodness me what a warm day ☀️ I had a sleep at about 3.30 woke up feeling tired lol shouldn’t have bothered, although I would probably have been grumpy if I didn’t 😝 The air is close and no sign of any breaking so I shall be watering this evening, it takes me a good couple of hours, one hose is on the mains the other pumped from the rain tanks so I can do two lots at once but still it takes forever. 

Friday: Warm again but I didn’t get up early today, did the morning rounds then indoors to do paperwork, the end of year paperwork has be up together for both the farm and the bathroom business, so I made a start on that. 

The egg sales have been mental today and not only have we sold yesterday’s but all of today’s by 5pm! That means there will be no eggs tomorrow until the afternoon. John is off to pick up some more pullets in the morning, hopefully they will be near to laying if not already. I shall be watering again this evening, the situation is getting rather dire, the chicken paddock is brown and bare, the only reason the veg are ok is constant watering, rain needed pleeaase. 

Picked a few courgettes and some raspberries, started off some raspberry vinegar, and a sourdough starter, I’ve been making bread for a while now with conventional ingredients, time to become artisan 😜 I love sourdough and as long as it toasts and make sandwiches John will eat it, so now is as good a time as any to begin. 

Saturday: Fabulous day today, we were up early again because John was taking Charlie and Macca to the airport for their holiday, then picking up some more POL hens,  I figured I may as well get up at the same time, early morning is the best part of the day in Summer. I did some picking and a bit of watering before doing the feed round, the geese needed water and on connecting the hose I discovered some muppet had shut the gate onto the hose, pinching it and causing the metal grill covering it to pierce a hole straight through it so I had to mend that first. I have collected sage and that is in the dehydrator ready to dry out for Winter use, the other herbs are still in flower so I will leave them for the bees 🐝 then cut them back and harvest the new growth to dry. While I was working I could hear an unfamiliar bird noise, and then a return call, I thought it was buzzards to start with but when I went to look where it was coming from I saw two Kite sat on posts calling to each other. They are huge when they are close up, shame I didn’t have time to get the camera, I did call John down from the paddock so he could see them though.

 There are some beautiful flowers in the garden at the moment and I picked a bunch of sunflower, English mace and asparagus fern to adorn the kitchen table, I did think they would make a lovely simple, graceful, bridal bouquet. The cornflowers always make me smile whenever I go past them, I will be collecting the seeds from them when they go over and spreading more smiles around the garden 😄😀 Then the little fairy rose has become a favourite of mine as well this year, I bought them with the intention of putting them in the front boxes but they need a bit of a revamp first so I will just keep potting them on for the time being. 

We spent at least an hour drilling out the remains of the handle in the fork I snapped off in the week, lol,who knew it would be such a tough job, new handle on its way 😀

Then a sit down to watch some tennis 🎾 

I forgot to mention that I finally got round to sorting out the tools we inherited, there were about ten different sets of screwdrivers and I will never be short of a lump-hammer or nails ever again! I found a few curiosities, well they were to me anyhow, I told John I found a home made mini pick, he looked at it and said ‘that’s a twating hammer’ who knew there was such a thing lol, apparently it’s for glass work. A pair of mole grips was eagerly spotted by himself but I quickly put them away out of his reach, however now he knows they are there I’m not sure how long they will remain in my toolbox 😜 

Our man came with some more useful wood tonight and John was still out in the field at 10pm cutting down docks, while I was watering I spotted 👀 a rat 🐀 running along the back of the duck run so I fed him well tonight 😝

Sunday: Today I have had enough!!! And it’s only 10am, firstly, I let the geese out, walk away 100 yards to watch the chickens enjoying sitting in on top of a cabbage I hung out for them, hear a commotion in the goose paddock turn around and the eeffing fox has got my gosling, I chase after it retrieve the gosling but it dies of a puncture wound and shock. Then as it’s already getting hot outside and I am exhausted counting the number of cabbage white butterflies (why are the pain in the arse ones never endangered) I come indoors to tidy up, pick up the raspberry vinegar I have had going for two days and the lid comes off and it’s all over the bloody counter ffs, days like today are deflating and I think, fuck it, I can’t be arsed anymore. There are no eggs for sale as we sold out in 15 minutes flat yesterday, which is good but the customers keep coming and John wants to get more chickens but I don’t as I don’t physically have the time to do anymore especially when it’s hot. Why the hell the fox doesn’t get the rabbit numbers down and do us all a favour is beyond me, the pigeon numbers seem to be going up and they are a pain, knocking over plants everyday that I have out for sale, sitting above the doorway on the telegraph pole and shitting everywhere, the rooks are getting into the houses nicking the feed and eating any eggs they find, rats are back doing the same, the bloody dogs keep digging a hole outside the back door chucking dirt all over, I keep sweeping it up and they do it again, and we neeeeeeeeed some rain, just a little bit will do as the paddocks are nearly dead and the apples are falling off the trees because it’s so dry. I actually cannot find anything positive today ( right at that very minute of writing a bird flew in the window and sat inside on the sill)  a reminder to shut up moaning maybe, today is a strange one for sure 😏 I was going to edit the last bit out, but there you have it a warts and all lifestyle 😜 At least the sourdough starter didn’t get vinegar in it! 

Five minutes later and a knock at the door, can they have some ice for one of the girls who has had a head butt from the horse and now has a fat lip, I told you, I don’t think it’s me, it’s the day itself and not even high noon! 

John is on the home run digging up the docks, last little bit in the last paddock, I don’t know why we have so many this year, probably because we didn’t tackle them last year or the year before lol. Later this evening he is off to help the chap pick up some more wood and crates for the farm later, there are some large frame crates and I mean 6ft tall, I’m thinking they will make good sheds, love getting stuff that can be repurposed or reused. 

Picked a whole load of courgettes, no shortage this year, I can see we will have a glut, need to find some good recipes for them. 

The rest of the day went without incident I am pleased to say 😀

Hello, I hope you enjoyed Shelley’s blog last week and her experience of looking after the farm while we were away.We got straight back into work Saturday morning, although we had to have a nap in the afternoon! Everything has romped away and I can’t believe how much growth the veg have put on, there are the beginnings of cucumbers, squash and I picked a handful of French beans. The raspberries are coming thick and fast as are the strawberries, I spent the morning picking some of these along with mangetout, a few weeds for the rabbits to munch on, a couple of loads of washing got done and we moved the geese from the front to the back paddock, we chopped down a few docks and thistles, put fresh hay in their hut and filled up the water, then proceeded to herd them round. It went well for the first 2 minutes then the baby decided it didn’t want to leave the only place it had known and tried to get back, I had to pick it up and carry it, this made it easier in fact as the older geese just followed the squawking, although its sharp claws took a chunk out of my hand. 

After nap time 😝 John went into the large side paddock and chopped down docks, the horses have grazed it all off and moved now so it’s a good time to tidy it up, we will put some seaweed fertiliser on when there is some rain forecast. I clipped the rest of the nut trees that shelley started, there is a row of around 12 of them so it’s a big job and I have the blister to prove it. Then tea time, broad beans are the veg today along with a chop and some potatoes for John and salmon and a mixed salad for me, then raspberry, strawberry, blueberry mix for pudding. 

The pirate ship Martin has been building is fab and I have been looking for accessories for it such as a ships wheel and some rope netting, I have an old Bosuns whistle they can use when they get older and I think a spyglass would be a good addition, what lucky children they are, pirate costumes needed as well I think 😀

Sunday: Today is our 34th wedding anniversary, blimey where did those years go! No rest for the wicked though and we started working straight after breakfast, John did the animals while I got stuck into the garden, I discovered the purple dwarf beans had been busy producing while we were away so picked a good lot of those, some rhubarb, artichokes, broccoli, raspberries and strawberries. I had a large tub of raspberries and had nearly finished when my bracelet caught on a branch and the whole lot went tumbling to the ground, expletives could be heard if you were nearby 😜 John reported that we had a dead quail and a duck who had got stuck in the water yesterday was not looking too good this morning, he gave her some water and I told him to put her in the new shed to rest, she may have had too much amorous attention from a drake, it often happens at this time of year. Visits from all the girls, grandchildren and also Macca this morning, not one of them remembered our Anniversary lol, not to worry we don’t exactly celebrate it either except to wish each other ‘Happy Anniversary’ which is more than enough 😀 

Monday: Got a nice early start and the morning was pleasant, I started differently this morning with watering the veg that gets the sun first, it is still cool enough for them to absorb a fair bit of moisture and hopefully they will be happy with that. Then onto the animals, the duck that was poorly has been taken inside to see if rest, feed and water can help if not it will be a dispatch job. I let the horse out onto the strip to eat the grass that has grown on there, we will see if he stays where he is supposed to 😜 if not he will be back behind the electric fencing with hay. I blanched a bit of veg whilst on a coffee break then out to pull the overwintered onions, apparently they don’t store well and can be pulled before the tops turn brown, I will have probably dehydrate a few of them for winter use. I had a look at the garlic that has formed some good bulbs and won’t be long before they are pulled and dried, I still have some left from last year they have stored very well and I would say we are definitely self sufficient in garlic now 😀 

Samantha and Mia came over to help, they cleaned out the guinea pigs and rabbits then Sam cut one of the black currant bushes and we sat and harvested the juicy plump currants, the others that had not ripened went to the chickens and the branches that were now stripped went to the rabbits to chew on, all while listening to Sam telling Mia a made up story about a little girl called Mia and her dog Alfie, perfect. After lunch I sorted out some plants for sale and put them out with the prices on, three I put out yesterday disappeared just like that so I had better keep on top of things. 

I felt I had paced myself well today and in the afternoon I decided to make some black currant jam, cordial and some bread, all going well then the front bell rings 😜 how come it’s always when I have jam on the go? The egg shed was empty, how I don’t know, customers are like silent ghosts I never see them come and go and had only checked the shed a couple of hours before, luckily John arrived home at the exact minute so jam saved, I dived back indoors while he collected eggs up, crisis averted. 

Spent the evening picking ready for sale tomorrow, could do with a splash of rain I have to say. Well not too much of the evening as I was getting bit to buggery! Rain is forecast and hopefully it will get rid of the midges. 

I have just seen the forecast for the next few days, looks like downpours why cant it be something inbetween, this means by the end of the next four days I will have a flipping lot of work to do, picking, weeding and the raspberries will be wet and useless if the forecast is true, oh my days 😤

Tuesday: Picked more blackcurrants today after the morning rounds, also raspberries and broccoli, I am mindful of this rain we are supposed to be getting and don’t want to end up with soggy berries or bolted brassicas, everything else could really do with a good dousing so now I’m ready, bring it on 😜 I ordered a new jam saucepan as the one I used yesterday ended up ‘catching’ which is not good, I also ordered a new digital thermometer, I have the old type but the writing has almost disappeared on it so I can’t tell what the temp is anyway, except 200 for chips lol. I have Mia today and Shelley and Josh came over to help with the currants this morning, a nice treat of fresh raspberries for their snack Josh also tried a bit of raw broccoli, the jury is out on that one, bite a bit, spit it out, bite a bit more, eat it with a strange look 👀 I love being able to give them fresh veg and fruit to try, they won’t like all of it but at least they will know how their food is produced. We heard a chicken making the ‘I have laid an egg’ squawk so Josh and I went off to find it in the stable, I don’t think he can quite make the connection yet but he will in time. 

It’s evening and I am sitting wondering if I should go and water the veg or not, dilemma, we were forecast rain around 4pm but as yet nothing, the veg really need it but will I spend my evening watering then overnight a deluge? We were going to fertilise the big paddock but again if we do and the rain is heavy it will just wash it down to one area, the decision is to wait until later in the year when the paddock has put on some regrowth at least the grass will hold the pellets in place while they dissolve and we will probably seed a week or so later. My jam pan has arrived so I could make jam instead………

Wednesday: Hallelujah it rained, not sure how much but it will freshen the veg and the paddocks, in the end last night I watched Dr Who and Broken instead of making jam 😝 I won’t be doing anything in the garden this morning, I will leave it to enjoy its refreshing shower and just get on with the animals instead. I can see that the rain wasn’t enough to soak right in but it has made everything that was brown and dusty look more perky and it’s very pleasant out there 😀 Yesterday a customer bought me his last remaining quail that he had bought from us last year, sadly the rats have got at the rest, it’s female and laying so that’s a bonus, the poorly duck is still alive, she is very vocal and eating and drinking but she can’t stand up so I will continue feeding her for a few days yet to see what happens, I cant see any sign of injury and she does not have respiratory problems, she is pooing ok and no signs that are obvious of tumour so I’m stumped but will keep looking after her. 

Mum, as you know is away on the canal, she often writes poems to express the days adventures. I have asked permission to use her latest on here as it sums up perfectly going from the dry spell to rain in a way I can’t 😀

It’s a grey and dismal morning

My shoes are soaking wet

The dogs have had their morning run 

I haven’t had my PG yet 

The green fields and the hedgerows 

Are drinking in with thirst 

A heaven-sent drink of nectar 

Sweetened with each raincloud burst 

The sky darkened, with foreboding 

Filled with heavens spoils 

Gathered through the days of 

Naked , blinding Sun 

Drawing all earth’s moisture from fields and well trod soils 

It’s been a while now 

Since it’s needy thirst was quenched 

But now Halliluyha !! 

We’re absolutely drenched !!! 

Enjoy the rain get out the wellies and raincoats and splash those puddles
I blanched and open froze the broccoli, you can use what you need that way, better than having a lump of green stuff in the freezer, I also blanched some dwarf beans to freeze then got on with making the black currant jam 😀 I don’t bother topping and tailing as this will be strained to produce a smooth jam, the rest won’t be wasted though as it will go into the Rumtopf pot and have alcohol added, waste not and all that. Black currants are high in pectin so no need to jam sugar, ordinary sugar will do the job easily.
I found this piece of writing to explain the benefits of purple fruit and veg, it’s not just a fad there are real benefits to be had from eating these, if you wonder why bother when, on cooking, the veg go green then don’t waste the water you cook them in as it will have all those benefits contained, use it to make gravy or stock. 

‘Prunes, purple cabbage, eggplant, blackberries, black currants, purple onions, concord grapes: all of these have a natural purple pigment that contains flavonoids, including reservatrol, which keeps blood pressure in control and boosts immunity from certain cancers. The skin of a black grape, for example, has this pigment, called anthocyanin. In cranberries, the purple pigment is seen to benefit those suffering from infections of the urinary tract.’ Care2.com

Had Mia today and we went to soft play with Josh and Shelley, after Mia was picked up I made some more jam, that’s 9 jars so far probably enough for the time being but there are plenty of black currants left to pick 😜 I will have to look up some recipes and see what comes up. 

Thursday: Still no sign of the downpours they predicted 🙄 they will probably arrive at the weekend when everyone is off work 😜 Meanwhile life carries on as normal, feed and water routine done I went on to clean out Kai and then pick raspberries, they are beginning to ripen thick and fast now, raspberry jam will soon be the order of the day. The chickens keep scratching the earth away round the base of the fruit trees we planted a few years ago exposing the roots, I had a brainwave and one now has a buster collar around the bottom to try and stop it happening continually and killing the tree. I need a couple more if anyone has some knocking around 😀 We moved the ducks last night into the new hut, I was hoping this morning that the egg numbers would be higher as I think the rats are pinching them again but there were still only half the number they were producing a few weeks ago. It happens the same time every year, all the egg numbers drop, good job we have the veg and fruit sales to bolster the sales. On Saturday John picked up 25 pullets, 8 have sold already and they are not even laying yet though not far off, hopefully they will add to the egg numbers soon enough. 

Picked the first few courgettes, some broad beans, mangetout and asparagus peas, then had a coffee break and did a bit of research on the asparagus pea as they seem to grow well and keep producing. 

https://www.bbg.org/gardening/article/the_asparagus_pea

This was a good all round article and after reading it I am looking forward to trying them, maybe a mixed veg sauté for lunch? I remembered John was going to the dentist later to have a crown fitted so I decided to make some soup with the bits in the fridge that needed using up, couple of spring onions, celery, tomatoes, I added a courgette some broad beans and mange-tout plus a couple of small potatoes and a couple of runner beans that were the first I have picked, a sprinkle of turmeric, mushroom power, garlic and some chicken stock, smells great and a fresh loaf to go with it, the boy is spoilt lol I blanched the rest of the broad beans and some mange-tout for the freezer, great for soups, stews and casseroles in the winter time. Made a black currant drizzle cake, well it would be rude not to with all these berries 😀 besides it’s one of the recipes that came up in my search and as I have only ever made lemon drizzle I thought it was worth a try. Had a black currant, banana and honey milkshake for lunch and made a double batch of spaghetti Bol, some for dinner later for me and some to freeze, all of the above was conducted whilst still in my wellies I might add as I never intended to spend my time in the kitchen it just happened! While drinking my afternoon coffee and looking for interesting things to do with the blackcurrants I came across an advert for black currant powder, wow, why haven’t I thought of that before, dehydrated, ground into powder they will be an awesome addition to my store cupboard 😀 and of course the possibilities with fruit powders are endless, can’t wait to get started now. 

I went to check on the poorly duck and realised how stupid I had been, she now had fly strike, I dispatched her immediately to stop her suffering.

Friday: Still no downpour so I will definitely be watering this morning. After feeding I went straight into the garden to get started, picking first before I water, picked raspberries, strawberries and blackcurrants to go into the dehydrator, dwarf beans and a couple of early runners and some pentland javelin new potatoes I think we will have them with a steak and the beans for dinner tonight 😀 

While I was quietly picking currants off the cuttings a wild rabbit hopped into the garden, oi get out I said and off it went, we have a large rabbit population this year probably due to the mild dry winter, I really need to get someone in to reduce the numbers. 

Did a bit of tidying in the garden, the artichoke plants are huge and heavy I’m sure you could build a house with those stems! I have identified a fair bit to do at the end of the season, dig up most of the strawberry plants as they are just a tangled mess now, cutback the artichoke instead of leaving them to grow again, I have perennials in some boxes that need digging out, dividing and replanting, the raspberries need an overhaul, I have far too many rows the list is endless lol. 

Sat and watched some angry wasps when I put nest killer in the plastic compost bin where they have taken up residence, then for some unknown reason I decided to pickle eggs! We have a back log of quail eggs and so I boiled up 3 dozen and pickled them in a concoction of cider vinegar, curry powder, turmeric, sugar and some cardamon pods, hopefully they will taste great 😀

John came home and went to feed the birds, the wires were off both crocodile clips on the battery to the hens and there were feathers inside the pen 😞 we have a daytime marauder because it was fine this morning. And just looking out the door I see a baby rabbit in my veg garden, I thought I saw something this morning but wasn’t sure, we are plagued with bandits 😝

Saturday: John did the outside stuff while on got on and did some cleaning and washing 😝 then he did the feed run and ordered 25 more pol chickens for next week, we have sold a few but we thought we should get some more so that the egg numbers stay up as the egg customers came thick and fast this morning with an actual traffic queue in the driveway! Family BBQ in the afternoon and it was nice to relax and enjoy ourselves. When we came home in the evening John decided to get the air gun out and see if he could take out a rabbit or two, he is not the worlds best shot and the answer is no he couldn’t lol. 

Sunday: Spent the morning in the garden, picking, watering, weeding while John did the animals and then dug up some more dock plants. I cut some broccoli and cauliflower then had to process it for the freezer. Meanwhile the currants and fruit I put in the dehydrator were coming to a finish so I set about grinding them to powder. I probably wouldn’t do it in the machine again as it took a very long time and it would be better to use the warming drawer on the Rayburn, it also was quite a process getting the stuck berries off the grilles 😜 however the smell of the currants was amazing and I now have black currant powder and raspberry powder, the strawberries were not so good and the bananas are probably best not ground as they are not brittle enough.