I am sorry to those who like to read the blog and keep up with what I am doing because I just haven’t written anything for a long while.
Some of that has to do with the long winter months and nothing much happening and some of it has to do with life in general.
I tried to write the blog a couple of times but I just couldn’t bring myself to publish the drafts I had lined up. I just find at the minute I have a lot in my head and I need to get it written down and offloaded now 🙄
As a family we have had a tragic loss of one member and a very serious accident of another that will take months/years to recover from so life has been turned upside down in many ways.
It has been a roller coaster of emotions for what seems like months now and on Thursday we had to call the vet and have our dog Mia put to sleep 😢 She has been ailing for a while but was still eating and drinking plus going out to the toilet, sleeping very long hours and slow in her movements. On that morning she couldn’t get her back legs to work, we tried standing her up but it was no use and so I called the vet. Not a nice decision to make but I also did not want her to have an undignified end, after years of loyalty she deserved to go peacefully and quickly. She is now buried near the paddock gateways with a small leaved lime tree planted on top 🥰
So that is what has been happening and what has made it difficult to concentrate on anything else at times.
All the while I have still been sowing, growing, planting, digging, weeding and clearing for flowers and this year I am happy to say I am growing veg again 😊 We have put in extra raised beds, some for extra flower growing and some for veg growing because I really wanted tasty fresh home grown produce again this year.
I have gone down the perennial veg route for some produce, I am already harvesting perpetual spinach leaves and I have perennial onions growing (Welsh onions) plus rainbow chard and the perennial broccoli has just started to sprout. I have runner beans in as well as peas, beetroot, rocket, swede, leeks, courgettes, pumpkins and squash. The tomatoes and cucumbers are growing well and I have basil and coriander growing in the tunnel too. I am very happy to be growing food again although it does keep me rather busy! I have already processed rhubarb for the pantry and rather than relying on the freezer I am trying to jar/can/preserve as much as possible.
Today I have made a jar of mint sauce which will keep well in the fridge for months, John doesn’t like it so I only need enough for me or any dinner visitors. I do want to make some mint jelly which I prefer but at the minute I can’t find my jelly bag (which happens every year) As always we have an abundance of fruit growing so I will be processing that over the next few months as well. My outlook on ‘being prepared’ has not changed it just got waylaid for a while but I am back in the mode and no doubt that will be a lot of what my blog will be about.
I spent a lot of time getting to grips with canning at the end of last year, I canned all sorts including meat dinners which we have been eating and we are still here so I am hooked on this food preserving method. It does alter the smell of food, not horrible or anything, just different and I am not sure I will can carrots again (me no likey 🤪) the texture and taste are too different but in an emergency situation I would still eat them. We have chicken for dinner today with chicken stock that I canned back in October, I am amazed at this method, it’s a game changer although I am still trying to get down to only one freezer 😂
I feel this blog episode is a bit incoherent but I have had people ask me where the blog is and so thought I’d better start up again. The blog was always just a way to write my daily story but it has become something that others like to read about so here I am back at it and hopefully I can keep up with it this time!
frieslandfarm (flowers) 