Well, not that bad really but it hasn’t been a great start to the new year. Along with the disappearing bees our washing machine still isn’t mended and the car won’t start very well. Plus I caught Richard’s cold and have been feeling rather sorry for myself, I haven’t felt this bad for years. At least the rain came while I was in bed all day Sunday, we haven’t had any for weeks and weeks so very welcome it was too especially as new plants and trees have been put in the garden.
Most days have been cloudless though so the frosts keep coming, not as bad as previous winters (no frozen pond) but certainly more frequent. Most of the veg patch seem oblivious to this but the cauliflowers, just getting bigger now, have brown patches although I have pegged down the leaves over the heads to protect them. The calabrese seems totally unaffected.
I’ve decided to grow more potatoes this year. There is already a bed of ‘Jersey Royals’ and now there are 64 Stemster tatties out for chitting which will be put in come March. They’re new for us, red skins and yellow flesh, and are meant to be drought resistant and heat tolerant – let’s see! The only other thing on the go are a load of turnips. I don’t grow them directly in the ground now. Last time, after so many not making it past the slugs and birds, I decided to grow them in individual modules and them pot them on and, when big enough, to transplant in the bed. It’s certainly more of an effort but on a small scale it’s definitely worth it – every turnip came through, so we’re hoping for the same success this time.
The sunny days have fooled the asparagus, quite a few shoots are popping through the straw only to be zapped by the frost. I need to put some more straw down. Today we had the first of the rocket, growing through the spring and summer has never worked, they always bolted. This winter, both in the polytunnel or in the bed outside, they’ve done fine. So of the crops I’ve tried to grow throughout the winter the swede, turnips, kale, chard, calabrese, cabbage, rocket, beetroot (and leeks of course) have all been a success. I hope I can add cauliflower to the list. The peas and broad beans are just growing but I’m really hoping for a good early spring crop.
Otherwise the hens are the happiest here. They’re on green pastures today (having escaped from their last field which they scratched to bare earth) so plenty of chuckles, and eggs, from them. I’m off now to work out which seeds I need to get for the year ahead…
A mild, if not rather wet, autumn so far. Everything’s getter greener and taller, a bit like spring really without the flowers. Some evenings there has been a beautiful light and pink or yellowy grey clouds depending if it’s going to be sunny or rainy the next day. Richard’s away in the Isle of Man so I’m here defending the fort, or rather the farm, alone. Meanwhile, here’s a round up of casa azul news.
Veg etc I have to admit to being a rather fairweather gardener, although I don’t mind digging in the frost on a cold but sunny day I really don’t like working in the wet – who does? So I’ve only just pulled up and cleared the last of the tom beds, this included removing the nasturtiums which we’re growing well but I’ve now got masses of enormous nasturtium buds which will be turned into poor man’s capers. The asparagus have turned a beautiful bronzey yellow, these are soon to be cut back and mulched along with the raspberries.
In the polytunnel there are lots of wild flowers coming up (from seed collected throughout the year) plus yet more edibles – mainly brassicas. These will go in soon, and tomorrow more onions are being planted and, at long last, I’ve got the garlic.
I’ve also got plenty of rocket growing, this has just never worked in the heat so it’s fingers crossed for a winter attempt. Lettuce seems to thrive in the cold, and isn’t affected by the frost, so I’m hoping rocket will too.
Elsewhere in the garden mushrooms are supplementing our diet. I don’t know if you read the account of Nicholas Evans and his mushroom fiasco in the guardian but it makes fascinating and sobering reading.
The ones on the left have opened and are now huge, tempting grub but am definitely sticking to the field mushrooms.
I don’t know if it was beginner’s luck but last year the sprouts grew without any bother, I hardly did anything with them. This year, alas, they’ve been plagued with grey aphids and some of the heads didn’t open properly, and a few of the stalks are massive with enormous leaves but few sprouts. I also spotted the other day that one of the stalks was completely inundated with caterpillars – how come I never saw them before? I counted at least 30 chomping caterpillars, and the one on the left was found the french tarragon.
So what to do with a box of bugs? The hens love snails and giant slugs so decided it would be an early Christmas present…
The chickens
The hens aren’t quite up to their full laying capacity, 2 or 3 a day but that’s fine. They’re slightly sulking now because our plan to keep them off the growing grass, well weeds, is working well and their plot (which looks like something from the WW1) is surrounded by green. Once the roasties are dispatched the hens will go over there, and their mud bath of a plot can have a chance to regrow.
Along with the fact they they realise that the grass is greener on the other side one of them is moulting and looks very funny without a tail.
So I was hoping that my gift of grubs would cheer them up. I tossed the caterpillars on the ground, the hens came dashing forward and then stopped in their tracks and squawked loudly. They eyed the crawling mass with trepidation and then, with beaks in the air, walked off. They weren’t interested at all! I covered the caterpillars with corn but the hens simply ate the corn and left the caterpillars. As these were all now gallivanting off in different directions I ended up having to stand on them all. So much for good intentions. At least the lettuce and purple sprouting broccoli leaves keeps them happy.
Meanwhile the roasties have been let out and are enjoying the grass and opportunity to stretch their wings. They are the biggest, fattest birds I have ever seen and Richard’s number one task on returning is to sharpen the knife. I swear when they walk the earth trembles.
The wild boar
One of the nice things about being in the countryside of course is that we are surrounded by nature. In this part of Portugal that includes the javali – wild boar. Up until recently I have enjoyed the fact that they come to the neighbours’ fields but now the beggars have trotted into our garden. Before Richard left we were given loads of prickly pears and agaves to plant in our garden and I wasn’t best pleased to see that most of these had either been knocked over, dug up (some dragged into bushes), and, it seems, eaten. After the second visit I’ve had to block the entrances to our garden with cut down olive branches, a temporary measure. Richard’s number two task on returning is to get the saw and hammer out.
Before and after replanting, can you see the teeth marks?!
So that’s it for now. The bees are still buzzing, I think they were disappointed that the nasturtiums were cut down. And, of course, I’m not really alone. The hairy one continues to prove she’s Portuguese, having eaten many of the olives she delights in munching walnuts and looks longingly at the roasting chestnuts on the fire. Which reminds me, time to get the wood burning stove going and have a glass of something. Cheers!
It’s 31 in the shade. The wind turbines are at a standstill, helicopters on the look out for fires drone overhead and this morning’s start on the olive harvest has come to a stop. The grass, what there is of it, has blanched white and turned to dust; the red soil is rock hard.
Meanwhile the roasties are never too far away from their water. They are surprisingly perky in the morning, battering down the hatch in the morning to dive into the food. But come the heat of the afternoon they collapse in a white, feathered heap. The hens are suffering too and are on strike: we’ve hardly had any eggs recently. I’ve been giving them a ‘shower’ these last few days (from the watering can!) but still they’re not laying .
Meanwhile Gordy Gordo is still getting plenty of exercise. We went to a river beach the other day though for her to have a swim – and there wasn’t enough water! Which means that still, every evening, we have to water the veg patch, fruit shrubs and trees. The irrigation system that Richard set up is wonderful but the shrubs and trees we do by hand.
The plants in the veg patch seem to be surviving despite the heat though and we continue to get tomatoes, courgettes and peppers. We’re also eating sprouts, leeks and chard. The seedling cabbage, cauliflower and calabrese are holding up, the turnips and swede are going strong as are the peas and broad beans (flowering!) but the carrots and parsnips sown in September are just not showing – nothing at all. I’m pleased that the soil in the beds is good, the manure / compost regularly applied has meant that it retains moisture well and is a far cry for the stuff we started with two years ago. So here’s to cooler climes ahead and a bumper winter harvest.
We learnt many lessons from having ‘roasties’ earlier in the year. One was the fact the coop and run were unsheltered and they were not into hiding amongst the bushes like the hens. So we waited until October for cooler days; but the weather forecast says temps aren’t going much below 30 over the next 10 days…
We also wanted to get month old chickens like last time but our man at Ansião market had completely sold out when we arrived yesterday. His wife suggested we came to their house later in the afternoon and get some from them directly, which we did. They had loads of little chicks running around but all two weeks old. We decided to get five anyway as we like the place and the chicks always seem well cared for. The warm temperatures at night also mean that we don’t need to worry about them getting chilly. So they’re settling in at the mo, little things now but we know there’s a beastie inside each one, they already have fat legs!
…and at last s is for the summer too. Hot, sunny days without a cloud in the sky so of course s is also for swimming. We have returned recently to one of our favourite spots and, because it’s September, we had the place mostly to ourselves. We took our friend Ana-Louisa with us plus a picnic. The water was bitterly cold at the start but this didn’t bother the dog who thought she had gone to heaven.
S is also for seedlings. There’s plenty to be done in the veg patch as the second round of crops are sown; so far cabbage, calabrese, cauliflower, chard, sweet peas and broad beans have all germinated. I need to get rid of the pesky mouse that’s making holes in the beds before I plant them though.
Meanwhile the courgettes are just about still going, the tomatoes too, and we have peppers and aubergines ready. Yesterday we had the last of our potatoes though (how I hate having to buy them now!) but the first of our leeks which made up for that, they’re great this year.
Finally, S is for Spain as we plan another camping trip this time a couple of days in Salamanca. Super!
Well, I took the plunge yesterday and made some bottled / canned tomatoes. Actually, it wasn’t that difficult it was just that there were so many different stages and it was the first time. I wanted to fill the bottles with whole, peeled tomatoes and have these in a sauce, not unlike a tins of toms that you buy. So that meant skinning a load of toms of course and making the sauce. Plus all the bottles had to be sterilised not to mention getting the food mill out – the kitchen looked a real mess.
In fact buying the glass jars was the first challenge. We’ve only been able to get 750ml sized ones, and these are a touch too big, half litre would’ve been better. And the spare rubber rings (which apparently should be changed every time) don’t seem to be for sale… one of the reasons for bottling was to be able to reuse all the jars again so I do hope we can find the rings somewhere.
Back to the bottling: eventually all the whole toms had been peeled and ready for the jars, but I realised that I hadn’t got enough for the sauce. Next time I’ll have a load of sauce all ready made in advance, and then that just needs to be heated and poured in. So one jar was filled with tom sauce, one half and half sauce and water, and the third only water (which is apparently normal to use).
The huge pan I had ready for the bottling, my jam-making pan, turned out not to be quite big enough. The jars, once filled, need to be closed and completely submerged in water. There was perhaps only 2 cm of water above the jars so that had to be regularly filled up. Then the water needs to brought to a simmer and maintained at 88C for 40 minutes. 40 minutes of checking the water level and checking the temperature… it was great though to see the steam coming out of the jars which hopefully meant they were going to be sealed ok.
This morning, the jars having been left to cool in the water, I gingerly took them out. Looked ok. And then the seal test – the clips were undone and hurrah! it wasn’t possible to open the lids so sealed tight. Job done. I’ll have another go now if I can find some spare rubber rings, I’m rather reluctant to buy more jars if they can’t be used again. It’s good to have another way of preserving up our sleeves though, much cheaper to put up more pantry shelves than buy another freezer!
One of the projects set for the summer was to grow as many tomatoes as possible and have them preserved, in one form or another, so that we have them all year round. So the veg patch is certainly bursting with toms – small round ones, yellow ones, stripy ones, long ones… and thanks to the polytunnel we started eating fresh ones much earlier than last year. We’re hoping to extend the fresh season so we can eat those later in the year as well. So far so good.
However, it’s been the preserving side that has been more challenging. Sun-drying tomatoes is easy and the results delicious but you do need the sun, and finding two or three hot days in a row this summer has proven difficult. Imagine that! In Portugal, in August and still a problem! The last attempt had to be thrown away as they had gone mouldy; very disappointing.
Meanwhile I spent ages and ages trying to find a food mill or passata machine here and eventually ordered a mill through Amazon. Once I worked out how to use it we now have tubs and tubs of pasta sauce and soup filling up the freezer.
Perhaps the most successful has been the oven roasted toms, they are divine. These go on pizzas or make a lovely salsa when blitzed with a blender (alas, this is now on the blink); they are also put into bags or tubs and put in the freezer…
And earlier in the ‘summer’ loads were thrown whole in plastic bags and then bunged into the freezer, these will be fine for soups or stews or made into sauce later on. But our new chest freezer is now full… So now yet another system is to be tested today – canning. We have a large pot for boiling, some Luminarc glass jars and a proper thermometer. The idea is that we can put the jars on the pantry shelf rather than putting anything in the freezer, fingers crossed.
And look – a whole post without me mentioning the fact that it’s raining (again)!
Hot on the heels of our roast chicken success, well more for us than for them as all 8 have now been dispatched, we are now harvesting our first honey. As the bees are Richard’s project I’ll leave him with the details but suffice to say we are feeling rather chuffed (again!) having filled (so far) 12 x 500g jars of the darkest, richest and most delicious honey!
Right now I’m baking a honey cake which not only uses some of our most recent produce but also our eggs and olive oil *smug*
Well, that’s July come and gone – and what a strange month weather wise: cold sometimes, and grey and then some of those hot, hot days you think should be here all the time. We’ve done very little swimming (a trip to the beach the other day saw us don more clothes as we sat in the sea mist, the crashing waves only just visible) and we had more breakfasts outside in April and May.
And the veg patch? Plodding along slowly, we did manage to sun-dry some more toms in July, and our stanley plums from the tree we planted in 2009, but in fact there’s not a great deal to do now. No sowing, or potting on, or even weeding, just harvesting which is good. But there are fewer squash this year, I think because of the hot spring, and only 4 (but really delicious) melons. The second crop of french beans are doing well but, like last year, not as tasty as the first crop. At the end of the season I’m going to sit down and see what I have learnt from 2 summers here now, and plan for the year ahead.
Richard is doing wonderfully with the roasties, just two left from the original eight. Another roast chicken tonight (with all the trimmings again of course), and what a lot has been learnt from that. Not just raising them, but the killing, plucking, guttering, boning… and now we must find some more chicken recipes too.
Meanwhile, the photo looks a little dull, doesn’t it? Well, today is the 1 August – and it’s raining!
…is in the eating. That goes for the chickens too!
From this to this…
And we were particularly smug that everything from the oil, onion and garlic, through all the veg (carrots, parsnips, beetroot, potatoes and sprouts) and of course the chicken itself were all home produce. Just the salt, pepper and cornflour for the gravy were not our own.
We even celebrated with the posh crockery and cutlery
And how did it taste? Well, sitting outside in the sun and stuffing ourselves with this feast was just perfect, and that includes the taste. To be honest I wasn’t sure how I would react to actually eating the chicken having seen it killed, plucked and gutted, but in fact it wasn’t a problem. And as you can see Richard couldn’t wait to tuck in. Pudding also included our own greengages (although we bought the ice-cream!) Mmm
