I was just looking back at our blog entries for this time last year. What a difference! This time last year we were having lunch outside and actually bemoaning (slightly) the lack of rain but certainly not the wonderful blue skies. This year we’ve had plenty of rain and not even contemplated eating outside although we have had the odd cuppa and slice of cake in the courtyard – I used up the last of this year’s and indeed last year’s(!) walnuts in a walnut cake this week.
As I mentioned in the last blog post, our oranges are looking good and here is the proof:
oranges
Our plane tree, which we planted in January, has also done rather well. Autumn of course comes later in Portugal than the UK and so it has only just lost its leaves as these pictures show, the leafy photo only taken three weeks ago.
Meanwhile, our Christmas booze is coming along nicely as Jackie has just decanted off the fruit from the sloe gin, and cherry and damson vodkas. I have to say they taste delicious! The elderflower wine is also nearing maturation.
The big hairy one continues to improve and here she is rehabilitating on the sofa…
There are no two ways about it – this year’s olive harvest has been by far our worst since we’ve been here. I think the main problem is the rain that we have had. It must have knocked most of the olives off. Also, although many of our neighbours are still harvesting now, I can’t help but think that we have been too late and should have picked them weeks ago. Alas, this wasn’t possible as I was in the UK.
Anyway, earlier this week, we took advantage of some dry weather and picked what we had. It took us just as long as usual, as we did the same amount of trees – they just had fewer olives on them. After three days we only had just over three barrels (about 80kgs) to show for our hard work. This was about half of what we got last year which in itself wasn’t a great year. More bad news was to come when I went to the lagar (cooperative olive press). If you have a ‘normal’ amount you can see your olives through the press and out the other side as oil. However for small amounts it is not worth their while to do it separately, so they just weigh what you’ve got and give you an equivalent amount of their own oil. So, I knew I would have to swap it but when the bloke only offered me six litres, it was disappointing to say the least. I bought another four litres from them and as we still have plenty from last year, that should see us through the year.
One harvest which should be better is the oranges. There are plenty of them and they are already turning orange. No shortage of marmalade then.
Meanwhile with all the rain and a bit of sun, the grass has shot up – yes, it’s time to fire up the strimmer again. Because of last year’s drought, I think I only cut the grass once last Autumn. With more rain this year I think I am going to be very busy. Betty was disappearing in the long grass but now it’s done it looks great. Just as well I did it today as there is more rain forecast this weekend.
There has also been better news with the big hairy one. She was really ill just a week or so ago and even had to stay overnight at the vets attached to a drip. However, she has made an amazing recovery and here she is to prove it.
Of course Betty is still up to her usual tricks – she often disappears for hours on her own but also likes nothing better than her regular walk on the lead!
among the vines
… and the hens are also fine. We have now put them in the pig field and they are enjoying the fresh grass.
OK, not quite an invasion, but the other day while I was inspecting the hives, I noticed a large wasp and while I was watching, it swooped down and snatched one of my little ladies from outside the hive! I later found out that it was a large European hornet which is carnivorous and eats many insects including bees. I’ve only seen one so far and it is hardly decimating the colony (apparently up to 1000 bees can die per day at some times of the year!) and I’m hoping that it will disappear for winter. I didn’t get a photo of the snatch but here he is waiting for an opportunity and here are some bees returning home. You can see one of them with her little suitcases full of orange pollen. So they are still building up stores.
European hornet and honey bees
In better news when I opened up the hives, the ‘weedy’ bees seem finally to have made a fair amount of honey and the hard-working bees which produced all of this year’s honey crop have almost refilled all their frames! I could therefore take some more honey but as we’ve got enough and I want to make sure they have enough for winter, I’ll let them bee.
With the bees still collecting pollen you might suspect that it is still warm and sunny here (like October last year). Not at all. We’ve had a fair amount of rain and it’s been cold enough at night to have the wood buring stove on. And it has led to a reappearance of mushrooms after the absence of last year.
We have plenty of poisonous Jack O’lanterns around the base of the olive trees but also we’ve managed to pick quite a few field mushrooms. Together with our free range eggs, and home produced bacon (Yes!), we can have winter fry-ups – just the job!
Jack O’lanternsedible mushrooms and walnuts
One harvest which hasn’t been so good is the walnuts. However, it has to be said, there are more than enough for the two hairy ones, who love them and have no problem cracking the nuts with their teeth.
Now autumn has arrived with a bang a few typical seasonal photos:
The deed has finally been done. They had escaped just once too often – instead of jumping over the fence they had now started burrowing under. At 115kgs and 8 months old, they were also ready. Yes, the pigs are now pork. As I now look at the empty pig field, I feel a twinge of sadness. It was quite funny to see them scurrying around their paddock but we got them to eat and they weren’t pets. It was just as well we didn’t even get to like them that much, what with their escaping and grunting and ear-splitting squealing. That made the end much easier.
In short, they were killed one day, hung up overnight and then butchered the next. The butchering was the most traumatic as the butcher was producing cuts of meat at a hectic pace and me and Jackie were feverishly trying to label and bag various bits and put them in the freezer. We very quickly realised that Portuguese butchery is very different to British. If we hadn’t stepped in to change things, the two pigs would have been completely converted into costelletas (chops), febras (steaks), entremeadas (bellies) and entrecostos (ribs) as that is the way it’s done here. As it was, we managed to save various larger pieces which we deemed ‘roasts’, some of which will also become sausages and a leg which is now resting in brine and shall become ham. We also have a few other bits and pieces such as liver, kidneys, trotters etc.
I have to say the butcher was very surprised but happy to receive the heads and a few more unsavoury bits and pieces. Making brawn was just one step too far at this juncture.
All in all we now have two freezers, packed with 135 kgs of prime pork. Financially, it is difficult to put a price on it as we would certainly say our pork is far more valuable than the stuff we would ordinarily buy in the supermarket. But even based on supermarket prices we could say that we have broken even (not taking the pigpen construction costs into account), but this was not the point.
Looking at the sheer volume of meat from these two beast was almost enough to turn Jackie back into a vegetarian. Not quite though, as could be gauged from the satisfied smile on her face as she wiped the plate from the first of many roast dinners. Delish!
I remember (almost fondly!) of the time we first arrived at Casa Azul and the weeks of bramble bashing I had to do to clear the land. Well, three years down the track I’m at it again. This time, it’s clearing the roastie run for a new intake. It’s amazing how quickly brambles can take over. I’ve not even gone right up to the wall as I want to provide a bit of shade for the little darlings. before afterWe do have some more beneficial prickly customers though. Our neighbours gave us some prickly pears last November. We reckoned they would be good for us as they need little water. We were right as they have thrived in our arid conditions and we have been rewarded with quite a bit of fruit. Here’s a photo of one. Unfortunately the prickly pear with the most fruit was stripped clean before I got the camera out! prickly pearsIt’s not the end of the fruit though, or fruit processing. Most of our neighbours are busy taking in the grape harvest. We only have a few vines, so Jackie’s dad, who thought he was here on holiday rather than being employed as a ‘woofer’, has been taking in our meagre harvest and we have been making some grape juice. We decided that as the local wine is so good and cheap we wouldn’t bother trying to make any grape wine.
However, it’s not the last fruit to ripen. That falls to the quinces which are also now ready. And that means Jackie springs back into action to make Quince jelly. No rest for the wicked!
Can’t sign off without a mention of the pigs. They escaped again! This time one managed to lift the gate off its hinges and then headed off towards the veggie patch. Fortunately not much damage was done and after their little adventure we managed to get them back in their paddock. It was just after this that Jackie happened upon an article in the Guardian where a pig farmer was eaten by his little babies. and apparently it has happened before! At 105kgs each, I think it’s time for the chop. Watch this space.
…but it’s the perennial complaint – not enough! Our UK readers will decry me for this comment but we had been looking forward to thunderstorms and heavy rain which had been forecast for last night. This morning however we were greeted by nothing more than a damp squib. We are now well and truly scraping the bottom of the barrel or rather in our case, the well, which will be bone dry very soon.
The pigs were happy though, as their dustbowl of a field is at least damp. They also continue to grow. they are now 90kgs each and getting ever closer to the chop!
The bees have also done well. Or at least one hive has. I took a further 4 frames last week which means we’ve had a total of 14kgs of honey from this one hive and absolutely nothing from the other hive. At least the bees from the second hive have produced some honey which should see them through the winter. As I have no honey extractor, I cut the honeycomb off the frames and then strain the honey out. With the remainder, I can then extract the wax by heating it and then straining it through a pair of tights.
So we’ve now got almost a kilogramme of wax so once we get some wicks we’ll be able to make some candles.
I’ve also been busy doing more woodworking and made another chair:
Although there is plenty to eat from the garden, we’ve also been doing a lot of foraging hereabouts. There are a number of ruined houses in our village and a lot of them have mature fruit trees. Therefore we’ve been enjoying fresh peaches, apples and especially damsons. Jackie has made damson jam and a most delicious damson ice cream. We’ve also collected some sloes, so the sloe gin should be ready by Christmas.
I have been very remiss at blogging recently, but the intention has been there while snapping the veg patch. I took these photos 15/16 July when I pulled up the last of
the potatoes and replaced them with a second batch of courgettes and some buttercup squash. Then, amazed how fast everything had grown in just 3 weeks, I took another pic and today a shot of one of the squashes, almost ready to eat.
Needless to say we’re eating the courgettes now, the first batch took 13 weeks from sowing to harvest – this lot 6! In fact that’s something I still have to get the hang of – trying to get a succession of produce. Either the second lot grow much faster and we end up with more than we need, or it’s too hot / cold and nothing much happens. And if it worked one year it didn’t the next, and why one melon plant has given us 7 fruit and yet the other is fading fast with just one I have no idea. It all still feels a little hit or miss at times!
I think the purple sprouting broccoli, sprouts, leeks, onions, sweetcorn, garlic, cucumber (the round, yellow ones) rainbow chard and all the solanaceae group fall into the ‘do well every year’ group. Perhaps the toms a touch disappointing compared to last year but the aubergines and peppers are fab, and the potatoes a great success.
Then in the ‘do well one year but not the next’ go the remaining brassicas including swede and turnips, (and what happened to the cauliflowers this year?!), squash, roots (well, the carrots and parsnips – the beetroot do well) and the beans.
And in the ‘why am I even bothering’ category fall the peas (alas) and broad beans. Am still determined to give these a go this autumn though, last winter we had a frost most nights which took their toll so with a slightly milder winter they may be fine. They are definitely not being sown in the spring though, that has never worked.
And always willing to experiment there are some new crops in the veg patch this year. The celeriac, flageolets beans (grown from a packet of dried beans my dad bought over), beefsteak toms have all done well, whereas the red cabbage became pig fodder.
Talking of pigs – they have certainly made a large and significant contribution to the veg patch:
Unfortunately, the weeding, digging and sh*t shovelling has done little to reduce my ever expanding waistline. The plethora of plums, abundance of apples, bucketfuls of blackberries and now (fistfuls?) of figs have seen me baking cakes, tarts and pies galore. Oh, and there goes the oven bell…
No posts for three weeks but we’ve still been busy. Jackie on the veg patch (she will post when she’s finished bottling the tomatoes!) and me with more woodworking projects.
One of these projects was a garden chair. I picked up some tongue and groove floorboards from the local sawmills and this is the result:
I’ve also made a table for the courtyard (the purple colour is Jackie’s idea in order to match the colour scheme of the courtyard which is… purple and blue).
It’s not been all work and no play however. Our Spanish friends Scott and Delia visited and one of the things we did was go swimming in a local river. Of course the hairy ones loved this and Betty learned how to swim!
It’s a little strange when you see the same thing every day, you just don’t notice it changing. This is especially true of nature which is constantly changing but usually too slowly to notice. This seemed to be the case for the pigs.
Actually, the changes should have been obvious, as they have been going through over 2kgs of pig food in addition to food scraps every day. Anyway, I measured them recently. I’m sure it would be nigh on impossible to put them on scales but you can get a rough approximation by measuring their length and girth. My rough calculations came out at over 60kgs each. Boy have they grown!
So now the 60kg beasts have decided they are big enough to flex a bit of muscle, especially if their carers are a bit late with dinner. And that is what happened the other day. Dinner was late and so they decided to go after it themselves. The fence stood no chance and Jackie was soon screaming, “The pigs are out! the pigs are out!” Fortunately I had the food bucket to hand and they were soon chasing me back into their field. While they chowed down I made the necessary repairs (fingers crossed).
We won’t be late with dinner time again I can assure you.
Meanwhile, they still enjoy a bathe and as temperatures have risen into the thirties recently, here they are enjoying life.
pigs in heavenGot some grub for us?
Not just the pigs, but other things have been sprouting and after a few years of famine, last year’s pruning seems to have done the job with the apples and very soon, the peaches. So we are presently enjoying quite a few apple crumbles and apple and sultana cakes (recipe to follow as it is seriously delicious).
Following on from the last post, I got 7kgs of honey (that’s 14 jars) from just 4 frames in one hive. I can take another 4 full frames out of the same hive but I think I’ll leave that for a few weeks to enable them to recover a bit. I think I’ll leave hive number 2 this time around – they should make enough honey to last themselves over the winter but I won’t take any.
As I don’t have an extractor, as I described in the last post, I had to cut up the comb to let the honey drip out (a proper extractor just takes the honey and leaves the comb intact). But this had the advantage that I could use all the wax myself and after a bit of reheating and filtering (through a pair of tights), I managed to get over 500g of pure beeswax. We just need to decide what to do with it now. We’re going to try and make candles but need to do a bit of research first.
As many readers will know, after producing stellar amounts of honey last year, our bees buzzed off last November, never to return. Undeterred we doubled up this year and now have two hives.
I’ve been keeping an eye on them over the months and it has been a little odd to say the least. One hive has been going ahead great guns as far as honey production, while number two, although seemingly very healthy, and with loads of flowers about – especially lavender, it just hasn’t been producing.
The bees in hive 1 have only just started to produce cells in the top box after which they can start to think about making honey. Meanwhile in hive number 2, the top box is almost full of capped honey and so is ready for harvest. So today I took off 4 frames. Here is one below.
As we only have two hives and an extractor costs in the hundreds of Euros we have to get the honey out the hard way. Basically I cut the honey out of the frames and allow it to drain through a colander as below.
So, I’ll take off 7 frames from hive number 2 in the next couple of days and see how we go.
