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Up to our necks in plums

July 23, 2014 richard Comments 3 comments

After last year’s dearth, the plums are something of a mixed blessing this time round. The yellow plum tree has gone mad. We’ve made plum crumbles, plum jam, plum jelly, plum cordial, frozen whole plums, frozen stewed plums, bottled plums, plum chutney and even dried some for prunes.

Oh, and a new one for us – plum leather! To make plum jelly you only need the juice so the remaining pulp we laid out in a thin layer on a baking sheet which dried in the sun – 3 days later you’re left with plum leather. It’s basically just a healthy snack. Not bad to chew on. Has anyone else tried this?

We are exhausted but they are still falling from the tree and rotting on the ground faster than we can put them on the compost pile. Even the chickens and dogs have had enough – and that’s just the yellow plums!

The red plums have also finished but there weren’t too many of those. Next up is the greengages. There aren’t quite so many of those which is a bit of a shame as they are Jackie’s favourite. She’s already made a greengage and vanilla tart from those. There are also quite a few damson trees around here – a number on the plot of land next to ours. So we’ll be grabbing those shortly as well.

Above are greengages and damsons, left are the Stanleys – they are still pretty hard and will be the last to come on line. They’ll used for the plum liqueurs which’ll be ready for Christmas.

Meanwhile, I’ve also been busy on the woodworking front and have made a new bench and table (left, below). Perfect for breakfast outside in the morning sun.

Nest swapping

June 13, 2014 richard Comments 0 Comment

Our orange tree has certainly seen some bird action this spring. First we had the linnet nest, then we had the wrens utilising last year’s goldfinch nest. The wrens all fledged successfully and now this nest is being used for a third time. This time for greenfinches. The transformation is all the more remarkable as finches have the regular “cup” nest but wrens make an all enclosing nest with a side entrance. So the wrens made their nest underneath the original goldfinch nest using it as the roof. And now the wrens have gone, the greenfinches have just moved in to the old roof top apartment! Even better news – they have already laid a clutch of eggs.

Here is the wren nest that I took out of the pig pen. I must admit it looks very different to the “two-in-one” nest in the orange tree as that is well hidden amongst a load of branches but it does show what a regular wren nest looks like.

Birds galore

May 19, 2014 richard Comments 2 comments

Our garden seems to be very popular with the birds this spring as we’ve had nests popping up all over the place.

First there was the blackbird nest where we saw two little ‘uns fledge, then the linnets in the orange tree. From here 4 fledged.

Also in the orange tree we’ve got a family of wrens, building on last year’s goldfinch nest.

Meanwhile in the nest box we have a family of blue tits. Here’s mum (or dad) bringing back a tasty grub.

But that’s not all. After we dispatched the roasties we noticed that there was a nest inside the roastie/pig pen. We think it is a wren nest but there’s no one home at the moment.

And finally (for now!) we have discovered another nest. This time it’s in the pergola amongst the grape vine and right above where we often have breakfast/lunch. As yet we haven’t see any comings or goings. Watch this space.

Good news and bad news

May 5, 2014 richard Comments 0 Comment

The good news is that our two year old apricot and almond trees produced fruit for the first time. The bad news is that they have all fallen off while still very small. We’ve had this happen with other young fruit trees. The first year we had fruits on the lime tree they fell off, but the following year we got some more and this time they stayed on and turned out really well. So there is hope. Similarly, last year we had loads of figs on a young tree but they all fell off before they matured. This year they are coming on nicely – hang on in there!

apricots - before they fell off — apricots – before they fell off

The other fruit trees have done really well. It looks like being a bumper plum crop. We’ve got about half a dozen trees, young and old and a variety of types, so that will be good. And we’ve never had so much pear blossom so fingers crossed for them. Meanwhile, we only picked the last of the oranges last month and now the two trees in the courtyard are full of blossom and the smell is divine. Added to that, a couple of linnets have decided the big tree is a great place for a nest but more of that later.

The fruit bushes in the veggie patch are also doing well. Hopefully we will have increased crops of gooseberries, redcurrants and blackcurrants.

I mentioned the linnets – I saw 4 little blue eggs in their nest the other day and now they’ve been replaced with 4 hungry mouths. We’ve also already had two baby blackbirds fledge and leave their nest in the garden and we also have a couple of blue tits feeding their young in one of our nest boxes. There’s also been at least one hoopoe hanging around. But the most exciting sighting was a neighbour of ours. We often hear the barn owl which lives in the ruined house next door and we have caught glimpses at night, but only recently have we seen it during the day and I managed to have my camera handy.

We’ve been a bit slack on updates over the last month or so and in that time we bought a dozen baby roasties and I’m already killing them. At least there is now plenty of room for them in the freezer. Slowly but surely we are getting through the two pigs we reared and slaughtered in 2012. I recently found another pork belly at the bottom of a freezer. It was from the so called thin end so wasn’t good for roasting but it was excellent for making bacon. And this is where your supermarket streaky bacon comes from. We just cover the belly in salt, leave it overnight, then drain the liquid that comes off. Reapply the salt over the next 5 days and the result is dry cured streaky bacon. Perfect.

Of course we still take the dogs for a walk every day and Jackie has been keener to do it these days as it’s orchid season. She wrote a post about it recently but since then she has spotted quite a few more. Maybe another orchid post soon and of course May is peak time for the wild flowers so watch this space.

About time!

March 16, 2014 richard Comments 0 Comment

After a fairly miserable winter, signs of spring started appearing at the end of February and now March has been glorious – in fact we’ve even had to start watering the garden! Most of the early fruit blossom has come and gone but now the plums are in full bloom and there is plum blossom confetti drifting around the garden. We’ve got quite a few peach trees but they never seem to do very much. However, the blossom comes out every year and the pink contrasts well with the white of the plums. Cherries up next.

Flowerwise, the daffs are still going but the irises (which grow wild around here) are now coming through as are the first of the orchids.

With the warm sunny weather, I’ve been making some more garden furniture. Here is an adirondack chair upcycled from an old pallet.

We’ve also got a new (temporary) addition to the family. A local animal sanctuary has had to close down so we are looking after Teddy for a month until he goes off to his new family. The main residents weren’t too happy at first but they seem to have accepted the young scamp now.

Blossom

February 20, 2014 richard Comments 0 Comment

Despite all the rain (which is showing signs of slackening off), things are finally looking up and spring is round the corner. As well as the daffs which have been with us for quite a while, the yellow crocuses have followed the purple ones and are now in flower.

However, the real harbingers of spring are the fruit blossoms. Like last year the apricot was first followed by the almond. We won’t have any fruit from either again this year because although we did buy another apricot for cross pollination, it is still too young as is the almond.

The plums are showing no sign of flowering, which is not necessarily a bad thing as we hope they flower when there is less chance of the rain knocking the flowers off.

Meanwhile we are back to full egg production. The old hens are still in semi retirement only laying one or two between them per day but the youngsters have filled the void. We get 3 every day, which is a little strange as there are 4 of them. Maybe one is a dud? As you can see the eggs are quite a bit smaller than the ones from the oldies.

The oldies have completely destroyed their run which looks rather devastated but we have adopted a new strategy with the youngsters. As you can see they are constrained in their run. We move this every few days so they get fresh grass and the grass where they have been gets a chance to recuperate. We also did it because they are ‘at that age’ where they want to stretch their wings and can quite easily fly/jump over the fence. It’s a bit of a faff. I wonder how long we will keep it up.

After a number of trips to the vet with the big hairy one, the vet reckons she has got atopy – it’s an allergic skin reaction which makes her lick her paws and is probably the cause of her often infected ears. It’s not too bad at the moment – the scratching and licking is usually just in the mornings for some reason and we are now used to cleaning her ears every day. And she is still full of life and obviously happy so we are not worried that much. The (slightly) smaller hairy one is still up to her tricks and recently she has presented us with a rabbit’s foot (for luck?) and a pig’s trotter (??!).

Light at the end of the tunnel?

January 24, 2014 richard

I think we were softened up by the winter of 2011/2012 which was a series of warm sunny days followed by clear frosty nights. Last year was rain, rain, rain and this winter has been more of the same. However, I can’t complain too much because this is the opening paragraph from last year’s blog: “I know January is only two thirds over but we’ve had enough already! Although not as bad as the UK, we’ve had rain, rain, rain, culminating in storms this weekend which knocked the power and water out for three days. And there are more thunderstorms to come.” So not quite so bad this year – up till now! However there are plenty more similarities between this year and last:

For instance enjoying a day at the beach under a glorious blue sky.

However, this year Jussi is wearing the big plastic collar – her ears are playing up and she has managed to cut the outside of one by scratching it. Remember this time last year Betty had the big collar to stop her licking a huge wound caused by a wild boar trap! This year she’s decided to take it easy:

However she does enjoy “playing” with the local cats.

And the daffs are coming out again, as they did last January. There is no mention of oranges last year, but I’m sure we had plenty. This year there don’t seem to be as many but they are whoppers! Grapefruit size and delicious. One new thing, and something I’ve wanted to do for ages is to get rid of the ivy around a walnut tree. When we arrived (4½ years ago!) I managed to get the ivy off most of the olive trees and what a job that was. Many of the ivy stems were thicker than my leg and tightly wrapped round the trunks. Anyway, this year I finally got round to this walnut. Here it is in all its glorious nakedness.

In one of the last posts of 2013, I mentioned that we had started work on the rockery. Well, it’s pretty much done. Not so much of a rockery now, more a bed, but we will be planting some flowers and a few more herbaceous perennials when the last of the frosts has gone.

Lets hope the similarities continue as we had a great 2013 and here’s to an early spring!

Winter?

December 4, 2013 richard Comments 2 comments

Why the question mark? Well it definitely is winter, with our first frosts and temps going well below freezing. But as you can see from the thermometer in the polytunnel, crazily it has still got into the 30s during the day and we’ve had some cracking sunny days: Lunches al fresco and runarounds on the beach.

First thing in the morning, it’s a Christmas scene.

But we still have quite a few flowers. Above are chrysanthemums and below, one of many roses.

The sudden sharp frost that we had yesterday meant that finally the Plane tree in the courtyard has started to lose its leaves.

But the days are still sunny and warm and perfect for a runaround on the beach followed by lunch at one of our favourite beach side restaurants.

Meanwhile, back at the house a project which I have wanted to get going for ages has lurched into action. By the threshing square is a pile of rubble, rather grandly termed ‘the rockery’ although all that grows there are a few hardy weeds. Well this winter I intend to get it sorted. At least I’ve made a start…

stage 1 - clear out some of the rubble — stage 1 – clear out some of the rubble

Betty is supervising. In her own way.

As we know this is when she is at her sweetest – when she’s asleep. When she’s awake she gets up to all sorts. One day last week during a walk, she managed to grab a wild bird. It was something like a grouse but as she refused to come anywhere near with it (hence the blurry photo taken from distance), we can only speculate. It is now buried somewhere for future retrieval no doubt!

F plates

September 14, 2013 richard Comments 0 Comment

You know summer is over hereabouts when all the French number plates disappear. It’s not that hordes of French come here on holiday, it’s actually Portuguese who have emigrated to France and come back to visit relatives. Anyway, with summer gone, although temperatures remain high, thoughts turn to harvests. For most of the locals that’s the grape harvest and actually for us too. Not by planning though, as our grapes come from a rogue vine which has been here for years and which we have tried to tame – with some success. Anyway, plenty of grapes to eat but not enough for wine methinks. As the local professionally made stuff is so good and cheap it’s hardly worth us making our own anyway.

After all our hard work growing stuff, I don’t know quite how I feel about our two largest soft fruit crops. Both of which have grown without a jot of help (or water) from us. The grapes, just mentioned, and the blackberries which still grow in profusion around the borders of the garden. Their bounty is no doubt due to the torrential rains we got over springtime. This time I’m not complaining about them as I have made a number of apple (from our apple tree which has also done pretty well this year) and blackberry crumbles. Makes up for the lack of plum crumbles I suppose.

We have also had quite a few pears. Only problem is they are rather small to say the least. We can save a few but I think the rest are only good enough for the compost heap and the chickens.

The strawberries are finally over. They have been great but the autumn raspberries never really got started. Another result of the spring rains will be a bumper fig crop. There are loads of wild fig trees around here and we’ve got our eyes on a number, they are just ripening now. Can’t wait for some fig jam and fig tarts! There are also plenty of wild quinces about. Just as well as our old tree has none and our new tree a solitary one!

With regard to the Veggie patch, that will have to wait for an update from Jackie, but I saw she was busy digging up a few plants which have finished including the disappointing courgettes but the tomatoes are still going strong.

On the livestock front, the last of the roasties have been dispatched and are now nestled in the freezer but I have warned the laying hens that they may be next as they have gone right off laying. They tell me it’s normal for this time of year and that they’re just having a rest before gearing up for the winter, but I’m not so sure. I might take one just ‘pour encourager les autres’ as they don’t say round here.

Flower-wise, the sunflowers have done well and a number of wild flowers Jackie nurtured from cuttings. However we’ve had one surprise. Jackie’s sister gave us some Jersey lillies to plant. We thought they had died as the few leaves that had sprouted withered away quite some time ago, so it was a very pleasant surprise to see these pink beauties suddenly rear out of the ground:

And finally the hollyhocks have been chopped down – literally. After a sterling effort this summer, reaching a height of 3.5 metres, they are gone. And so to Autumn…

Crumble

July 18, 2013 richard Comments 2 comments

One measly crumble! Last year we had plums, plums, plums. Yellow ones, red ones, purple ones and green ones. Mirabelles, Victorias, Greengages and Damsons. We had loads of crumbles and litres of cordial. This year I picked enough to make one plum crumble. It was still delicious though and I’m looking forward to making plenty of apple crumbles to partly make up for the plum disaster.

The summer bush fruits weren’t too bad – redcurrants, raspberries, gooseberries, blackcurrants. And the strawberries keep coming. Meanwhile the summer veggies are now coming through – we’ve had cucumbers, plenty of courgettes (of course), and our first batch of aubergines. And the toms are not too far behind. The corn on the cobs were variable but overall not quite as bad as we thought and the later ones are looking good.

In animal news, we’ve seen a few snakes recently, including this rather brazen metre long ladder snake cooling in the pond (its rear half out of shot was in the pond). We were a bit worried about our resident frog but apparently ladder snakes feed almost exclusively on rodents (thankfully sorting out our temporary mouse problem). However a week later froggie was found floating face down in the pond anyway. 🙁

We’ve also had a roastie death. A few have been making unpleasant gurgling noises – they seem to have some sort of a cold and one has succumbed so far. Although there are still a few sniffles about they don’t seem too bothered by the heat and have been growing quite nicely. The hens take everything in their stride as usual and only recently have gone on summer laying schedule (ie. have the odd day off) but we did have one surprise the other day finding a monster egg. In the UK a large egg is classified as between 63 and 73g. The small egg in this picture is 70g. The large one is 126g! It was indeed a double yoker.

In Jackie’s last post she described our courtyard which is looking really good. In the picture you can see some hollyhocks. They are over 3.5 metres tall. I don’t know much about these flowers but I think that is pretty tall for a season’s growth. The lavender is also doing well and is attracting huge numbers of bumble bees from dawn until dusk.

So now we are well into July and the garden itself has been transformed, the lush green of early June is a distant memory and now all the grass is burnt away not to be seen again until November.

the story of Casa Azul

and a new life in deepest Portugal

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