Thank you and harvests have started!

Thank you to everyone who commented on Buddy.   I really did take comfort from your words. 

Here's the puppies happily sharing a bed in front of the Aga which is there new sleeping place.

So far this year, we've had 2 pickings of rhubarb.  One lot was froze for the freezer and dehydrated.  Another lot was used to make rhubarb Bellini (cocktail) per The River Cottage Yearbook which is my bible at the moment.

Here you go Cottontail Farm - as requested :)

We harvested our first salad leaves.  Ste said it looks a sparse harvest, but salad leaves I shall just take enough for that meal, as they are at their best when just picked.  These are oriental ones and were lovely, as far as salad leaves go!

 We had them with some radish which I seem to have arranged in size order for the photo!

Remember the big green thing in the rhubarb?  Well thanks to Amy and DC who commented and told me it was a rhubarb flower, this mammoth thing has now been removed.  There was also one on another rhubarb too. 

 

 Guess what?  The PSB is coming through too.  Literally appeared over a couple of days.  This was sown in August 2016 and takes up to a year to mature according to Monty Don but these are a quicker cropping if I recall, so hopefully we'll be having some soon with a melted blue vinny sauce....yum.

The asparagus is also starting to show so in a few days we will harvest this too!  Things are really starting to take off. 

The elderberry flowers are showing, next month we will be making Jack's favourite cordial with the flowers.

 I'm also going to make some rhubarb cordial and vodka with my next pickings.  The vodka is the start of the Christmas hampers, which I'll do more on nearer the time ;)

RIP Buddy 2003 - 2017

It was time for Buddy to leave us last night.

He will never, ever be forgotten.  Not in the least that he could tell if the dishwasher was open when he was in the other room (Labradors and leftover food anyone?), he was loving and loyal, he would make time for a cuddle no matter what else was going on, he was our protector and a part of our lives for the last 14 years.

It hurts like hell, but he is at peace now and has left us with memories that would overflow any memory jar.

Tomato update

Early in January I sowed some beefsteak tomato seeds.  The first lot failed which was my fault, they shot up before I realised.  Some I saved by replanting to their first leaves and some I started fresh.  Both have done fine.  Here's the beefsteak one (Brandywine) which needs potting on again.  It's also starting to produce side shoots which I am nipping out.  I've planted the other one which is as big as this one directly in the polytunnel bed to compare which one does best so I can just do that in 2018.

The tomatoes below were all getting far too big for their pots, so instead of a pot bigger, I potted them on into their final resting pots so to speak.

It took the best part of an hour but now I have 18 tomato plants ready.

The tomatoes are the big pots, the smaller ones are caulis, cabbage and calabrese.

 

 These little things are Gardeners Delight, sown after the first tomatoes in the hope of extending the season as long as possible.  I have some that have just germinated too and will keep sowing for a little while yet.

I also have a variety called outdoor girl which, as the name suggests, will be going outside when they can.

This weekend I will pot on everything that needs it and plant out the PSB for next year.  It's too big for its pot now and I don't want to have to pot it on again. 

I think I am going to need more growing space !

Have a lovely weekend all, it's due to be sunny here so I plan to get in the greenhouse and polytunnel before they get too hot, then in the veg plot to get some much needed vitamin D.  I think Sunday afternoon may be a day of rest and enjoying some rhubarb cocktails.....

My little family and our new ways

Since we moved to the smallholding, life has changed.  We had a vision of the lifestyle we thought it would be.  A lot of that has come true which is simply amazing.  What we didn't realise, is how we would change as people, nurturing our new way or life, our values, what's truly important and what really just doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things.  We've been through some ups and downs as we figure this out, but it's always worked out.  We have a strong family bond and the smallholding is developing that even further. 

So I thought I would share a couple of things that made me smile recently.

Ste made crispy cakes with rolo chocolates to finish them off.  I'm told the kids helped too ;)  They've been taken each day as packed lunch treats.

He's also started making Sunday lunch for us.  I'm seriously jealous of how well these Yorkshire puddings turned out!!  He's got a job for life there.

Ste and I collected nettles from the paddock recently and I made nettle soup!  This too is a first and despite my brain thinking otherwise, it was actually ok.  True, I wouldn't choose it over butternut squash soup, but given its health benefits, I'll happily eat it seasonally. 

It had a slight tinge of leek and potato - the recipe was from River Cottage website.

I moved on to nettle tea as I've read some excellent things about it's medicinal values.  Only a small batch to start with.  I washed the nettles, boiled then simmered them for a few minutes and strained through a muslin cloth to get rid of the residue.

 It was very palatable!  I was shocked actually.  This is something I will turn back to, maybe drying nettles to allow for all year round availability.  Or can you use nettles any time of the year for tea? 

Grace is also finding her green fingers.  She has a natural curiosity with seeds and plants and enjoys sorting through the seed tray.  She asked me only just this morning if the rhubarb was ok as there's a 'big green thing' growing in it.  I smiled and told her "hopefully"...after all, we're all learning, so only time will tell! She's sown some seeds for me too.

Jack likes to take his bike everywhere he goes on the smallholding.  Here he is, a dab hand at carrying a chicken feeder on his handle bars and taking it to get refilled at the feed station.

 Once the animals are fed, he collects the eggs, using any bucket he can lay his hands on to do so.  This one being an empty horse supplement bucket that Jill uses who keeps her horse with us.  It's a job he can do himself and I like the sense of achievement he gets from it.  Looks like he does too?

So even though some days are hard, most days bring a huge happiness to us all.  Steven and I both work full time as well as run the smallholding, so we like to make sure we step back and smell the roses every now and then, and enjoy what we've built up and how our lives are changing.  It's truly amazing and I welcome every minute of it.

The growing season is well underway.

If you want me, I'll be outside getting on with the growing season!  That's how this last whirlwind of a week has felt.  We are out of the starting blocks and in it for the long run. 
April is the month when even more seeds can be sown and there can be a false sense of security weather wise when we're sat in the baking (ok, warmer) sun, without the need for jackets or gloves. 
I've noticed new growth all around, replacing the snowdrops and early daffs.  However don't be fooled. April has seen snow in the past so those of us growing our own need to be ready to deal with it if it's forecast.  To lose seedlings or plants now after nurturing from seed as far back as January would be devastating.
We've been working hard on the new orchard (mini orchard) and feel it is really getting there.  What do you think?

It's hard to see in the above photo, as I was trying to capture the width of the plot.  The back trellis shows the 10 apple trees we planted on a 45 degree angle and a couple of them are already showing growth.  The conference pear tree (below) is growing ridiculously fast.  These leaves were not there last week!
We have managed to get all but two of the soft fruit bushes in that are going here.  Two are outstanding as they've not been delivered yet.  So far we have 2 varieties of cranberry (mountain and ), a honeyberry, 2 varieties of blueberry (north county and aurora).  We have a pink lemonade blueberry, billberry and goji berries due soon.  There's also another 3 blueberries (Duke) that are going in another part of the veg plot.

The soft fruit has been spaced out around the other fruit trees and planted in large holes filled with ericaceous compost where needed.  For those who don't know, blueberries amongst other fruit bushes don't like "normal" soil.  You can buy the ericaceous  soil at garden centres or some people make their own.  I'm short on time for this planting, but plan to top them up with home made stuff.
Blossom is coming thick and fast on the new fruit trees and I hope it's a good sign of the harvest to come!

 

The greenhouse is well and truly filling up.  My problem now is trying to keep it cool when I am at work.  The doors can be left open but I have to put the mesh door on to stop the chickens going in and eating everything!
My blackcurrant cuttings have rooted but the red and white aren't doing much.  Also a raspberry runner that I severed and rooted to see what would happen.

The PSB, caulis, calabrese, cabbage, corn salad, carrots, leeks, onions and sunflowers are all looking great.  The tomatoes are growing strong and need to be potted on this weekend before they become pot bound.

I've sown more of everything to try and harvest everything at staggered intervals.  Some peas and broadbeans went in directly outside at the weekend, as did a tester row of carrots and beetroot.  Inside the polytunnel I have lettuce, swiss chard, kale, peas, beans, potatoes (earlies) and some marigolds to deter nasty bugs away from my food!  The marigolds are sacrificial plants, no holds barred in this game!

I've also got half of my potatoes in to their new beds and a full bed of red and white onions.  I have underestimated how much space I will need for the potatoes though, so I need to come up with an alternate solution!

Finally here's another addition to the fruit and veg area.  A tea plant (Camellia sinensis).  Steven drinks a lot of green tea for its health benefits and I try to every now and again.  I thought it'd be nice to grow our own.  After all, the idea is to be as self sufficient and self reliant as possible.

 

 

I hope you're all enjoying the sun which we seem to be having in fits and spurts.  I'm not complaining one bit!  It's starting to dry the fields out just in time for the horses to go back on them and it can't come soon enough!

 

 

What a beautiful weekend

I know it's a common thing to say, but this weekend just flew by.  We did have a busy one mind you, it was glorious weather! 

The greenhouse was difficult to keep cool and I actually lost some tomato seedlings which I'm gutted about.  They were in this heat in the propagator too, so even hotter.  I have lots more sown, but still sad when it happens.

It was a weekend of fencing again.  We have a stock fence that separates the small paddock and the field.  The field has a gate which is not linked to the small paddock and it's become a mud bath over winter, so we've decided to put another gate in as an alternative route whilst that one recovers. 

Ste took part of the stock fence down, to make room for the gate.  A trip to Mole Valley (agricultural store) later and we had the wood necessary for the job.

In no time at all, Ste had dug the holes out, post crete'd in the posts and added the fence rails. 

 

We then had a chat about the stock fence which started to look tired and aged against the new post and rail section.  Our intention was to eventually replace the full thing, but not immediately.  This weekend's task was to get the gate ready for use.

Of course, best laid plans were thrown to one side and we set about (we being Ste) and took up the stock fencing, keeping it for the pig area at a later date.  The field now looks amusing in that there is a gate in place, but an open space which you can just walk around.  We had another run to the agricultural store and got the rest of the wood needed to put a full fence up. 

 

I wasn't sat on my haunches whilst Ste was busy with the fence.  I've planted up the rest of the trees in to the mini orchard and am really pleased with the results.  It's still work in progress as there's a lot of soft fruit to go in, but so far, so good.  We've the last 2 apple trees, a pear, 2 apricot, an almond and a rogue fig...the fig isn't in the ground yet as I'm not sure what to do with him.

The grass area will eventually be removed and some replaced with culinary and medicinal herb beds.  That's something I really want to learn a bit more about. 

 

Can you ever have enough apple trees and a blog award.

No is the answer!  We are the proud owners of 12 new apple trees of the following varieties:

Fiesta

Howgate Wonder (cooking)

Discovery

Ellstons Orange

May queen

Bakers delicious

Winston

Scotch Bridgett (cooking)

Bramley (cooking)

Red Windsor

Winter banana

Cookers are labelled, remainder are eating apples which will produce at different times of season.

Kev from An English Homestead sells them and we can't praise him highly enough.  Excellent prices, brilliantly packaged and a wealth of information. 

It was a big job to fit into a Saturday, as there was a lot of clearing to get on with before we could plant them.  You may remember the front fence coming down, not a year after it went up (oops)?  Well that was the start of the mini orchard.

The area along the trellis was cleared except the huge plant in the middle.  Everything is being rehomed that was there.

 We rotavatored the patch and cleared it of debris, weeds and odds and sods.

 The Ste set about digging holes around 60-80cm apart so we can grow these trees as cordons.  They will be pruned when needed in the summer (next year Kev?) to restrict their growth.

 A total of 10 went in at these close intervals along the back row.  We have 2 left to go in, 1 of which is going in right about where Rodney is sniffing in the photo below!

This grass area will house other fruit and nut trees, all I need is chocolate and I might be on to something ;)

I'm really pleased with them and how they went in.  We followed instructions online, loosely.  A bucket or 2 of rotted muck went in with each of them along with a bamboo stick at 45 degree angle.  They will look great.  One is coming in to blossom already!

Finally, I'm really pleased to say my little blog won an award for "best smallholding blog" from Walton Blog awards.  There were only 13 nominations but I'm really pleased and would like to thank anyone that voted :)

Spring time jobs

It's that time of year when we need to be preparing for the coming seasons.  That doesn't just mean for the animals, but for our garden too.  We like to eat and work outside as much as possible and this includes having family and friends over for BBQ's and even the odd day off enjoying a long, lazy summer day, with a glass of something alcoholic and good food to share, usually sat round some sort of outdoor fire.
It's been sunny this week, but still cold.  So now was the perfect time to clean the block pavings which are at the back of our house.  They have gone fairly yukky over the winter and came up a treat.  It took Ste 3 hours to pressure wash the whole area, but it won't need doing again until next year, so it's time well spent.

 

Before

During

After

There's lots of other jobs to do, not all for Spring as such.  We've pig fencing to sort, hedges to trim, fields to fertilise, field gates to put in...oh and did I mention the new mini orchard?  More on that soon :)

Sheep and sheds

So this blog has been nominated as one of thirteen super smallholding blogs and I wasn't even aware until recently!  Voting is closed, but here's the link to see what it's about.  Thank you to those who did know about it and voted for me.  It was very nice to be nominated.  The offered me a free mug during the process, which turned up and had a slogan for a 'shed load of tea'.

 Which was fairly apt, as when I took my morning brew outside, I caught the sheep in the goose shed 'cat' flap, quite happily trying to steal Mother Goose's food.  Mother Goose gave her a right telling off, but being a sheep, she was not in the slightest bit bothered.

 Little Miss sheep went off and had her breakfast after taking all she could of mammy goose's.

 

 Then after a hard day of chatting with her friends, they settled down for the night.

Our animal's antics do make me smile....!