The fox has been

The days are drawing in and the smallholding is going into its winter routine. Sadly we had a visit from the fox at dawn a day or 2 ago. It took one of my geese. A fully grown big bird. I've heard that foxes take geese but part of me never believed it. I was devastated. This goose would have been for the table yes, but we are ALL about a good life and a quick and humane end. This end was not nice and I felt so sorry for it.

RIP goose.

Also, we're missing 3 ducks. However they are missing without a trace. We found the remains of the goose, so although in my heart I know it was the fox, I'm hoping that the ducks have found an appealing part of the river and have gone on an adventure.

This means we're locking up as soon as it gets dark which is ridiculously early through winter. The geese are squatting in the sheep pen which is in the barn with the horses. We'll figure out a permanent home for them before the sheep are to be housed. The geese do make me laugh, they are forever chatting to themselves. Also they randomly stretch their wings making every other goose duck down until the stretching session is over.

At the weekend, we visited my Uncles new place that he's bought with his lovely wife. It's on the way to Whitby and is beautiful, such a lot of potential. The kids had a blast helping out. I look forward to seeing what they grow there both edible and livestock wise. They aren't sure yet as plan to travel too, so I'll watch this space.

The kids had fun and so did Ste as he got to knock things down! 

Also I'm pleased to say my bunyards exhibition have germinated!! They are in the unheated greenhouse where they will stay until they are big enough to plant out.

I've got some sweet peas in now too, to see if they get a good start on next year. I'll do more beans and peas in the spring too.

Finally I wanted to share with you how my Christmas present is coming on! Ste is making me a potting shed and I am ecstatic about it. How many 30 something yr old women would say that?

Also, we're expecting another addition to the smallholding late December. More to follow ❤️

Monday night preserves - souper mix

This is a preserve that I've wanted to do for ages but haven't pulled my finger out and planned it well enough.

Souper mix is the second attempt I am having at using home made stock. This recipe, along with my pork stock, will keep us in flavoursome food for a good while I hope. There's another one I'll try soon too, so between the 3 recipes we shouldn't need to buy stock cubes again.

Now according to Pam Corbin, the queen of preserving, you would use the following ingredients for this recipe:

250g leeks

200g fennel

200g carrots

250g celeriac

50g sun dried tomatoes

2-3 garlic cloves

100g parsley

100g coriander

250g salt

Part of the reason I haven't made this yet is I've never had those ingredients to hand together. Instead of another week passing where I don't make this, I've decided to use the following, as Pam advocates changing to what you have in stock. I'm all for that, adapt and move on.

The ingredients I used are leeks, carrots, garlic, sun dried tomatoes, red and green pepper and swede. I used the same amount of salt as it's the preserving ingredient. 

Roughly chppping the ingredients up I blitzed them all in the food processor.

I used mixed herbs and added it all in. The end result was fairly wet and I'm pleased with it.

As I use stock pretty much daily, I didn't put this into sterilised containers as it'll be gone quickly. If I wanted to keep it I would and then it'd be ok for 6 months according to Pam.

The benefit of this is it takes up a lot let space than the freezer stock from bones. Next week I have another version to try and then from the 3 options I will choose the best and use that version next year.

November update plus over wintering seeds and planning for 2018 sowing

Now Autumn is half way through, it’s got me thinking more and more about seasonal sowing and growing.  As well as preparing the ground for the next season (bean trenches and manuring) I’m also thinking about what I can over-winter, that will give me extra early harvests next year. 

This year (2017) my broad bean harvest was abysmal.  I don’t know what got to them, but it just did not work for me.  A variety that can be planted in the Autumn here in the UK is Bunyard's exhibition.  I've purchased some from Victoriana Nurseries and have been sowing them.  As I live in the North East, to grow these over winter, I feel these plants would need some protection to get through so once they start to show, I cover them with a small cloche tunnel of some description. 

Broad beans are part of the legume family and as I follow a 4 year crop rotation, they are to be planted where the onion and root family were the previous year.  The broad beans I have sown directly are 2cm deep in double rows.  The double row is (about) 23cm apart and the space between each double row is 60cm to allow me to get in and harvest the beans.  A double row of these Autumn planted beans will be followed by double row in February, March then April. That should see us through.  Depending on how prolific they are, these plants will hopefully be cropping well into July and August and therefore once the seeds are sown, that bed will be unusable for anything else until the plants are spent.

Other legumes that I have decided on for 2018 growing is a climbing pea called Victorian Colossal.  I’m really excited to grow this variety based on research I’ve done.  According to Victoriana Nurseries, this pea also does well when grown on a trench, so I’ve dug a trench where the peas will grow next year too.  This variety doesn’t seem to be an over-winter one so in the meantime, I looked into what variety would be good to try and over-winter.  Douce Provence comes up regularly and I grew this in my first year here which was a good crop. 

If you recall, I ordered my Autumn planting garlic, onions and shallots in mid-September which I’ve now received and are mostly planted out.  A few garlic are left to do.  These all come under the 'onion and root' part of crop rotation (along with leeks) and need to be planted where the potatoes were.  Next year, the legumes will follow on from the onions and roots meaning I might be able to get a late summer crop but I’m getting ahead of myself now.  They are coming through spectacularly, especially the shallots.

We've also got a visitor for a couple of months.  The guy over the river, who helped us with taking the pigs to slaughter, offered us a tup for a couple of months to hopefully cover the girls, giving us April lambs.  He seems nice enough so far, though sometimes they can get aggressive when they are with their girls.  The kids have been told not to go near him just in case.

 Steven and I had a child free morning today, something we never have, so we headed down to the area where the pigs had been, to see how many weeds have come through.  Not too many to be fair.  No more should grow now as the day time temperatures are consistently below 6C I would say.  We've some exciting things planned for this area next year.

I've also given the greenhouse a further tidy, binning another few plants that were done for.  Sadly, the courgette plant which serviced us so well has gone to compost heaven.  It was a golden zucchini variety - a freeby from the GYO magazine and I will definitely be growing them again next year.

Things are slowly returning back to normal here after our busy times.  I'm looking forward to a normal week at work, Monday night preserves tomorrow and bring you updates on the meat birds which are growing at a steady rate.

Monday night preserves - stock from bones

When our pigs went in August, we processed as much as possible at the time. We kept some bones back and I threw them in the deep freeze as I didn't have time to process them all at the same time. I now need the freezer space! So although this isn't a true seasonal preserve, it is to me.

I got the bones out on the way to work and left them to defrost (do bones defrost?) in the sink until I got home. There's still some bits of meat on the bones which is perfect for making your own stock. I roasted them for 45 minutes on the floor of the roasting oven whilst I set about with some other tasks. It is supposed to improve the flavour.

They came out with a good colour on them.

I moved them to the huge stock pot which I picked up in Aldi a couple of years ago and then deglazed the roasting tin.

This was all added to the stock pot along with a few chopped carrots, 3 onions, celery, garlic bulb halved horizontally, a sprinkle of fennel seeds, a few peppercorns and some bay leaves. 

That's to simmer for 5 hours or so. I'll leave it overnight and then it can cool tomorrow when I'm at work.

When cool I'll strain it through a muslin and freeze in portions (that will take up less space than the bones!). It will be used in any recipe that calls for chicken stock. With Christmas round the corner, that will be plenty!!

Monday night preserves - basil infused olive oil

I wouldn't expect to be saying in October, almost November that I had basil growing in the greenhouse.  In fact, I'm pleased that I managed to grow any basil at all.  I'm having one of those realisation moments when I think about how far we have come.  We hadn't successfully grown anything before we moved here and to think I am preserving regularly and enjoying meals from the veg plot is a really satisfying feeling.  Preserving in general is a great feeling for me, be it shop bought, gifted or grown items and I hope that even if just one person could be inspired to preserve as a result of these posts then that would be amazing.

The basil I grew are green and red.  The red one came free with the Grow Your Own magazine that I subscribe to which send seeds with each order.  I also grew standard green basil which just loves to grow and I plan to fill my window sills with it next year!

Tonight I started to tidy up the greenhouse and brought the basil indoors.  The kids picked the leaves off for me and they did a great job.  Grace washed the leaves and put them in the salad spinner for me.

I put both red and green in together so I hope they will work out.  I sterilised a jar and packed the leaves in.

 

Once full of basil leaves, I filled with olive oil and put some cling film under the screw top. 

 

It's now on the preserving windowsill with the plum wine (which is going 2 different colours randomly).  It'll stay here for 2 weeks before being strained and rebottled in time to go in the Christmas hampers.

 

A really quick, but hopefully tasty preserve.  I'll use this to cook with and also as a salad dressing to remind me of long lost summer days :)

Back into the swing of things - runner bean trench

We're back home and had a lovely, much needed, relaxing holiday.  We were back in the UK Friday night, at home by 3am and back out on the smallholding to open up at 8, which is a bit late for a weekend but I think we were allowed! We felt fully refreshed and raring to go!  I noticed the drop in temperature overnight though, it was very chilly at 3am!!

So now autumn is well and truly here, many vegetable plots may be slowing down in terms of production, however there's still plenty I want to be getting on with in anticipation of keeping food coming into the kitchen through the winter and to ensure we have a cracking year in 2018. Not to mention the repairs, pruning and more preserving that's on the cards.

Kicking things off is my decision to make a traditional runner bean trench.  I first heard of this on the blog notjustgreenfingers which I love and was so sorry to see the lady close it down.  I hope she will be back one day. I made a trench for 2017 runners, but I didn't start it early enough, so I am making sure I don't make the same mistake for next year.  Runner beans do not have to be rotated like many crops do.  They'll quite happily grow in a spot that is convenient for you.  They do prefer a warm, sunny spot though.  According to the RHS "This kind of position also benefits pollinating insects, which are essential for the beans to set pods".

To ensure the soil is constantly moist, it is also advised that one way to achieve this is to plant them in a previously dug trench.  I.e. Dug the previous year, so that's what I started on Saturday morning and boy was it a task.

Dig a spade depth down or 2, where the beans will be planted and start to fill it over the winter with veg peelings, spent tea bags, fruit etc. 

It was super hard work, but it is done now.  I'll start filling it tonight.  I dug over and tillered the rest of the bed.  I must say, my Christmas present from last year came into its own when I was doing that.  Some people don't tiller/rotivate but I'm all for anything that makes my hectic life easier.

Once the bed was finished, we covered it with ground membrane which will keep the weeds down and that last bit of heat in the soil I hope.

In January or February or whenever it is full, I'll cover it back over with soil until mid-Spring when the peelings have rotted into a lovely compost ready for the beans to thrive in.  This does mean that part of the bed will be out of action until then however I can use it to plant quick crops such as lettuce and radish early in the year so that when they come out, the runner beans can go in.

Thinking ahead, I'll start the beans off in April indoors and then plant a later crop outdoors in June.  Hopefully that will keep the store cupboards full and the preserves flowing.

This year's runner beans are coming to an end and today I picked a trug full.  I am going to pod the biggest ones and use in stews, which I didn't know you could do until I watched Monty Don on Friday.  We're one of the only countries that eat the green outer, most places use the beans!  I didn't know that.  I'll keep you posted as to how I do this.

Today I also dug the Jerusalem artichokes up which is a bit early I think, however they'd all snapped in the wind.  They're drying off a bit ready to be roasted or frozen.



Steven brought a pallet out to the veg patch and I didn't know what he was doing until I saw this:

The tools will go away over winter, but this is a great interim solution.  I might turn them the other way so no one gets their eye poked out though!  I also dug up the potatoes which I cut the tops off a month or so ago as they had blight.  I'm pleased to say the ones I used to make today's soup looked healthy enough, let's hope it isn't just a one off.

They made a lovely onion, pea and potato soup or witches broth as I called it today.

I also noticed the cranberries are coming through from the plant I bought this year - I'm so pleased.

Rodney is pleased to have us back.  He hasn't left my side, even snoozing on Ste's trainer whilst I pottered.

 

 

Why we're missing in action

Sorry we have been missing in action! We're still here and working away very hard both at  home and at work. I knew I wouldn't be able to do any preserving or much outside over this busy period at work, but wanted to let you know we are ok and absolutely still blogging and loving living here.
We are going on holiday for a week come Friday, so there won't be updates until I'm back on 28th.  I am really looking forward to the break, not from this place, but mentally. We are lucky to have family and friends staying here the entire time we're away so all the animals and jobs are covered.
In the mean time, Ste finished part of the sheep project he had going on. We needed hay racks for them. I've been using horses hay nets but they aren't safe for the sheep so I'm glad this jobs done. It didn't cost him a penny as he re used items we had laying around. To top it off, can you see how beautiful the day was when we took the photo?

He has put brackets on them so they can hang off the fences and we can move them around. Inevitably, where the sheep eat, they turn over the grass so it's good to be able to move them.

We've also taken ownership of 30 more meat birds, from another supplier who is lovely, so that's a bonus. Always good to have a back up.


We managed to survive the storm here. I say that tongue and cheek as it was just wind we've seen before, thankfully. I do feel for the people affected by it and hope they get back on track soon.
Below you can see we've rigged up a more permanent light in the greenhouse now. The nights are drawing in that quickly that I am checking on things in the dark! This is perfect and it also casts light on the chicken coops behind it, so I can see when locking up.

Ste also knocked up some planters out of the rest of the pallets after making th hay feeders. I'm very lucky to have him!

Finally, I'm conscious that I'm not going to get any more outside time before we fly on Friday, so I made sure I picked the squash we had growing as we will no doubt get a frost when we are away.

Some funny looking ones! Some aren't totally ripe but they'll be ok one way or another.
Thanks for reading today, I want to catch up with your blogs before I go away as I won't have internet once I leave I don't think. I'll try my hardest. Take care everyone, speak to you at the end of October.
Xx

Autumn planting and more winter prep

I had a delivery this week which I was rather excited about! The onions and shallots arrived, so today I unpacked them. The garlic isn't here yet but that's ok as I have another 2 months or so to get the garlic in. I ordered them from marshalls and they were very well packed, so I'm pleased.

We recently topped this bed up with rotted muck. It's still rotting, but we put it on the bottom half of the bed and replaced the top half with the soil that was already there. It's amazingly light in texture and crumbly, from last years muck so I am really pleased. 

For the onions and shallots, we measured the rows 30cm apart and then alternated rows of red and white onions sets at 10cm apart. We had apx 75 of each colour and it only took up half the bed! The shallots took 1.5 rows and there's still 3 rows left to fill when the garlic arrives. We covered it with a net to stop the birds picking them out after this photo was taken.

We then moved on to the next bed, I promise I did more than take the photos! The leaves you can see on the left are the comfry which I will leave to die back now, for next year. We just folded them out of the way whilst we worked.

This bed won't be used until the spring now, so we used the new membrane we had ordered and covered the bed, weighing the cover down with bricks. Hopefully it'll suppress any weeds growing!

Ste has been working hard in the barn, with more preparing for winter. Here's what it looked like this morning.

And the below photo is when he finished in there. This is the start of the sheep pen I mentioned in a previous post. We need a gate on it and the hay that's in there will soon be gone as that's the horses. We'll put a bed of straw down in there once it's ready and then it's a case of getting the sheep in, when the weather dictates!

Another thing we are almost ready for is the next meat birds. We've bought a new heat lamp as the last one we used was borrowed. It's something we're going to use a lot so a good investment I think. All this needs is the straw down and the chicks in there.

This mesh greenhouse frame has seen some different uses! 

Tomorrow is another day and we've lots to fit in.