The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: greenfingers on August 18, 2008, 06:15:26 pm
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Hi,
I have been busy today harvesting some of my vegetables for the winter. I have blanched just over 4lb of peas and just under 2lb of broad beans so far, there is still some more to pick. I have picked the last of what I thought of my chard, and it has grown again, so that was picked, washed and bagged up in portions of 2 and frozen, 16 bags in total. I have already dug my potatoes as I thought I had blight, I have about 3 sacks full of spuds now keeping cool in the shed. I was given some rhubard crowns a few weeks ago and they seemed very dormant, but they have suddenly grown and we had a lovely crumble last weekend and I have picked and frozen enough for 3 more crumbles or pies and there is still more coming along, could be a bumper crop for me.
It is so nice to see all my hard work paying off now, especially when the freezer is beginning to fill up with all my produce.
My parents and Auntie are coming up from Kent on the 1st September, my Dad wants to see my vege garden and all of my first grown produce. Dad has been growing veg for years now and he once had an allotment in the early 70's and I used to go with him and help on Saturdays. If I have a query about anything, he is just at the end of the phone giving me advice and help, I hope he will be proud of what I have acheived especially when they were against us moving all the way up here in Scotland away from everyone and my girls. I hope I have made them proud now.
My chickens are doing fine, but I think that Clarissa may not be a girl, we will just have to wait and see whether we get a wake up call in the early mornings or not, if we do then I have a great Coq au Vin recipe from the 2 Fat Ladies cook book. I have no eggs yet from Phillys and Dilys they are about 15 weeks now, any ideas when they will start to lay.?? They love sweetcorn and pasta I have them feeding around my feet now.
Has any one tired to grow Romanesco, It's a cross between broccoli and cauiflower, I bought one at the farmers Market in Elgin at the weekend and it tastes lovely, never had it before, It is easy to grow???
Stuart has been busy making a second log store over the weekend. We were given some old sheets of tin that our neighbour was going to throw away, It is now a 12ft x 5ft spare log store, all it has cost us is a roll of roofing felt, as we did not have enough for the roof so that was made out of scraps of plywood that we had in the garage.
I feel abit like Barbara from the 'Good Life' this week harvesting everything form the garden and feeding the chickens and Tom building bits in the garden, anyone else had that feeling too????
Elaine
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Congratulations! And enjoy!
P and D will probably start to aly 20-22 weeks old, so not long now. Don't be too generous with the treats - if they get fat, they won't lay so well so only feed a small amount in teh afternoon so they eat their "main course" of grower pellets.
We often get the "Good life" comparison - I just wish I was in with a chance of winning "Rear of the Year"!
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Hi Elaine
Hope your Dad was impressed, sounds like you had a busy summer now its time to plan for next year. I also feel like Barbara from the 'Good Life', we live the good live here in Spain not many people live in our valley mostly Spanish that only come down at weekends from Malaga so we have the valley to our selves most of the time.
Our animals have taken over most of our time, growing soft fruit, veg, olives, almonds, figs, pommigranites, cherrys, apples, pears, peaches, apricots, plums, walnuts, oranges, lemons, advocados and a chocolate tree (carob) take up the rest of our time. Just finished picking the Almonds next week it will be olive picking to bottle, olives for oil picked in December, October will be walnuts and pommegranites its all go but we love it.
Building and rebuilding as and when we can afford and doing a bit of work on the internet to keep the money coming in.
Came to Spain to retire never stopped since and now do not know how we ever had time to go out to work, still would not have it any other way.
Never thought that working from home would be so good.
Rosalie
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all you need now is a howard rotovator to go to the shops!
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I am so jealous! I would love to do what you are doing, but our pigs take so much of our time that we just don't get the time. I think if I suggested it to John he might have a few unrepeatable words for me.
Enjoy your veggies, and well done both of you!
Kate :pig: