Autumn School Days and Homestead Harvesting

Good morning everybody.

Well here we are in September with the nights certainly getting chillier and darker quite a lot earlier; I love the colours of the seasons changing, too.

Autumn and Winter are my very favourite seasons and I can't WAIT to get the Rayburn and wood burner lit. The first I think we'll light in the middle of this month. Sooo helps to cut down on winter outgoings as we do as much cooking on and in it as we can, it heats the water and keeps some of upstairs warm, or we put on an extra sweater! The boys love coming home to hot chocolate and cake in the warmth of the living room, curtains shut and I love sitting in there with Jon at night time chatting or listening to music. Even though the TV is only up two steps in a room off the living room it's a lovely quiet space if the boys want to do something else.

I have to admit to loving the winding down of the year and this year is one that surely needs to come to an end so we can look forward to a better, though I suspect still very different, 2021.

My usual question at the start of proceedings is how are you all getting on? I know a lot of people are describing our situation as lockdown having been lifted, but here on our little homestead we are pretty much behaving the same way, still living the dream in our own way here on my little patch of paradise.

(Apologies for the cement mixer but work in progress!)

We're only going to the shops for things we need, no browsing for fun; August Bank Holiday has just passed and we drove into Aber on the Sunday and it was extremely busy so we got what was needed and, as we say, got the hell out of dodge!

Just now shopping involves getting school supplies for our boys. With one who is 14 the week they go back and currently 5ft 4 it's proving a little tricky getting regulation school clothes as we're on the brink of the age range seeing as he's already in 15 - 16 yrs shirts, and don't get me started on trousers! Things will be very different for them, I think I mentioned I'll be driving them to school but I'm still waiting to hear that we can transfer Alfie to join Harry at his school in Aber.🤞 They will be in school next week for two or three days but we have no dates for attendance confirmed beyond that as yet. We expect there'll be some blended learning ie. home as well as in school but again this information has not come to us yet.

Here on the homestead Jon is continuing work on the new Airbnb listing. It's coming on very well indeed and we are just planning the colours, layout and style and as we plan on having some much missed family to stay with us over Christmas, no not apologising for saying it, we're looking forward to it being very welcoming and cosy for them.

Harvests have really not been too bad this year. Still have lots of carrots to come along with the Maris Piper maincrop spuds which seem to be really good already. I was a little concerned about the spuds due to the little tomato things growing on them again this year but was confident it wasn't blight although they also seemed to be dying back a bit early - my diary said they shouldn't be ready before Sept 19 about. Aaaaanyhow, I decided to cut them down to soil level and when I harvested two plants yesterday I came in with 4lbs of quality produce which I thought was a good amount. 

(The bags in the background are the 2nd cropping ones.)

Of course, I have the second cropping ones planted which will be going into the poly tunnel at some point; the growing bags will probably take the place of the butternut squash that took over the corner for so long.

I've been out foraging for blackberries, too, haven't really had to go very far for them,10 minutes from home at the most, and there have been sooo many that we now have a good couple of lbs in the freezer. Great for breakfast with yoghurt - hope to go out again this week and see if they are still in such abundance before the season ends.

I FINALLY have quite a few tomatoes ripening, from different varieties, too; they seem to have taken an absolute age so hope to pick those in the next couple of days; not enough to process into anything but never mind another year maybe.

I took up my beetroot last week; not loads this year but hope to have a late entry of some I have planted outside. I used the fresh along with some from the freezer which I grew last year. I had enough to make a couple of jars of relish, plus some for tasting, from a recipe by Thane Prince, and it was yummy; this will be perfect to go with cold meats at Christmas, oops there it is again! Not much preserving going on but some.

The outside beds and areas are beginning to look a little bit naked. The empty tyres where I grew my early spuds will be for onions and garlic I think, should be enough space. 

One of my great successes this year is definitely the kale. Constantly picking, rinsing and popping it into a bag for the fridge.

Maryline and I from Rural and Rustic were just saying that an eye needs to be kept on poly tunnel temperatures just now to ensure the more delicate things are still happy. I'll be popping out shortly to  feed the toms and few other things when I do the rounds; we're having some rain here today so the outdoor plants should be ok.

Right, today is the last no-screen day for the boys and Wednesday is also Monopoly Day; we normally have lunch then start and play until about 3 or 3.30pm.

Enjoy your day and I hope you enjoyed more of my ramblings.

#stayhomeandstaysafe where you can.

Bye for now

Lou,xx

A Few On Fursday!!

Hello there.

Before I start I just want to check, as usual, how everybody is. I hope, wherever you are, that you're keeping safe whatever the restrictions are for you and yours. xx 

Yesterday I took my eldest for his last "check in, catch up and prepare" day at school, which also happened to be his last day in Year 8. He's very excited about being in year 9 from September, best year in school according to him, although more excited that he has NO MORE HOMESCHOOLING to do and can have a lie in, obvs minus the fag!😁

The youngest has his last day tomorrow and will feel the same way about the issue of homeschooling, but is an early riser so he'll find something to do until he persuades his elder brother to play tennis in the garden or drags him to the next thing on the list of jobs to do, which they will STILL have during the holidays as they have done alongside homeschooling!

I admit to having found the whole assisting the boys with lessons really quite stressful at times so I will also be glad to see the back of them. I love the mornings when I can get up unnecessarily early just to have some time to myself, organise my day and enjoy a whole pot of coffee uninterrupted by empty-legged tweens on the hunt for food. 

We've been informed that the youngest will be back in school on September 10 and the eldest on the 9th but for how long and for what regular days we are unsure just now. Also no confirmation about transport yet - I've been running them these last few weeks but by then they may be taking their bus routes, but I'm happy to be taxi service of mum if needed.

I was chatting to my very good friend Tracy from Our Smallholding Adventure the other day saying I'm more than a little anxious about a new outbreak of the virus. As the summer holidays begin, the children are no longer 'in school' and relaxations are made on quarantine for returning travellers there may be a new spike. I also went food shopping yesterday for what, I hope, will last for at least three weeks - not even bothering trying to get a delivery, never had one yet as others are more needy. I'm still happy to stay at home now as much as possible. Jon will be on leave for two weeks from July 24 so we'll all be at home together, safe, and it will be exciting, too, as we are gaining a new member to our homestead, a sheep dog for Jon.👏👏👏

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Ok, after that little ramble my blog today is also about the garden and poly tunnel, as normal. I never really manage to do the Six On Saturday on social media, hence the title of this blog post.😀

The weather these last few days has been changeable; we've had rain, not much sunshine but humidity so this has been causing me a little anxiety regarding my poly tunnel. Why, you may ask, well since I had issues with a bit of mould and mildew I've been keeping a close eye on it.

This morning I took a turn around the garden to take the photos and see how everything is doing after some rain and the weather today being a little warmer than yesterday.

Starting in said poly tunnel it is looking quite healthy just now. I have some gaps  but still on that learning curve but getting there. The new path is much safer now. I am wanting some floating shelves put up on either side for trays, tools etc but that is a job that can wait until Autumn I think.

The tomato plants are doing fairly ok. Some of them have leaf curl which I get every year; sometimes the leaves then go really tough and no flowers appear so I have taken them out of planters and the poly house before as no good feeding them when there will be no return. However, there is good fruiting from two of them which are Tomande in the background and the nearer ones are Cuor di Bue which are two of four plants given to me.

Now finally I have some growth on my Marketmore cucumbers; I really  was beginning to panic! 

Here is the biggest fruit from my butternut squash Vegetable Spaghetti plant given to me by a friend; it is coming on very well but I did cut back some of the leaves at the weekend as it is enormous.

At the side of the poly tunnel my boys have cleared a patch of ground where I hope my pumpkin will grow. The space is a meter square with plenty of room for spread. As the ground is not in super condition I'll put some compost there ready to plant and see what happens...

This is the plant, given to me by friends.

Across from the poly tunnel, alongside the poly house, I have three tall planters and all have beetroot in at the moment and all looking pretty much like this.

Here are the maincrop spuds flowering, funny that the second early ones which can be taken up any time from this coming weekend are not flowering at all; I'll be leaving them in a bit longer I think.

I have extra dwarf beans growing outside in the crate as well as those in the poly tunnel. They are just flowering so I do hope they'll be providing soon.

The bed at the back of the poly house is looking great! The perpetual spinach at the front, given to me by the same friend as the tomato and butternut squash (pattern developing here where donations are doing quite a lot better than my own grown!)👀 . is doing very well. Chuffed with the caulis at the back along with yet more salad leaves.  

In the bed in the far right corner of the growing area I have my three broccoli plants and two courgettes. 

Very excited indeed to see that the head of broccoli has become visible. Eeeek, I've never managed to grow it before; just hope my netting and my Grazers Eco Spray will continue to keep away the cabbage whites.🤞

The Tondo di Piacenza are showing and hope this one doesn't fall off like one did this morning! Love these stuffed!

The Goldena did not do well last year but I have a few on this plant here (there are two more courgettes in planters, too - another Goldena and a Zuchini (not from Mr Fothergill).

Finally, I have the first bloom? on my multi-headed sunflower...

and one of the dahlias I planted outside the Studio last year has come back to life so very pleased about that.

Things seem to be taking a little longer to come to fruition, fruit and veg, this year or it could just be my usual impatience!

The weather this weekend is set to be nice and warm so hopefully this will bring on a few things and harvests will improve beyond the salad leaves and dwarf beans!

Stay safe everybody, if you are staying at home over the summer as we are I hope you enjoy your own little patches of paradise and I look forward to seeing lots of trug shots of your wonderful harvests.

As always, take care,

Lou.xx

Bank Holiday Weekend Work.

Good morning.

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I'm going to start off by saying that I absolutely love living in such a rural place but it can be challenging at times regarding the circle of life. We all need to make sure we are keeping to rules and regulations and respect everything around us.

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Hi everybody, how did you get on over the Bank Holiday? Obviously another strange one but didn't stop a lot of us getting outside I am sure. However, I started off the weekend on Saturday by catching up with Gardener's World - lovely start to the day but still a little sad not seeing Nigel. I decided to do a bit of planning for work in the garden so I knew what needed doing for the next few weeks. Love doing that, makes it very exciting knowing what it coming up, in more than one sense of the word!

Sunday was a great day outside. I planted kale in the poly tunnel and broccoli outside. 

The broccoli are the plants in the middle of the bed (radishes at the far end and courgettes closest in the photo). They will have a frame to protect them as I've never managed to grow it without getting eaten by something other than us! We're utilising this which was over the bed behind the poly house and our eldest and I made a good start but just needs the netting putting on it now.

I did some potting on outside the poly tunnel in the sunshine.

This involved cabbages Greyhound, a Black Beauty aubergine (always have trouble germinating those but keep trying) and a sunflower to hopefully have outside the tunnel if the lambs don't eat it!! Oh and what I think is the last tomato plant.

The eldest also helped me put up my bunting in the tunnel, need a little girly-ness in there.

I have now moved the Brown Turkey fig tree into the poly tunnel and it is going great guns already. 

A couple of other jobs included earthing up the first early spuds; these look to be recovering from the frost damage with plenty of new growth showing.

I've been saving woodash from the Rayburn and read somewhere that it is good for onions when they start bulbing so I'm giving it a go - can't do any harm.

Finally I cut back the oregano in the herb sink and it is now drying nicely in the conservatory and will be added to our box of herbs in the kitchen; 

this is something I really want to keep doing when I can this year. It was the last job of a really satisfying day and the best thing was we had another day to do it all again!

Yesterday morning, after a lovely brekky of scrammbled eggs, I set to deciding on the jobs for the day. These were partly helped by watching the latest YouTube video by Kev here at An English Homestead; he gave us a great tour of his garden and poly tunnel and I took a few hints and tips along the way. 

I got outside and sowed the following:

Dwarf Bean Speedy in a tray of 15 cells

Dwarf Pea Hurst Green Shaft the same

Beetroot Bolthardy, again in a tray of cells 

These have gone, along with a pot of Sweet Basil, into the poly tunnel so I can pick them at the same time as salad leaves.

The bed shown here is from where we took the old frame to use for the broccoli protection. It was going to be for parsnips but I've changed my mind. I found a number of weeds that seemed to have something like rizehomes but it wasn't the dreaded ground elder as far as I could tell. Anyhow, it is all prepared as I covered it over with cardboard, which I luckily still had, and then covered in fresh compost no dig style. I'll add some more when I get it but this bed is now going to be for cabbage or cauli, not decided which yet. 

I'd already started putting down cardboard around it so hopefully nothing nasty will get in.

My tunnel is coming along well but there are still has a few spaces as, obviously, I'm starting from nothing so don't have a full year of sowing and growing happening. 

Here is a butternut squash Spaghetti given to me by a friend. Funny, she says mine is doing better than hers!

However, I'm chuffed how things are working out but we did have a little visit from a mole the other day - I check today and all seems well, fingers crossed.

This year I am sooo late with my sweet peas but have a few called Bright and Breezy that germinated. I planted up three in a fairly big pot plus wigwam then in the top of the herb loo I've put a couple to brighten up the poly house area. The only other things I potted on yesterday were half a dozen All The Year Round cauli.

We're still feeding the youngest of the lambs who is really taking time to bulk up but I fed him a good 400ml of Lamlac this morning which is great.

After we came in from the garden I did some of my papercrafting. I've just started on my second junk journal. I think you can tell I love the vintage look and feel of things when I'm in a creative mode. I love finding anything from old sheet music and magazines, old adverts, books, paper, letters, labels, stickers, you get the idea. So... should you come across anything like this you know to give me a shout.😀

Ok, time to get on, after one more cup of tea. Not a lot on the agenda today but maybe a little bit of baking later on and deciding what will be on the menu for today and the rest of the week.

Hope you enjoyed the Bank Holiday and that you are just keeping on keeping on and managing mentally. With restrictions starting to change here as well as things in the news I've been feeling rather anxious. I've had to delete my Facebook feed since the weekend as too much negativity going on that is affecting my anxiety, plus I've muted some things from Twitter for the same reasons. Here, we are just concentrating on simply staying home and staying safe so I hope you are doing what ever you need to do wherever you are.

Bye for now,

Lou.xx

CHANGE, NOW AND IN THE FUTURE - A positive post.

When I look out of my top kitchen window over our little homestead and beyond, where we live, I am eternally grateful for many reasons  However I am even more thankful because, to be honest, just now I can forget about what it going on elsewhere for a little while. 

This doesn't mean I am not considering those wonderful people doing amazing things for us all, but it does my health good just to stop and enjoy what me and mine have now and then. Since my last post, which was just 10 days ago, many things have changed a great deal and we are all dealing with and experiencing a very different way of life. 

The boys have now been off school for 2 weeks, I am coping quite well with their home schooling as the eldest just gets on with stuff but the youngest needs a little more encouragement when it comes to focus. However they have also been making the best of the good weather, as I tell them at any time when we get sun, by going on their bikes but they are careful and keep a VERY good distance because social isolation is not top of everyone's list! Plus they are doing outside chores in between school work like collecting the eggs, feeding the hens and orphan lambs - the three amigos - which we now have in the garden, and they've fixed my wonky main veg bed ready for the growing season. 

Jon is still going to work but practising social distancing which is quite easy when he works in an outside sawmill. Apparently he is classed as a key worker because the company provides important help regarding animal/stock management through timber products. He feels they may close at some point because of the number of deliveries/orders they have coming in and out at times but we will see.

I was very flattered the other day when Tracy of Our Smallholding Adventure suggested I write a post about how I organise my kitchen. (By the way she has a fab new post there; we are two peas in a pod when it comes to this sort of thing.) Some people are comparing life now to how it was in the war years and I agree, but at the same time not trying to tell people who did live through WW1 or WW2 how it was for them. However, I was going to write something a little different but right now I think we're all having to be more adaptable in these challenging times, but I think it CAN be character building, so my post has been adapted, too. When you have to change your life it gives you the chance to realise what you REALLY can do without, how you can substitute items for things you are used to and that in the end it just doesn't matter most of the time. This doesn't just apply to what goes on in the kitchen, I think people will decide what really matters to them once things begin getting back to normal and I frankly can't wait! We can already see pollution has been affected by people not travelling so much, water in the canals of Venice is clearer and maybe the thinking of people will not be so tainted when we come out the other side. 

Back to the kitchen. I'm constantly checking the things we've made and put in the freezer or the supplies of things we have in stock that are fresh or in cupboards etc. Variety in our meals is something we are still achieving; we don't have to eat boring meals as long as we concentrate on flavour and the way we use the ingredients we have.

So, I've mentioned in a previous post that we were lucky enough to get to our local wholesalers before things became really serious regarding #stayhomestaysafe. We stocked up on some great staples which has been a total bonus and along side these as I said before, there are things we haven't/can't get for love nor money, namely plain/bread flour so the self raising flour we bought - 16kg of it..

is being used for everything from bread without yeast, pizza bases, sweet bakes, cakes and makes. I've now used up any bread or plain flour I did have and this loaf was made yesterday with the last of it, half and half of plain and SR - came out well, just with there was more!

Bread products in general are a real issue so I am resigned to making fresh Piadina, which I've been harping on about on social media a bit, but it is fantastic and so easy. 
It comes from one of Jamie Oliver's books which I love and is well used; it is a great book to use at this time showing us how to Shop Smart Cook Clever and Waste Less - full of use it up ideas!

This can be used for both savoury and sweet meals. I'm also going to dig out a recipe I have for biscuits instead of buying more cream crackers when the current supply runs out to go with soups and for snacks. I used to make soda bread a lot but SR flour doesn't come out as well as even regular plain flour... But, if you have curry you can make simple flat bread and those can also be used for sandwiches or with meat fillings for main meals.

I had to fetch a prescription on Wednesday so went to our local farmers co-op and the fruit and veg shop along side which I have used in the past. This was before I had a panic attack at another shop, just getting to my car before I fell into floods of tears after an old man wanted to hold the door open for me. I then broke down again at the fruit and veg shop about which the people were lovely. It was a surreal experience as I'd not been into Aber since March 12 or to anywhere else beyond the village shop and things outside the house had changed a lot at that point. I feel the anxiety came on as it was a shock to me, even though we live within village life that doesn't have lots of hustle and bustle, that things were so eerily quiet. I'm very happy that we must not go out unless absolutely necessary because when I DO need to go out I know I'll feel safe because I don't have to go to a big town and I know the set up of the shops. We're also getting a weekly delivery of fantastic, local meat from the butcher in the same place so very pleased with that, too, for example these chops. It is great to support local businesses just now.

Therefore from my recent shopping trip I bought items to go along side frozen items and dried goods we already have. For example I can always make crumbles and cakes so have bought lemons for a bit of flavour when I don't have fruit to include in a recipe and apples to make a big pudding which will last a couple of days. Shortbread is interesting when made with SR flour as turns out slightly cakey but very tasty topped with jam!

Nothing is going to waste in the kitchen. Veg odds and ends go into a pot to be made into soup; the huge leek I bought had the tops removed to go with potato, some carrots of which we have tonnes! as this is another thing be bought at the wholesalers, a couple of spuds and some seasoning and voila, lunch today was said soup with some additions from the fridge.

Jon is chief pie maker and this beauty was a mince monster he made last week. Due to the meat, veg and spuds in it, a slice doesn't need too much extra veg on the side - a slice each and four in the freezer.

Now to sowing and growing, are you still with me? I've started as normal, no panic here as we have to watch out for that last cold snap of the year but the conservatory is doing a great job helping things germinate - tomatoes, peppers, dwarf beans, annual flowers, marigolds, 2 varieties of beetroot. In the garden the first early spuds are in along with some hardy red and green lettuce and spring onions. The exciting news is that I have today ordered a poly tunnel from feel good uk; this is just fab as I've always wanted one. Jon and I have come to the conclusion, perhaps as a big number of people, that should anything else happen as we are currently experiencing we want to be able to take care of ourselves as MUCH as possible. So I am busy making sure I know what will go inside and out of the tunnel to maximise what we have and what we can produce. The other thing we have had plans for, forever, is pigs; we're lucky enough to have a field which is just over three acres in size and only ten minutes down the road. With getting the Airbnb listings off the ground effort and funds have not been available but we think next year is the perfect time to have them.

So that is where we are up to right now and our ideas to get through the next few months. Then how our plans will hopefully pan out later. It is a difficult time but we WILL come out the other side with renewed vigour, hope and a future changed for many of us.

Take care, stay safe and I would love to hear about how you are living through now and your plans for then.

Bye for now,

Lou.xx