Sorry there has been such a long time since my last posting. Things got busy then my camera broke then we had to get a new one and remember to take it with us as well as work out how to use it. Okay, so, anything new? What with the late frost, semidrought, lots of slugs, snails, weeds and stones at the beginning of the year I thought we wouldn't get much. However we have actually had a good harvest of beans, gemsquash, potatoes and tomatoes. The only thing we probably won't get much of, if anything, is sweetcorn. The beans are nearly finished and I've frozen a few.
Excuse my hair, it's permanently windswept up there. You can see the beans for yourselves here. It doesn't look like much of a gem harvest but that was one of my first pickings showing the biggest at the time. I've given lots of gems away. None of the English people I gave them to had had them before so I had to tell them how to cook them. Looks like Englsh slugs and snails don't know them either. Well, I won't tell if you don't. Mind you these country snails also don't seem to know that they're not supposed to like copper. The other day I had a snail head straight for some copper tape and walk all over it. Tut tut these uneducated creatures. Back to the people. All those who have replied about their gem eating experience enjoyed them. They are the best that I remember gems to be, though I say so myself. I also gave some to some South Africans who all enjoyed them. As one chap said they were soft and tastey. His daughter remembered them from SA and hadn't enjoyed them but she enjoyed these and ate the skin too. I gave a couple to a SA surgeon I work with on Wednesday mornings, yesterday. He also grows some vegetables. It was on the news recently that this year has seen a record number of people growing their own veg. At work there is a lot of talk about what is growing and what not and who is growing what. The other day we had a patient who was having a local anaesthetic. We chatted a bit and found that everyone in the theatre grew some of their own veg..
Above is the mulberry tree with a pumpkin growing round it from the left and dock and tomatoe growing on the right. In front is a little ornament given to us by a chap who is staying with us for a while, working with Richard and waiting for his Canadian work visa to come through. He and his wife are emigrating. It is a little fairy thing, cute. The tree hides three big pumpkins which are beginning to orange up. Shall take photo's of them when I pick them. I've already made five pumpkin pies and one pumpkin curry (shall try another tomorrow). Haven't got round to soup yet. Those were made with not fully ripe pumpkins partly because I coudn't wait, and even wondered if they ever would get orange, but also one I didn't know whether it was a pumpkin or not. At one point I thought it might be a melon, then I decided it wasn't and so made the pie.
This is one of my five herb patches. The white is feverfew which, as you can see, is doing very well thank you. You may recall me telling you that the snails didn't seem to eat them. I'm sure I got from a catalogue that they are a plant that bees like. Well I waited and wondered why I didn't see any bees on them. Then I decided to read further and found that bees don't like them. In fact the smell is so strong it may even stop bees going to plants near them that they would normally go to, in this case the Anise Hyssop, purple flowers. This photo was taken by Richard just before he pulled up load of feverfew, apparently they self sew readily. Well I'll put that one down to experience. They're not the first plants I planted on the land to be taken up and they won't be the last. There are some trees I want to move from the open ground into the hedge row to make space for other trees that produce more tastey fruits. Feverfew is of some use. It's apparently good for migraines and good as moth repellant. I put some in the box of wool that had to go in the attic when I cleared my room to allow somewhere for Garry, the chap staying with us, to stay. We have kept some feverfew both at home and on the land.
Yes we have BEEEEZZzzz, six hives! Five from the apiary Rich ordered ten from and one from a woman at work whose partner keeps them. It has apparently been a difficult year for bees. Rich keeps a close eye on them and worries whether they'll last the winter or not. Poor chap gets down sometimes as things have turned out more difficult and expensive than he anticipated but I try to keep his hopes up. It is worth keeping up hope, as I did when I planted all the veg, because it will work out even if it takes longer. In the end, as I type, I'm thinking even if the hive's don't grow in strength and number as quickly as Richard hopes and however hard it is for us it will be just as difficult for anyone else, so it is worth carrying on.
This blog was meant to be just about the farm but since only family and friends are to read it I can change it and make it anything I choose. Really I just didn't want to be repeating myself in emails. Astrid and my holiday this year was Pyrites craft camp. We did stained glass. Above is Astrids' piece and below I am working on mine. I had had the idea for mine since the first camp we went on two years ago, so to actually create it was very satisfying. I'll try to remember to take a photo of the completed piece and you can tell me what it makes you think of.
Shall hopefully keep you posted a bit more often. There'll definitely be more photo's of harvest. We're waiting for the pears now. As from the first week in October I'll be working in the evergency theatres. In an effort to keep financially afloat I have increased hours which will include a week of night duty every fourth week, yippee....not, but it would be good to keep Astrid at her school, to have a hope of paying off our mortgage and also maybe still have a holiday abroad maybe every second year. We hope to go to America next year, shall probably include New York. Cities don't appeal to me but Astrid reads all these serial books written by American authors who talk about American cities which she wants to see. At least there is one people person in the family.
This is one of my five herb patches. The white is feverfew which, as you can see, is doing very well thank you. You may recall me telling you that the snails didn't seem to eat them. I'm sure I got from a catalogue that they are a plant that bees like. Well I waited and wondered why I didn't see any bees on them. Then I decided to read further and found that bees don't like them. In fact the smell is so strong it may even stop bees going to plants near them that they would normally go to, in this case the Anise Hyssop, purple flowers. This photo was taken by Richard just before he pulled up load of feverfew, apparently they self sew readily. Well I'll put that one down to experience. They're not the first plants I planted on the land to be taken up and they won't be the last. There are some trees I want to move from the open ground into the hedge row to make space for other trees that produce more tastey fruits. Feverfew is of some use. It's apparently good for migraines and good as moth repellant. I put some in the box of wool that had to go in the attic when I cleared my room to allow somewhere for Garry, the chap staying with us, to stay. We have kept some feverfew both at home and on the land. 
Shall hopefully keep you posted a bit more often. There'll definitely be more photo's of harvest. We're waiting for the pears now. As from the first week in October I'll be working in the evergency theatres. In an effort to keep financially afloat I have increased hours which will include a week of night duty every fourth week, yippee....not, but it would be good to keep Astrid at her school, to have a hope of paying off our mortgage and also maybe still have a holiday abroad maybe every second year. We hope to go to America next year, shall probably include New York. Cities don't appeal to me but Astrid reads all these serial books written by American authors who talk about American cities which she wants to see. At least there is one people person in the family. 
No comments:
Post a Comment