A nice part of living in a semi-rural area is the larger amount of wildlife that can be seen and caught on
video and it comes at us from all angles.
Having just put up some of our CCTV cameras around the hut, we are hoping to capture more events over the months, and along with our single Trail Camera, we should be able to post these within our updates for the blog.
To keep the video sizes small, we shall edit the video and only include the relevant activity from the wildlife captures, this will ensure you can get to see the activity without minutes of inactive scenery. When we get enough clips to make up a small video we shall present them on a post for you to see.
This week, Loraine has been hard at work making pickles from some of our crops. We are still unsure which ones we shall like best so it is a case of trying things out this year and maybe grow more of those things we like better. As you can see, she is a dab-hand at the pickling game.
Our first jars of mixed pickles are ready for the winter season.
Loraine's pickled beetroot is phenomenal! You cannot taste any vinegar at all and it melts in the mouth.
To round off the selection, a few jars of pickled shallots which we have not tried before.
Some sad news though, one of our fruit trees have come down with Silver Leaf, which means it will surely die. We think it was because of the horse that got into the field and broke many of the fruit trees and as some are susceptible to disease if you prune them at the wrong time of the year, our one and only Plumtree is one such victim. You are not supposed to prune Plum Trees from Autumn to Spring as it allows Silver Leaf to attack the tree.
We shall have to take it up and burn it and then think about getting something to replace it with. Trials and tribulations of being a gardener we suppose.
Our corn patch is coming on well. The wind did knock a few over but we have not supported those.
Most of the crops are doing fine and producing well in spite of this year’s weird weather patterns. We are getting some great squash’s, the corn is producing the cobs now, Loraine has frozen over 4 kilos of fresh peas, which will last for some time.
Other produce is coming on and does surprise us at times! You look one day and it is small and then you look again and it has put on a spurt to grow fast. One such vegetable is Loraines Cauliflowers this year which have been great. This one you see here weighed in at 1.72kg , or 3lbs 12.5 oz. A whopper by any standards.
Even Jack, our rescue cat was impressed with this perfect offering thanks to Loraine's green fingers.
Another great cropping has been our three Blueberry plants which have given up a really good crop of berries. Paul made Blueberry pies which have been delicious! Yes, we have eaten them already However, we have the second batch waiting to be made into tempting pies and maybe even blueberry muffins. The weather has been somewhat cool over the last 4-6 weeks which has slowed some things down but we are grateful that most of our plants seem to be handling the cool weather fine and are still giving some crops if not excessively.
Loraine is also trying out a Calendula Tincture this year as we planted up a large bed of Calendula’s, Borage, and French Marigolds up on the ramp to the gardens.
The flowerbed on the ramp leading up to the gardens. Borage is at the back with Calendulas in front of those and some French Marigolds at the front.
From this photo, you can see the hut visible in green just over the top of the wall.
Loraine is producing some great composts from the waste that we get from the various crops after they have finished their cycle. Along with the grass cuttings from the lawns which act as an accelerant for the compost pile, we also add any other waste plants that we can use including things like bracken from the ferns dotted around our place. In order for Loraine to produce great compost, she needs to get the temperature within the pile to a good level so that the heat kills off any pathogens and seeds.
We do see that in the future, further composting areas will be needed to assist us in producing greater quantities to use on our gardens.
Loraine adds new layers to the compost piles which gives us a decent amount of compost over the year.
As we have not posted for quite a few weeks, Paul will get some further posts done really soon. For now, you all take care and be safe!