Pitter, patter.....

No, not the sound of more little trotters, the glorious sound of the rain.  I know it looks like we are in the midst of Autumn out there, the chickens are huddled under any shelter they can find, the pigs are having a 'straw day'....their version of our 'duvet day' when you huddle down and keep cosy, their little snouts came briefly out of the arks for breakfast and then swiftly retreated.  I'll not have much trough filling to do this afternoon.

Why do I say the 'glorious' sound of rain, well my veggie beds really need it at the moment, we were beginning to look very prarie like, with dust bunnies rolling around the farm on windy days, but the main reason is the Blackberries. 

I wandered the farm yesterday checking my wild outdoor larder, the Rosehips, the Blackberries etc.... and what is there is small, dry and hard.  I walked to all our favourite picking spots from the last couple of years and found the crops about 50% down on last year.  Hopefully this rain and then, fingers crossed a couple of days of sunshine (over the Bank Holiday would be good, can I book it please?) should do the trick and bring on what is there to a reasonable size for picking and jam making.

A shock discovery after an hour of looking there are THREE ripe almost good sized Blackberries in one photo....woo hoo.

If the crops don't improve much I will hold back from picking entirely and leave what is there for the wildlife, after all I still have some jam over from last year, I can manage, if it's a bad Winter as lots of folk are predicting they'll need them more than me.

Sue xx