Working in the Sun

Today is a day for lying in the grass with your tongue lolling out, for rolling over in the cool morning dew and relishing being alive. That's Sophie's day sorted then,

For us it is a day for working in the sun, if you have it enjoy it, let's not complain about the heat, let's embrace it while it lasts, and take the time every now and then to roll in the grass!! Enjoy your day wherever you are.

(Just a little follow on from yesterdays post, we had some of the gorgeous roasted veggies left over from our meal on Wednesday night, so we saved them in a tub in the fridge. Yesterday they were added to the top of a basic cheese and tomato pizza and sprinkled with another layer of chedder cheese, it turned it into the yummist pizza ever!!) Sue xx

Eating Simply

Now we've started on our 'Living Simply, Eating Simply' challenge life seems somehow more connected. Connected to the earth for our food and the house for our shelter.

It may sound a bit 'off the wall' or wacky, but it is really helping me appreciate what we HAVE got. When we moved to this large farmhouse we went a bit mad, buying things to fill the space.....we've discovered now we don't need them. Luckily lots of them were bought from car boot sales and charity shops, so we are more than getting our money back by selling them at the car boot sales through the summer.

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The Eating Simply is the easy bit at the moment. The Kitchen Garden and the polytunnel are virtually throwing food at us. Last nights meal was Mediterranean style vegetables and lightly smoked salmon on a bed of brown rice. All the veggies were grown ourselves.

For any of you interested in the recipe -

Simply chop onions, courgettes, peppers into chunky bits, add some small tomatoes and throw into an open casserole or any shallow pot. In a jug, or jar put a couple of tablespoons of a good oil, some finely chopped garlic, a few dried chilli seeds and any other tasty bits you fancy, mix or shake well together and pour over the veggies, making sure everything is coated.

At this stage you can pop it in the fridge and it will sit quite happily for a few hours with the flavours mixing, or you can put it straight into a medium oven. It takes about half an hour to cook, if you remember, give it a good stir about half way through, if you forget it doesn't really matter, the top veggies go a bit crisper and the bottom ones stay wonderfully moist.

We usually serve it either on a bed of Brown Rice or Cous Cous, so that all the lovely juices have something to soak into. It goes beautifully with salmon or Garlic Kievs, but is a meal in it's own right with a chunk of crusty bread to wipe your plate with.

This is an easy meal with veggies straight from the garden, but also one that can be made with all those leftover bits and pieces in the fridge at the end of the week that have gone a bit soft or lost their 'sparkle'. The roasting intensifies the flavours and makes even the dreariest of veggies yummy. Experiment with the veggies and the oils, and have fun....we do!!

Sue xx

My Favourite Harvest

The house is filling with the glorious scent of the first of the lavender harvest drying against the Aga.

This is my favourite harvest of the year and this year as usual I will be drying some for future use, setting some aside for baking with, and planning my makes for the coming months.

Mystery type,

palest and smallest of flower heads and smelling faintly of lavender curry!

Each new harvest brings with it new ideas, and a different type of lavender. Unfortunately, this year I have lost the label off the newest lavender. Lost?........no doubt a lovely little lady has removed it and left it somewhere on the farm. Yes, Rosy, you know I mean you!! Oh well, whatever sort it is it has the most unusual fragrance, almost Lavender mixed with Curry plant (and no they weren't growing side by side).

Dwarf Munstead, a lovely lavender colour.

The lovely deep blue of Hidcote

And, lastly my favourite and most useful to crafters, Grosso. It always looks gloriously shabby when bunched but gives off the most divine scent, so strong and well, lavendery. This is the ideal one to use in lavender bags mixed with Hidcote for the colour if it can be seen through the bag, or with Pearl Barley if you want that lovely weighty, tactile feel.

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After a while against the Aga, the Lavender is moved slightly away to continue drying slowly. Another way I've found works is to treat it like you would when drying Hydrangea stems, and stand it in a vase with a centimetre of water to drink and then leave it to dry naturally.

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Sometimes even for me, neither method works and the lavender remains soft, it's as much down to the growing conditions and temperature in the house as it dries as anything, so fingers crossed it works this time.

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And now I'm back out to get the next batch before the rain comes and dampens it.

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Have a good day.

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Sue xx

Misleading titles......

A rare sighting of ME........gathering Friday's lunch.

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Ooops....sorry about yesterdays title, many of you had visions of Betty on a plate or Molly in a casserole. Nope...the 'Eating our Own' was the fruit and veggies. As much as Lovely Hubby is a carnivore and would eat everything if it stood still long enough (and had a drop of sauce on), when I think of food I think veggies, so it never crossed my mind you would think I was chomping away on Betty.

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Don't eat me....I'm sooooo pretty!!

She is for the chop very soon, unfortunately, we are just waiting for her new ear tag to come from the suppliers, she very casually lost hers and without it cannot be moved off the farm, (clever girl!!), but I don't think I could bring myself to eat any of her lovely meat. Even though I know she has had a brilliant life, it would always be Betty, if you know what I mean. The meat will all be for sale or stashed in our freezer for LH's consumption.

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However, we have a new edible thing on the farm today, discovered yesterday afternoon...

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the first of our our cucumbers....

...then the second...

...and then the third...

...it's a good job we like salad!! # This is a very productive raised bed, it also holds our pumpkins, runner beans, some peas and a smattering of sweetpeas too. I must try to give things a bit more room next year. # Today I'm off to harvest the spinach....it's taking over the poly tunnel! # Sue xx

Eating our Own

A tired Betty resting in the shade of the trees, after her afternoons excitment.

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Now every meal we have contains food we have grown ourselves. Last nights tea was a wonderful roast chicken (not...I hasten to add, one of my girls) with the most tasty homegrown cabbage. Simply steamed and tossed in butter, then sprinkled with pine nuts. On a bed of brown rice it went down wonderfully after a long day. I was wondering if I should start to list some of the meals we have on here to give myself inspiration on what to plant next year, would anyone be interested or should I just put it into my farm diary?

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Sweetcorn planted though membrane, at the side of the polytunnel. The day started bright and early with our trip to the car boot sale, to sell off lots more unwanted things from the house. We made lots of money and lots of space in the house. Seemingly, everything we had was just what somebody else wanted...nice when it works out that way.

More carrots, blanched and ready for open freezing.

After Lovely Hubby doing another 'poo run' and me getting stuck into some henhouse cleaning and weeding we had surprise visitors to the farm. Our landlords have some of their dear friends staying for a while and the children we keen to meet our chickens and pigs. It was a hectic but fun hour for the animals and children. They showed no fear on meeting the pigs and everyone behaved extremely well (I'm talking more about the animals here!).

A Speckledy.

They cuddled chickens, were presented with an egg by one of the Speckledys, and helped feed the pigs, then they went with LH to raid the polytunnel and came out munching on just-picked carrots and clutching courgettes. With the gift of a box or two of free range eggs their tea was in no doubt. What nicer way for children to learn where their food comes from than to help gather it themselves.

I hope they enjoyed themselves as much as we enjoyed having them here. It sparked an idea with us too, so perhaps Family Days here on the farm for small groups might be a thing of the future.

Off now to harvest some garlic, courgettes and more peas.

Sue xx

Phew....it's hot in here!

So, so hot in the polytunnel, I dive in and out during the day but spend the most time there either in the morning or in the cool of the evening. Yesterday I managed to get lots of tidying done and 40 Celery plants planted into their final beds.

The tomatoes are now almost all in their final resting places, and the melons and aubergines are being done tomorrow after the Car Boot Sale, now I'm off to do some sorting.

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Can I just say a HUGE THANK YOU, to all of you who have been taking the time to comment on the posts and send me private emails recently. It's lovely to hear from you, I apologise if I don't always reply to comments or leave comments on your Blogs , but I do visit lots of the Blogs of people that comment and enjoy the conection with you enormously. This is a wonderful medium for meeting and getting to know lots of lovely people.

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Have a brilliant weekend wherever you are.

Sue xx

Taking the time.....

After yesterdays Blog post, I set off to walk the fields with the dogs, expecting only fresh air and an hours peace and quiet. Instead I got sucked into a fresh new world of nature going about its business. The birds started it, their sweet melodic singing made me listen, really listen for once.

Underneath the birdsong was a buzzing from the bees all around me, busy with their early morning gathering of pollen from the freshly opened flowers. They led me to seeing the butterflies, the reds, browns and the most gorgeous black and white butterflies fluttering hither and thither in the long grasses. I tried to take photos but they were too fast, way too fast, so I contented myself with watching, actually stopping and watching.

The watching then led me to seeing flowers, flowers I had only looked at with unseeing eyes previously. Wild flowers (weeds?) of such great beauty, from the gorgeous pinks and creams to shades of violet and lavender and then, on it’s own, a solitary buttercup, beautiful in its simplicity.

Waiting to be chanced upon by a passing bee or appreciated for its effort in growing amongst the tall and wild grasses. Was this a hostile environment for the buttercup….no…the wild grasses shielded it and protected it from the wind and hot rays of the sun. It thrived and the perfection of such a simple little plant made me draw a breath.

Taking the time to notice these simple beauties led to a marked lightening of my mood.

The dogs ran fast at first, and then they too slowed and took the time to look, to smell out all those lovely smells that entice a dog so. They were each in their own world, one which led them to different places, different scents and different excitements, and then sent them back to touch base with each other and me.

We strode back towards home snapping enticing vistas through gaps in the hedge. I meant to take a photograph of the house as it appeared through the final gap, but a beautiful butterfly grabbed my attention and demanded that I watch as it flittered and fluttered into the hedgerow and beyond.

As I approached home I noticed the pigs mooching around in the orchard, they had opened their gate from the pen and let themselves out. They ran to greet me so I went in to spend some time with them. The Large Blacks are no longer piglets, but stroppy little gilts, now almost five months old they look to Betty as their Mum and I’m sure she feels slightly put upon, that after her ‘phantom pregnancy’ she has only two teenagers to show for it instead of a litter of cute little babies. But she is a good ‘Mum’ to them, always on the lookout for dangers that might ‘get’ them and quick to come running if she hears a squeal of pain. I made sure all the pigs had fresh water and then it was time to get back to the house and continue my sorting.

We have another Car Boot sale this Sunday, this time at a different venue, on a village green that is surrounded by the most picturesque cottages, usually half way through the Car Boot sale the village cricket team makes it’s appearance and starts it’s warm up on the other half of the green, crisp whites, and the thud of leather on willow, you can’t beat it as an atmospheric village setting. No wonder so many television companies film in this area for their outside shots of English country cottages.

So now to the sorting, but in a lighter, more thoughtful frame of mind.

Sue xx