Rested and refreshed....

We've arrived back from our break in Scotland all rested and refreshed.

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While we were away lots was accomplished on the farm, lots of vegetables planted and best of all new life in Chicken World. Thanks my Mum and Dad and to our son Jason for taking such good care of everything, when you have a farm and livestock it's vital to leave in safe hands and we did....the safest...THANK YOU.

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Back tomorrow with more news of the new family in Chicken World.

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I'll not bore you with lots of holiday snaps, just a few relaxing photos from Dawyck Botanic Gardens, just outside Peebles where my lovely Mum in Law Jessie lives.

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We are rested, refreshed and raring to go. The new challenge starts today, I have to go out and take stock!!

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Sue xx

Should we Blog?

Look......Mum and Dad's gone on holiday should we take over the Blog.......

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Nooooo.........let's run round and round the bale, much more fun.

~ First one to the fence is the winner!!

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Jigsaw, Bruiser and Clint xx

No More Norman

Norman - The New Hampshire Red cockerel

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Lovely Hubby had to do a very brave deed this morning, Norman our beautiful New Hampshire Red cockerel was limping yesterday, when he got up this morning it was very obvious that his leg was causing him a great deal of pain.

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After jumping down from the henhouse he gave his usual loud and impressive cock- a -doodle- doo, and then took himself off to sit quietly. We could not let such a heavy bird suffer being only able to stand on one leg, especially when he already has problems walking, so he has been swiftly and humanely despatched. He will not be in a pie, Lovely Hubby has decided. I am so pleased.

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The farm is a quiet place this morning, Caldwell is crowing and there is no answer.

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Sue xx

My New Book

This week my brand new book arrived from Amazon, as soon as I knew Nick Coffer of 'My Daddy Cooks' Blog was bringing out his very own book I put in my pre-order and waited with baited breath for my very own copy.

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If you ever visited his Blog you will know the unique 'selling point' of it. He has little videos of him and his gorgeously cute son Archie cooking together in the tiny kitchen of their house. It grabbed my attention from the very beginning. Word obviously spread far and wide, and now he has his own radio show, has appeared at many foodie venues and has made numerous appearances recently on television publicising the new book.

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And NOW we know where Archie gets his wonderful curly hair from, this is a photo of Nick with his grandad, sporting exactly the same hairdo!! ~ The book is full of really easy recipes suitable for cooking whether or not you have your own little Archie to help. I know I'm going to be having a go at quite a few of them very soon. ~ Sue xx

More birdie talk......

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After doing yesterdays' Blog post I thought I would slip my camera into my back pocket when I went out to feed the pigs, so I could go and check if we had any chicks in the henhouse yet.

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There weren't any chicks but I got a lovely shot of Alice on her nest, and waiting and watching me very carefully outside was the expectant father......always protective of all of his girls but especially so of Alice at the moment.

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Off out again now, camera in pocket....well you never know!!

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Sue xx

Expectant Parents........

Caldwell and Alice at 9 weeks old.

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At first this morning I didn't know what to write about, so I thought I would take a look back at May 2010 and see what was happening on the farm this time last year. POW..... there it was... the BIG news that I haven't told you about.

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This time last year we got the first Lavender Pekin Bantams, Caldwell the cockerel (named after Lovely Hubbys' Dad), and his four wives, Alice, Isabel, Prudence and Little Lucy. They settled in well. We hatched some of their eggs late last year in the incubator and got our new girls... Iris, Fern and Sara, and their four little brothers who all went off to start families of their own.

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Caldwell and Alice before she started sitting on her nest.

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Well...the big news is.....any day now Caldwell and Alice are about to be parents..... of their very own little brood of chicks.

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She has been sitting patiently for over two weeks, nurturing her eggs and being a very good expectant Mum. She has evicted 3 of the eggs, which I tentatively cracked open to see why. They had never developed into chicks, now how she could know this I have no idea, but she was right each time. This week I guess she is 'talking' to them and getting no response from some, so I understand this weeks eviction, but at the start of last week there wouldn't have been enough development....amazing! Caldwell is being a devoted husband, checking on her whenever I go near, he even took her some leaves to eat the other day, something I had no idea a cockerel would do.

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Hopefully they will hatch before we go on holiday.....I'll let you know.

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Sue xx

Spotty Jug Challenge Completed

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Well here we are at week 20 of The Spotty Jug Challenge (also known as The Storecupboard Challenge, but Spotty Jug seems to have stole the limelight!!).

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Back in January I decided we would live off the contents of the store cupboards (of which there are many) and the three freezers we have, supplementing this with a housekeeping allowance of £70 per week for any necessities needed to make up meals. Lovely Hubby was all for it, he was allowed an additional £30 a week for lunches and snacks at work (he works a 10 hour day) on top of this amount. This amount covered everything not just our food so it had to be a realistic figure.

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Our challenge was to save as much as possible to fund our holiday. We had decided that the holiday was to be funded entirely by money from our normal housekeeping, with any other money being 'found' from elsewhere, so that when the time came we did not have to 'flash the plastic' and get into any debt to have ourselves a break from the farm. We have managed to get ourselves completely debt free now and didn't want to dip our toes back into that little game. With a mixture of selling unwantend items on Ebay, which raised enough to pay for the holiday cottage rent, Nectar points which will pay for our holiday groceries and Spotty Jug which is our spending money fund WE HAVE DONE IT!!

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Spotty Jug is proudly rubbing his greedy little belly and giving out THE most enormous burp!!

He contains £822.15.

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That means in the twenty weeks of the Challenge I have only spent an average of £28.90, saving an average of £41.10 per week. Some weeks were very good, remember the 'no spend week', but some weeks I only just crept in under budget. If my hair would stop growing I could live a lot cheaper, LH did offer to cut it for me but I resisted!! Doing the 'Live Below the Line' event the other week really helped the finances, I spent £4.97 and LH's extra food came to only just over £5, he ate things from the freezer and cupboards still, although I had to live within my money completely. The fund was boosted hugely by us having a lodger for three of the weeks, his money went straight into Spotty Jug and was untouched.

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So this Sunday we are off on our holidays, happy in the knowledge that we have not had to put ourselves in debt to do so. We will not be frittering the money away, we have a couple of large purchases in mind....things that we really need, that we would have had to save for and buy anyway and that once we have them will be in almost daily use, what better souvenier of a holiday than a useful essential that you will use and appreciate for a long time to come.

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And to our farm sitters (I know you all read this), fret not, the cupboards are not empty...

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...my latest Approved Foods order arrived yesterday. £128.69 of food for the fantastic price of just £35.10....a bargain. And the basis of my next little housekeeping Challenge!!

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The cupboards might not be empty....but I know someone who is!!

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Sue xx

Chickens

There's an excellent Blog post on The Smallest Smallholders Blog if you like reading about rescue chickens.

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Sue xx

Tetsworth Farmers Market

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Well here we are back in business. When the Farmers Market closed last year, it was sorely missed, so after much hard work on the part on many people it's back to business for the merry band of farmers, growers and producers that stock this wonderful little market.

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A guided tour of the first market.

Welcome to Tetsworth Village Hall.

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Step in the door and first on your left you will see Carolines' wonderful array of plants, trading as Swan Gardens she works her magic on many local gardens and in her spare time (!!) she produces this wonderful selection of flowers, bedding plants, veggies, you name it she will have a replacement here for all your slug nibbled plants.

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Good strong plants at very realistic prices.

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As she is brilliant at multi-tasking she will also serve you with a freshly baked loaf from the table next to hers.

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Lovely bread at affordable prices, from Cornfield Bakery.

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Can you smell the aroma of the bacon butties yet......step forward to the hatch and place your order with the most welcoming of hosts Alan and Jane, ready to cook your butty to order and supply the gallons of tea and coffee needed to keep us stall holders working behind our tables, as well as the customers refreshed and ready for another sweep of the hall. Cheerful faces and the most necessary of refreshments, what more could you ask for early on a Sunday morning.

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Moving round the room clutching your bacon butty we come to the raffle table, at the start of the market the stallholders all donate an item of produce and then with every purchase from us we give you a raffle ticket, at the end of the market one lucky person goes home with a shopping bag bursting with fresh market goodies, completely free of charge - what a bonus.

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Next we come to Carolines' (another Caroline this time) gorgeous array of fresh fruits and veggies. Based at The Old Farm Shop in Abingdon, Caroline takes her fantastic selection to numerous Farmers Markets in the area. How she keep up with demand I have no idea, the freshest of seasonal produce just flies off her stall.

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I'm in awe of her wonderful red rhubarb (mine is still quite sadly very green, although tasty) and those carrots just ask to be nibbled.

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Moving swiftly on before I get into trouble for pilfering carrots for on the spot snacking, you reach Sheila and Colins' wonderful array of red meats. Beef, Lamb and Venison, temptation of the highest degree for all you carnivores out there. Freshly butchered for each Farmers Market and ready for immediate eating or for filling your freezer, their wonderful produce doesn't have food miles, you can see their stock grazing in the fields a stone throw from the Market at Harlesford Farm.

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Tempted by the quality?......I know Lovely Hubby often is.

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Moving on you reach the fantastic array of wines laid out by Martin and Tessa, trading as Peter Osbourne Fine Wines Ltd. A wine to go with whatever food you have just purchased. Stuck for an idea? Tell Martin and he will recommend the perfect wine to go with your meal. He also has a good selection of wine based gift ideas ideal for the wine connoisseur in your family.

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My favourite - a selection of whites.
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Next we have Caroline's Homemade, yes yet another Caroline, but this time with the most delectable array of home produced jams, chutneys and marmalade. She also has the most local of honey, with the bees buzzing around in fields just outside the village.

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Made with loving care, with local produce and in small batches, this is the best jam to spread on your just bought bread. Can't make up your mind which to buy...buy a couple... with prices as reasonable as these you are getting handmade quality and freshness at supermarket prices, with no nasty additives or colouring.

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And next to Caroline, it's yours truly, with my selection of Lavender goodies, handmade soaps made with the purest of essential oils, handmade cards for every occasion, Free Range Eggs straight from our farm and LHs' Worm Tea, the BEST plant food for your flowers, fruits and veggies.

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The sweetest smelling stall in the room (although LH will say that the bacon butties pipped me at the post!!).
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And finally......before you sit down for a refreshing cup of coffee, peruse the delights of Bruces' stall. Trading as The Berkshire Pig Company, Bruce has THE finest selection of bacon, sausages and joints made from Rare Breed Pigs. A man after our own hearts, he is raising the stakes when it comes to fine produce. Putting rare breed pork back where it should be, on the plates of the great British public.

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When you see pigs frolicking in woodlands you realise that's how it should be. At prices comparable to supermarkets you can have instead the finest tasting pork and bacon imaginable. The difference is there to see from the moment it hits the pan.

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Well that's it, a tour of our very first Tetsworth Farmers Market, I hope you enjoyed it. You're welcome to visit next time, our doors will be open on the 3rd Sunday of every month, from 10 - 12 with the freshest of fresh and the most seasonal produce available locally.

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Not in our area..... then look out your local Farmers Market and support it well. To be able to buy your foodstuff off the very people that produce it, make it up or source it on your behalf, to be able to ask them for more information on the products you choose to give your family is the way to go. One thing the supermarkets cannot compete with is the friendliness and knowledge shown by the folks that are working hard to produce the food and goods available at these markets.

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Use them or lose them the choice is there.

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Sue xx

Luscious Lavender

The Lavender is looking very good this year. After the heavy showers of yesterday the plants are fresh and green and there is the promise of flowers very soon on virtually every stem.

Over the Winter I lost two plants, but the rest are fresh with lots of new growth and about to do their stuff.

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Today we are off to Tetsworth Farmers Market, yes that's right, the one that closed down a few months ago. When asked in a questionnaire what they wanted in the village lots of folk said they wanted a Farmers Market!! Well they used to have one, but we closed down due to lack of local support. So a crowd of us have got together (mostly the Great Haseley Farmers Market bunch) and decided to give it another shot.

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We'll see how it goes. I'll try and get some pictures, if I'm not rushed off my feet!!

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Have a lovely day.

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Sue xx

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Basil and me

The smell of Summer - Basil potted on from it's toilet roll tube starter pots.

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Chilli and Peppers now potted on.

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The Grape Vine, happily stretching out across its strings.

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A busy day in the polytunnel, tidying, potting and planting. Blogger may have been missing in action for the day but you can see where I've been!!

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Sue xx

Space Jam

Looking through the freezer for ideas for tea I came across three HUGE bags of blackberries, picked from the prolific crops on all the bushes around the farm last year. Knowing that I also had a cupboard full of empty jam jars and another cupboard with SIX bags of jam making sugar in, I suddenly thought - 'time to make Jam, that'll make some space'......so we have Space Jam!!

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I don't know why, but yesterday I just wasn't thinking straight, I started cooking the blackberries from ice cold, I tipped in cold sugar and ice cold lemon juice straight from the fridge, obviously this meant a long, long cooking time and I'm very lucky I even got to setting point before Aggy Aga decided to lose all her heat and turned from the hot cast iron box that warms our house to the feebly lukewarm hunk of metal she was at the end. Half way through I had to call it a day, so we have seven jars and a bowlful of lovely Bramble Jam up to now. Today I've had the sugar warming and the other half of the blackberries sat in the jam pan on top of the Aga all morning, the lemon juice has been taken out of the fridge and later on I will do it all again......only much, much quicker!

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Outside things are looking nice and orderly in the Kitchen Garden. ~ We've just had a nice heavy shower of rain, so they could start getting more rampant very soon. ~ The herbs by the back door are looking good and taste even more so. ~ Molly, Lovely and Big Lovely

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But sad news, after living on for a week after this Blog post, Molly died in her sleep last night. She just missed her friend too much to go on without her. This morning watching the chickens, I notice Jemima, the last of our original ten girls mingling in with the others, and going about her business with her friends and it hit me just how much Molly always hung around with Lovely, she was never on her own. So now they are reunited, chicken friends in Chicken Heaven.

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RIP Molly, we'll miss you on the farm. The chicken that always wanted to be with people, that was always first into the house if the door was left open. The only bird that was ever a 'frozen chicken', and lived to tell the tale. She of short stumpy feathers, always looking messy, but always, always lovable and 'cuddleable'. ~

Sue xx