Kitchen Garden

It has been a while since the last post, but spring is well and truly here now and there is lots to do again. The veg patch was rotorvated last week and the compost mixed in. The first seedlings are already in and the spuds are going in later today. The orchard has been pruned again  (in part to try and keep the wasps down) and the wood chippings are being used for pathway dressings mixed in with last years old walnut shells, it looks great now to see if it actually works under foot. The new fence posts are going in this week to mark out the sheep pen in the bottom field, it will be nice to see them up close, keeping the grass trimmed and fattening themselves up ready for the table, yummy! Where is that mint sauce? As well as the work outside we are trying to get out on the bikes and loose some weight, so every muscle in the body seems to ache this week, its always hard work starting off again after a lazy winter indoors but its so nice to be outside with the warm sun on our faces.

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The first heavy frosts of the season arrived this week so that’s pretty much it for another year, unless things warm up a little over the next couple of weeks. We have raked up the leaves and pulled up anything from the veg patch that’s no longer needed. The composts were turned over a few weeks ago so its just the rotor-vating of the veg patch left to do, assuming this fog and frost lift for a day or two. Just the indoor plants to take care of now which seems sad somehow? Oh well it will soon be spring and we can start all over again…..

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If I never see another tomato again it will be too soon LOL. This year we have seen a monster crop for all varieties and the freezers are now completely full with anything and everything to do with Toms. We have every version of Tom soup, numerous mixes for pizza bases, ketchups and juices in all sorts of shapes and sizes and enough juice to sink a battleship! (Better go and buy some more Vodka for those winter “bloody-marys”). We are now giving away the last of the seasons crop which seems to keep coming everyday, and its almost the end of September, but its been wonderful being able to choose from such a variety each and every day all summer long.  SPACING!  A lesson learned for next year I think.

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This month has all been about cherries, picking and stoning and freezing. The chest freezer is now full and the second freezer is about to go on. Picking and stoning cherries is a laborious job but very satisfying when it’s all done. Tomatoes are coming along very nicely now and very tasty!  My first string of chillies has been made and is hanging in the kitchen ready for use, and yes they are VERY hot.

Thankfully there has been some decent rain over the past couple of weeks so watering the garden has been less of a daily task, more time to spend weeding instead.

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What else is there to do with cucumbers and courgettes?  They grow so fast we have taken to giving them away to our

neighbours now, a bowl left by the gate is usually empty by lunchtime.  Weve tried them grilled, raw, in salads, in pies and in soup……..they have even been pickeld! Anything else you can think of? All ideas (CLEAN!) would be much appreciated.

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Its all starting to happen in the allotment and garden now with things in full swing and with salad and some veg making it onto our dinner plates each evening. The spinach has already been picked several times and is now bulking out the freezer. Courgettes are rampant and grow faster than you can pick them and we are getting desperate for new recipes for what to do with them?  With temperatures reaching into the high 20s by midday an early start is needed every morning (about 6am) to have any chance of being finished by lunchtime and that well deserved and all important  afternoon siesta .:)

The new garden water tap finally got fitted last week so the trusty old watering cans have been demoted back into the shed, a hose pipe and sprinkler are sooooo much easier. Although the overnight rain of the past few days has made even the hose pipe redundant for now.

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We lent our rotorvator to some friends and they have been busy with knocking their ”building-site” into some sort of allotment and garden. With a couple of acres to play with I wonder if he will ever stop?  It’s only a small machine which makes it ideal for general use, but it seems to cope with the larger areas just as well. Keep it up guys; just make sure its jet-washed before it comes home.

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I know we all moan about cutting grass guys, but when you have 8 acres to do its is worth a serious mention! I bet yours doesn’t take 2 days!

OK this is an old photo of me and my trusty old Zetor tractor, these days I get Vlado to come and do it for me! Is that lazy of what!

I bought myself a little sit on lawnmower recently just to cut the grass in the little (one acre) garden having complained for so long about how long it took by hand and how much my back played up afterwards (Ah poor thing)  The problem now is that the thing bounces around so much it hurts my back even more than before, so guess what? ……. VLADO!

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Having given the orchard such a severe haircut three years ago it seems to be back with a vengeance this year. Already the plums and cherries are showing signs of life and the pear and apples are not far behind.

Our neighbours told us that it would take that long before bearing good fruit again and they were spot on.

Just when you think there’s time to relax, this small-holding lark is not as easy as they suggest……. but we love it!

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Dont you just love equal rights for ladies and ”girl power”, more of it I say

Who needs a new car when you’ve got a bit of kit like this!  Plenty of room for the shopping on the back and you can even cut the grass as you go….. or you could always go back to the old-fashioned way its much more “eco-friendly”

Youve got to admire women these days, one minute you’re watching the world go by and the next your up to your knees in all sorts of muck and driving a tractor, brilliant!

Or did you imagine your days would be spent differently somehow?

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