It’s a good thing there’s been a lot of rain about. Because I have been so overloaded with work, I’ve had time to do little else (apart from sneakily watch Harry Potter on You Tube whilst gobbling down my dinner). The Smallest Smallholding is falling into decline, the weeds are threatening to take over and it all seems to have slowed into a weird state of perma-slow motion.
The tomatoes in the greenhouse have started fruiting at a perculiarly slow rate, they’ve been suspended for what feels like weeks, plump and green slowly swelling in size. But no ripe ones yet. Last year I had the tomatoes growing in the conservatory, where it gets ridiculously hot in sunny weather. This resulted in a jungle of triffid-like leggy tomato plants that needed watering twice a day and churned out more fruit than we knew what to do with. This year it seems the opposite, like a strange waiting game. Growing in the cooler, unheated greenhouse seems to have produced stockier plants, but I’m guessing the tomatoes will be of a good quality. Mum grew hers outside last year and they did really well. Needless to say, the figs are in suspended animation and I’m wondering whether they’ll actually ripen this year…
Down on plot 101 at the allotment, the onions are a sight for sore eyes. Rows of juicy red and white onions are waiting to be pulled and cooked with. Last night I used one white (Hercules) and one red (Red baron) onion in my chana masala. THEY TASTE SO GOOD. Really makes all the difference. I’ve been told to treble my onion output next year. I’m definitely open to it. The garlic is also almost ready - smells divine when you pull it up. It’s currently air drying in the kitchen, can’t wait to use it.
I’ve been pulling up a few turnips to use in cooking. The thing is, I’m not so sure what to do with them all. I decided to plant an early-harvesting, fast growing variety called ‘Snowball’. And true to form, they’ve grown wonderfully quickly and only needed thinning out. They’ve pretty much taken care of themselves (always handy) but I’ve come unstuck because I have a crop that could be harvested right now, but not sure how I can use them, apart from being really unimaginative and chucking them in soup! Their supermarket counterparts seem to be harvested when they’re slightly bigger than a golfball. Mine are well beyond that, but still surprisingly tender and fleshy. I thought I’d let them get too big, and expected them to be quite woody. Glad I was wrong!
Carrots are going well, although the weeds are creeping in left, right and centre. I’ve been pulling a few carrot top stalks out to feed Bunbuns, nice frugal way to feed them, seeing as I didn’t manage to locate (or indeed grow) any kale this year. A bag of kale in Tesco costs 98p, in Waitrose costs £1.19…and I’m not sure it’ll be in the farm shop. The farm shop scares me a bit. I don’t know why. I think it’s because I’m not used to shopping in smaller, intimate spaces where you can be watched from the counter. But then, I’m probably spied on from all angles in the supermarkets, I’m just not aware of it (note to self, don’t unwedge knickers/rearrange bra/vainly check makeup in mirror down deserted aisle, someone is still probably watching!).
Mehh, anyway I digress. We’ve been battling to keep our chicken Pattie from sliding into seriously bad health. She’s got a mystery reoccuring ailment that’s not linked to our EYP. We think. So we’ve sent off a faecal sample to a vet lab in Nottingham to see if there’s something amiss. Should have results tomorrow. We’re also putting Yoko through some photoperiod manipulation, as her EYP swelling was getting too big. It seems to have worked - she basically goes to bed around 5pm and it seems to have made a huge difference to her energy levels and eating. And she doesn’t go and sit in her carrier-come-nestbox (she can’t manage the henhouse ladder at present) when she has the urge to lay (internally). We know she’s feeling better because she’s become a big, barging bossy boots again.
And Maureen-the-wonder-hen-that-never-moults-and-never-gets-ill has got a limp and hasn’t laid in 5 days. She’s so reliable usually that it’s worrying. So having to deal with all that is an ongoing trial. Poor chookies. They’ve been so used and abused in the intensive battery system, it’s no wonder they have these problems later on. Still, they are still enjoying life. And that’s the main thing.
July 17th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Sounds like your little smallholding has been very productive! More so than mine, I think. The spuds I grew in pots are ready now. I’ve pulled one lot and they look great; can’t wait to eat them.
July 17th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Thanks, it’s doing well despite effectively being left to rack and ruin for quite a while. I forgot to add that I’ve steadily been making my way through the spuds - we’ve enjoyed Charlotte and Romano potatoes thus far, looking forward to having a go at the Pink Fir Apple and Maris Pipers (all coming through at weird times, despite being classified as second earlies and main crops…)
July 17th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
Looks like you’re doing really well! The onions look fantastic and I bet the turnips are really good too. If you weren’t vegetarian I’d recommend Navarin of Lamb (key ingredient = turnips) - look up the recipe, you can probably adapt it leave out the lamb.
Hens are such a worry when they get ill - and so complex to diagnose correctly. Your girls look very happy - they are so lucky to live in your garden. “she basically goes to bed around 5pm and it seems to have made a huge difference to her energy levels and eating” - sometimes I think we can learn a lot from hens! Note to self, must go to bed early tonight as we’ve a busy weekend ahead).
All the best
Celia
July 18th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
That is one cute bunny
July 18th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Hi there,
Sorry to be a bit off topic here but you were recommended by Polly at A Life Less Simple and you can find a post about her and her other blog recommendations at
http://farmblogs.blogspot.com/.....mends.html
I’m a big fan of farm/small-holding/rural blogs and I have been frustrated by the lack of a single place to go to to find the good ones, not just from one country, but from around the world.
Hence, I’ve recently started a blog called http://www.farmblogs.blogspot.com
The idea is very simple: I ask farm/rural bloggers who have been recommended by other farm or rural bloggers to recommend their favourite farm blogs. I then link them to my blog roll, and write to them and ask them to do the same thing - that is to say to write to me with their favourite farm blogs. (I also post important stories on world agriculture. Or at least ones I spot and find interesting.)
I’ve therefore linked your blog to http://www.farmblogs.blogspot.com and if you’d like to send me an email to info AT ianwalthew DOT com with a few words about your blog, and about your favourite farm blogs, then it would be very much appreciated. (If you can link to http://www.farmblogs.blogspot.com, so much the better!).
I should make a couple of things clear:
Firstly, it is not my intention to sell advertising on this blog, or take your content - simply steer people in the direction of farm blogs I find interesting, which means that…
Secondly, I am really trying to identify farm blogs that are primarily about farming/rural life or general resources (as oppossed to blogs written by people who may live on farms, but the subject of which isn’t primarily about farming). By farm I mean anyone involved in the production of food, so we stretch from ranchers to small-holdings.
Very much hoping to hear from you,
With kind regards,
Ian
http://www.ianwalthew.com
http://www.aplaceintheauvergne.blogspot.com
http://www.farmblogs.blogspot.com
July 19th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Hi, you’re definately right about the tommys, our indoor ones are pants, but the outdoor ones have gone absolutely crazy! They will surely be of a better quality than indoor grown ones. They’ll probably produce more fruit too…if you can handle it!
Well done particularly with the turnips, i took mine out - dead - long ago as the slugs managed to completely destroy the leaves on all of the plants…oh well!
October 4th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
Funny, maybe we should work together…I’m all action and could use some charts to know where I’ve already planted etc so I don’t replant on top of an area already attended to (let alone know what is what and where). I call it my ’surprise’ gardening style cuz it’s sometimes surprising what comes up and where. It would be handy to know though what kind of beans I’m saving seed for…Next year, next year.