The Rewards Flow In

What a great time of year it is!
Growing and rearing has slowed down considerably, the summer lull is over and now the activity picks right up again as we harvest and process all the wonderful produce from the smallholding. The dehydrator is on almost constantly, the freezers are bursting at the seams, the juicer is squeezing the life out of fruit and vegetables and the preserving pan is bubbling away.

Produce comes in thick and fast and is so varied. Here's just a few images to whet the appetite.

 

Turkey Surprise

Another catch-up post which should bring us to mid July.
The drought continues... enough said about that. It is becoming a real problem.

Linseed field casts a blue shimmer as if reflecting the constant blue skies

The field next to us is almost always wheat. When it's not it's rape. The field behind us is almost always sugar beet. But this year we have something different, presumably because of the poor sowing conditions early in the year. Instead we have maize in the back field, as opposed to sweetcorn. This is a biofuel crop - astonishing that some of Britain's most fertile land is used to feed our energy consumption rather than our bellies. This change of land use did mean that we had two pairs of lapwings which I presume attempted to nest. I think the crows got them though.
And in the field next to us we have a delightful blue see of linseed. It is certainly attracting the cabbage whites at the moment.

In the veg plot, I have harvested the garlic and should really do the same with the shallots and onions. All these crops tried to bolt this year, unsurprisingly.

The broad beans are processed, mostly blanched and frozen and their place will be taken by Purple Sprouting Broccoli plants just as soon as it rains and I can dig even the tiniest holes in the soil. I almost missed the calabrese but caught it just before the buds opened. This freezes really well so I grow the crop to mature in two groups rather than over a long period.

Blanching Calabrese

Raspberries and Blackcurrants went mad this year. We are picking bags and bags of them. Every available space has now gone in the freezers.
When this happens Sue hunts through for last year's produce and digs it from the bottom of the freezers for wine and jam making.
She has just set a blackcurrant wine going and we were excited to be informed that raspberries make just about the best country wine going.



I always reserve one or two veg beds for bee crops as well as letting some parsnips go over to flower in their second year. These are a wonderful magnet for hoverflies.
This year I planted a cornfield mix with added barley and wheat. It hasn't quite turned out as I expected, for the whole patch filled with phacelia and borage. I am not sure whether this was residual seed in the soil or whether it was in the cornfield mix.
Anyhow the proper cornfield flowers are coming through underneath now and the whole is a blaze of colour and buzzing with bees.


The Pekin ducks we bought as 10 day olds are growing at stratospheric rates. Now big enough to be safe from crows, we let them out a couple of days back and herded them into the veg plot. The pond in there has dropped right down and is rather green, so I put the hose on to top it up. I didn't expect them all to just go diving right on in, but by the time I returned from the tap they were having a whale of a time. They were looking a bit green though!
We put some tyres and old planks in, for ducks are quite capable of getting waterlogged and drowning if there is no easy way out.
Amazingly having a proper bath and a thorough preen instantly changed the ducklings into ducks. There yellow down was superseded by creamy white and they suddenly look all grown up.

The meat chickens we had are now gone - don't ask if you don't want to know! They reached their weight in a much shorter time than we had anticipated. They only got a stay of execution as we did not have finishers ration in. This is the non-medicated pellets they are fed for the last week or two as the growers pellets need to be withdrawn.

Chickens just hanging around waiting to be plucked.
(they are not alive).

'Processing' the chickens was a big job, spread over two mornings. Let's just say that Friday 13th was an ominous date for the last seven. It is made much quicker by wet-plucking. We dip the carcass into a giant pot of water at 160F for 45 seconds. This loosens the feathers just enough without meaning that the skin rips easily. It reduces plucking time from over 20 minutes to under 5. You don't get a perfectly neat finish, but nearly all of our chicken is joined anyway so that it more easily fits in the small spaces in the freezer.
This time I boiled up the chicken feet and made a jelly stock which I divided up to go in the freezer. A good stock makes all the difference to so many recipes and I begrudge paying for those little foil packs.

The other chickens, the ragtag bunch of old ladies which we sentimentally let live on to old age, they are laying no more than two eggs a day between them. It is always a lean time and the drought isn't helping. Here are two of them and a Muscovy duck sat tight in the nest boxes. Between these three they were sitting on a grand total of one egg!


Last weekend we went along to our Country Winemaking group, again part of the Smallholders Club. Tonight we were doing blind wine tasiting. Sue's contribution was some elderflower champagne.
Fortunately we still had some left, for earlier in the week one of the bottles had exploded with such ferocity that it smashed a hole in the side of the plastic bin we were keeping it in.


We returned from Wine group to a big surprise. Four baby turkeys wandering around with the others. I didn't think they were due for another week yet. We had planned on removing the older poults before this happened, but all seemed to be getting along ok so we left them.
The next morning, quite by chance, I got a message from somebody in need of two newborn turkeys as her hen had accidentally destroyed all the eggs she had been sitting on. This was fine by me, for we are going to have excess turkeys this year and some need to be sold anyway.
Getting them out from under mum was a bit of a challenge but the mission was successfully achieved late evening so that the chicks could be put under their new mum in the dark. I have just received news that mum has accepted them and both are doing well.

So that brings us up to mid July. Just a week to go until schools break up for the summer. I'd like to think that will be the cue for endless downpours, but I somehow doubt it. This drought feels like it's in for the long haul.

A Cloud Tick

25th August 2016

Minipop ready for harvest

as soon as the tassles show

After my trips to Cornwall and Ireland, I needed to catch up on some harvesting. The Sweetcorn Minipop has harvested very well so far, but the later flush of cobs have grown differently, with larger kernels. They don't taste quite so sweet and the cores are slightly woodier, but as long as you catch them early they are still perfectly edible.






In contrast, the maincrop Sweetcorn has been very disappointing this year. Even in the polytunnel I only got about 0.5 cobs per plant. The cobs I did get, though, were huge and a real treat. Outside was a similar story. The plants never flourished and produced small, half pollenated cobs. It clearly wasn't the year for sweetcorn, not enough sun in May and June.

I've cleared all the corn from the tunnel now, which should let more light and moisture in for the crops I've underplanted.
I had lots more vegetables to harvest, but a tweet to 'get ready to hammer it to Spurn' had me heading off again. For the rumour quickly firmed up that a probable Yellow-breasted Bunting had been photographed there round about midday. Several hours had passed since then, but if I waited for further news it would be too late for me to get there.

Curlew Sandpiper at Frampton Marsh

So I started driving, but it wasn't long before a very rare Yellow-breasted Bunting turned back into a Corn Bunting, a British breeding bird. As I was close by, I considered it rude not to pop into Frampton Marsh, an excellent RSPB reserve just north of The Wash. I had great views of a Kingfisher and there were lots of waders, most notably large numbers of Curlew Sandpipers. I see these every summer when the waders pass through, but numbers this year have been exceptional affording good opportunities to really study the birds.


I was most impressed, however, by a strip of sunflowers underplanted with winter seed plants for the finches. I had tried to achieve something similar here on the farm, but sunflowers just can't seem to make it past the ravages of the slugs.







26th August 2016
Back into the polytunnel today as I spotted a few cucumbers hiding. In fact, more than a few!

The polytunnel tomatoes are doing brilliantly this year too. I've grown fewer plants but given them more space and more attention. This strategy has paid off as Sue today froze our 30th carton of tomatoes.
Some of the outdoor tomatoes seem to have made it past the blight too, particularly a variety known as Outdoor Girl which I am trying this year. We're having to pick them before they are fully ripe, otherwise the birds find them, but they ripen off nicely on the windowsill.

27th August 2016
Absolutely stunning views of a hobby today as it repeatedly swooped through the top paddock attempting to catch itself a swallow for lunch.
But it was totally eclipsed later in the day by a sky the like of which I've never seen. The weather was spooky, on the edge of a storm. The air was incredibly humid and still, but it felt as if something major was about to go down.
It was at this point that the Asperitas clouds appeared in the sky. I first noticed a strange inverted funnel looking like the precursor to an alien invasion. The sky then filled with clouds in strange wave formations. It was just like snorkelling under the sea and looking up at the surface.

Asperitas clouds are, I have since learned, the newest named form of cloud, only officially going on the list in 2015. I don't think that means they've only just started occurring, but I've certainly never seen anything like them before.

They were accompanied by rolling thunder and occasional flashes of lightening, but despite their menacing appearance the rain did not come... Not till about half an hour later when the sky darkened ominously and the heavens opened. So much rain fell so quickly that it started coming through the porch ceiling. I quickly scurried outside to clear the gutter. While I was at it I linked hosepipes to all the water butt overflows to collect as much rainwater as possible.

If I ever see asperitas clouds again I'll get ready for the downpour.

We're Going To Need A Bigger Basket

26th July 2016
I woke up two hours after the alarm went off! I could hear reverse warning beeps and thought they might have started harvesting the field next door, which could scupper my plans for a second coat of paint on the garage (dust).
I checked my phone only to see that I was already 15 minutes into a one hour time slot for a parcel delivery - to be more precise, 100kg of wild bird food. There have been 6 tree sparrows recently. This much food will do me for about a year and is well worth the investment. I get many hours of quiet satisfaction watching the birds visit the feeders.

No, it's not a new ride-on mower.

As it happens they did turn up to harvest the field too. It is rape this year so we shouldn't get the invasion of vermin that happens when they grow wheat. We normally have a lot of wild birds when they grow rape. In the past it has hosted sedge warblers, yellow wagtails, whitethroats and blackbirds. I don't know what is different this year, but these birds have been absent from the crop. I would guess they have managed to spray just about all insect life out of the crop.
We're going to need a bigger basket!
With the kibosh on plans for painting, I instead turned my attention to my own harvest. The redcurrant bushes are dripping with fruits and it took me quite a while to harvest them. The first bush alone filled a basket.


Next came the cherries. The trees are still very young so I only got a handful, but they are a real treat. Then it was on to the raspberries. They need picking every other day and I get a good few punnets worth. These are my favourite fruit.
On to the vegetables. A couple of courgettes, a few handfuls of peas and enough broad beans for dinner and a batch for the freezer.

Today's pickings

I also may have discovered the culprits for plundering the last of the gooseberries. There were some dodgy characters hanging around there today.

27th July 2016
A Welcome Return
Sue has been away on a well deserved break away in Amsterdam with friends - her first time away from the smallholding since our honeymoon almost two years ago. She is due back tonight, so I spent the day tidying! I cleaned out the chickens too, a level 2 clean today.
With time left, I moved the sheep to the next strip of grazing. I always like the moment they realise they can access the lush green meadow alongside which they have been feeding. It reminds me of the The Billy Goats Gruff. I like the fact that they eat as much and as fast as they can for about half an hour, then all sit down to digest.

28th July 2016
You're going to need a better net, Abbey!
Two ignored emails, being left on hold to an empty extension and an 18 minute phone call obviously was not quite enough effort on my part to get hold of two spare belts for the rotavator and a spare blade for the mower, despite the fact that I had bought both these machines from the very same company, Abbey Garden Sales. Six days after that last phone call and two more emails, still no response, so I made yet another phone call. Apparently my query had 'slipped through the net', even after I had politely pointed out all the company's faults last time! I think the net may need fixing. Anyway, we have moved another step and the parts are now ordered.

With that 'sorted' I gave the end of the garage a second coat of paint. Literally five minutes later it started raining. Fortunately it was just a shower and the main rain held off just long enough for the paint to dry properly. Then it bucketed down, which was most welcome.

Steam Juicing
Inside, I blew the dust off the steam juicer and set about juicing a pan of redcurrants and raspberries.
The steam juicer is basically a large metal steamer with the addition of a central section to collect the juice. This section has a pipe attached so the juice can be siphoned off. As the steam rises up through the fruits, it breaks down the cell walls and releases all the juices.
Tomorrow I plan to turn the juice I collect into cordial. The pulp that is left I hope to be able to turn into a fruit leather using the dehydrator.

Aldi Price Comparison
I then left the farm for the first time in five days for a trip into Wisbech with Sue. I had booked us to go see The BFG. It was a bit of a risk, not the usual thing we would go to see at the cinema, but it proved to be an inspired choice, a truly delightful and magical story which every child, (even the 50 year old ones) should go to see.

On the way we stopped off at Aldi and I couldn't help but price up my harvests. At Aldi price, I reckon to have harvested about £40 worth of redcurrants! The cucumbers, though, are only up to £1.11, but there are plenty more to come and they are home grown and picked fresh off the plant.


29th July 2016
I ended up with about 2 1/2 litres of pure redcurrant and raspberry juice.

I added 1.5kg of sugar to 2 litres and heated it up to boiling. I added in the juice of 1 1/2 lemons (carefully leaving the juice of the other 1 1/2 lemons on the side, forgetting to put it in). Then it was all decanted into sterilised wine bottles with screw caps.
I've no idea how well this will work, what it will taste like, how much to dilute it, whether it will last. There were no definitive recipes to be found anywhere so I just amalgamated all the recipes I'd read.
I plan to try one bottle in a week's time, one in about 3 weeks and one in a couple of months to see how it fares.

With the last half a litre I added just a quarter cup of sugar to drink as juice. This is rather an extravagant use of a precious harvest, but that's the delight of growing your own.
Finally I put the pulp from the juicer through a mouli to experiment using it to make a fruit leather. Waste not, want not.

The afternoon was spent general weeding and hoeing in the veg patch, though there were many interruptions today - plasterer, conservatory man, deliveries...

Ragwort Removal

Ragwort - pretty and a food source for Cinnabar moths,

but needs removing as it is poisonous to livestock

Come 6 o'clock I decided to do a spot of ragwort removal. I headed off to the far end of our land, the final area of very long meadow which the sheep will feed on next. The ragwort is in full flower now, so very easy to spot. This makes it a very good time to uproot it, for the plant has just put a lot of energy into making those flowers. I use a special ragwort fork which gets most of the roots out, otherwise the plants just regenerate and come back stronger. I had waited for rain so that the root did not simply snap off in the dry soil. The trouble with pulling ragwort is that you just keep spotting more plants. Some three hours later and I was finally finished. What looked like a quick and easy job had turned into a rather strenuous task!

I had narrowly avoided a thorough soaking as a storm skirted round, but was regretting my choice to wear shorts. The long grass and sow thistles can get rather itchy and scratchy. It is good to spend so much time in the long grass and the young woodland. I observe things I wouldn't otherwise notice, the insect life, the variety of plants, the young hawthorns colonising and the growth of the woodland trees which I planted just over four years ago.

Harvesting - A Mixed Bag

9th July
Rainwater harvesting for the polytunnel
Heavy rain when I woke up, so I hastily hooked up a hosepipe to the overflowing water butts, channelling the rain into a couple of watering cans in the polytunnel. While I wait for each watering can to fill in turn I weed, harvest and thin foliage. The rain water is much appreciated by the plants.

It can get very sticky in the polytunnel so it is important to  remove foliage from ground level. To reduce humidity the courgettes got heavily trimmed and the rampant squash plants cut back.

I harvested and thinned out the kohl rabi and turnips. I've only left a few. They are very susceptible to rot once the other plants get going and temperatures warm up. Turnip fly becomes a problem too. The Purple Top Milans seem to have a harder flesh and to be more resistant to rot and fly than the Snowball and Goldenball. Next year I'll reserve the latter two for outside. Straight into the newly available space went peppers and aubergines.
Where I removed the kohl rabi plants, the sweetcorn growing in amongst them is about a foot tall. The plants growing without any competition are up to the polytunnel roof - what a difference! It's planned though. Now I've removed the kohl rabi the sweetcorn will prosper and will come ready later than the rest.
Once the rain stopped I harvested more beetroots to be processed.

Beetroots laid out ready for baking

Not going round the bend
A walk along the roadside revealed the extent of the damage to next door's field gate caused by yet another car coming off at the bend. The car must have been in quite a state as that wooden gate post has lifted a massive lump of concrete from the ground.

10th July
A lay in, a Wimbledon final and a European Cup final in which Ronaldo got floored by a Silver-Y moth
Young swallows and tree sparrows
In between all this the swallows fledged. I opened the chicken feed shed to find one fluttering against the window so I caught it and placed it back on its nest but there was only one other. They both promptly flew off the nest, one again fluttering against the window, so I caught it and released it for its first flight. A very special moment. Fortunately the hobby's daily speculative fly through the garden had already happened today.

More excitement on the wild birds front. I've planted a branch of twisted willow in the border near the bird feeding station in the hope that birds will use it as a perch coming to and from the feeders. Well, the first birds to do this were the tree sparrow family, two fledged young and their parents. Excellent.

Squishy strawberries
A much anticipated strawberry harvest was very disappointing indeed - virtually all of them had rotted before they even ripened properly. Those that had escaped this had mostly been munched by something. I'm not sure how much the straw has helped.

I checked the weather forecast before pruning the plum trees. Dry all day. Ten minutes of pruning soon changed that, precipitating a cloudburst!
I gave up.



This was also the cue to get the Ixworth chicks back inside before they caught a chill. They've been going outside for a couple of days to get them ready for a move into the stables. It means they leave their mess and smells outside too. They also get to eat grass, scratch around and peck at insects. They seem to find the outside world quite scary at the moment.


11th July
Failed Wurzels and an Injury to Mr Rotavator
I spent the morning trying to track down a spare belt for Mr Rotavator who had a rather unfortunate mishap yesterday. Hopefully he'll be back to his wonderful best soon.
In readiness for his return to good health, I got out the slasher and hacked back all the fat hen which has grown up in what was supposed to be the mangel wurzel patch. The slugs and/or rabbits did for this crop before it ever got going. Next year I'll be growing each plant in modules before planting out. This has worked brilliantly over in the main veg patch where I'm growing the mangels which will, I'm sure, help me retain the Jeff Yates Mangel Wurzel Trophy!

Poor Honey
After all the work I'd put into the strawberry beds, yesterday's failed harvest was a big let down. Today it was Sue's turn. This has been a testing year so far for the honey bees and for beekeepers. But Sue had at least managed to take off enough frames of honey to fill about 16 jars. But when she came to spin it, some wasn't yet ready to be spun and the rest surprisingly contained rape honey that had set in the combs. All Sue's hard work for just three jars of honey and if this year continues in the same vein that could be it for honey for the year.

First Broad Beans
Fortunately my harvesting today was more productive. The broad beans have survived a bit of a bashing from the weather and today I was able to gather the first few. You can tell when they are ready when the pod hang downwards. There were carrots from the polytunnel along with more mangetout and the first Swiss chard leaves of the year, which came from self-seeded plants rather than those I've planted.
Sue worked her magic in the kitchen combining these with some pork mince from the freezer. Just a little of everything always seems to make so much lovely food!

Tomorrow, weather permitting, we head into the gooseberry patch.