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November newsround

November newsround

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A mild, if not rather wet, autumn so far. Everything’s getter greener and taller, a bit like spring really without the flowers. Some evenings there has been a beautiful light and pink or yellowy grey clouds depending if it’s going to be sunny or rainy the next day. Richard’s away in the Isle of Man so I’m here defending the fort, or rather the farm, alone. Meanwhile, here’s a round up of casa azul news.

Veg etc
I have to admit to being a rather fairweather gardener, although I don’t mind digging in the frost on a cold but sunny day I really don’t like working in the wet – who does? So I’ve only just pulled up and cleared the last of the tom beds, this included removing the nasturtiums which we’re growing well but I’ve now got masses of enormous nasturtium buds which will be turned into poor man’s capers. The asparagus have turned a beautiful bronzey yellow, these are soon to be cut back and mulched along with the raspberries.

In the polytunnel there are lots of wild flowers coming up (from seed collected throughout the year) plus yet more edibles – mainly brassicas. These will go in soon, and tomorrow more onions are being planted and, at long last, I’ve got the garlic.

I’ve also got plenty of rocket growing, this has just never worked in the heat so it’s fingers crossed for a winter attempt. Lettuce seems to thrive in the cold, and isn’t affected by the frost, so I’m hoping rocket will too.

Elsewhere in the garden mushrooms are supplementing our diet. I don’t know if you read the account of Nicholas Evans and his mushroom fiasco in the guardian but it makes fascinating and sobering reading.

The ones on the left have opened and are now huge, tempting grub but am definitely sticking to the field mushrooms.

I don’t know if it was beginner’s luck but last year the sprouts grew without any bother, I hardly did anything with them. This year, alas, they’ve been plagued with grey aphids and some of the heads didn’t open properly, and a few of the stalks are massive with enormous leaves but few sprouts. I also spotted the other day that one of the stalks was completely inundated with caterpillars – how come I never saw them before? I counted at least 30 chomping caterpillars, and the one on the left was found the french tarragon.

So what to do with a box of bugs? The hens love snails and giant slugs so decided it would be an early Christmas present…

The chickens
The hens aren’t quite up to their full laying capacity, 2 or 3 a day but that’s fine. They’re slightly sulking now because our plan to keep them off the growing grass, well weeds, is working well and their plot (which looks like something from the WW1)  is surrounded by green. Once the roasties are dispatched the hens will go over there, and their mud bath of a plot can have a chance to regrow.

Along with the fact they they realise that the grass is greener on the other side one of them is moulting and looks very funny without a tail.

So I was hoping that my gift of grubs would cheer them up. I tossed the caterpillars on the ground, the hens came dashing forward and then stopped in their tracks and squawked loudly. They eyed the crawling mass with trepidation and then, with beaks in the air, walked off. They weren’t interested at all! I covered the caterpillars with corn but the hens simply ate the corn and left the caterpillars. As these were all now gallivanting off in different directions I ended up having to stand on them all. So much for good intentions. At least the lettuce and purple sprouting broccoli leaves keeps them happy.

Meanwhile the roasties have been let out and are enjoying the grass and opportunity to stretch their wings. They are the biggest, fattest birds I have ever seen and Richard’s number one task on returning is to sharpen the knife. I swear when they walk the earth trembles.

The wild boar
One of the nice things about being in the countryside of course is that we are surrounded by nature. In this part of Portugal that includes the javali – wild boar. Up until recently I have enjoyed the fact that they come to the neighbours’ fields but now the beggars have trotted into our garden. Before Richard left we were given loads of prickly pears and agaves to plant in our garden and I wasn’t best pleased to see that most of these had either been knocked over, dug up (some dragged into bushes), and, it seems, eaten. After the second visit I’ve had to block the entrances to our garden with cut down olive branches, a temporary measure. Richard’s number two task on returning is to get the saw and hammer out.

Before and after replanting, can you see the teeth marks?!

So that’s it for now. The bees are still buzzing, I think they were disappointed that the nasturtiums were cut down. And, of course, I’m not really alone. The hairy one continues to prove she’s Portuguese, having eaten many of the olives she delights in munching walnuts and looks longingly at the roasting chestnuts on the fire. Which reminds me, time to get the wood burning stove going and have a glass of something. Cheers!

It must be Autumn because…

It must be Autumn because…

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Well the first thing obviously is the rain. It has been bucketing down on and off for the last week and this has meant the return of the grass. Not an even, lush carpet but it’s back. Strangely enough on our learning English site (podcastsinenglish.com) this week, Jackie interviewed our good friend Peter who was describing a scary few days at the edge of a huge forest fire which threatened to engulf his house. This happened only a few weeks ago. With the wood burning stove already on the go for the cold nights, the hot, dry summer already seems a distant memory.

Last year the area just in front of the house was builders’ rubble. We planted some grass seed and thankfully it is already starting to come back pretty well.

Also the conifers we planted shortly after we arrived have done pretty well over the summer and are starting to shoot skywards. No doubt this will continue with the Autumn rains.

Not forgetting the strange episode of the autumn flowering apple tree. And the apples are coming along nicely.

So the season has changed, the wellies go on and with the rain we are seeing (and picking) our first mushrooms and also oranges. Although Jackie did make some quince jam, we are hoping that it’s not too late to grab a few more but we may have missed our chance.

The wet weather means that the ground is much softer now and so we are going to be planting a whole load of bulbs. Summer is not great here for flowers as we can’t spare much water but we are hoping for a good show in spring when it’s damp but sunny.

The hens are finding the damp ground much easier to scratch as well. I feared that they would scratch up any new grass that tried to poke through and my fears were well founded. So I split the chicken run in two, hoping that the chickenless half would resprout so they can be let loose on this when there’s a bit of grass. As you can see from the photo below this has worked a treat. They certainly aren’t bothered by the rain and actually seem to enjoy it.

Meanwhile the new roasties are gaining weight hand over fist and will be ready for the chop in a few weeks!

And the veggie patch is still going strong. The carrots and parsnips sown back in September are, at long last, starting to germinate; they obviously appreciate the cold, wet weather more. The experiment to grow more things through the winter continues: both the peas and broad beans are flowering and of course not an aphid in sight. All the brassicas are up, there are no green caterpillars now, although they look rather straggly at the mo.

cauliflowers, peas and turnips

The turnips and swede are going mad, and the onions are doing well too. Must remember to put some garlic in this month. Finally, the chard, kale, lettuce and beetroot are also doing well – no fatalities yet! We should be eating the leeks into the new year, and the sprouts too. And the tomatoes are amazingly still going – just a few left now but we’ve got plenty stored in various guises for the winter.

Also, as can be seen below, the artichokes and asparagus are doing well and will be ready to eat next year.

So there are very few beds which are empty and we’re pleased about that. These have been covered in manure which will break down even more over the winter months and be ready for the new potatoes and other early crops. Let’s just see what the winter holds in store…

Roastie part 2

Roastie part 2

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We learnt many lessons from having ‘roasties’ earlier in the year. One was the fact the coop and run were unsheltered and they were not into hiding amongst the bushes like the hens. So we waited until October for cooler days; but the weather forecast says temps aren’t going much below 30 over the next 10 days…

We also wanted to get month old chickens like last time but our man at Ansião market had completely sold out when we arrived yesterday. His wife suggested we came to their house later in the afternoon and get some from them directly, which we did. They had loads of little chicks running around but all two weeks old. We decided to get five anyway as we like the place and the chicks always seem well cared for. The warm temperatures at night also mean that we don’t need to worry about them getting chilly. So they’re settling in at the mo, little things now but we know there’s a beastie inside each one, they already have fat legs!

The chop

The chop

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Regular readers will know that we bought our ‘roasties’ five weeks ago when they were four weeks old. The bloke at the market reckoned they would be ready to slaughter right about now, so yesterday we caught the biggest two and took them to our ever helpful neighbours Luis and Laurinda. Luis is in charge of the fruit and veggies but it is Laurinda who deals with the animal husbandry. I will spare you the details but I have to admit me and Jackie were both just a little bit queezy by the end but also proud to return from across the lane with two dispatched, plucked and gutted chickens. The biggest was 2.7kgs fully dressed (or rather undressed?!) so not a bad size I’m sure you will agree.

Richard plus bird
Richard with Dona Laurinda and Luis
Laurinda with the chicken in the 'mata frango' ready for the chop
Jackie plucking

So that I don’t forget what I’ve learned (yes, Jackie has retreated somewhat and chickens are now solely my responsibility!), I killed and gutted another one today myself and didn’t do too bad a job I think.

Here is the rather picturesque setting under a willow tree where the dirty deed was done.

The birds, the birds

The birds, the birds

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While we were looking up at the collared dove nest in the old olive tree right by the house there was a tremendous twittering and fluttering. Along the electricity wire 5 baby barn swallows wobbled, wings flapping to keep them from falling. We’re sure they had just fledged. The parents seem to take it in turns either to feed or stay with them as they struggled on the tightrope. They certainly weren’t afraid of us, but perhaps they were too scared to look down…

Meanwhile the collared dove chicks have slowly left home. They first started to sit on the branch next to their nest and then, a few days later, moved to a lower branch on the same olive tree; I’ve yet to see them fly. The nest can be seen from the upstairs window although we never saw it being built.

Amazingly, they are not shy either and yesterday, while working on the veg patch, there were two pairs of eyes on me. I’d like to think they were giving me encouragement but can’t help feeling they were eyeing up future suppers.

As for the roasties… well, they have a new name: the lollies, because that’s all they do all day long. Loll, loll, loll. I realise now that we haven’t really made too many right decisions about keeping them. First of all, the patch of land they are on was chosen in the early spring. One hot day, after the new fence for them was put up, it was obvious there wasn’t enough shade. Once the house and run was installed Richard made a shelter for them which is great but it can still get very hot, nothing beats the shade of a tree. We also made some decisions based on the ‘egg chickens’. One was that they are hardly in their house, they’re always out and about pecking and scratching and in fact have been since they were brave enough to leave the run. The ‘roast chickens’ on the other hand aren’t that fussed about looking for food. On hot days they stay in the house which gets dirty very quickly. The ‘egg chickens’ perched straight away, these are not keen. I’m sure because they don’t want to make the effort to jump up, they’re so lazy. The run door is propped open but they prefer lolling in the run, and that gets dirty too. This morning some were pecking at the grass – but they were sitting down still! They’ll come out and sit on the logs but that’s about it. Some of them sit right by the feeder so that, with the minimum of effort, they can just lean forward and have more food! So in fact the house and run is a little small for 8 ever growing chickens. And their water needs filling every day… I suppose they’re bred to be lolly birds so that they get as fat as possible and that is certainly happening. They seem content enough eating and lolling all day but I think the ‘egg chickens’ are a touch scornful of their slothy neighbours.

Loll, loll, loll LOL 🙂

Roastie

Roastie

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Double meaning for this post. Jackie mentioned in the last one that June was rather unseasonable. Well next week the forecast is for it to go to 37 degrees (that’s in the shade). And also although it’s not been too hot, it has still been very dry, meaning that quite suddenly everything has taken on a golden hue. Or if you are less romantic, everything is drying up and going brown. We don’t have much water here so we let the grass die. Many of the flowers and blossoms have come and gone but we still have the roses and the lavender which look great and provide much needed colour.

roses and lavender

The other roastie of the title is ‘the roasties’ – the chicks we bought just over a week ago. Well, they are certainly meant for the table because they are eating like trojans and putting on plenty of meat. Only a few weeks to go till chop time! As it is heating up they even have a little shade – what luxury!

But they are not the only birds around. Remember I mentioned the collared doves? Well I found their nest – it’s at the top of an old olive tree. A bit difficult to observe (and to photograph) but we have seen two chicks. Also the parents have become quite tame and despite my dishevelled appearance will even accept a few crumbs from my outstretched arm.

Of course the harvesting is now in full flow. Not least the plums. the yellow ones and the red ones have come at the same time this year so we are frantically using them up before they all fall and go off. I have made a number of plum crumbles and Jackie has been busy bottling plum cordial.

Of course we are still getting 4 eggs from our hens every day regular as clockwork and are managing to barter them for our neighbour’s meat pies now!

And we are still managing to get out and about a bit so here is a pic of my two girls and the beautiful Portuguese countryside.

Até logo!

Isso é verão, não é?

Isso é verão, não é?

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It’s been a strange start to the summer. April and May were lovely (if you didn’t worry about the lack of rainfall) and saw us eating outside most evenings. Now, with the first of the summer months, the wind is cool, the clouds grey and it’s been showery – nothing substantial though and the grass yellows every day.

It’s a good time for the veg patch. The courgettes, surprise surprise, won the race for which veg we would be eating first from this year’s sowing, followed by the colourful chard. We’re either eating the produce or knowing we’ll be eating it very soon.

The extra four beds (there are now 13 of various sizes) have made a difference, both in terms of having more veg but also in the extra time looking after it all. We won’t be adding any more for the time being, what with the soft fruit and fruit trees as well there’s a lot to do if nothing is to be wasted. So at the mo we are eating our potatoes (the bed replaced with 44 leeks), onions, garlic, two kinds of French beans (the dwarf purple ones are recommended – always aphid free and prolific), broad beans, calabrese, cauliflower, courgettes, carrots, beetroot, chard, a few parsnips and turnips here and there, lettuce, raspberries and rhubarb. We’ve had one cucumber too.

The peas haven’t done very well, as last year; I really must remember to sow those and the broad beans in the autumn. We have also started to eat the tomatoes – hurrah! We’re growing more of these this year, and different varieties too.

The organic cherries are the first up – not surprising. What is surprising though is that these are not the ones in the polytunnel. The sunny spring has meant the ones outdoors have done very well and grown better than those under plastic. (It’s the aubergines and peppers which are appreciating the polytunnel more, both are flowering.) One of the new kinds we’re trying this year is the Roma kind – San Marzano. I’m really hoping to be able to freeze these for sauces throughout the year.

Yesterday I picked a mixture of veg for something I’m going to make, can you guess what?

My parents came last month and as always we try to make the most of my father’s woodworking skills. Last year he made a wooden support for the grapes in the courtyard and these are now doing very well so we hope to have a better harvest this year. As Richard said this time he was put to work making a new chicken run – I hope he didn’t think he was here on holiday! They bought with them a buddleia and this is now flowering, and it has attracted a very interesting butterfly (or is it something else?). Update: it’s a Broad-bordered Bee Hawk-Moth Hemaris fuciformis apparently. How nice!

So waiting in the wings are the sweetcorn, winter squash and melon, fennel, aubergine and peppers, perhaps some peas plus all the wonderful plums.

Here’s another pic of the veg I picked, all chopped and ready for the next stage… You’ll have to wait for the next update if you can’t guess.

Finally, away from the fruit’n’veg, we have bought 8 new chickens. Like last time they are about a month old, there are 4 white and 4 brown ones. To put us in the right frame of mind we differentiate them from the ‘egg chickens’ by calling them the ‘roast chickens’ – no room for sentimentality! Today they ventured out of their hut and into the run. We bought them, as the previous ones, from the market in Ansião. The man said the white ones would be ready in 3 – 4 weeks and the brown ones a couple more weeks after that! I suspect we’ll let these live a little longer, and get a little fatter. We also need to pluck up enough courage for D Day!

Hmmm

Hmmm

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The hens are the same age and the same size, so how does this happen? Someone obviously has to try a bit harder. But we’re not sure which one.

The cold nights, however, don’t  seem to be affecting numbers as we always get three fresh eggs every morning. As they come from four hens we’re not sure how that works. We know they are all laying because on one day we did get four eggs. It’s a bit of a conundrum.

Someone wants to play ball however cold it is.

The hairy one plus friend
Egg-citing news!

Egg-citing news!

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We’ve been making the most of the sunny weather and at last the trees are getting pruned. However, squawking and squealing from one of the chickens was distracting us. One definitely was in a flap – she ran backwards and forwards along the fence and even managed to hurl herself up on top of it even though we’d clipped her wings yesterday. She finally quietened down and went inside the hen house. Did that mean…?

Back up the ladder and more lopping, only to almost fall off because of an almighty screech from the hen house. We walked over to see what was happening, the noisy chicken eventually appeared. She seemed calm and started pecking the ground as if nothing was the matter. Richard opened the back of the hen house and yes! there in the nest box was our very first egg, almost 17 weeks after getting the chicks. Not too small, pinky brown and, we can confirm, very tasty! So we’re hoping this is the first of very many – although we’re not so sure about the drama every day!

And here they are enjoying the winter sun:

Walking the dog

Walking the dog

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One of the nice things about having a dog is that it makes you get out and do more walking. There are plenty of fields around our house but we’ve been encouraged to explore a little further away. It’s been great to find tracks and forest paths where there are no houses at all so that our new faithful hound can be let off the lead and run wild.

Alas, we have a Labrador who likes nothing better than galloping through the puddles, ears flapping,  and then leaping all over us in her excitement.

Needless to say we come home just as filthy as her!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the chickens continue their naughtiness. Those who have read the previous post will know that we had to put up some corrugated iron to stop them escaping. This failed. We came home the other day and all them were spotted, clucking madly, making for the derelict house a field away. So more corrugated iron went up. As they continued to stand on their house and try for the olive tree above we even put in some ‘tree art’ for them to clamber over.

However, closing the door of the hen house the other night I was sure the goodnight clucks were coming from above my head rather than from inside the house. Sure enough three of the rascals had eventually managed to get into the tree and were there roosting for the night, a hint of smugness in their clucks methinks. It’s great that they can do what comes naturally but getting down means they can choose which side of the fence to land on, and you’ve guessed it… so it’s Chickens 3 Us 2 for the mo, we’re looking forward to them hatching eggs rather than hatching plans…