It’s 31 in the shade. The wind turbines are at a standstill, helicopters on the look out for fires drone overhead and this morning’s start on the olive harvest has come to a stop. The grass, what there is of it, has blanched white and turned to dust; the red soil is rock hard.
Meanwhile the roasties are never too far away from their water. They are surprisingly perky in the morning, battering down the hatch in the morning to dive into the food. But come the heat of the afternoon they collapse in a white, feathered heap. The hens are suffering too and are on strike: we’ve hardly had any eggs recently. I’ve been giving them a ‘shower’ these last few days (from the watering can!) but still they’re not laying .
Meanwhile Gordy Gordo is still getting plenty of exercise. We went to a river beach the other day though for her to have a swim – and there wasn’t enough water! Which means that still, every evening, we have to water the veg patch, fruit shrubs and trees. The irrigation system that Richard set up is wonderful but the shrubs and trees we do by hand.
The plants in the veg patch seem to be surviving despite the heat though and we continue to get tomatoes, courgettes and peppers. We’re also eating sprouts, leeks and chard. The seedling cabbage, cauliflower and calabrese are holding up, the turnips and swede are going strong as are the peas and broad beans (flowering!) but the carrots and parsnips sown in September are just not showing – nothing at all. I’m pleased that the soil in the beds is good, the manure / compost regularly applied has meant that it retains moisture well and is a far cry for the stuff we started with two years ago. So here’s to cooler climes ahead and a bumper winter harvest.
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!
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.
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.
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-MothHemaris 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!
It’s thundering down with rain, the wood burning stove is blasting away in the corner and the dog is at my feet – a perfect time to update the blog. Which, in fact, we haven’t done for some time. I suppose because we haven’t done any major projects recently around the place, and it’s a little quiet in the veg patch too. Smaller tasks have been taking up our time: firstly, the chickens are getting bigger and bolder. They are extraordinarily inquisitive and somewhat adventurous. The gap in the fence that surrounds them was for a time filled with a wooden pallet propped closed by a leaning pole. This they loved to climb (and then slide down) and squawked loudly when it was replaced with a proper gate (made by Richard) and latch. One was on the roof of the hen house the other day attempting, in vain, to get at the overhanging branches of an olive tree. There was some alarm last week when I realised they had all disappeared, Richard reassuring me with the fact that there were no bodies anywhere. Faint clucking led me to look over the stone wall and there they all were in the neighbour’s field. It then began to become a regular escapade – a flutter of wings, a scramble over the brambles and freedom! When their wanderlust took them into the far distance we knew something had to be done. So that part of the wall is now covered with corrugated iron. Watching them approach it the first time was amusing. As soon as they drew near their necks came up, their eyes popped open and they began to complain very loudly! I try and tell them that they already have a large grassy field all to themselves, how lucky they are not to be cooped up all day but they are still a little sulky…
Secondly, we have planted quite a few more trees, mainly fruit, near the pergola. We now have another quince, apple and peach. Plus we have a persimmon and a Christmas tree. This rain will be great for them.
Last year we had the first frost mid December. This year it’s been crunchy underfoot already a few times these past few weeks. The marigold and nasturtiums, which were still bravely going, succumbed immediately. All the peas and beans, left in the soil so as not to have bare earth, turned black as did the leaves of a sweet potato I’d planted a few months ago. However, everything else seems impervious to the freeze, even the lettuce is happy to have frozen frills.
And although it’s a quieter time in the garden there’s still a lot growing. The seeds for the winter growing turnips are just coming through (I do hope they survive) and the onions and garlic sets planted last month all have shoots. These join the onions I bought in plugs, and the ones I’ve grown from seed, so all go on the allium front. Villagers who have the field next to us (that the chickens love) chatted over the stone wall to talk veg. They wanted to know what the very large green things I was growing were. They were referring to the artichokes and purple-sprouting broccoli. I knew the Portuguese for these vegetables but failed to get them to understand what they were, as for explaining how to eat an artichoke…
We’re eating the spinach, leeks, sprouts, swede, turnips, celery and carrots. Plus the calabrese which I’m really chuffed with:
Not forgetting the herbs and now the oranges in the courtyard, which reminds me – it’s also a perfect day to make some marmalade.
This year’s olive harvest has broken all records! Ok, it’s only our second time, but we are up from 5 bins last year to nearly 8 this year. We are off to the lagar tomorrow for the pressing so we are hoping for well in excess of 15 litres of liquid gold.
Here’s the ever present Luis and his amazing machine for the olive version of sorting the wheat from the chaff – sorting the olives from the assorted branches and leaves.
Someone has made herself very much at home in just over a week…
…and the chickens are growing amazingly. Not surprising considering the amount of grain they eat.
Four chickens, a frog, a toad, a family of wild boar… and a dog
Never mind the veggies and the landscaping, we are now building up a bit of a menagerie. The four chickens are doing very well and growing enormously. Today it’s raining, so they’re staying in their house and not coming out for photos. When we were out in the garden they were truly free range but only as long as we could keep an eye on them and keep them out of the veggie patch.
But now we have decided to give them their own little area. So yesterday we built a chicken run. We still lock them up at night mind as there are foxes and other nasties around.
chicken run
After a year of having the pond we have finally got a resident frog. Let’s hope he (or she) finds a mate.
froggy
A while ago we noticed a toad in the garden as well. He only comes out at night and is absolutely enormous. A bit camera shy but we hope to have a photo soon. NB Little known fact (to us) is that toads don’t go anywhere near ponds until they spawn. And that’s why he lives under the threshing square and only comes out at night.
Recently we noticed that the next door field had been ploughed, albeit very badly. However after a chat with the neighbours it would seem to be the result not of a drunken farmer but a family of javeli (wild boar) who snuffle out grubs etc in the night. I don’t know how he knows but our neighbour reckons there is a family of six of them and they can roam up to 30 kilometres in a night.
ploughed field courtesy of wild boar
However, we have kept the biggest news until last. We have got ourselves a dog! Some friends of friends had a labrador called Maria who was just getting a bit too big and frisky to keep in their Lisbon apartment – so as from yesterday she has moved in with us! She’s a loveable two year old and although still very puppy-like remarkably well trained.
Thanks very much Vitor, she’s a darling and I think she loves her new home already!
for a chicken. Well, several steps as the chickens have their first taste of the outside world. And how they love it! Chirping and chomping together they scuttle among the fresh grass and weeds. Getting them back in again was the problem, even the rain didn’t put them off pecking and scratching. Only plump beetle larvae tempted them home, I can see I need to get back into the compost and dig a few more of those out!
Meanwhile the roasties are never too far away from their water. They are surprisingly perky in the morning, battering down the hatch in the morning to dive into the food. But come the heat of the afternoon they collapse in a white, feathered heap. The hens are suffering too and are on strike: we’ve hardly had any eggs recently. I’ve been giving them a ‘shower’ these last few days (from the watering can!) but still they’re not laying .
