Harvesting Continues at an Feirm Beag:
Gladly, things still seem to keep on growing well, except the spuds, which were smothered by the weeds so had poor yields. So we are all eating carrots Bugs Bunny would be proud to get his teeth into. The parsnips are impressive especially considering our book says they can be notoriously difficult to sow. We have a mountain of courgettes and the recipes are being researched all the time with some cooking going on too!
The sun-less July also meant no opportunities to weed but we have resigned ourselves to letting the veggie patch run this year. A recent course on polytunnels at the irish seedsavers has provided much inspiration and information to last a few years!
There’s also been another type of harvesting of late this time elderberries following the delicious success of the elderflower champagne (with slight recipe issues!)
Home to Roost:
Lots of news on the hen front: One hen mysteriously reduced to a little heap of feathers, diagnosis: a bird of prey(?)
New addition: a fine rooster thanks to Tom. He looks like a fine lad and appears to be performing all appointed duties. He is a bit of a softie though and has to be lifted into bed each evening as he decides the best place to roost is on top of the gate. His crow is also inoffensive so far but he’s still probably only a teenager. (photos to follow next month)
Next purchase possibly an incubator..
In the meantime Baby D likes the look of the hens too.
Pork and Bacon:
The pigs are now loaded into our massive deep freeze and by all accounts have turned into tasty meat (yum.) Overall it was a good learning process. Farmer J especially found out what 25 kg sausages looks like!
More expansion:
We have 6 turkeys and to round the figure off farmer J went for 4 broilers; they were so delicious the last time he figured why not. The turkeys appear unusual quiet and ghost-like for the moment but time will tell. It’s a sure sign Christmas is coming.
Well deserved rest:
A timely break in the sun after the pigs were done. Thanks to Pat and Pauline and PJ all was well on our return. Baby D tasted ice-cream and it sure was cooling (well she's cool looking anyway!)
Bees:
The bees are being fed on a regular basis now to increase their stores before winter.
