Monday 21 September 2015

The Week's Top Tip

Have you ever lost a garden tool?  It's all too easy when you are trying to do too many jobs in too little time.  I solved the problem (almost} by wrapping a ring of brightly coloured electrician's insulation tape round the handle of my tools.  Yellow shows up really well when you have popped down a tool then moved on to another job, or covered it in a pile of prunings.  Try it!

Daylight hours are getting shorter, borders to be tidied, though not too much, mild weather is keeping the grass growing though I am hoping it will soon be the last cut. The "season of mists and mellow fruitfulness" as the poet (remind me which one) said, is well and truly upon us. There is fruit to pick and preserve by various methods.  Fig and date chutney is one of my specialities; no problem with the figs but I have buy in the dates.
  Apple and walnut chutney will be next  You might like the recipe, though it is an old one and I still make it in pounds and ounces.

Apple and Walnut Chutney

1 pint cider vinegar, 1 lb light muscovado sugar, 2 teaspoons salt, 1 inch fresh root ginger finely chopped, 1 tbsp coriander seeds crushed, 1 tsp ground allspice, 1 tbsp whole cumin seeds, 3-4 green chillies de-seeded and chopped, 2 lbs Bramley apples, peeled, cored and chopped, 1 lemon thinly sliced but not peeled, seeds removed, slices quartered,.8 oz onions chopped, 8 oz sultanas, 2 lb eating apples cored and chopped, 8 oz walnuts chopped.
Method:
Put vinegar, sugar, salt, ginger, spices and chillies into pan, heat gently till sugar has dissolved then bring to a rolling boil.  Add Bramley apples, lemon, onion and sultanas.  Simmer for 30 minues. Add eating apples and walnuts. Simmer for at least another
45 minutes, till thick, stirring frequently to prevent burning.
Pot and seal in the usual way and leave for at least 2 weeks before using.

Farming:  the expression "keeping a weather eye open" becomes truly meaningful.  A little rain will make  blackgrass, a major problem, grow, so spraying will be effective.  However, a breakdown and a four day wait for the required replacement part makes us all anxious.  Job done; oilseed rape is drilled; will the weather allow us to rip up with the spring tines, rotate to obtain a seed bed then get the wheat drilled?  Timing is critical.  We have heavy land and if it gets too wet it is impossible to get the machinery onto it.  As I said, the weather has the last word.





  





   



Thursday 17 September 2015

Garden Drama

There was a small drama this week when we found a young hedgehog entangled in a badminton net in the garden.  The first step was to cut the net and remove the animal, still entangled, before we could begin to free him.  Good light, fine scissors plus spineproof garden gloves were required.  As you can imagine, every time the little animal felt a movement he did what hedgehogs do, i.e. he curled up tightly.  Happily, with patience, we were able to remove every strand of netting and place him back in the garden in a sheltered spot.  We were not sure if the shock would be too much for him but hedgehogs are clearly made of sterner stuff.  A visit to the release site later in the day revealed that he had uncurled and was foraging actively under the hedge.  A story with a happy ending.

Still in the garden, we have had a tremendous crop of cobnuts.  Usually the squirrels get most of them but this year even they have been overwhelmed.  Now I am looking for recipes using green cobnuts; if anyone has any suggestions do pass them on.  I have not been so fortunate with the walnuts; when the squirrels don't get them the crows do; they take them long before they are ready to take off the tree.


Incidentally, you may know cobnuts as hazelnuts, dried and sold in the shell or ready-shelled or perhaps as Kent cobs, much sought-after in the green state.  They are not to be confused with filberts, which are oval in shape and the husk completely covers the nut.  These are less popular than cobnuts as the husk is more difficult to remove than the half husk on the rounder nut.
    
We have been lucky, weatherwise, on the farm.  The oilseed rape yielded well, considering the poor start to the season.  There was even debate as to whether or not it would be better to plough it up and re-drill.  Fortunately it was decided to leave it in and hope for the best; a right decision as it turned out.  The wheat yielded well with a low moisture content, which saved us drying costs.  We only had to use the dryer for a short time to cool the grain for storage.  The straw has been baled and cleared, allowing light cultivation of the fields prior to preparation for the next crop,  We still have field beans to harvest. This will be interesting as we have not grown them before.  I will report on the result next time.   

  

Monday 14 September 2015

Another Drama

Well, that is the harvest finished though not without it's little drama.  When the combine stopped unexpectedly the operator climbed down to see what had happened and found smoke pouring from the back.  Faulty wiring had caused a fire which, fortunately, he was able to extinguish with the onboard fire extinguisher before it became a major incident.  Another combine was brought in and the job finished before the forecast rain took over.  The yield from the beans appears passable, though not as good as hoped.  Beans can be an expensive crop to grow; blackfly was a big problem this year and required spraying twice.  Obviously the bees must be kept off when this is carried out but, wisely, they don't go back in after that.  It is our intention next year to site the hives temporarily in the field where the crop is growing so that the bees can spend less time and energy flying and more time pollinating.

We have not seen many kestrels lately.  Voles form part of their diet and as these have been in short supply also this year perhaps that is the reason.  On the other hand there has been no shortage of field mice so who knows?   No shortage of wood pigeons.  All they need is grain, and water to make pigeon "milk" to feed to their young.  With plenty of grain about and water seldom a problem they can breed until October or November.

With summer finished and holidays over village social life picks up again.  First off is a Fashion Show, to be held in Epperstone Village Hall on Wednesday, September 23rd  Entry includes a glass of wine, doubtless an incentive to relax, enjoy the show and purchase high street brands at rock bottom prices.  We can also look forward to the renowned Nottingham Goose Fair, taking place at the end of the month, from September 30th to Ocober 4th on the Forest recreation ground. Though the origins of the fair are historic you will find the present-day attractions very up-to-date, and probably the only goose in sight is to be found on the large Mansfield Road/Gregory Boulevard  traffic island . 

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