The BIG Apple!

Chantenay carrots

It's all happening again in the garden.
 
You will recall the chicks we were oohing and aahing over a few weeks ago, well now we are OOOOOHHHING!!!! and AARRGGHHING!!!! as they are defoliating our winter veggies, digging up the Chantenay carrots, pecking the remaining tomatoes and generally running amok.

The Chicks

They actually make the chooks seem positively cooperative and obedient.

But having said that the chicks are friendlier than the chooks and they follow Coco around the paddock and they don't run away when you try to touch them.

They have also reached a size where we have safely integrated them with the chooks.

Purple Curly Kale

The purple curly kale has finally gone and I can't help but think we didn't make the most of it.

Maybe we were overwhelmed by the two rows which was producing nearly enough each week to provide sustenance for a small country.

Or maybe, just maybe, it was the twenty + caterpillars Nanny Southwellski removed during different stages of cooking the last time we had it.

Still you know what they say, better to find a caterpillar in your food than half a caterpillar!

Add caption

Our cooking apples are coming to an end as well, fortunately these three held on long enough for me to take a picture of them for this months Scavenger Challenge on Flickr!

We, well I use the term loosely, have been preserving like there is no tomorrow, we have pears, apples, chutneys, jams, jelly's, marmalade and all sorts of wonderful stuff that Nanny Southwellski has made for us.

We invested in a dehydrator recently, and it is amazing to see how much volume is removed from foods such as onions, I filled five trays to the absolute max with thinly sliced onions.  When they had dried they would have fitted easily on one tray with room to spare.  Wonder if it works on socks or utility bills?

Carrots.......

Our carrots, not the Chantenay variety the chicks have been persecuting, have all been harvested and we were left with this small but beautifully vacuum packed portion. (Go on enlarge it. it's worth it!)

In fairness, we have been eating them for about two and a half months.

It's hard to see just how many there are, so I put this apple beside them to give an idea of the quantity.

.....and apple!

The comparison is of no use whatsoever because you have no idea how big the apple is.  Never thought of that.

If it helps, the apple weighed 1lb 3ozs and was big enough for an apple crumble for the three of us for two nights.

A little culinary tip, don't add rolled oats to the crumble topping, IT SUCKS!

We are in the throes of getting the house garden landscaped, and after much ado we decided to let the designer spray the ground to get rid of the weeds which have inundated the areas immediately behind the house.

Morning glory

Bindweed is the worst, the more you pull it up the more it grows.

I have to say it seems a little ironic that we spend so much time and effort, (and now money) in removing bindweed and then go and plant some Morning Glory! (Right)

But don't you find that there is something rewarding about pulling up bindweed especially when the root just keeps coming.

Incidentally, everything was sprayed on Sunday and I have to say I don't know much about sprays but the weeds and grass have never looked more healthy or lovely!

Give me a kiss!

 Coco has been enduring a cold and it has made her grumpy and out of sorts for the past few days.

She does seem happier now we have it too.

Finally, today would have been Great Grandpa Southwellski's 87th birthday.

 I hope I am being as good a parent as he was to me.

Obviously I don't count the time he took me to the dentist to have a tooth out and afterwards gave me a tot of scotch before dropping me off at school.  Made me appreciate single malt though!


Happy Birthday Dad wherever you may be, love you!