The Great Outdoors

You have been warned!

When visiting Grandpa Southwellski's Garden you should be aware of the risks posed by our animals.

Please heed the warning signs. (left)

This sign, at Longleat Safari Park is a classic, the look of surprise on the guys face is precious.  'Oh dear here I am outside my car, and oh no the lion is attacking me.'  He never saw that coming!'


The strange thing is that the wardens in the Lion, Wolf and Tiger enclosures still had to tell people to keep their windows closed. Amazing eh?

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

We have a few creatures here and you should be wary when approaching  the Borps, (Buff Orpingtons) as they can be very affectionate!

In fact all of our animals are very happy to be stroked and if they don't like it they'll just wander away.

We have been blessed with a few beautiful autumn days of late and today was one of the best.

Warm sunshine, few clouds and just a light breeze which was warm as well made it just a perfect day to be outdoors.

We spent the afternoon outside sorting out the chicken run and putting the finishing touches to the chicken house.  The chooks and chicks now share a luxury mansion size hen house with all mod cons except water, heating, lighting and furniture.  They do have two roosting poles and four nesting boxes though.

I love you!

Catch!

 As always Coco was in the thick of it, making sure each chick got a cuddle and was shown it's new home.

She also fed them to get them back into the run ready for bedtime in their new accommodation.



Bedtime was an event in itself, have you ever tried to get 18 birds into a new house?

They were going here there and everywhere, the more we pushed in through the hole the more came out,  I counted 27 chickens at on point, and we only have 18!  But we did it.

We have always encouraged Coco to touch and pick up the animals, although this is always supervised, and she has grown in confidence with every encounter.  Now we have to work on the same approach with the veggies.

It has come to something when I come out of the polytunnel and say to Nanny Southwellski the 'P-E-A-S's are flowering', knowing full well that if Coco got wind that we had peas in there she would be climbing out of her bedroom window and making night-time raids!

The first wind turbine!

We have been toying with alternative energy sources, in quite a serious way to be honest.  We looked at wind turbines but apparently we are not in a windy enough location.

Is this not the same location that saw the wind flatten my polytunnel?

Solar was another consideration, but a lot of the schemes only save you £80 to £100 pounds a year so the payback period is very long.

We have a woodburner on its way hopefully it will be here in the next few weeks.  We will keep you posted on how that works out.

We are also looking at John Seymour's books ( The New Self Sufficient Gardener, and The New Complete Book of Self Sufficiency) for inspiration about how we can be more self sufficient than we already are.

We have already reduced our food bills by a at least a third, and only buy the essentials such as dairy products, loo rolls and sugar etc.

We are drinking more and more herbal infusions, Mint and White Dead Nettle is rather nice and is good for all sorts of things such as earache, stomach cramps and is refreshing to boot.

Say 'Layers Pellets!'

We take many photographs of our home, garden, animals and of course Coco, and there are few days that are not recorded.

Nanny Southwellski is getting very good with her camera and it's well worth a visit to her Flickr pages to have a nose, just google 'Southwellski' and it will pop up.

On the garden front we are clearing the plots and preparing them for the coming season.

Preparation under way.

The growbags we used for our tomatoes and cucumbers have been spread over the cultivated areas and the chooks and chicks have done a great job of mixing it all in.

Now we are planning the crops for next year and looking forward to even more fresh veggies than we had this year, chickens permitting of course.




And finally, Nanny Southwellski made some Pumpkin Soup using a Delia Smith recipe.  It was delicious.  If I said there wasn't a little trepidation at the first spoonful I would be a liar.  But we took a deep breath and swallowed hard.

It tasted like a really expensive and creamy chicken soup, in fact I am going to see if there is any left!

Cherry leaves.

This is the mouse that........

There's a Moose loose aboot this hoose!

frightened Monty and made him jump when it hopped towards him.

It is a very lucky mouse. It survived being caught by one of our cats, then went on to evade being stalked by both of our cats and then finally got away from our three terriers into Nanny Southwellski's safe hands.

Having been placed over the fence into the hedgerow, albeit somewhat enthusiastically by Nanny Southwellski, which incidentally it also survived, it then, with all the stupidity it could muster, tried to get back into the garden.

Has it gone yet Dad?

This provided a good deal of entertainment for Scarlett and Blossom, two of the terriers. They vigilantly patrolled the fence for ages, getting more and more excited with every twitch of a blade of grass! Monty guarded the area near the deck some fifteen feet away from the mouse just in case it got through.

For all his grumpiness and bravado he's a bit of a chicken is our 'Strudles' bless him. That said we wouldn't be without him, I mean look at those eyes?

I dot a dold (sniff!)

Coco has been a bit poorly of late with a severe bout of the sniffles and hasn't been her old self.  

However, we are glad to say that she is well on the way to recovery.

You will recall in our last post we were contemplating the demise of our winter greens at the beaks of our chooks and chicks.  Well, they are now safely fenced in, the veggies that is not the chooks and chicks.

However, whilst Coco and I were fencing the veggies in, the Chooks and Chicks had, under the guidance of Brutus gone round to the back of the polytunnel.    Here they crept under the polythene and went on to devour, uproot, shred, disturb and gorge on our winter lettuces, greens and the lower tomatoes and peppers.  

I'm a bit tyred (and full)!

Siesta!

When I opened the door they exited like a rat up a drainpipe!

Bless them, they looked like they simply couldn't face another succulent, tasty, fresh green leaf or juicy red tomato. 

 

All that was left for them to do then was to rest.

We are still reducing our consumption of meat and to be totally honest we have been eating better than ever.  Its almost as if not having meat has made it easier to prepare meals, as there is no more trying to work out which veggies go with say beef or lamb.  

Our autumn plot preparation has started and we are now preparing new beds and turning over the soil in the beds we used for potatoes, brassicas and other bits and pieces.  Wow, I sounded like a gardener then!

The Rotavator has been doing overtime and the chooks have for once been gainfully employed in mixing the used grow-bags into the soil.  I know that a lot of the goodness has gone from the grow-bags but the way I look at it is that they are organic matter and adding that to the soil has to help - doesn't it?

Finally, the weather has been glorious here although I think it's just a precursor to some ropey weather.

The sunset tonight was amazing - again.

Don't you just hate that we live here?

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!

The early morning dew

As this blog has developed it seems that Coco and I do very little 'Real' gardening.  Nothing could be further from the truth and Nanny Southwellski has over 40 jars of preserved produce to prove it.

And that doesn't include the 9 pounds of cherries and 6 pounds of gooseberries in the freezer!

We have been eating our own veggies and fruit now for almost 3 months, but then again so have the birds, chooks and caterpillars.

Every jewel placed by hand

You see the thing is that as Coco and I wander around the garden we get a little distracted by the beauty and incredibility of it all.

Nature is a wonderful thing and we are privileged to witness it at such a close viewpoint.

We have a duty to look after our world and environment which is why Coco and I go out some mornings before breakfast and hang tiny jewels on our dandelions.

This morning, as we did our regular inspection and walked around just listening to the birds and Brutus of course welcoming the day, it occurred to me that actually all those jobs that we see every day and that need doing aren't what it's all about.

Dewdrops on our apple tree.

Our garden is a learning space for Coco and I and anyone else who wants to shed off the world for a little while and wander around and marvel at the wonder of it all.

For example, our sunflowers topped 9 feet from tiny seeds that Coco and I planted in pots in the spring.

We are going to dry the flower heads and harvest the seeds to feed the birds, and seeds for ourselves as well as to eat and sow next spring.  And so natures cycle goes on.

Our tomatoes are turning at last and we now have more than we can actually physically eat but we do have some good recipes and of course we have Nanny Southwellski with her vast array of pots and pans and jars to deal with it all.

A huge success, in my opinion is Nanny Southwellski's apple and cucumber chutney.  A couple of nights ago we polished off half a jar with cheese and crackers and it was AMAZING!!!!!

Another equally huge success is the pumpkin stuffed with leeks and cheese that we had for supper last night it was delicious!  Sadly we only have 14 more pumpkins left!

Snack attack!

Now, of late I have become fascinated by spiders.  I know nothing about them except the turn up when you least expect them, they run very fast and scare people.

But regardless of what you think about them you have to admire their ability and tenacity when it comes to web building.

Take this chappie/chappess on the left for example how long did it take to build the web that caught this bug?

Wrapped

Or this web (right) on a young Hazel nut tree.

These are just some of the things Coco and I see every day in the garden, I wonder how much we miss?

Makes you think doesn't

I have a favourite poem, it's quite short but it comes to mind frequently when we are in the garden.

LEISURE

William Henry Davies 1871 - 1940

'What is this life if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs

And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,

Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,

Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at beauty's glance,

And watch her feet how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can,

Enrich the smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

Daybreak to Sunset

Sunrise

It seems to me that the more tired Coco gets during the day the earlier she wakes up the next day.  We've tried an 8 o'clock bedtime a 7 o'clock bedtime and half past 6 as well.  The result?


We are still up at about 6.15 in the morning.  Even a trip to Banham Zoo with Auntie's Angela and Sarah didn't make a difference, up bright and early this morning.

Never mind, if I'm honest I do lay there waiting some mornings for her to rouse so its really no hardship at all.

Levelling the compost!

That, in it's own way was an explanation of how we came to start this post with a sunrise picture instead of a sunset.

Anyway, we have been adding to the structural stability of our poly tunnels ; and in doing so have started to incorporate some raised beds.

It didn't take us very long at all, we screwed 4 planks of left over decking together filled it with compost and dug it into the soil below.

Firming the compost!

Coco took on the levelling job with gusto and initiative.  Having started with her rake it quickly transpired that this was neither fast enough or hands on enough for my little assistant.

The only answer really is to launch yourself onto the bed and push the compost around with your hands and then walk up and down to firm it all.

It worked a treat!

Teamwork

As you are aware we always like to bring glimpses of some of the creatures we get visiting the garden and here on the caravan wheel are a couple spiders who seem quite happy sharing a web for their evenings hunting.

We also get numerous bats flying around  the property at dusk and we could sit and watch them for hours, (except it gets dark and we can't see them) as they remove countless mozzies for us.

Now I was told/read/or heard somewhere that if you stand very still and then clap your hands slowly and rhythmically above your head the bats will fly much closer to you and you will attract more of them.

So, having checked it was September not April, I found myself a quiet little spot in the corner of the paddock which was under their main flight path and not in view of the house (or Nanny Southwellski!) and away from prying eyes.

I stood very still then slowly raised my hands up and started to clap rhythmically (Nanny Southwellski will tell you my sense of rhythm is not great and in fact seldom has any rhythm of its own, its more a random selection of steps/claps/toe taps etc.)

I tried for about 5 minutes and only succeeded in attracting Blossom, who looked at me with pity in her eyes and then wandered off.

Did it work? Did it Charlie, I doubt they will ever return.

Yellow Winged Darter

Never mind, this little chap on the left is a Yellow Winged Darter, a member of the Dragonfly family who landed on the deck fence at lunchtime.

We have quite a few of these and other Dragonflies floating around and I do mean floating around, they are incredible exponents of flight!

Sunset

And finally, tonight's sunset.  It seems only right that as we started with sunrise we should finish with sunset.

Sorry Delia, it's over!

The end :(

Yes it's over between Delia Smith and me, I have had a long relationship with the lovely Delia and in our many years together she has never let me down.

We've baked bread, made goulash, pavlova, Yorkshire puddings not to mention her luxury fish pie, I could go on.

Hugh's new book

But it's time for a change and in the Southwellski household we now love Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall.



Sorry Delia.

Today he brought a magical new dough to our home, we used it for perfect pitta's and froze some of the dough for a loaf in the future.

He has made us revisit our need to eat meat with his book on veggies and how to prepare them in new and exciting ways!

We had roasted peppers, tomatoes, red onions in fresh warm pitta's and with a bit of cucumber, more fresh toms, pak choi lettuce and a dollop of mayo and they were a feast to behold!

Nigella

 Actually if truth be known I love Nigella, but wouldn't admit that in front of Nanny Southwellski.

However if I was pressed on it I would have to say it's because I actually rated her Dad as a chancellor and politician.

No, to be perfectly honest there is another chefette I rate far more than Delia, Hugh and yes even Nigella.

She has sparkly eyes, quick hands and gets right into tasting the food she prepares.

Maybe not as well known as Ainsley or as outspoken and temperamental as Gordon (although she has her moments!) she is as animated as Jamie and is not afraid to mix her foods in new and exciting ways.

Celebrity chefette to be!

Who is this genius I hear you ask?

It's none other than my sidekick and partner in many adventures - Coco!

Just look at the enjoyment on that face and the laughter in those eyes, who wouldn't want to cook at 7.15 in the morning with her?

Say chocolate!

Coco could show them a thing or two about cooking and eating I can tell you!

Whilst on the cooking theme and before we head into the garden, we have been baking our own bread just lately and it's actually a lot less hassle than I thought it would be.

We prefer a loaf with seed and grains and are currently using Allinsons yeast and flour and haven't had a bad loaf yet.

Coco and I spent most of today in the garden before visitors and a heavy downpour put paid to our plans of tidying up the veggie patch ready for the winter greens to go out.

Fowl play!

On the subject of visitors we seem to have an unwelcome one, one with a liking for tomatoes and who is tall enough to reach the ripe ones.

Today however the culprit left a tell tale sign, a trail of footprints that lead along to tomatoes and across the leeks and ended at the fence to the chook run.

His biggest mistake was to revisit the scene of the crime only for me to confront him and offer a chastisement.

I don't think Brutus was that phased by it to be honest he just turned around and went in search of his girls.

Dew on the Leeks

Fennel

Finally, it was a wonderful dew laden morning this morning and after Coco had gone back to bed for her nap I had a wander around with my camera.

And with an almost clear blue sky a shot of the Fennel flowers was just too much to resist.

Who knows, maybe tomorrow the winter greens will get planted!

(No Delia Smith cookery books were disposed of or harmed in the production of this blog)

Blow the wind Southerly, Easterly, Northerly and Westerly!

The UK has been blasted by South Westerly gale force winds, except for Grandpa Southwellski's Garden that is.

A bit of ventilation!

Here, upon reaching the garden some of the gusts took a sharp right turn (South East) after the bungalow,  took down our poly tunnel and  then rejoined their South Westerly buddies and went on towards Feltwell.

It was a bit of a blow (excuse the pun) because everything was looking lovely in there yesterday and was the source of much pride for Coco and I.

But hey ho, it will be again once we have fixed it, and if the wind drops overnight that will be our job for tomorrow.

Trevor and the boys!

Our tomatoes are at last starting to turn and I sampled the first ripe one today in a sandwich with our own cucumber and home-made bread, it was delicious and needed nothing else!

Remember Trevor and the boys? Well here they are in out of the wind and safe and well, for now anyway haha haha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

We are still busy preparing and preserving our produce and the next batch of fruit for preserving arrived in the kitchen earlier in the shape of a huge basketful of pears.

It always amazes me how much fruit you end up with once it's actually off the tree.  There never seems to be that much when its growing.

Moon rising over Hawthorns

We also made our fist batch of Hawthorn Syrup which is good for circulation, heart problems, hardened arteries and anxiety and restlessness.  So if I suddenly fall asleep on the keyboar.........
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...d you will know why.

This will go alongside our Rosehip Syrup which has already proven its worth with a cold circulating at the moment, it certainly makes a difference.

A peck of purple peppers

In the poly tunnel we have (had?) a good crop of peppers and chilli's coming on and one plant has peppers that are a beautiful purple colour.

I've not seen these before so whether they will turn red at some point I am not sure.

Now as for the melons, well I am not sure if its was a cruel joke on the part of Focus or if it was the mix up in labelling when I was being ably assisted by my small partner in grime but the melons we planted are now sporting some really healthy looking Cucumbers!  Not a melon in sight!

Never mind, peeled, chopped and put in a bowl with some grapes, cherries and a splash of cream and no one will know!

One of the chicks

The chicks are doing exceptionally well and we have 6 of Brutus's offspring along with 3 Buff Orpington's which are about 5 days younger that the first brood.

Blossom is beside herself and is waiting for the chance to get in the cage with them.

We moved the chicks into the utility room and when I put the dogs to bed Blossom sat there staring into the cage, she was still there the next morning in the very same spot!

She was exhausted all day and didn't even bark at passing dog walkers.

Well that's it for tonight, hopefully tomorrow will see the poly tunnel rebuilt, plants retied and everything back to being good in the garden.  Now for some more Hawthorn syrup!