December update

Bottled the elderberry wine last weekend, had a taste - quite good!  Added 1/4 cup of white sugar and
topped up with water to about 1 gallon.  Didn't have to adjust the sharpness with the citric acid, as I think elderberries are quite sharp anyway.  Added the oak maturation sachet, so wine should be ready in 2-3 weeks.  Bottled with my new corking tool, which slightly depresses the cork at the top, making it a bit malformed, but seems to seal ok.  Maybe we'll try a bottle on New Years Eve.

In November, I made a willow wall hanging from a kit for my grandmother.  First time, and think it turned out ok!

And how about these for homemade Christmas tree decorations? Cute, hey?!

And I don't think I've made a bad effort on the presents either...

But I've saved the best til last!  Today, a whole day early (because let's face it, it would have been cruel to box and wrap him!), I received my present from my OH.  Mario!!!!  10 weeks old, incredibly playful and bold.  The best present ever!!!

Activities at the weekend

Bottled marrow rum - got a mouth-full when mouth syphoning, tastes quite good, but with an after-taste of foul rotting marrow.  Mmmmm.

Made willow wall hanging for my grandmother - flowers, bullrush and curly willow, using kit from here.  Pretty easy and the final look is very effective, particularly the bullrush.

Dried garlic- in preparation for making garlic oil later this week - an option for my Xmas pressie selection.

Bought some fantastic miniuature bottles for the oil and damson gin here - super quick delivery, and the bottles are absolutely perfect!  Quite tempted by many other items on the site, and now regret my resistance and am longing for more.  Another purchase may be required.... (so much for not spending much on Christmas presents, I 've spent loads, and a fair bit more on myself already!)

Also received my wine bottling equipment on Monday - bottles, corks and a corker, from here.  So the elderberry wine can be bottled soon, although I'm not sure it's finished its fermentation yet, without possession of a hydrometer.  That's on the Crimbo wish list!

Piccalilli - illi - illi!

With the glut of courgettes, cucumbers and carrots coming to an end, I decided I would pickle the last few, especially those that had gone a bit bendy in the fridge since picking.  I saw Pam the Jam make piccalilli on the latest Hugh F-W TV episode, and thought I'd give it a shot!  We bought some silver-skinned pickled onions and a cauliflower to add some colour and extra flavour, then followed Pam's recipe.  It's now packed into jars, and awaiting testing in 6 weeks time! :)  Can't wait!  If it's any good, I shall reserve some for Xmas pressies, because that's how lazy organised I am!

Elderberry Wine

On Sunday, we made elderberry wine, using elderberries from the garden (much loved by the chickens, but we're hoping the wine will make us love them too), and a hedgerow wine making kit like this one here.
It's now sitting in a demijohn on top of our fridge, making satisfying bubble noises every few seconds.  Quite a chatter-box actually!

We sadly lost Big Bertha late last week.  It seems silly, but these chooks have come to mean a lot to us, and we weren't really ready to say goodbye.

Rose is now top-bird, with the new chooks all doing as she says.  But she's very gently about it, and hasn't unnecessarily bullied any of them yet.  She's looked down these past few days, so we're not sure if she's just missing Bertha, or going the same way herself.  She's over 3 yrs old now, which I think is quite good for an ex-batt.  Anyway, she's hopefully enjoying the run of the garden and we know she's loving the elderberries, because it makes quite a mess of the hen house, if you know what I mean! :)

How have you spent your bank holiday weekend?

I made Damson Gin!

3 kg damsons, wind-fallen, washed and pricked with a fork
1 kg sugar
2 litres gin

:)


I also put the marrow rum in a demi-john, to continue fermenting with a teaspoon of wine yeast.  I squeezed as much liquid as possible from the marrow through the tights into the bowl, helping it on its way by poking some holes through with a fork.  It had truly crumpled in on itself and had already leaked quite a lot of liquid.  Then, having transferred the liquid to a demi-john with a funnel and sieve, I added about another half the volume in water after this photo.  Only time will tell if this is even drinkable!!  It certainly has an 'interesting' niff to it at the moment!

Allotment goodies

It may have been miserable weather the last couple of days, but it's been great for the allotment.  Here's just a sample of the bucket load I picked up yesterday...

Eek!

Today was not a good day.  It began with lots of furious itching(!) ...  The chicken house has got red mites.  LOTS of red mites. 

I spent all day thinking about it, and reading other peoples accounts of how awful it is.  So, I came home prepared.  New mite spray, mite powder, rubber gloves, garden hose, disinfectant, overalls and wellies.  Those mites don't have a chance of surviving now.  I may be slightly damp and still a bit itchy in places, but I think we did a thorough job.  The chooks didn't have a clue what the drama was about, but I'm hoping they'll have an easier nights sleep tonight, although it'll take a week or two to see if it's worked for sure.

On the plus side, decontaminating the two houses meant we had to let both the newbies and the oldies out in the garden together.  And despite a little over-the-top domination from bully Bertha, the newbies seemed to cope OK, and a sort of calm did descend.   We'll see if this continues over the weekend...  Fingers crossed...

Marrow Rum

So, never tried this before, but here's what I've done...

Take a large marrow (courgette) and chop the stalk end off, about 4 inches down.  Burrow a hole in the body of the marrow, removing seeds but not the flesh.

Good tools for the job include:

The tongs were a stroke of genius - you can reach right to the bottom and grab the seeds to remove them!

With all the seeds removed, chuck in a good bit of freshly grated ginger (I used a piece the size of my thumb), a generous handful of raisins, and then pack to the brim with demerara sugar.  I found as I packed in the sugar, it was already dissolving and sinking further into the marrow.  When you still have a bit of space at the top, pour in the juice of one orange.  Again, this'll make the level of sugar sink further in.  Top up with sugar and keep packing until it feels like it won't take any more.

Replace the stalk end of the marrow on top, and tape together to hold in place.

Pull a stocking up over the whole thing and hang over a bowl.  Word on the street is that the sugar dissolves and the marrow flesh ferments, eventually turning all liquidy and the skin will collapse in.  This may take a few weeks.  When it looks good to go, help the liquid escape by piercing a hole in the bottom of the marrow and collect in the bowl.  Then transfer the liquid to a demijohn with a bubble trap and leave to ferment until no further bubbles come off.  Then bottle up and leave for a year or two before drinking!!  Not the quickest of  drinks to make, but it's strong stuff and hopefully will be worth waiting for.  I'm sure my work colleagues will be keen to try some asap...!

Watch this space! :)

Birthdays, potato digging and marrow rum

Yesterday was my birthday.  I had a busy day at work, but enjoyed my lunch break digging up potatoes on the company allotment.  Yes, we have a company allotment!  This is it's first year, and it's been brilliant!  The potatoes we dug up had done pretty well - three Charlotte plants had produced a trug full, and three Rocket plants had some pretty chunky ones.  Not bad at all.
Collecting the rest of the ready produce - broad beans, french beans, peas, courgettes, lettuces, onions and carrots - the discussion moved on to marrows.  So far, we've avoided growing 'marrows' from the courgette plants, but one of the team said he had quite a few accidental marrows at home.  Then came the suggestion of making marrow rum.  This intrigued me, being a budding brewer in my spare time, with quite a bit of elderflower champagne stashed away for summer-time drinking this year.  So I'm told, you take a marrow, scoop out the seeds, fill with brown sugar and leave to ferment and drip out the bottom.
So, today, when I came into work, I found a 'marrow' aka large courgette on my desk.  Thanks, C.  So, if I have time at the weekend, I'll be investigating the blogs for recommended recipes and get on with it.

The family has been extended!

We have SIX chickens!! :)

On Saturday, my OH picked up two more ex-battery hens.  They're in fantastic condition, considering!  We introduced them to the girls from the previous weekend, and after a few short squabbles, things settled down and they got on with the important things in life - eating, scratching, stretching, snoozing and eyeing up the garden beyond the run!

We've named them all too.
Introducing:

Salisbury

Jemima

Woody

and finally, Gwyneth

Fingers crossed they improve quickly now and we'll be able to let them roam the garden before summer is over...

Miss Floppy Update

Well, sadly, Miss Floppy had to go to hen heaven, via the vets.  They weren't particularly helpful is diagnosing what was wrong with her, but decided it was for the best.  I like to think that even the few days she had with us was better than a lifetime as a battery caged hen followed by processing for dog food.  She saw the sky and felt the wind.  So close...

Miss Floppy

The verdict from the vet will come later today... wish time would hurry along!

Chickens

Here's an update on the chickens. 
We collected 4 more ex-battery hens on Saturday.  They were in a terrible state, much worse than our last ones.  By Sunday morning, one had sadly died already.  She was the littlest of the four, and had very little energy to even move.  I knew she'd be trouble, but I wasn't expecting a death so soon.  I'd named her Olive.
Of the three left, one won't walk at all (Miss Floppy - so-called because of her enormous floppy comb, and only until a better name and chance of a future are secured), and one has a limp (Woody).  We're taking Miss Floppy to the vet tomorrow.  Fingers crossed it's nothing too serious, just a little time and tlc needed, but I won't hold my breath.

'Woody'.  Life as a battery caged hen is not a pretty one.  Free-ranging, here I come!!

We've arranged to pick up two more this Saturday, so fingers crossed they're in a better state.  It's wonderful to give the chance of a decent life to these birds, and the improvement we've seen in the past was quite miraculous, but it does break my heart to see them looking so sad.

Hello!

So, as if life isn't hectic enough at the moment, I've decided to start a blog of the little things in my life. More of a diary really...

Theory goes, that if I blog what I'm up to day-to-day, I'll be able to keep better track of things - like, when did I plant the bl**dy potatoes?!! I've been groping around in the bags every now and then to check out the situation, but can't bring myself to turn a bag out, in case the disappointment is too much for me! :)

Here's my list of things to do this weekend:

Replace wheel bearings on my car - of course, not by myself, but with some fatherly help!

Pick up new ex-battery hens!

Re-pot uncountable seedlings

Pull up garlic

Check potatoes - may be time for harvesting?

Mow lawn (fingers crossed for a dry day)

Control blackberry bramble - scratched arms, here I come! But at least I may get a few blackberries to snack on at the same time.

I'll post some photos of the chooks and garden at some point. We currently have 5 chickens - 2 from an ex-bat collection 2 years ago, and 3 from a collection last weekend. They look so sorry for themselves, poor things.

More soon...!