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...