Matt and Poppy observing bees
A new type of slug eating the broccoli!
Gardens & Produce
More on the bees
The second swarm are now settled in the apiary which makes 3 hives there (see photo below) plus Andy’s hive which is near the pond.
The Apiary
All the hives so far are standard Portuguese ones, adapted to have open mesh floors which helps control the varroa mite. Matt is also in the middle of making a Abbe Warre hive and then has plans for a Top Bar hive. I am not mad on bees but even I have dared put on a ‘bee suit’ and had a look inside…they really are quite amazing.
Asparagus and poached eggs for breakfast
This morning we had produce from our chickens and vegetable garden for breakfast.
Asparagus growing with chicken house in background
…served in various ways.
Sophie eating her eggs and asparagus
Matt's presentation of the same dish
My friend Zoe got me in to this combination but I have never had it so fresh before!
Steps, Steps, and a Bed
Today I’ve been catching up on Pure Portugal work, whilst Oli and Teresa finished making the steps for the Pirate Ship Slide.
Meanwhile Matt’s been busy making the shuttering for new steps up to the Mongolian Yurt from the Kitchen Caravan. We’ve reluctantly decided to make them out of concrete, as the wood and earth ones kept collapsing and so weren’t safe for guests.
After making the steps, Oli and Teresa set to work on a new bed in front of the main house, which will catch rainwater from the roof and provide next-to-the-table herbs and salads for easy picking and the freshest eating! I also want to grow kiwis up the wooden posts and over a new structure out front to shade the dining table.
That’s one wheelbarrow load of manure in the near end of the bed, and we reckon we’ll need a total of 15 loads barrowed up from the muck heap at the bottom of the land – 3 each for the 5 of us!
Gardening
Today, with the help of Lauren (7) and Emily (4) we’ve been:
- digging horseradish out of one of the raised beds, where it had taken over
- digging up and potting rooted goji berries
- making a new raised bed around a fig tree
- picking strawberries, capers, and tomatoes
Lots to do at the moment, here’s a great calendar from www.quinta-cavaleira.blogspot.com
Grape Juice / Sumo de Uva
1: Set big pans of water on to boil, ready to sterilise the bottles.
2. Pick grapes (fogot to take photo of this, doh!).
3. Wash feet & tread grapes.
4. Put buckets of squished grapes into press (we pressed white (green) grapes first).
5. Collect juice (this is the juice from the red grapes)!
Don’t forget to taste it!
6. Pour boiling water into bottles to sterilise.
7. Strain juice into pans & heat to sterilising temperature (86 degs C).
8. Boil corks to sterilise.
9. Pour sterilised juice into bottles and cork.
Bottled Tomatoes / Tomates Engarrafados
We been eating all the veg from the garden – cooking for up to 15 people some nights.
Fomos comer todos os legumes da horta – cozinhar para até 15 pessoas em algumas noites.
Today, Serena and Pandora (yes, more wwoofers!) are bottling a huge basket of tomatoes that I picked from the garden.
Hoje, Serena e Pandora (sim, wwoofers mais!) Estão preservando uma cesta enorme de tomates que eu peguei a partir do jardim.
So, we will have a taste of summer this winter.
Então, vamos ter um gostinho do verão neste inverno.
Horse Manure and Vine Posts
We’ve been pushing wheelbarrows of horse manure up the hill, to fill the raised beds, during the cool mornings.
Fomos empurrando carros de estrume de cavalo até a colina, para preencher a camas do jardim, durante a manhã fria.
And banging some posts into the ground for the vines.
E batendo em alguns postes dentro o terreno para as vinhas.
