Posts under ‘Technopeasant & Quinta’

With the blackcurrant bushes overflowing, we found ourselves thinking of delicious things to do with them. Having picked over 3 kilos in a few days (even if we did eat quite a few on the spot) it was obvious that we had to preserve them somehow. This turned into a blackcurrant feast with jam, Swedish-style [...]

Went to the market in Tabua (translation: “plank”) on Sunday to pick up more chickens for the coop. Despite Andy naming them after the date he intends to eat them, it felt like a rescue mission, packed 20 to a cage as they were, sqawking in fear as we approached. They didn’t really enjoy the [...]

Getting up very early (at 6.30 am) and walking through the garden is one of the most beautiful things here at Quinta das Abelhas I can think of. When the dawn lies still over the hills around here and the sun beginns to warm the plants, then it seams as if heaven would kiss the [...]

You can tell I have a 2 year old because everthing is baby chicks or baby kittens…but anyway 2 weeks ago we bought 5 chicks at the market to fatten up over 3 or 4 months, to then eat.  Organically reared chickens…tasty dinners for the meat eaters.  However, the chicks came with feed which has [...]

Quite a few of our earliest-planted courgettes are starting to grow fruit. We should be eating our first courgettes later this week!

The sun is shining, the rain has stopped and our gardens are starting to get down to the serious business of growth! Wwoofer Aaron has cleared some of the weeds from beds in ‘the hot end’ of my garden, and yesterday we bought lots of pepper, aubergine and piri-piri plants at market to be transplanted [...]

Our terraces are absolutely covered in yellow flowers, mainly corn marigolds interspersed with chamomile. We need to strim all the brambles that have appeared over the winter, and many of the pathways that we use, but we try to wait until after the wildflowers have seeded, guaranteeing the bloom of colour again next year. The [...]