Glanbrydan’s Weblog

Just hanging around

As part of the big spring planting we will do a box or two of lettuce. T-W-O like Romain and I’m not even sure this is technically a lettuce but it is very tasty compared to a flat leaf lettuce (and it’s one of the only ones he’ll eat). We have a bit of a wet climate out here at the foot of a mountain (hill for US people), refer back to the precipitation diagram you drew at school. The sun over the sea, the land and the mountain. The water evaporates from the sea and makes a cloud that gets blown over to the mountain. The cooler air makes the cloud into water again which falls on us!

The slugs love our garden and despite the best efforts of Donald duck to eat them all even he is defeated by the shear numbers. I confess that I do resort to slug pellets every now and then, usually when I’m on my second lots of seedlings as the first lot have been devastated by the beasts at which time I will have lost my temper. The problem with pellets is that I have to keep the chickens and Donald off them so I then cover the plants in chicken wire. It all gets very complicated and they are not good for the wildlife either.

After all this I decided to plant my lettuce seeds in a box in the greenhouse. After a bit of thought and some luck I found that our local supermarket leaves old wooden apple boxes for customers to recycle as food carriers. I was elated (really I was, it strange the things that please me) and I secured one by filling it with shopping.

The boxes are made of thin strips of wood and stapled together. To help retain moisture I lined the boxes with old news paper or cut down layers of chicken feed sacks and filled them with a mixture of shop brought and home made compost. I scattered the seeds onto the compost and finished it with another fine layer of earth. Left to germinate in the greenhouse they quickly sprouted. The lettuce box only works if you remove lettuce to eat at various stages of development. Take small juicy young lettuce from the box to eat and let a few well spaced heads mature.

Once the weather has improved a bit the box gets moved outside. I either set them down in front of the greenhouse where I have a bit of a graveled area or by the side of the path. on a few stones. The idea is to stop the slugs making the climb into the box somehow, the gravel helps enormously and I also grow my courgettes in this area.

The boxes are not unattractive for a recycling idea although I appreciate they are not quite pretty terracotta tubs. The best bit is that once the season is finished the boxes starting to rot and then they can be used again. I empty the spent compost and paper onto my compost heap. Then if the bottom of the box has rotted away I brake it up a bit more and chuck that on the heap as well. It does take a while to rot down but it’s already on it’s way remember. 

Any wood that is ok I brake up and use as fire lighters or kindling on the wood burner. The bits of metal staples drop into the ash box and can be removed then if you wish.  I have collected a couple of boxes in preparation and I am considering planting spinach in the same way as it has become so expensive in the shops and again would suit the growing cycle where you take young leaves first.

The black sheep of the family

Simon the sourdough starter has a life of his own now, I’m fascinated to watch the bubbles burst as I look into the jar. He will be fed again and then move into the fridge tonight in preparation for some bread baking later this week. The next stage is making a sponge which I gather is an extra large version of the starter.

The idea now is to keep Simon alive and use him as when I need him until  Peter pushers him out  or he peters out (ha ha couldn’t resist that).  I have to get through the sponge stage first to know if he really is going to make a proper loaf of bread. If it all works I’ll do a complete post on the subject.

We have a friend coming over for dinner this evening (and she is bringing cake with her) so T-W-O will be making a prawn risotto. We have been freezing reduced price prawns from the supermarket for a few weeks now and it’s time to make a bit of space in there.

I have been reading up on what I should be planting in March and I’ve petrified myself:

Asparagus

Beetroot

Broad beans
Carrots
Cabbage

Garlic

Jerusalem artichokes
Leeks

Lettuce

Onion sets
Peas

Potatoes
Radish
Spring onions
Spinach

Shallots
Turnips

I hope we get some good weather this weekend. I’m off now to order up some Asparagus and check what seeds I’ve got left

I have been to the hospital in Carmarthen today to see a physiotherapist about my wrist. They were very good and helped to fill in the missing advice I needed. The wrist is recovering well but it needs a little more rest than it gets now to allow it time to recover. All the work we do involves using the wrist (even my new knitting project). The baking , the day job are all heavy on the wrist.

I told youngest daughter today that I was knitting for the baby. She said ‘as long as it’s nothing Granny like’ . Such gratitide from our children. She then went on tell me about the cost of ‘hand knitted’ items for babies in a shop she had been in. I hope my efforts pass muster when completed even though I am a Granny.

The chili seeds have not yet come through. I am beginning to think they need a radiator boost. Last year I put a tray on top of a couple of plastic pots over the radiator so they weren’t sat on the radiator but enjoyed the heat from a few inches above. They were out within a week, maybe it’s time to invest in a heated propagator.

I was complaining that I hadn’t seen any primroses in flower yet and then as we walked the dogs we began primrose spotting. Those in the hedgerows are still to show a flower stem but those in our garden are opening up daily. Then the rain started again. Luckily we were back in doors all chores completed before the big drops fell.

The chickens have taken to gallivanting across the road and over the bridge enjoying jaunts into the neighbours garden which has not gone down to well. As they are to be moved into the field in a few weeks we have taken the decision to leave them in the run during the day until they move. They are not impressed and jump about at the door when they see me or T-W-O. They don’t seem to accept our explanation that other people don’t see them as we do.

The frequent hail storms have left us virtually house bound today. We did nip out to our friends house for coffee and a bit of cake this morning but other than the animal chores we have remained in doors. This means my beans and peas are still in the packets but I hope that it will clear up a bit tomorrow allowing me a quick sortie to the greenhouse at some point.

I have had the time to start a little knitting. I can knit but I am not a regular or competent knitter so I’m doing a simple little jacket for 0-3 months for our next family addition. Our youngest daughter is expecting a baby in late August which is wonderful news for us,  her and son-in-law as well. It is a simple creamy colour wool and being so small it’s progressing well.

Today’s ‘at risk in the fridge’ was some celery, we tried braised celery. I like celery and it was a tasty dish. I sort of adapted Delias version missing things out.

I peeled and chopped half an onion.  

Melt about a flat desert spoon of butter in a saucepan and add the onion which I cooked for a couple of minutes on medium while I chopped about a third of a head of celery into 2 inch (about 4/5 cm) lengths, discarding the base and leaves. Wash the celery thoroughly and then add to the sizzling onion. Turning down the heat a little I put the lid on the pan and cooked for about 10 minutes.

I turned this off until about 10 minutes before serving. I then put in half a teaspoon of vegetable stock powder and enough boiling water to not quite cover the celery. Putting the lid back on I boiled it until the celery was just about tender when you run a sharp knife through it.

It went down well.

This is a basic recipe for a very useful dish. The simple version is good as a potato dish, with a BBQ, with a salad or good with lunch.  We are having it with sausages and peas. The left overs will be sliced, stored in the fridge and used as and when over a couple of days. It is also great if you have an egg glut – a chicken keepers delight.

You need:

5 or 6 medium potatoes or 6 to 8 smaller potatoes

1 onion peeled and diced

6 eggs

olive oil

salt and pepper

Peel the potatoes and slice them into half centimeter slices (I hope this is about quarter of an inch).

Put them in a saucepan, cover with water and add a good pinch of salt. Bring them very gently to the boil and then turn them down to a low heat. They need to cook gently for about 10 minutes. They need to be cooked and retain their sliced shape. Drain the water off and allow them to sit in the drainer over the empty pan for a little while .

Take a medium frying pan. We use a 10 inch (about 26 cm) pan. Put about 4 to 6 tablespoons of olive oil in and heat up on a medium heat, add the diced onion and allow it to sizzle gently for 10 minutes.  While this is cooking beat 6 eggs with a whisk until combined. Season with a pinch of ground pepper and a pinch of salt.

Put the potato in the pan and cook for a few minutes to help warm them up a bit them pour over all the egg. Try and push down any sticky upy potatoes so the top is coated in egg.

Put this on a low heat and cook for 20 minutes. Check it isn’t burning, it really needs to be gently cooking, too low and it won’t set – too high and it will get a tough outer layer. The top should be just a bit gooey.

You now need a plate and a big lid or two plates. Cover the pan with a plate and tip the egg onto it. Cover this with the lid or another plate and tip it up again. Then return the gooey side face down to the pan and cook for another 5 minutes.

Gently turn out onto a clean plate. It can be served hot or left to cool and served cold. When cold keep it in the fridge

It’s another cold day here with a bit of rain thrown in to make us want to stay indoors even more. We are suffering a ‘tired out’ state of mind today, maybe because it’s Friday and maybe just because we really are tired having had a busy few weeks.

We’ve written the letter to accompany our pond and tree grant application we just need to get a map 1:5000 scale which they ask to be included. I think we may have to buy a print. The letter is not on the list of requirements for the application  but I hope it gives an insite into why it would be good for us.

The letter is as follows – what do you think?

When we moved  here nearly 4 years ago we loved the natural beauty of the landscape as well as the surrounding area and wanted to spend more time within our community as well as promoting Wales as a wonderful holiday destination. Our small cottage and field once formed part of the Glanbrydan estate and appears on the sale documents used when the estate was sold off in lots in 1936.

Since we moved here we have developed plans to enhance the cottage and field which have now been given planning consent and we are just putting the final touches to the building regulations documents before submitting those.

We wish to transform part of our land into an orchard with a pond. The orchard would be accessed from a new gate at the top of our garden or from another gate we will be erecting in the new hedgerow we intend to plant to split the field into two distinct areas. Visitors will be able to enjoy the orchard on a nice day by taking advantage of a bench which will occupy a quiet corner. We will bring in a few ducks and move our chickens to this enclosed area. We will be adding a bee hive or two and mowing a path in between the trees. Other than that and a fruit cage for soft fruit the orchard floor will be made over to wild grasses and flowers. The upper part of the field will have clusters of indigenous trees planted. We have a large amount of oak around here but we would like to add other species to the mix such as beech and ash.

As mentioned earlier we are running a small business producing pasties, pies and home bakes which we sell through farmers markets within Carmarthenshire and Powys. We have also started to attend food fairs and other events in the last few months. We use the eggs from our chickens and as much as possible local suppliers for our ingredients. We intend to extend our vegetable beds to include more home grown ingredients this year.

We publish a blog,  http://www.glanbrydan.com  that was initially set up to compliment our business activities; the blog and business are called Glanbrydan. The blog has grown to include comment on our life style, information about local places to visit , recipes we use and what the small holding is doing. This blog is open to anyone who can access the internet and we will include progress of our plans as they take shape. This will all be accompanied by photographs of the work (another hobby). This blog has readers as far away as America and we see it as an extension to our own community.

Once all the work is finished to house and land we intend to open our two spare rooms up as bed and breakfast (subject to all official approvals of course) again hopefully bringing tourism to our area as well as supplementing our income.

I hope you find this information useful when considering our grant application and how it fits perfectly with what we are trying to achieve.

 Having made my long journey up an down the M4 nearly all the way to London and back again I am past any rational thoughts. I have named the sourdough starter as Simon and he has enjoyed a nice day in. Yesterday evening he sat in the living room with the fire roaring, keeping warm and starting to ferment.

Simon now needs feeding his half a cup of flour and water.

The frost and mist of this morning

Todays mix of frost, mist, bright sunshine, hail and sleet have been a weather roller coaster.  Whatever it throws at us it’s quite nippy out there. The wood burner is back on this afternoon after I thought we had a great laundry day first thing I shoved an extra wash load on and now the house resembles that of widow Twanky (Widow Twanky is a character in the Aladdin pantomime and is a washer woman, her house is shown on stage with rows of washing hanging -  for all you none UK people).

As we are out for supper (yes again ) at friends I am enjoying a no cook day. Aside from the day job my thoughts have been directed to a grant application for planting trees, an orchard and putting in a pond. They must have read my mind when they put that together. It’s all for a very specific area within a smallish section of the Towy valley which we fall into.

It’s based on a points system and although we only have a few acres I am very hopeful that we will have enough points to at least attract their attention. I and T-W-O have never applied for a grant before but we hear about other people getting money for hedging and tree planting. We are never sure if this is just rumour or fact. I will draft a letter with our proposal to post with the form and then cross our fingers while we wait for some correspondence.

Today I am trying a sourdough starter for the first time which if it works will allow me to make sourdough bread at the weekend. I have often considered that they must have performed this ritual rregularly before the introduction of commercial yeast. My concern is the lack of heat in the house so the ‘starter’ will have to live near a radiator. My starter will be a cup of white bread flour and a cup of warm water. This will go into a jar with the lid loosely put on and then into the living room where the fire is warming the room. It will have to move round with us during the day to keep it in a warm place. Of course for those with an airing cupboard and central heating you have a perfect home for your starter, remember it needs air so don’t screw the top down.

After this you need to throw away half the liquid each day and add a half cup of luke warm water and half a cup of flour to it. It should start to bubble it may gain a beery smell and a beery topping of water. This is all ok but you may want to pour off the beery water or you can stir it back in but it may add to the sour taste.

NB. Don’t use a metal container or a metal spoon for your starter. Don’t let it get hotter than 100 degrees C you will kill it. Use a sterilised jar. I cleaned my jar then dish washed it. I also filled it with boiling water not too long before using it. You can heat the jar in the oven for a few minutes to kill anything nasty as well. But get the jar below 100 degrees before you add your mixture.

The red kite in flight

It’s odd how time goes by so quickly and yet times gone by seem to be only yesterday. When the children grew up and left home they scattered across the UK, we probably scattered the furthest. It was all in the natural progression of things: they get partners, maybe marry and then along come a couple of little ones and then another little one.  Not five minutes ago I was going out on a Friday night and the biggest issue was not being able to afford to keep up with fashion, which moved much slower than it does today.

My parents still consider me young (ish) and my children consider me old! Yet somehow sat here in the middle I now understand how little I appreciated my youth and how I want to appreciate more the time we have today.

Enough deep thoughts for one day!

Poor Donald duck got stuck out in the rain. I could see him stood on the lawn by the run door but I hadn’t realised the run door had blown shut. The chickens were sheltering in the duck house or should I saying day room as Donald doesn’t sleep there looking out at the pouring rain while poor Donald just stood waiting to be let in. Luckily I went up to them early to get the chores done and out of the rain myself so he wasn’t sat there until dusk. Even for a duck he looked soaked through.

The fire has been on just about all day and Spring has sprung a leaky sky. The sunshine has disappeared and the grey sky has returned. The turn in the weather happened so quickly. After several weeks of dry sky you expect to get a bit of warning prior to a deluge. The Field drains were overflowing and Bertie dog was reluctant to put a toe outside for a walk whilst Vickie happily splashed through the mud and puddles. We coaxed him out suggesting that Pippa our neighbours dog may be out, an out and out fib I’m afraid. We were soon found out!

They all enjoyed supper and we retreated to the cosy living room to enjoy a quiet evening in. Having been out for supper at our firends house yesterday evening we need a bit of mindless time in front of a TV or a book to rest away the last of the weekend tiredness we have been storing up.

Planting progress review – The beans and peas I planted a week ago must have been nicely softened by the water I gave them and swelled by the warmth of the early spring sunshine through the glass of the greenhouse. They were so tasty that a little mouse must have indigestion as it scoffed the lot! I now have 2 cell trays with lots of very neat little holes in. I will have to start again and bring them indoors to get them started. I am tempted to leave the greenhouse door open a little bit for a couple of days and see if Smudger the cat can persuade our little friend to go elsewhere, after all they only moved into the greenhouse as it’s one of  the only cat proof environments we have – supplied with ready meals! The pepper and aubergine seeds have not shown their heads yet either it may be just a tad too cool for the tropical peppers although they can take up to 21 days to germinate.

The red onions planted a while ago that were doing so well have undergone some disturbance at the hands of the chickens who love the soil in the veg beds. Not only have they been scratching the soil, which is ok as they get rid of the weeds, but they decided to pluck the little bulbs up and toss them out the way. I have had words with the ladies…..

February farmers markets and St Davids day at Llangynidr market. – We enjoyed a good day at Crickhowell craft and food fair which was laid on as part of the Crickhowell walking festival. It was mainly attended by locals out on their Saturday morning shop, but having said that the dog treats went down extremely well. Whilst I went to Crickhowell T-W-O went along to Llandovery farmers market and attending his first committee meeting afterwards. Such a hardship spending an hour in the pub! We topped up our pasty production on the Saturday evening and managed to finish at a reasonable time (for us).

St Davids day, 1^st April is celebrated here in the principality with the wearing of daffodil broaches and the national costume gets it’s annual outing.

The Llanganydir market on St Davids day swarmed with shoppers and tourists enjoying a nice Spring day out and gave us one of our best days takings ever. The hall was filled with stalls selling all manor of crafts and food delights. We were sandwiched between our chicken and bacon neighbours from Brecon with Susanne Chapman the  Chef doing cooking demonstrations on the other side.