Worth a try

The fruit I missed most last summer after leaving the smallholding was raspberries (and strawberries, apples, pears, plums, gooseberries, cherries,apricots and figs but mostly raspberries!) There are no raspberries at the cottage - shame - just a couple of blackcurrant and gooseberry bushes plus one each of apple,pear and plum trees.

A couple of weeks back I bought three packs of summer fruiting raspberry canes from Poundland for £3, they didn't have any more but today I noticed Wilkinsons had packs of 3 canes for £2.50 each and they also had a Fig for £3.50,  at that price they were worth a go. If I wait until we move and then order from one of the big seed/plant companies I might have to pay 3 times that. Although we may well get more later from somewhere. The raspberries have just been popped into a pot of compost and kept just damp in the summerhouse shed.The canes will go in one of the beds at the cottage as soon as they have been weeded. The fig has been planted up properly in a medium pot and will go in the greenhouse at the cottage until we decide it's best place outdoors.
 

 I would have preferred to have 6 canes all the same rather than 2 each of 3 varieties but this will do for a start. Will need to separate the Polka from the rest as I've discovered they are proper Autumn fruiting rather than just a very late summer, so need different pruning,didn't realise that when I got them. 2 canes of Autumn raspberries are not much use really so I will need more of those.

Wilkinsons had a good range of fruit bushes, lots of different things, some unusual. I might go back for another look although we'll have to buy a bag of compost if I get anything else before we move. But as we don't really know what we'll have room for it might be getting ahead of ourselves.

I see I've lost a follower..........who were you.....why did you leave! ( I am joking here, not serious)


Back Soon
Sue

Thursday.... Thanking, Baking, Harvesting and Welcoming

Thank you to everyone for commenting on the last post.
In reply
-- I  apologise to the people who were offended by my mention of people pushing trolleys with their elbows.
-- My Naan Bread recipe is on my separate Recipe page.
-- Thank you if you popped over to visit that most popular post and pushed up the views even more!
-- Thank you to Mum who replied in the same way as my post
-- I agree with Pam about children standing in trolleys
-- Simon's reply made me smile
-- I believe the stats when they are good but I'm sure the low page view ones are wrong!

Once upon a time when we had all 3 children at home and Col took a pack-up lunch to work everyday, I  baked cakes every week. Now I only bake about once a month.

A few sultana buns and plain scones

A Mincemeat cake using some home made mincemeat that had got forgotten at the back of the jam cupboard

I also made cheese straws using a new recipe in which the cheese was grated on top of half the rolled out dough, folded over, rolled out, more grated cheese put on top, folded over and rolled again before cutting into fingers. This worked well, more air gets in so the straws fluffed up nicely.

Most of the things I made went into the freezer for the next few weeks.

After saying we had no blackberries anywhere around Col found a few on the field side of the hedge where we don't usually go. Our autumn raspberries are coming along well, quite a lot of rain over the last few days will have helped.

Big Welcome  to Sonya and Joy new followers on Google in the little pictures on the right. Hope you enjoy reading. Blogger is mis-behaving again so I can't find out if you have blogs too.

Back again in a day or two

Sue

Diary Notes From A Slightly Soggy Week

It's been a dismal grey week, until today. Most of the week autumn was lurking just round the corner. We had un-seasonal high winds and quite a lot of rain. The solar thermal panels are not much use without sun so we lit the Rayburn a couple of times for hot water.

On Monday I had a light bulb moment. We have cylinders full of gas for the hob already paid for so if we go back to using a kettle on the gas hob instead of the electric kettle we could save some money, it's not as quick as electric but that doesn't matter. Of course once we are lighting the Rayburn everyday we will use that for the kettle. We have a big Aga kettle that we use on the Rayburn  but decided it would be a good idea to buy a little kettle just for 2 cups. The only tiny kettle in Saxmundham was £6.99 and very lightweight, I was a bit dubious and was proved right - it BURNS the water - honestly - it tastes awful unless used on the smallest gas ring and heated up slowly which was not the point.

 During the week Col has delivered more things that we sold at the yard sale and a couple of bits of machinery that have now been paid for so a little more money for winter.

Today we got the old raspberry canes in the fruit cage cut out and the new canes fixed between the wires, it looks lovely and tidy.

 What else has happened this week?
The ride on mower stopped while Col was cutting the campsite and I had to tow him back round to the workshop. He rang a man to ask about fuses and got instructions to find a hidden one that was soon replaced.

Something ( no idea what and how) hit the bathroom window, smashing a small hole right through. It's double glazed, plastic framed so will need the whole thing replaced - Damn.

I'm waiting for the third thing.

 August Bank Holiday weekend always used to be our busiest weekend on the campsite, but in the last few years, although we've been full with 5 caravans, we haven't had tent campers turning up on the off chance. One year we opened up part of the hay field to give people more room. Now almost everyone books in advance. This year, probably because the holiday is right at the end of the month, we are not even full with caravans.

Not a very exciting week really.

Back Soon
Sue

Lots of odd jobs

After picking runner beans, tomatoes and beetroot for selling, C went off to move the irrigation equipment down in the village. He set it going yesterday afternoon and went back to check it was  OK in the evening, as it hadn't been used for a month all sorts of things could have gone wrong, but all was well. After a coffee when he got home this morning he was working around at our neighbours strimming and grass cutting.
I spent several chilly minutes rootling round in the chest freezers trying to sort out what we've got. LOADS of plums,apricots, peppers and tomatoes have gone in this year plus some raspberries. We still have some cooking apples left from last year and with all the lamb and chicken bought this month there is no chance of us starving this winter!

These Autumn raspberries are not going into the freezer, they are such a treat that we are picking and eating this many every two days. We'd never grown them until a few years ago, now I wouldn't want to be without.

 The small polyanthus plants were filling out their plug pots so I've got them into bigger pots ready to sell later in the year, the free mini daffodil bulbs have also been put into pots also for selling. That just leaves the crocus bulbs, do I risk putting them in the flower garden or put them in pots. Whatever I do I hope they don't just disappear as all the others have done over the years. A friend in Essex has so many in her garden every year, they just keep spreading but here - zilch!

Here is my ladder planted up for winter/spring, maybe I'll push a few crocus bulbs in with the pansies and polyanthus and see if they survive.

 As I was typing this in came Polly cat with a small rabbit which then dashed round and round the living room, I had to catch and kill the poor little thing - don't like doing it, mice are easy but rabbits always seem to suffer for ages, pointless just letting it go outside as Polly would be straight after it again.

This afternoon we put the first of the pears into the freezer and C decided the wind was in the right direction to burn up some rubbish - he likes a good bonfire. After a cup of tea and Countdown on TV he went and cleaned out one of the chicken sheds while  I got a veggie curry sorted for dinner using all our own veg - onion, green beans, potato, courgette and an eating apple. I used  Thai red curry paste today instead of curry powder for a change. Served up with rice and a homemade naan bread, it makes  a lovely cheap meal .

Wandering round the garden for a bit of exercise I found a few whole walnuts on the ground under the tree ( along with loads of open empty ones which the squirrels have pinched and eaten already) but when I cracked them open they were either mouldy or shriveled. So it seems that squirrels can tell the difference between good and bad without even having to crack them to find out what's inside.

That's my news from a quiet day in Suffolk not much to write about because, as advised by everyone, I'm still resting in between jobs trying to get my energy back after the darned pneumonia.

Back Tomorrow
Sue

Yesterday was library day + first raspberries

By getting the library books all ready on Thursday night I remembered to bike down to the mobile library on Friday morning, so we didn't have to chase after the van like last month. This was my haul, mostly pre-ordered but a few from the shelves.

A really good collection this month, although I think I nearly always say that.
'Rain Later, Good' is a book full of paintings illustrating all the shipping forecast areas. 'Woodsman' by Ben Law  is the story of how he came to Prickly Wood and built his Grand Design house.  There are a few crime by authors I've read before and one or two books by new-to-me-authors.

 I've started to look through Homegrown Revolution by James Wong and it's solved something I've puzzled over for 50 years! when I was young we had a  home built play shed and a patch of grass at home that we played on ( My Dad was a builder so most of our back garden was a builders yard, workshops and storage etc), and along the side of the grass were some small trees that had lovely coloured leaves and we called them Vinegar trees. I never knew why. Many years later C and I had a similar tree in one of the (many) houses we've lived in and a friend told me it was a Sumac or Sumach. And there it is on page 168  - " In Middle Eastern cooking, sumac is treated rather like lemon juice, vinegar or tamarind to add a bright fresh zing to all sorts of food".

And look what a treat we had today. The first raspberries! Yummy Yum Yum.

Thank you to everyone for comments yesterday and apologies( again) for not having enough hours in the day for replying individually.  Also welcome to new followers by bloglovin' - Vanessa, Jibbajabber, Shannon and Coleen.