Jam.

I love getting something for nothing, even if it really wasn't strictly for nothing.
Well, you know what I mean right?
Today I found myself with a handful of apples past their best.
Skin starting to wrinkle, bruises... not rotten, but not about to pass muster in anyones lunch box either.
After some thought, and a rummage in the freezer that yielded 1/4 box of frozen strawberries, I decided jam was in order.
Well I needed jam, and now I have some... simples!

When there's only a small amount of fruit I'm eternally grateful for the jam setting on my bread maker, which can only take 500g of fruit at a time, which is often the perfect amount for that fruit past its best you don;t know what to do with.

I also find it hard to get heat up high enough for setting on my little portable hot plate or the log burner, the former being good for short bursts of high heat, the latter for longer cooking times, neither of which suit the science of jam, with its measuring time from boiling point and simmer.

The bread makers jam setting means I just put the softened and mashed fruit in the bread tin, add and mix in sugar, shut the lid and turn it on.
One hour and twenty minutes later I have jam.

Anyway, in keeping with the ethos of the Various Shades of Green blog, the apple peel and cores where also cooked up, mashed and fed to the chickens.

Now I'm off for some pancakes and jam ;)    

Evolution and responsibility...

I have increasingly mixed feelings about the shutting of larger high street stores.
On the one hand I feel bad for the staff, and of course the customers who have gift vouchers that are now null and void (You know, this is the reason I hand out money in cards instead of vouchers...)

They're all blaming Amazon, who is by no means blame-LESS...

....but....

Remember when we all bought our cameras from little independent shops instead of Jessops?

... or when you went to a book shop run by the same family since 1900 instead of Waterstones?

... or when you bought your music from that funny little shop with the overly enthusiastic guy behind the the counter who always tried to get you to listen to some Norwegian death Metal, instead of going to HMV?

This has been a long time coming and these stores can bleat all they like, at the end of the day they're just pissed that someone bigger, brighter and cheaper than them came along.

Karma's a bitch.

In all honesty, YES, I use Amazon.

However, my local bookstore, music store and camera store are all between 20 - 30 miles away.
I would LOVE to be able to spend time picking exactly what I want and getting advice from enthusiastic people who love their job, but it will cost me £20 + to get to them by train before I've even picked up a book/CD/Camera.

Besides, are the people who work in these large stores enthusiasts?

No.

A handful may be, but most are working there because its a job.... its a minimum wage job.

Ever tried getting DIY advice in Homebase?
The phrase "rabbit in the headlights" springs to mind.... if you look closely you can see them sweating in fear...

Its too late for these stores.
They taught the consumer how to think, lured them away from the independent shops with flashy showrooms and cheap prices.

Its a bit late to morn the high street now ....

It died years ago.

We just didn't notice.          

Make your own seed compost

Although I have an abundance of manure and rough compost, I wanted to make a more specific mix for seeds in the spring.
Finding a balance in the nutrients is important, although I don't use any exact formula, rather, just some common sense.
After all, I can get away with lots of one material in a larger muck heap, but seed compost needs to be full of the vital "food" seeds, and then seedlings, need to get off to a good start.
I use old Tesco boxes as they're sturdy, easily moved and have holes in the sides and bottom so worms can move freely through the layers.
Some wormeries have solid bases but I prefer my worms to have the choice of being there or not.
If you're supplying the right food they WILL come and stay and BREED like stink! If they all run away you're doing something wrong.

Top Layer

This is where you put all the fresh material. 

Second layer

Worms already working their way up! 

Wiggle....

Third layer

Already starting to look like compost.

Forth layer

The final layer here, compost almost ready to use.

Lots....

....and lots...

......of wriggly worms!

I've been building up this wormery since early autumn, and once the weather turned cold, I brought it into my green house, which also has a dirt floor so worms could "escape" if the weather turned very cold.
The worms, by the way, came from a handful I dug out of one of the muck heaps, ad they seem to have been getting busy and making lots of new ones!
  

This morning I added some more to the top layer. A shovelful of horse poo and shavings. Too many shavings aren't good as they leach nutrients out of the soil, but a handful now and then are good for soaking up excess moisture.  

I found some out of date powdered seaweed in the back of the feed room, so that got stirred in as well.

... and then some peelings from the kitchen.

Other things I put in include small amounts of cardboard and the straw, poop and feathers when I muck out the chickens.

When the bottom one is ready to use, just tip it into a container, remove as may worms as you can (and put them back in the wormery) and then put the empty box back on the top to keep the cycle going!

Happy composting!     

  

......Still winter.......

So glad I managed to crack on with some jobs before we got more of the white stuff!

It may all be gone tomorrow, or it may stay till march, either way I've got a foothold in the garden that should see me off to a flying start this spring. 

Seriously considering setting up a farm gate stall for produce this spring. 

As well as seasonal fruit and veg I thought some living salad, herbs, eggs and maybe even the odd craft or two.

And as luck would have it the seed catalogue came in the post this morning..... So while I peruse its pages, here's some snowy pictures.   

My little caravan/shed/chicken feed shed needs a new lick of paint this Spring.

Even in the depths of winter there's sometimes a surprise in the nest box.

Miss Biko cat, showing us you're never too old to play in the snow!                                                  

                                                                                              

One good thing about the snow, Mouse can go in the big field with the others! Laminitis is a year round problem and snow and ice means she can be "normal" for a few days.  

The little chest looks pretty with a dusting of snow. 

Thankfully I'd already filled the tyres that needed filling so they're all ready to plant in the spring. 

.......However, snow doesn't stop all the every day jobs ;)

Simple.

Collected a back pack of wood on my walk with the dogs this morning. Lots of windblown branches about at the moment.

Homemade sesame seed bread.

Soup made from left over vegetable soup with added leek, pearl barley and some cut up left over veg sausage.  

Finding the rhythm again.

I've been having fun finding some sort of rhythm once again, now the kids are back to school and I've nearly recovered from the flu.

The unseasonably mild weather means I've been doing all the winter jobs I usually have to do at the last minute in early spring.

All those "Winter chores" gardening books tell you to do between November and March are usually redundant up here. The ice comes hard and fast and the snows not often far behind.

The only trouble is that daylight is still at a premium. 

Today it really wasn't proper light till nearly 10 am this morning, and by the time you've had lunch its on the way to getting dark again.

But who's complaining?

Not me Jack.

Anyway... a few (bad) pics from today.

The new rhubarb bed planted  up. 

The sad demise of this chest to damp and woodworm has provided me with somewhere to plant some early potato's this year. Bashed some holes in the bottom, filled with muck and soil, all ready for early March. 

The chickens are all doing well so far this winter, although their winter run has taken a hammering with the heavy rain and then snow. They need moving ASAP but wire and posts aren't cheap.

A little forced rhubarb? Oh alright then....

Its a never ending round of wood chopping of one form or another. One of our projects this year is to seriously look into alternative energy, possibly a combination of wind and solar.  

..... Although it must be said, the log burner makes lovely Indian food :)

Compassionate Crofting

I shed a lot of labels in 2012, the one that bothered me most was  "Vegan".

I guess its human nature to want to belong to a tribe and tribes come with labels and although I still say vegan from time to time for easiness (sometimes its just too dull or inappropriate to explain in minute detail the what/why/when/how of your dietary habits) I pretty much don't identify with the label anymore.

A lot of the time I found my Vegan persona over lapping with my Green one.... And although it is perfectly possible to have an animal free crofting life I also feel its missing an important link in the chain to cut them out completely.

Don't get me wrong.. I'm not looking to start a thing here, I just want to lay out what I see as Compassionate Crofting.

You see, although I strongly believe that its possible to thrive on a 100% plant based diet I also have to look at the fact that I live in the NE of Scotland and a lot of my food is from other countries (like soya) or is fortified with vitamins.

This leaves me with a conundrum.  

You see, I'm a planner (or worrier... either way ;)... And one of the reasons I got into self sufficiency was all the "what ifs".

So you see, the last few years I've been "What if"-ing... like

• What if... there's a war and food can't be shipped to the UK?
• What if ... Global warming fucks up things so much that we no longer get fortified food?
• What if... Prices get so high that I can't afford to buy all the foods we need to stay healthy!

So right now.. this very second... its all good.
Most of my food is happily cheaper or the same price as carnivorous fair...

But....

So anyway, the whole point of crofting is to be as self sufficient as possible, which means, in theory, being able to live healthily off the land without having for fortify our diet (in theory) with added vitamins and supplements.

I have 99% of all this covered, the vast majority of essential vitamins and minerals are found in the food I can grow, even this far north. I'm not short on leafy veg, beans, peas, salads, berries...  Of course I can't grow bananas, but if I get the house sorted I MIGHT even be able to grow a handful of lemons inside every year!

Its with all this in mind that I continue to eat eggs.

They carry all the B vitamins and vitamin D that else where I have to get fortified.

Besides, if you've read any of my blog you'll know about  the chickens here, and yes, in the spring I'm hoping to have a few more rescue hens to the flock.

Chickens are perfect at turning kitchen waste and garden pests into food, even without eating them (NEVER!! Little ladies live in comfort till they die of natural causes!) they give back nutritionally and monetary wise, more than you lay out on additional grain and bedding.

They seem to me to bridge the gap between being truly self sufficient in this country and having to rely on big businesses to plug the vitamin gap.

Or I may just continue to play the lottery, win it and then move to a warmer country where I can grow all my own soya and chick peas ;)      
 

New year planning for the croft.

Today I don't feel tooooooo ill!
Which is great.
I can muddle through with pain and illness usually but this jelly legged, woolly headed feeling is just NASTY! Even just a short walk yesterday left me feeling wiped  out, and there's always the fear of experiencing a set back.
But today I feel good and so I'm hoping tomorrow I feel just as good, if not better, because DAMNIT!! I have stuff to do!!
There's something about a mild January that leaves me with itchy fingers.
Desperate to get on with something... Anything!!
In the garden, being in the NE of Scotland, any chance to do anything when it isn't a) under 3 feet of snow, b) 6 inches of permafrost c) 12 inches of lashing rain, is a god send, and the last couple of days have been unseasonably mild and dry, which means I have a list as long as my arm of things I COULD do NOW!
A few are....

• Fill in the new rhubarb bed.
• Lift and divide the last of the rhubarb.       
• Take apart the old raised beds and use them to make the new ones.
• Put up the new semi-temporary chicken run.
• Prune fruit trees.
• Dig up current bushes (most likely over 40 yrs old and no longer fruiting)
• Plant up new fruit bushes.
• Prep front of house for spring planting.
• General tidying.

So yeah... plenty to get on with.... So who wants to guess it snows tomorrow ;)