......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 ;)