Monday Thank-yous

This blogging is fun, I keep getting some lovely comments and finding people with the same books on their shelves is good. So thank you to Karen, Mean Queen, Frugal in Derbyshire, Pam, sft and Dc  and  anyone I've forgotten for all the input. Still only one other person who has heard of The Penny Pincher Paper and that was buttercup do you have a blog buttercup? She asked ( I'm guessing a lady :) ) if I ever wrote for the Penny Pincher Paper ( see yesterdays blog) and the answer was yes. I wrote bits called "From a Suffolk Smallholding" every other month for a couple of years and was quite upset when John and Irma Mustoe gave up and the Paper stopped. Although I reckon it took a lot of time to put together a 30 page Newsletter every month. I have also been writing on and off for about 15 years for the Suffolk Smallholders Society Newsletter. I just love writing.
Yesterday I got on my soapbox and |I really shouldn't do that as I sound like a grumpy old person, But I think I'm only grumpy now and again. At least I HOPE its only now and again.
Watched the Countryfile  7 day weather forecast yesterday and they are saying we will be back to cold and frosts by the weekend which is a worry as the plants in the greenhouse are getting quite big. The cucumbers are in 4 inch pots and have teenie baby cucs appearing, so I shall have to get them out into the polytunnels soon and then cover them with fleece if it looks like freezing. Cucumber seeds are so expensive as because we sell them I only buy the F1 all female variety. The tomatoes will need moving into bigger pots if I can't get them out to the tunnel soon.

Yesterday we went a few miles up the road to a regular fortnightly car boot sale,  we took a shopping list as we needed to look for some things for the new campsite loo/ shower. Luckily  we found everything :- a rubbish bin with a swing top lid =£1, two pine-framed small mirrors =£2.50 each, a tall plastic jug for 50p which will do for the loo brush( that I already had), a mop bucket and mop = £3 and finally a pine shelf unit =£1. Unfortunately all this frugal luck was somewhat spoiled today as I had to order a couple of non-slip door mats and a 'slippery floor' sign from Viking- the office supply company. When running a business you have to - Think Health and Safety at all times!! - Our public liability insurance is one of our biggest costs.
I also found 6 sheets of peel -off stickers for cardmaking for £1 for all six, I could have bought lots more card crafting stuff but had to be very strict with myself. And my final purchase was a couple of sets of old but unused commemorative stamps - over £3 worth of stamps for £2. They just need making up to the right amount to post at todays prices with a few 1p stamps.
Him Outside got the best bargain as he found a complete set of really good quality drill bits for £5 ( about 15 various sizes in a proper case). A couple of weeks ago he broke a masonry drill bit while fixing the campsite loo to the floor and had to buy a new one which was £6 just for 1 !

A Beautiful Saturday

What a beautiful day here on the Suffolk coast, wall to wall sunshine. The kind of day that makes you think things WILL be OK. The wind was a tad chilly but we can forgive that. We got lots of jobs done outside and in the greenhouse. More seeds sown, small courgette and pepper plants moved into bigger pots, tidying up in the new campsite shower, clearing out the shed  where I'm going to put tourist information leaflets and a mini library, delivering the very last load of hay to a friend.Best of all Him Outside got the frame of the "new" polytunnel sorted. Its actually a very old frame given us by a friend who wanted it shifted, several of the metal pipes have rusty ends and wonky bits but he has rescued the best and it is huge. Plenty of room for growing dozens of tomato plants to make lots of tomatoes to sell. Now we just need to measure it and send for the plastic to cover it. I've also found I need a new automatic window opener for the greenhouse as after many, many years of use the one we have has broken and it's no good relying on my memory to open and shut the window!
Nice surprise in the post was a belated birthday present from our eldest daughter who works in the busy, busy world of textile design in London. She rang in a panic on the day apologizing for forgetting to post it as she has been so busy at work and with organising a friends hen party.
She sent this lovely tea towel designed by a small company called Beetroot Press.
Whoops........ seem to have uploaded all 3 pictures at once. 1st is the left-hand greenhouse shelf, lots of plants.2nd is the new polytunnel frame and 3rd is the lovely tea towel. Now the other day I'm sure I saw a way to turn photos round but of course now I don't know where I saw it. Any ideas?

Good gardening day

Yesterday our local TV weather lady said the temps here today would be up to 18 C but they were wrong 'cos we had horrible sea mist drizzle first thing and then a chilly wind for the rest of the day but at least it was fine and we got several more jobs done in the vegetable beds and I got more climbing french beans and pumpkins sown.( not outside, but in pots in greenhouse). The broad beans that we covered with two layers of fleece are OK and even a few early potatoes up under black plastic - now ridged up and recovered until the weekend frost is past then we will cover with fleece.
The most exciting thing happened an hour ago as I was washing up the dinner things, and glancing up outside saw 2 swallows on the wire. Rushed out to take pic. but even with zoom they are just dots,but they really are swallows ! Summer MUST be on the way. Is it 2 swallows that make a summer??

I expect most frugallers get the Martin Lewis Money Saving Expert regular Wednesday email. In case you don't - There was a message today about downloading a voucher for a free visit to most NT properties for this weekend. Could be a good day out for just traveling costs. It is for up to max 2 adults and 2 children.Our only near NT is Sutton Hoo but we've been a few times (when we still had an income that afforded membership!) so may go somewhere else except we've already used most of this months allocation of diesel money, so maybe just a trip to the car boot sale up the road!
My favourite thing about NT properties is their shops and secondhand bookshops = NOT VERY FRUGAL. When the children were small membership of English Heritage was very good value and we spent many happy holidays climbing castles which are more fun for kids (and me) than posh houses - although I like looking at the kitchens.
Must stop blethering on and  get my a book finished before Friday library van. Thanks to everyone for birthday wishes, my present from Him Outside - the camera that we couldn't fathom - is being looked at by the man in the local computer shop.

Moving seedlings and cutting grass

What a lovely day it's been here, lots of sunshine and a good breeze to get the washing dry. We seem to have gone from winter to spring at last. A few days ago the trees and bushes looked lifeless but today sticky buds on our Horse Chestnut and lots of little leaves on the gooseberry bushes

I put the bread to rise in the conservatory,which was fine while I was indoors to remember to look at it, but then when it went into tins for it's second rise I went outside to my potting shed and moved several dozen tiny seedlings of cabbages and calabrese from their seed trays into little modules, forgot to look at bread and it had gone mad overflowing the tins so that when I moved them to the oven they collapsed making flat topped loaves which will taste OK but look weird.
Him Outside is getting on well with the campsite shower and then he got the ride-on mower out to cut the campsite grass. We used to do it with the tractor and gang-mowers but when the mowers seized up he bought another set off eBay which appeared to be fine but actually were complete rubbish. So until we can sort them out he goes back and forwards on the small mower which takes an age. After that he moved a bit more chippings on to the campsite driveway and then his next job was to go and finish a bit of work on a shed for a customer which he thought he HAD finished but they found another little job for him. They've paid their bill so that's good.
I thought the schools were back today but maybe not as there has not been much passing traffic and there are still eggs left unsold, which is a pain. At least this dry spell means the eggs are nice and clean when I collect them.
One of my favourite things for dinner tonight - Pork belly slices done in Hoisin sauce ( With added ingredients of water, soy sauce, brown sugar, vinegar and Chinese 5 spice) 20 minutes in oven without sauce, drain off fat, add sauce mix, then another 40 minutes basting regularly. Lovely, sticky, Chinesey flavoured meal without leaving the house to fetch a takeaway. We will have with noodles and stir-fry veg - carrots( value bag from Tesco at this time of year) onion (home grown) and peppers( home grown last year, sliced, open freeze on trays and then tip into a bag, thaw in a sieve so they drain a bit then add to stir fry last.) YUM

A good busy Saturday

As usual another busy day. Him Outside was off on his tractor quite early this morning. He was going to plough a part of a field that is to be used for allotments in one of our local villages.It has been delayed for weeks  because someone in an office somewhere has sat on legal documents for the owner of the field to pass it on to a newly formed allotment association.Hopefully all the eager people waiting to get started won't have to wait much longer. This afternoon he changed the plough on the back for the loading shovel on the front and shoveled up some shingle to put on the muddy bits of the campsite driveway. Then he cleaned out a chicken shed! Which is why he was really ready for this good plate of home made curry, home made naan bread and home made onion bhaji.

The total cost of this big yummy meal is not a lot really. The curry ingredients are 2 small leeks (home grown) half an onion ( home grown), 1 apple (reduced at Tesco). Knob of butter, 1 desert spoonful of curry powder, 1 desert spoon of flour, teaspoon sugar, 1 Tablespoon of home made chutney and some cooked turkey that's been in the freezer since Christmas( given to us for helping some new smallholders with some work and advice).
Rice is not as cheap as it was once but still good value bought in a big bag from Asda.
Home made naans are flour, yeast, baking powder,milk, an egg( our eggs are the ones we can't sell because they are too big/small/odd shaped) and lemon juice and pinch salt. ( I make a big batch and freeze and will do the proper recipe to post next time I make them).
Onion bhaji is a new recipe using the ingredients list on the back of a packet of bhaji mix sent to me by my Penny Pinching Friend Sandra. ( she got them from approved foods, and we tried the ready mix last week ) This was interesting to work out and try and I nearly got it right except for making them a bit too wet. The main ingredient is Chickpea or Gram  flour (50g = 12 pence) plus tiny bit of turmeric,cumin,chilli powder, bicarb,baking powder, coriander, garlic powder and salt. I didn't have dried onion, black onion seed and dried jalapeno pepper which are also listed but figured that wouldn't matter. You mix this powder with a little water and then a sliced onion and then deep fry 'til crispy golden.  Result according to Him Outside was that they were better than the original packet mix  as they were not quite so hot - making a different flavour to the hot curry.
This morning I got small courgette seedlings moved into bigger pots, sowed some squash and pumpkin seed and did a big heap of ironing - HATE THAT JOB! - but don't like crumpled clothes and tea towels so has to be done now and then. At least I don't iron undies and socks like my late mum did!

Plants moved out at last

Finally after days of carrying all the veg. plants ( 6 big trays full) backwards and forwards between the kitchen at night and the conservatory by day, I have shifted them all out and squeezed  them into our small greenhouse. Where- fingers crossed - they will be OK until their final move into the polytunnels. We've got 2 small tunnels, like many smallholders we know, we started with one then found it is best not to grow cucumbers and tomatoes together as the cucs. like it hot and wet and steamy and the toms. prefer hot, dry and airy. When Him Outside worked full time we grew for us plus selling the excess at the gate. Now he is employed 3 days a month at his old job and self-employed for the rest of the time so we've increased what we grow for selling. Last year we were given another polytunnel frame and some time in the next couple of months we need to get it sorted. That will be fun! I shall definitely post pictures of  struggling with the plastic cover.
Then I made some tomato and herb bread rolls and this is where I would have put the recipe and picture but we couldn't get the new camera, bought for me for a birthday present (as the one I've been using really belong to Him Outside's employers) to work properly, so that will have to wait for another day.
I also started sorting out the things that have stood in the middle of the small spare room since last summer. ( good thing we didn't need the room for visitors) I dragged them out of the roof cupboard ready to sort for taking to a car boot but then of course last summer it rained nearly every car boot day. This year we MUST get them out of the way.

Weather report - some bits of sunshine then huge downpours of rain and hail. Oh Wonderful! 

Potting plants

This morning I potted up some tomato,aubergine and cucumber plants into bigger pots. This has been a good year for getting things started in my little windowsill propagator, but a bad year for putting them out in the greenhouse. It's been much too draughty and cold out there, so all the trays of plants have been in the kitchen at night and out into the conservatory during the day. This involves much carrying backwards and forwards twice a day as there are 8 cucumber, 8 aubergine, 70 tomato and 36 pepper plants! BUT whats this I hear?! 18 degrees C on Sunday and no more cold east wind! AT LAST! spring might be here. Perhaps I shall finally get those pots out into the greenhouse. That will just leave the next round of seedlings to prick out - cabbage, calabrese, basil and another lot of things  to put into bigger pots -courgette and squash. Hopefully by then we will be able to start planting in the polytunnel.
This is some of the small plants on the kitchen windowsill a few weeks ago.

Note the foil on cardboard to give some reflected light which stops the plants getting too "leggy"

A Foreign Language!!!

Thank you to everyone who has commented on the blog and suggested how to add things like a list of which blogs I follow. Unfortunately this is like talking to me in a Foreign language!
So until I can work that out, the blog will have to stay just a simple diary or I fear it will all end in tears!
Mind you, if someone could explain to me in words of one syllable  why the times I post a new blog are all wrong  and how to change them it would be much appreciated.
Meanwhile the weather report for today is:-  at last sunshine and less of that cold east wind. Still not what you could call warm though.
I've been busy in my potting shed sowing seeds of calabrese, red cabbage, more courgettes, squash, leeks and climbing beans. The broad bean seeds sown two weeks ago and put in the greenhouse still show no sign of emerging from the trays so the things I've sown today have been squeezed onto the kitchen windowsills along with the pepper  and tomato seedlings.
Him Outside has been busy preparing the campsite loos and shower for the new holiday season,  we have one or two very annoying leaks in the new pipework that will have to be sorted before he does the non-slip flooring in the shower.

Another sign of things to come today when we were able to eat the first few radishes of the new season. These were sown in the polytunnel several weeks ago but worth the wait to liven up a scrambled egg sandwich at lunch time.

Yesterday I managed to SET FIRE TO MY HOOVER!!! I think there must have been a hot piece of ash or wood on the hearth when I whizzed round cleaning not long after Him Outside had lit the woodburner. I suddenly realised I had smoke coming out of the bucket part of my cylinder - an ever so reliable Vax Pro. I rushed it through to the kitchen and back door but forgot to unplug so had to put it down, rush back, unplug, rush back to kitchen, open back door and get it outside. By the time I could lift off the motor part and haul out the smoking bag it had burned a hole in the plastic bucket.  The smell left indoors was HORRIBLE! I have an awful feeling that although the motor is still OK the filters etc. smell so bad that even though H.O mended the hole with mastic, I may not be able to use it again. I bet any new cleaner I buy won't last so many years. So very annoying and something that could have been avoided. Oh well- that's life.

new blogger 2nd post

This is a picture of our very first new season rhubarb, cut yesterday and made into a rhubarb fool. So now I know how to add photos from file but what is this strange line below that I've added and now can't get rid of?I've been posting on wordpress simplesimplesuffolksmallholder for a month and no one is reading it. I can't find out how to make it more interesting but it is easy to write on and to put photos on. So now trying blogspot, have worked out how to make it look good but don't know how to add photos or to get people to find it and read it.