Tree Link up + Forgotten little red jewels.

It's the 7th of the month so time for linking up with Loose and Leafy for following a tree through the year.
My tree is our Horse Chestnut, not the one with white flowers but a

Ruby Horse Chestnut tree is a particularly choice clone of a hybrid horse chestnut, resulting from a cross between the European horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) with white flowers and an eastern North American native (the shrubby Aesculus pavia) with red ones. It is a better landscape plant than either of its parents and should be planted more widely. 'Briotii' originated in 1858 from seed grown at the Trianon in France

The flowers are long gone and  have started to grow into the cases that hold the conkers. There are never as many as there would be on the common Horse Chestnut.

 We are not really sure how old the tree is, maybe 50 years?, this give some idea of height compared to  a  6 foot fence.

With the branches coming right down to the ground, under the tree is shady, here's a closer look at the trunk texture.

And what are the forgotten little red jewels?
 Redcurrants!
I'm  sure I've not mentioned them before. Did I sell any last year? I can't remember. I know I put lots of bags in the freezer because several are still there. But this year our 6 bushes are loaded with  little bunches hanging down, and now most are ready to pick and sell. So I went on the supermarket comparison site to find a price and none of the supermarkets had any for sale. We could corner the market!
I  picked several and decided to sell them in the 250g punnets at £1 a punnet, which is probably cheap but they are not as useful as raspberries and I would rather sell them for £1 than NOT sell them for £2.

 I popped the blackboard out and before long the first four punnets had gone. So I picked some more and they soon sold too. Maybe £1 was cheap!
In between all this, 2 loaves and some bread rolls were made and C was laying the small paver stones outside the new shed door.
Before all the above we had picked and packed all the other things that were ready to sell today. Look what happens when you have two wet mornings and forget to harvest the courgettes!

Back tomorrow
Sue

NOT the driest part of the Country

We've probably been the wettest part of the country today, the cloud has sat over the edge of the coast and rained on us for hours, sometimes drizzle, sometimes light showers and also sometimes chucking it down. It didn't clear away until after 3 o'clock.
But plenty to do indoors - like watching sport on TV!, where the sun was shining. I feel sorry for anyone who doesn't like any sport at all with Le Tour de France in Yorkshire, Wimbledon Mens tennis final and Formula 1 from Silverstone. We had a look at all of them, proper armchair sportiness!

Before all the sport started I got the material, bought last week at the car boot sale, made into a cover for my food mixer, I used double thickness as it's quite a thin cotton. There is enough left to make another cover and some pot-holders or pot-stands. I've got some heat-proof wadding so that's a job for another day.

I think it should have been a bit bigger and it's a pity about the "ears", but it will do the job.( I'm an impatient and not very good sewer. Takes me 10 minutes to remember how to thread the machine!)

 With it being so wet today and no sun to heat the water by the solar thingy we had to light the Rayburn, but it only takes some rubbish, a few of the off cuts from shed building and a couple of logs to warm enough for showers and washing up. I wondered if  C would do some wood cutting in the wood shed while it was wet but we have Swallows nesting in there so it would get them into a real tizzy. A wren nesting in my old garden shed is the reason we can't start demolishing it for a few more weeks. It's good to know we are providing a home for so many feathered friends.

Welcome to two new followers in the Google pictures on the right. Josh and Dani. Dani has a blog called Eco Footprint which I'm looking forward to having a longer look at ASAP. Also welcome to David who is reading via Bloglovin'.

Back Tomorrow
Sue

Re-discovering plans for living off the land

When I was looking through old diaries to do THIS POST a week or so ago, I came across a list of ideas I had made in 2010, under the heading of Something To Sell Everyday Of The Year.
 At that time we had just decided not to move to Wales but to stay here and build a new kitchen extension. We had plans that C would be able to give up full time work sometime in the next few years if we could increase what we did here.
 I thought I would share what I wrote then and what we actually do now.

           2010 idea                                                            2014  Actuality
Eggs = All year                                                      Our best plan, steadily increasing
                                                                               number of hens to            
                                                                                  produce a good income year.
                                                                                  round.
                                                                             
 Kindling = Nov - March                                        We don't have enough wood to
                                                                              do this now and didn't sell enough
                                                                               to   make it worthwhile in 2011/12
                                                                            

Daffodils = March/April                                        We have one bed of daffs but this
                                                                             only makes us about £10 a year and
                                                                               ties up the bed all year so we
                                                                               plan to give up on them soon

Herbs= April/May                                                  When I had a large herb garden
                                                                               I could pot up seedlings and take
                                                                               cuttings and grow from seed but 
                                                                               the income was small for the work
                                                                                 and space needed. So this has                                                                                                                   dropped apart from
                                                                               pots of parsley.

Cabbage= February/March                                    We never did do this as too much space is needed

Gooseberries= June/July                                        I grew more bushes from cuttings and this provides
                                                                                a really good income.

Broad Beans= June/July                                        We just grow one bed and sell a few.

New Potatoes= June/July                                      We grow 4 beds - they sell quickly.

Courgettes= June/July/August                              12 plants each year give us plenty to sell

Cucumbers= Jun/Jul/Aug/Sept                             8 plants give 2 to 4 to sell each day but not often
                                                                              carrying on into September.

Tomatoes=Jun/Jul/Aug/Sept                                Best seller. It was worth investing in another
                                                                               poly-tunnel to grow more.

Runner Beans= Aug/Sept                                    2 beds but starting to sell in July. These are good
                                                                              sellers too.

Squash = Sept/Oct                                                I've increased the number of plants each year as
                                                                              they sell better now than they did. We can grow
                                                                               out on the field so have room for them. They carry
                                                                             on into November if we have enough.
Cooking Apples= Oct/Nov                                 Not to be relied on, some years good, some not.

 Pumpkins = October/Nov.                                  They sell slowly once Halloween has passed. Useful
                                                                             for income late in the year.

Chutney = Nov/December                                  I discovered that I didn't like making chutney enough
                                                                            to make dozens to sell! I tried for one year.

Bay branches/Holly/Teasels =Dec                      We've never had enough to do this. I tried spraying
                                                                            teasels with gold spray one year, but they didn't sell.


 There was no mention, back in 2010 of peppers,French Climbing beans and raspberries. We only had room for peppers to sell once we got the third poly-tunnel up.
Raspberries became a big seller because we replaced some old blackcurrant bushes with raspberries, they are very popular and a really good income through July.
Our first try at French Climbing beans was only a few years ago, but this year we have a whole bed and they should be a good income before the runner beans.

It's interesting to see how our plans  changed over the four years between thinking about making a living off the land and actually doing it.
The campsite too has also played a big part in allowing us to make an income from our smallholding. We had to spend on shower and new toilets but have already got our investment back by having more visitors.

Thanks for comments yesterday
Back Tomorrow
Sue                            

                                                                             

What a beautiful day

The sun has shone here all day from 4am onwards, we've had a breeze to keep things comfortable, so a perfect day, and apologies for gloating about the hottest day of the year so far when most of the country has been wet- sorry!

C was working at our neighbours this morning and I got started on weeding the newish flower border at the front and side of the house. The ground is like concrete out there. It took me a couple of hours to go all along the front of the border and then all along the back - with a break in between for breakfast of course.

I couldn't decide what to have for dinner tonight.
We've had too much pastry this week in the form of sausage rolls and bacon and egg pie although it was a good way of stretching half a pound of sausage meat and half a pound of bacon for 2 dinners and  4 days lunches. Then I remembered the 1 potion of spaggi-bol sauce that I've been moving about in the freezer for a few weeks. That's C sorted and then I could have something he doesn't like - home made pesto - with my spaghetti.
Basil from the poly-tunnel, parsley from outside, no nuts except a bag of mixed which had already had the walnuts taken out of it, so I used the almonds from the mix instead, no Parmesan, so a bit of cheddar, no garlic so  a little garlic salt and a little olive oil. Whizzed to a lovely green gooeyness and stirred into the hot spaghetti - very YUM.

The usual campsite and egg jobs were done and then I settled down for an afternoon of Mens semi final tennis. As expected both youngsters were knocked out. A good final to look forward to on Sunday.

Would you like a look at how the tomatoes in the poly tunnels are ripening?

These are Shirley, the best  normal shaped tomatoes for growing in a poly-tunnel

Agro, these should be bigger according to the seed catalogue. They are are plum tomato

Andine Cornue, can be as big as a pepper, difficult to germinate, a pain to grow, not many on each plant, but they taste wonderful. Almost no seeds, very thin skinned, worth the hassle.

Britain's Breakfast, A lemon shaped tomato, first time we've tried these.Look at all these flowers on the trusses, unfortunately they are not setting at all well.

Favorita, a good sized cherry tomato, early to ripen. We've not grown these before but will grow them again.They are the ones we've been eating for the last week or two.

San Marzano Plum tomatoes, the best for chutney making

And finally, I'll leave you with another picture puzzle. What's This?

Here's a clue:- I don't know why we've still got this as we can no longer afford the thing that it's meant to be eaten with!

The weather is looking changeable for the next few days with showers after heavier rain tomorrow morning so no chance of getting the paving stones down in front to the shed and probably no car boot sale Sunday morning.

Welcome to Teresa and Judy who have just clicked the Bloglovin button

Back tomorrow
Sue

Catch up Monday to Thursday

I've neglected to write about what's been happening here since last Sunday, better put that right.

Monday
A fine day, with cloud coming in now and again off the sea. 
It was bread making morning, 2 loaves and 10 rolls done. I also made some sausage rolls for dinner and lunches, 2 pastry cases to pop in the freezer and a pie base and top ready for Wednesday. C was working at our neighbours, hedge trimming and strimming. One caravan arrived on site and a couple  camping decided to stay on until the end of the week.

Tuesday
An early start putting stuff out for sale and then we had a morning out doing lots of errands. Starting by returning a pair of glasses left here by a friend at the weekend, then to B & Q for some bits of guttering and ridge for the shed. We also picked up some cheap grow bags ready for putting the new strawberry plants in. We want to try them up off the ground in the poly - tunnel. While we were there we bought a new shower for the campsite, the other one is still OK at the moment but when you think of the number of people who use it there is a possibility that one day it will break down. We thought if we got one exactly the same while they still had them it would be an easy job to swap them when/if it goes wrong.  It is debatable if tying up £60 on an electric shower that may not be needed is a good idea. But to run up to Ipswich specially would cost us.
 Next stop Asda for cheap Diesel and a few bits from the supermarket that we can't get cheap locally.
On to Framlingham for chicken feed and finally home via the bank and Tescos in Saxmundham. It always seems a good idea doing everything at once but it's a bit tiring.

After lunch I started gooseberry picking again, the rain last week has done the bushes a lot of good so the small fruit  are now big enough to sell.
One caravan arrived on the campsite  for a weeks stay.

Wednesday
Another fine day, wind was a bit chilly though - straight off the sea.
After picking and packing and putting out for sale raspberries, potatoes, courgettes, beetroot and broad beans we both tackled some weeding. The onion and bean beds now look a lot better.
C then decided to get started on the "porch" over the shed door. He carried on in the afternoon after delivering 20 bales of last years hay to Kate-who-bought-my-goats. I prepared a bacon,egg and tomato pie for dinner and then started on gooseberry picking again. In between I also watched Andy Murray get knocked out of Wimbledon - I don't know what was the matter with him but he didn't seem to be playing well.
1 motor-home arrived on site for a 2 night stay.

Today
Even warmer today now the wind has gone round away for the East. As usual we started by putting everything out for sale. There were even enough green beans to put one bag out ( I checked the supermarket comparison site and discovered that it costs 50p more to buy your beans trimmed. How long does it take to top and tail green beans - 2 minutes? How lazy/stupid are some people?)  plus 3 punnets of raspberries,

(We really did the right thing a few years ago, when we took out some old blackcurrant bushes and replaced them with 2 rows of raspberry canes.)

  1 bunch of beetroot, 4 cucumbers, 4 bags of potatoes, 2 bags of broad beans and 1 bag of courgettes. Plus 2 punnets of gooseberries as soon as I had a chance to pick them.

Yesterday we had just finished weeding when a friend popped round to collect eggs, I was saying how so many leaves irritated my arms and I would have to find some gloves that covered more before weeding the courgettes, which are really scratchy. She said she'd got some I could have and dropped them round later, so today I weeded the courgettes and emerged scratch free.

 A home grown veggie curry was prepared for dinner and I mixed up a batch of onion bhaji mix so we could have bhajis with the curry. The joy of making a meal for the cost of a spoonful of flour and a spoonful of curry powder, half a mug of rice and a few spices- Brilliant!
C was doing some more to the shed porch extension thingy, I'll put a picture up when it's done.

1 motor-home arrived  for 5 nights. Almost everyone staying has at least 1 dog, so I hope they don't all start each other off in a barking competition. 

Wecome to Sanny a new follower on Google and to Michelle on Bloglovin' and thank you to everyone for yesterdays comments about books and reading. It's good to get new ideas for reading from others who are joining  in the year in books link.

Back Tomorrow
Sue

A Year in Books Link June/July

Linking in with A Circle of Pine Trees, where lots of bloggers are sharing ideas and reviews all through 2014.
These are the books I brought home from the library van in mid June and most have not even been opened yet. What with gooseberry picking and tennis watching, reading has been just a half hour now and again. The books I have read have been mainly crime fiction.

Books 2 and 3 in The Lewis Trilogy by Peter May. These are modern crime, well written with history of the Islands mixed in.

Lesley Cookman - Murder in another place. These are very light modern crime.They go along at quite a pace as all the narrative tends to be people talking to each other - very little description included. To make sense  of who's who they really need to be read in order of publication.

Martin Walker - Dark Vineyard ( left over from Mays library books) again modern crime this time set in a quiet town in rural France. Very interesting to read and find out how things work just across the channel. Dark Vineyard is the second in the series featuring Bruno Courreges, the 3rd - Black Diamond is in the picture above to be read soon.

I tried the Barbara Kingsolver - Flight Behaviour but couldn't really get into it.

Also read was The Woodsman by Ben Law. This tells the story of how he came to build his timber frame house that was featured on the TV programme Grand Designs. There is more information about Prickley Wood and the villages and land surrounding his home. The last chapter suddenly goes off into his idea of the perfect future when by 2020 there is no oil, people move onto little plots in the countryside where self sufficient villages supply all their needs. Horsepower returns and  electric  cars are only allowed for doctors and security staff. Unless electric can be generated locally there is only power from the few remaining Nuclear Power Stations for a few hours each week.  Sounds idyllic but unlikely!

I have added the James Wong book - Homegrown Revolution to my Amazon Wish list. The paperback is out later in the year and then hopefully secondhand prices will drop. It's full of ideas for edible plants from across the world that should grow in this country. Perhaps we should start growing them now in case  climate change speeds up or we really do run out of oil by 2020!


I've just started the first crime book by Robert Galbraith aka J.K Rowling. Seems good so far.
 During the rest of July I shall be reading other books from the picture and the Library van is round again on Friday of next week with some more I've ordered. I just need more reading hours in the day.

While typing this I'm watching Andy Murray struggling against Grigor Dimitrov in the Wimbledon Quarter Finals. Looks a bit worrying.

Tomorrow I really must update you - all waiting with baited breath! - on what's been happening here over the last few days.

Welcome to Rusty who is Google follower 180, at this rate I shall be at the 200 mark by years end - amazing.  Lorraine is a new follower on Bloglovin' - welcome to you too.

Back Tomorrow
Sue

Review of the month - Looking back at June

Here is my regular look back at the ups and downs of life on a quiet Suffolk smallholding.

1. We have earned enough for what we need in July.
2. Some money from campsite and gate sales have been saved into ISAs
3. Some money has been saved for winter
4. Campsite was busier than we thought it was going to be
5. Gooseberry sales produced income of £330 and some put in freezer and the recent rain means the small ones left are now ready for picking.
6. First pickings of French climbing beans, tomatoes, raspberries,courgettes,broad beans
7. Offer of 24 Strawberry plants  for £4.95 postage from Home Farmer magazine
8. Kitchen Garden Magazine with 6 packets of 'free' seeds
9. Chickens laying well
10.  Lots of good library books read
11. New garden/potting shed finished(more or less) and everything moved in.
12. Planted out Verbena plants grown from a gifted packet of seeds.
13. Lots of lovely tennis to watch on TV
14. Bulk buy of muesli, baking powder and peanut butter from Real Foods saving over £20 on shop prices.
15. A few items of smallholding equipment bought from yard sale
16. Some bargain finds at car boot sales
17. Friends around to visit for the day.
18. 5 Builders bags of wood split and seasoning for winter 2015/16

Not so good

1. Some of the potatoes out on the field are looking like they have blight
2. We destroyed 3 tomato plants with blight, some others look sad.
3. Paneer cheese doesn't work with powdered milk!
4. Group of caravans who were coming for  a 70th birthday party in July cancelled the booking.
5. We could do with a better weather forecast for haymaking.

I can't think of anything else.

Many thanks for lots of comments yesterday about managing finances. It's interesting that lots of people use online banking. We are avoiding it at the moment but I think banks would like to do away with branches if they could. Not sure what we would do with all the small change that comes in from gate sales. I can't imagine many places would welcome bags of 20p or 50p coins to pay for something. In fact I think they could refuse to accept it.

Welcome to new followers - Lisa in the Google pictures and Jo, Amy, Jane Natalie and Lizzy on Bloglovin'. I hope you enjoy reading about our quiet Suffolk life.

Back Tomorrow, when I must do the Link up for A Year In Books
Sue