November 2006

1 Brrrrr.  The weather's taken a cold turn.  Bright, sunny but chilly days and sub-zero temperatures overnight.  So, I've been out with our tap protectors, wrapping up the two outdoor taps and I've harvested all of the red chillies from the two outdoor bolivian chilli plants.
2 NEW CHICKS - NEW CHICKS - NEW CHICKS - see chicken diary !!!
3 I'm taking it easy, garden-wise, just now but Crow mowed the lawns and treated one of my currently redundant and bursting with weeds "empty" paddock beds with a biodegradable weed killer as I want to clear the weeds then spread  leaf mould on them as a soil improver.
4 Friends over today and we went walking along the sea wall from Goldhanger for about 3 miles or more and back.  It was a gorgeous sunny, still, autumn day and the scenery was beautiful.  The tide was fully in as we set out and had receded quite a lot upon our return 2 hours later.  We then popped into The Chequers for a very good lunch and home for coffee and to shoe off our new chicks, of course!  All in all, a very enjoyable day.
5 Sunset 051106I seem to be having lazy days at the moment - certainly as far as the garden is concerned!
I am knitting furiously for Xmas though....... and spending more time than I should with the new chicks!!

Lovely sunset tonight.....
6 Visit to mummy-in-law, then back for more chicky antics and evening knitting.
7 Alas, potato pots 8 & 9 are dead and 5 is heading that way too.  Funny, they were ok until I applied the Bordeaux mixture which was supposed to protect them!
8 Crow's in hospital today for an operation, so I had to busy myself between visits.  Wandering around the garden for a couple of hours I removed the apple & plum moth traps, picked 6 mini courgettes, noted that the paddock courgette plants have died in the sub-zero conditions, saved some bean seeds, un-netted the blueberry plants which have turned a gorgeous vibrant red, found the melon pear plants are covered in new flowers and started to clear around the pond.  Before bed I made a birthday card for my best buddy.
9 Harvest: red pepper, 3 turnips, 3 beet, 6 carrots.
10 The courgette plants in the veg garden are not as badly frosted as those in the paddock - obviously in a more sheltered spot.
Harvest: 2 celeriac, 1 baby courgette, 2 leeks, swiss chard, very last of runner & dwarf beans.
11 The deceitful thing about pears is that they rot from the inside and by the time you see a sign, it's too late.  So today it was time to use up all of our pears or face losing them.  Found a recipe for pear & watercress soup - very delicious and unusual - and cooked the remainder with lemon, honey & vanilla - some for dessert, the rest frozen for future dessert.
12 Harvest: 2 leeks, swiss chard, 2 celeriac, 1 red pepper, 2 turnip, 3 beetroot, 10 carrots. 
Made a bread & butter pudding for tonight's pud  - haven't made one myself for years but have sampled a few during this time.  I used home-made ciabatta, home-made jam, dates and our eggs (of course) and even if I say so myself, it was special!   Also made vegetable curry (for tomorrow) as I like my curry to stand for a day so that all of the veg soak up the curry flavour.
13

Ripe strawberries in November!What's this?!?  -->
Two ripe strawberries on November 13th, whatever next!

Been out picking sloes to make sloe gin, which I'm told by friends is worth doing.  I know, I know, I just can't bear to waste anything that grows in our garden.  Anyway, it's pretty easy so I thought I'd give it a try.

14 Made up the sloe gin - now it's just shake & wait.
15 More sloes picked for sloe vodka.  These ones are going in the freezer for a few days so that I don't have to split them all by hand.
Some veg garden tidying in the form of uprooting the last two courgette plants, pepper plants and dwarf beans.  I know I said I harvested the "very last of runner & dwarf beans" on 10th.  Well I was wrong - I got more today - well over a pound, in fact!
Harvest: 2.5 lb sloes, 28 oz beans, 6 autumn king carrots, 1 giant red pepper.
16 Something nasty happened in our garden overnight as there's blood at the front of our car port.  Not a copious amount but enough to notice.  No feathers or fur, but something got injured and either got away or got carried away?
17 I'm in the middle of the last table-top event of this year's championship.  Yes, that means more heart-aching hours spent bent over an OS map.  Sometimes I wonder why I do this?  Do I secretly enjoy the torture?
18 Harvest: turnip, carrots and beetroot.
Must start tidying up the garden - from Monday, I think.
19 Friends visiting  and we had a late lunch of courgette & mint soup followed by olive & pepper quiche with jacket potato and sweet beetroot salad (with runner beans added).  Then a very yummy black forest chocolate cake which our guests supplied.  My soup was from the freezer (made on 1 October) and I was very pleased to find that it had kept in excellent condition, still full of flavour.
20 Big surprise!  Crow has bought me a digital movie camera.  When I've mastered it's use, you'll be able to see short video clips of the chicks - how wonderful!  :-)))
Out to dinner with friends this evening - at the Bull in Totham.  They used to do the tenderest steak ever, but it was disappointing tonight.
21 I've bought my best friend Sue a dwarf Red Delicious apple tree and a nice pot for her birthday.  I'll have to arrange a visit for the ceremonial planting.
Cleared 4 wheelbarrow loads of leaves from our driveway, but I wonder why I bothered as visually it makes very little difference.
Harvest:  3 carrots from the paddock - but only because I was clearing some weeds!
22 Rain, rain, rain - so indoors for card making, knitting and almost finishing the table top rally - just one more section to check & submit!
23 Our 2nd wedding anniversary - out for lunch but an otherwise quiet day.  I finished the table top rally - hurrah!  (You'd would think I didn't enjoy it  ;-) )
24 Today's highlight was playing with my new movie camera, filming the chicks, of course.  need to master the movie software now......
Harvest: one giant red pepper.
25
26
Off to Yorkshire for a couple of days where Crow's competing in a rally over Saturday night.  That meant the wives could have a good old girlie night.  I don't get enough girlie company since I stopped working!
27 Harvest: Swiss chard, land cress.
28 Crow's spoiling me again with the purchase of a 40 inch flat screen TV which arrived today.  It's wonderful & just perfect for re-watching Lords of the Rings!
29 Completed my second scarf of the week.  I've applied for a stall at the Maldon Victorian evenings on 7 & 14 December, so I'm boosting my supply of goods for sale.
Harvest: 5 turnips, 8 carrots, 7 beetroot - sadly the last of the beet.
30 Ron came to give garden assistance by weeding & digging over my completely overrun and sodden paddock beds.  Far to heavy for me to deal with! 
In the meantime I set about clearing the front garden beds, around the pond, around the barrel and around the bird table (Ron strimmed them first). 
The chickens loved that!  They really like scratching around in newly disturbed soil.