Portugal Smallholding

Quick Bread

sophie — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:09:01 +0000

Today I’ve lit the stove, more to cheer us up on a dull rainy day than because we need the heat, but colder days are on the way and the time of baking and bread making is upon us again, so I’m wondering about buying this, anyone have it / can recommend it?

We have some windows!

andy — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 10:17:36 +0000

At last! The four front windows, big pieces of double glazing, are in. The frames had to be planed to fit them, but we do now have upstairs windows.

Finalmente! As quatro janelas frontais, grandes pedaços de vidros duplos, está dentro. Os quadros tiveram de ser planeado para encaixá-los, mas temos agora as janelas no andar de cima.

And the balcony floor is finished.

E o chão varanda está feito.

Next week, we are told, all will be completed.

Na próxima semana, nos é dito, tudo estará concluído.

Gardening

sophie — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:44:38 +0000

Today, with the help of Lauren (7) and Emily (4) we’ve been:

digging horseradish out of one of the raised beds, where it had taken over
digging up and potting rooted goji berries
making a new raised bed around a fig tree
picking strawberries, capers, and tomatoes

Lots to do at the moment, here’s a great calendar from www.quinta-cavaleira.blogspot.com

Equine Touch and VHT

sophie — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:36:15 +0000

It’s looking very likely that Hannah Dawson will be coming here in November for 4-5 days to offer Equine Touch for horses and VHT for humans. Please let me know if you are interested, for you and/or your horse.

Loofahs & Madagascar Beans

sophie — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:07:13 +0000

I’ve been wanting to grow loofahs ever since my aunt gave me one as a christmas present, for use as a washing up sponge/scourer. I’d only ever thought of them as being used to scrub your back in the bath before! I’d been looking for an alternative to the horrible sponge/scourers we use (I HATE buying them, but they seem to do the job best). So … today I finally remembered that I wanted to buy some loofah seeds and got onto google, and found a link to a great article http://down—to—earth.blogspot.com/2007/06/harvesting-loofahs.html which tells you everything you need to know about growing, harvesting and storing loofahs.

The article also mentions Madagascar Beans. “They’re a traditional permaculture plant. Two seeds will grow a wall of beans that can be shelled and stored in the cupboard as dried beans.” Never heard of Madagascar Beans so definitely need to check them out!

New dog needs a name!

andy — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 09:28:28 +0000

This puppy turned up a couple days ago. We think he may stay, but can’t decide on a name for him.
Anyone?

Burying the Placenta

sophie — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:56:31 +0000

Grand-daughter Isabella was born on the quinta last night, and today the proud parents buried the placenta under an olive tree in the garden.

A neta Isabella era nascida no quinta a noite passada, e hoje os pais orgulhosos enterraram a placenta sob uma oliveira no jardim.

Grape Juice / Sumo de Uva

sophie — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:05:01 +0000

1: Set big pans of water on to boil, ready to sterilise the bottles.

2. Pick grapes (fogot to take photo of this, doh!).

3. Wash feet & tread grapes.

4. Put buckets of squished grapes into press (we pressed white (green) grapes first).

5. Collect juice (this is the juice from the red grapes)!

Don’t forget to taste it!

6. Pour boiling water into bottles to sterilise.

7. Strain juice into pans & heat to sterilising temperature (86 degs C).

8. Boil corks to sterilise.

9. Pour sterilised juice into bottles and cork.

Prehistoric Ride / Passeio Prehistorico

sophie — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:17:07 +0000

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Tomatillo Chutney

sophie — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 19:45:58 +0000

This is amazing stuff. Adapted from Pam Corbin’s recipe for “Seasonal Chutney” which she adapted from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s “Glutney”.

1kg marrows or courgettes
1kg tomatilloes or green tomatoes
500g apples
500g onions
250g sultanas
500g sugar (i use the light brown stuff)
600ml white wine vinegar
50g fresh root ginger
Spice Option 1: 10 whole dried or fresh piri-piris, 2tsp black peppercorns, & 1 tsp coriander seeds
Spice Option 2: 4 tsps mixed pickling spice

Dice all the veg pretty small and chop the onions finely and the ginger very finely. Throw all the ingredients, except the sugar, into a big pan. Simmer gently until it’s pretty mushy. Add sugar. Continue to simmer gently until it’s a good dark brown colour and the consistency you want. Put into warm sterilised jars. Best if you can leave it at least a month to mature before eating!