The New Year has already started!!! We would like to wish you all a wonderful and healthy year filled with new Do-It-Yourself experiences and laughter. In 2019, I will be focusing on improving our social network, diversifying it to acquire as many new skills as possible.
Mike's birthday
The week before Mike's birthday, our Terrano decided to die along the highway. We had seen it coming, it was not a big surprise. The only thing is that we needed a replacement fast, not an easy task. For months, Mike had already been looking for another 4X4 but either the price range was too high or the trucks were too far away. On his birthday, we went to the Ariège to see a Mitsubishi L200 from 1994. Mike liked it and within a couple of hours, we had bought it. HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!!
Mike in Saint-Girons on his birthday
Weevil infestation in my dry beans
From what I have been read about these little creatures, you need to be vigilant when retrieving the beans from the pods. I used to be quite careless, trying to keep as much as possible to re-use. But, if you see that the pods or the beans have any sign of "infiltration", you need to discard and ...burn!
Beans should be stored in air tight containers, avoiding plastic bags. In plastic bags, the adult Weevil will chew its way out and infest the rest of your storage.
A radical weapon: twenty-four hours in the freezer will kill any larva or adult Weevil!
So, here I am with a new experience which will help me next year to avoid the problem, or at least try to control it. But sadly enough, my inventory of beans, both edible and seeds, have dropped to "zero"... Beanless and heart broken :)
In the garden
I have already planted 100 broad beans which are growing quite well. Because our winter is mild, we can plant early winter. Those early plants are less likely to fall prey to black bean aphid, an inevitable pest of the spring sown beans. If the temperature falls below -10, I will have to protect the plants. For now I have surrounded the plants with straw, acting as an insulator. In the spring, I will remove the straw to avoid rotting of the plants. I could sow another batch in February, increasing my harvest if needed.
Can't wait to eat fresh broad beans again.
I have aired out the compost heap and have discovered hundreds of worms, all sizes from new born to adults. I have covered the heap with another layer of straw from the chicken coop, providing warmth and extra nutrients for those new little workers. This compost will be great for next year's (2020) seedlings.
Making fire starters
It is winter and in South of France days can be quite cold, (relatively speaking). The house has no other heating source then the wood stove so we try to make this chore as easy as possible. Last year we bought at the Biocoop a box of "ecological" fire starter made of cardboard and beeswax. This year, we decided to make them ourselves.
In the Netherlands, we had bee hives and I kept all the wax I could. Using cardboard from egg boxes cut into pieces and flatten, I brushed the melted wax on the cardboard. Within minutes, the wax is dry and the starters are ready! The idea is that the wax will
increase the burning time of the cardboard, allowing the kindling to catch fire. So easy and so cheap!
In the kitchen
Jam
The winter months are great to make all kinds of jam or other delicious preserves from our autumn/winter harvest. This summer, we happen to have a "stranger" growing in our poly-tunnel. It ended up to be an autumn variety of the watermelon. In my blog from January 2017 I did talk about it. I guess seeds got mixed up. Anyhow, an enormous "pastèque" grew among the cucumbers. I harvested it in autumn and left it mature a couple of months. When I decided to make jam from it, I was amazed of the "art piece" I found inside. This fruit is magnificent!
So I made the recipe as written in the previous blog. Although, I did add some orange and ginger to spice things up a bit. The jam turned out to be runnier and sweeter then last year. I think this "pastèque" was an hybrid which could explain the change in texture and taste compared to the initial fruit and the different end result. This is what happen when you plant seeds from vegetable you buy in stores: you never know what will come out. Cross-pollination in your own garden can lead to the same results. The genetics of seeds is a "grandiose" subject which I know too little about.
Fermented white cabbage
Because I was quite pleased with my first fermentation experiments, I decided to make some sauerkraut again.
This also figures in the blog from January 2017.
But this time, I used our own cabbages. They were not really dense, not as dense as the usual white cabbage heads you find in the supermarket. This may affect the end result.
Anyway, I proceeded the same way I did in 2017. Beside salt, I added caraway seeds, yellow mustard seeds and fennel .
I substituted coriander for the fennel on three batches. This should give the cabbage a real nice taste.
Initially I salt the cabbage, this will draw out the water. After carefully pressing the cabbage in a clean glass jar, I covered the top with a small cabbage leaf. The idea is to help the cabbage to stay submerged under its own water. I made 6 pots. I kept them for a week at room temperature. You can follow the fermentation process. Because the cabbage expands in the pot it releases air from the top. You can smell the cabbage fermenting, a really good sign! The pots are stored in the cellar where temperature should stay under 15 degrees. I will wait about 1 month before opening my first jar.
to be continued....
Unexpected but always welcomed visitors
Friends from the Netherlands called us just after Christmas unexpectedly. They were in Toulouse leaving the next day by train for 1 week to the Ariège to visit family members. They were visiting Esplas-de-Sérou which is about 1 hour away from Aulon. We could not pass the opportunity to see them and let them discover the life we are building here.
So, on a Saturday morning, Mike went to pick them up. We had 2 days to catch up before their departure out of Toulouse on Monday afternoon.
Thank you guys for your visit and see you again soon!
Peggy and Julie
Our two pigs are getting quite old and it is time to say goodbye. We were contemplating the idea of having the pigs killed at home but this will be too much organization for inexperienced people as we are. We have registered ourselves as "pig farmers" (never thought I would call myself a farmer but hey!) in order to be able to bring the pigs to the local slaughter house. We received a registration number which will have to be tattooed on both side of each pig. We also need to fill out transport documentation, make appointments, bring the pigs and retrieve the carcass the next day. Friends of ours will come help us process the meat, making blood sausage, ham, bacon, ribs, headcheese, dry sausage etc.
Until the "D" day, Peggy and Julie will enjoy the fresh straw given to them and are quite busy making their own cozy bed.
I'll leave you on this note and let you enjoy this short video. I love writing this blog and hope you still enjoy following our life at La Peyrere, France. More DIY to come soon.