February 2014 stats

Stats for February 2014 are up now -

Sales -
13 dozen eggs = £22.00
3 bunches Daffodils = £1.50

Total = £23.50

Expenses -
Seed potatoes £9.45

Balance = £14.05

Expenses balance brought forward = £112.95
New Expenses balance to be paid off = £98.90

Well that mainly greenhouse expense balance is coming down, bit slow though.  Hopefully we can have an early and warm spring, get things growing and producing

Chickens tonight

Hi all, we're on chickens tonight - Exchequer Leghorns to be precise, a breed profile.

These are one of the breeds that we bought from the auction last September time.  I was attracted to their stunning plumage, their upright and proud strut and general all-round handsomeness!

Just to remind you here's what mine look like -

Tom, with Barbara and Margo

Now Tom is a lively cockerel, loud with a look at me attitude, which is typical of the breed.  He is my wake-up call at 5am, regular as clockwork, regardless of whether it's light or not!

The breed is reported to be a productive egg layer (although I haven't seen any signs of it yet, but the hens were quite young when they came to us last year), usually about five eggs laid per week, but not a meat breed, being quite light in body frame.

The cockerel has a large comb, as you can see from the photo above, and the females should flop over, this is normal.  They are active birds, happy to roam about the paddock next to the house, and because of their light bodyweight can run at a fair speed!

Unfortunately having read up on them, they are not a maternal bird, so I shall have to invest in an incubator if breeding is going to be successful.  They can also be quite aloof, as I've found out, often running away even when the red hens come running towards me.  I do believe they have got friendlier over the months though. 

I often catch myself watching them more than the other breeds, their feather patterns are mesmerising and they are such a proud show off, of a breed.

Apparently they are not a breed for the faint hearted, but I enjoy having this trio of show-offs around, they make the place feel special!

Look at that stunning plumage, the black shines irridesant green when the sun shines on it.

If anyone knows of any Exchequer Leghorn breeders out there - I'd appreciate them letting me know, as I haven't stumbled across anyone else who has them yet.  They might not suit everyone, but I love them.

Still harvesting potatoes

And No I don't mean the ones from the bags in the shed!

I went into the polytunnel over the weekend to have a check on how my micro-greens were doing and found potatoes growing.  We always grow our first earlies in the polytunnel, just so we can beat everyone else to it and start harvesting delicious new potatoes early.  That time of year when you're desperate for summer food, and new potatoes covered in lashings of herb butter - delish!

The potatoes I found were just ones that had been left over from the 2013 harvest but not wanting to let them go to waste I stuck in my fork and this is what I came out with.

The evidence!

The haul!

And extremely delicious they were too.

Stats today - 

Eggs produced = 7

Sales - 1 dozen eggs - £2.00

Expenses - Nil

Bacon, Leek, Potato and cheese pie

Thought I had better give you the recipe for this as I had raved about it the other night, so here you go.  As usual I haven't stuck rigidly to the recipe (I never do!).

4oz Pastry - I used shortcrust, the recipe says use Flaky, but I don't see that it matters.  You can use frozen for this or homemade

Filling -
1 medium leek - I used two smaller ones and found that four of this size would be better
2 medium potatoes
7oz smoked bacon
1oz butter - the recipe says to use clarified, but I couldn't be bothered so used it straight from the pack
4 fl oz Milk
3 fl oz Single cream - I used double cream as I didn't have any single and it was fine
2 beaten eggs
2 tsps dried mixed herbs - I left out as I didn't have any
2 oz grated Double Gloucester cheese - I just used strong Cheddar instead, but used about 4oz
Salt and Pepper to taste

• Preheat oven to 190C / 375F / Gas 5
• Slice leeks into approx 1cm rounds and wash thoroughly
• Peel and thinly slice the potatoes
• Trim off the bacon rind and roughly chop
• Roll out the pastry and line a 20cm flan dish, trimming the edges
• Fry the bacon under the fat starts to render and it starts to go crispy.  Set aside on kitchen paper
• Cook the leeks in the same pan and set aside with the bacon once soft
• Add the butter and fry the potatoes until just coloured - you may have to do several batches
• Spoon the leeks and bacon into the flan dish
• I then added a generous layer of grated cheese and sliced a couple of tomatoes over the top
• Arrange the potato slices over the top, overlapping to cover the other ingredients
• Beat together the milk, cream, eggs, herbs and season well
• Pour over the potatoes and top with more grated cheese
• Bake for 30 - 45 minutes, covering with foil if it starts to brown too much

This is great served with a simple salad or with whatever veg you have available like we did.

Enjoy!

Stats today -

Eggs produced = 7

Sales -

1 dozen eggs £1.80

1 x 1Kg Onions £1.00

Expenses -

Nil

Another home produced tea

I was going to do a blog post on Orpington chickens tonight, but I think I'll save that for another day, because our tea tonight was so good and nearly all home produced I just had to tell you about it.  I've had a lovely day concocting our tea, I do love spending a good couple of hours in the kitchen so I thought I'd share it with you.

We had -
Bacon, Leek & Potato pie with Romanesco in a cheese and mustard sauce with steamed cabbage.
Followed by -
Apple pie and Ice cream

Just Yum!

Home produced stuff was -
Leeks, potatoes, tomato, eggs, Romanesco cabbage, cabbage, apples; oh and of course all the pastry was homemade.  Haven't got any home produced bacon at the moment, it's still on the hoof!

Here it is -

Bacon, leek & potato pie

My plateful!

The Apple pie

And the best bit it is, there's leftovers for tomorrow nights tea, I do love a cooking session where you can cook for more than one day.

Stats today

Eggs produced = 6

Sales -
2 x Cabbages £1.30
2 x 1Kg bags of tomatoes £2.00

Expenses -
Nil

Easy Carrot cake recipe

I don't know about you but as I've got older I've started with a tendency to feel guilty about eating cake.  Maybe it's the thought of all that cake going on the hips!  But I feel less guilty if the cake has some redeeming qualities e.g. containing some form of fruit or nuts.  So when I found this cake recipe, well I knew I couldn't go wrong!  It's the carrots you see, makes you feel like you're eating something good, even though you're eating cake!

Again it's another clipping from a magazine, but can't remember which one.

Ingredients -
225g / 8oz Butter or margarine
350g / 12oz Caster sugar - I use granulated if I haven't got any caster
4 eggs, medium
175g / 6oz Self raising wholemeal flour
115g / 4oz Plain flour, sieved with 2 teaspoons of cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
350g / 12oz Peeled and grated carrots

Topping -
115g / 4oz Soft cheese, Philadelphia type
Icing sugar to taste
Rind and juice of half a lemon - I don't tend to use this as it can make the icing quite runny, then you have to add more icing sugar


Method -

1.  Place all ingredients into a mixing bowl and beat together until well mixed - I did say it was easy!
2.  Spoon into a greased and lined 20cm / 8" cake tin and bake in a pre-heated oven 180 Deg C / 350 Deg F / Gas Mark 4, for 45 - 55 minutes.
3.  Turn out onto a wire rack and allow to go cold.
4.  Mix together topping ingredients and spread over the cake.


Enjoy and don't feel guilty about eating it - it's got carrots in it!  And home-grown ones too, I hope, another way of using an abundance of veg!

Stats today -

Eggs produced = 9

Sales -
1 dozen eggs £1.80
3 x bags tomatoes £3.00
1 x Cucumber £0.70

Expenses -
Nil

Update on the new arrivals

Just thought I'd update you on the new arrivals.

Today was scorchingly, stupidly hot, 34 degrees centigrade at lunchtime.  When I let the laying hens out, they all ran straight under my horse trailer to dust bath and chill.  Now the new ones, apart from Colin the Buff Orpington cockerel who's in with the laying hens, are in temporary accommodation in a large shed until their new hut is built.  Now this shed has an openable window, but that's all for ventilation, so on welfare terms I opened the door and left it open.

Three hours later they still hadn't come out!

'I'm not looking.  If I ignore it, it will go away'

'Don't look Elsie'

'Maybe you're right Mavis'

He's getting braver

'Hey Ladies, look out here'

'Now, how do I use this again?'

'On second thoughts'

'Right, come on, follow me'

'Look Mavis, I did it'

'Thats enough for one day'

He is darn handsome

Bless them, I am so impressed with them, really glad we bought them, AND, they all went back in the shed for bed, what clever little chickens they are.

Stats today -

Eggs produced = 14, including one from the Exchequer Leghorns girlies

Sales -

1 & 1/2 dozen eggs £2.70

2 x bags Tomatoes £2.00

Expenses -

Nil

August Statistics

Well, August was a good month, takings were up on July, so am really pleased.

Here's the breakdown -

Sales -

22 dozen eggs £40.30
14 Cucumbers £8.40
8 Geranium plants £12.00
2 x Herb plants £1.00
3 bags Carrots £2.25
18 bags Tomatoes £16.50

Total £80.45

Expenses -

1 x Large Greenhouse £383.00

Still a long way to go to recoup the greenhouse money, but hey that was a long term investment, and it's now harvest time so fingers crossed we'll recoup in no time.

Today's stats -

Sales -

1 dozen eggs £1.80
1 x bag Bramley apples £1.00
1 x Tomatoes £1.00
1 x bag French beans £0.50

Expenses -

Nil

What more Swallows?

We seem to have had quite a successful and productive year for bird production this year, that is with wild birds.  We've hatched, (well not us exactly, we've just provided somewhere for the birds to do it themselves!), a clutch of blue tits, a clutch of wren chicks, a clutch of gold finch chicks in the wisteria and a nest of three swallow chicks.  Until now ...

It seems they've managed to hatch out another clutch.  I did think it was rather strange when I saw swallows flying backwards and forwards in and out of the log store, with bits of various material in their beaks, never did I think they would hatch out another clutch.  I am a bit worried that these latest chicks will be strong enough to fly all the way to their winter destinations i.e. South America, Africa or South Asia, I do hope they will manage it, they've only got until October, lets hope it stays warm here long enough so they don't have to rush back.

I tried to capture a close up, but I don't think my camera's sophisticated enough and they fly so fast, so I just snapped them chin-wagging on the telephone wires!

And just look at that gorgeous blue sky here in Norfolk.  Love to see them all lined up, felt like asking them if they wanted a cup of tea and a digestive!

Stats today -

Eggs produced = 11

Sales -
1 dozen eggs £1.80

Expenses -
Nil

More Great British Bake off inspiration

I seem to be on a bread making splurge at the moment - don't really know why, unless it has something to do with that 'stuff' they sell in the supermarkets labelled bread.  Now we always have some 'shop bought' bread in the freezer, just in case we run out, but being of the persuasion to not trusting what it says on the sides of packets, (what is a 'e' number actually made of, likewise monosodium glutamate, and who would actually want to eat the stuff anyway), I try and make all my own bread and associated bread products.

As I was hunting in the cupboard yesterday for some more flour, I came across this recipe on the side of a flour bag - Tesco Strong Stoneground Wholemeal flour, so I thought I'd give it a go -

Seedy Cranberry loaf

Ingredients:-
500g Strong wholemeal flour
25g Butter
1/2 tsp Salt
1 Sachet (7g) fast action yeast - I used one teaspoon
330ml Warm water
25g Sunflower seeds - I left out as I didn't have any
25g Poppy seeds
60g Dried cranberries
2 tbsp Honey
Grated rind from one orange - I left out as I didn't have one

Oven to 230 Deg C / 440 Deg F / Gas mark 8

Soak cranberries in water for 30 minutes, then drain
Mix together flour and salt, then rub in the butter and stir in the yeast
Stir in the seeds, cranberries, honey and orange rind
Pour in the water and mix into a dough by hand
Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes - after this I put it in the fridge overnight to rise.
Taking it out the following day, I knocked the dough back and shaped it into a round loaf shape and left to rise again for a couple of hours in a warm place.
Placed in oven for 30 minutes approx, until sounded hollow underneath, then left to cool on a wire rack

Just taken it out and it tastes and smells divine, no doubt once hubby gets home, it will get devoured in no time.

Try it and let me know if you like it or not

Stats today -

Eggs produced = 11

Sales -
1 & 1/2 dozen eggs £2.80
2 x Cucumbers £1.20
2 x 500g Tomatoes £2.00

Expenses -
Nil

How to make a Rat Bait feeder

Now being very rural here, we get 'bothered' with rats pretty frequently.  They burrow into the polytunnel and eat the tomatoes on the lower leaves and also help themselves to the chicken feed, not to mention that they've had two of my chicks.  So Michael makes his own secret feeders with attractive rat food in them.

The key with rat bait, is to keep it in place all year round, so the rats get used to it being there and to change your brand each time you run out, so that they don't get immune to the stuff.

Get hold of a length of 110mm plastic drainage pipe

Cut off a piece 1 & 1/2 metres long, no shorter as the bait will come out, and then birds and chickens will be able to eat it.

Off that 1 & 1/2 metre piece cut off approximately 150mm to make the cover.

On the longer piece, cut out a slot in the middle, in which you will pour the feed.  Make it smaller than the small cut piece, so that the cover will completely cover the hole.

Take the smaller cut piece and cut all the way down the long side, on both sides, but not exactly opposite each other, so that when you put in on the long piece it forms a secure clip.

Your rat bait feeder is now ready for use.

Keep it topped up at all times and clear up any spillage, so that garden birds and chickens cannot get near the poisoned corn.

As you can see above, Michael has secured the feeder with two stakes hammered into the ground, up against the fence.  Don't forget to replace the lid!

Great British Bake off inspiration

Inspired by the new series of the Great British Bake off, and keeping smallholding traditions alive, I've dug out an old favourite of ours - Chocolate Courgette Cake, don't worry you can't really taste the courgettes, it's a bit like the carrots in carrot cake.

I found this recipe in an edition of a smallholders magazine, cut it out and stuck in into one of my home-made recipe books.  I can't remember which magazine it was in, it was a number of years ago now, but I bring it out every year in courgette glut season.

Ingredients -

200g / 7oz Plain flour
1 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp Salt
115g / 4oz Sugar - I used granulated
2 Eggs
175ml / 6 fl oz Vegetable oil - I used sunflower
175g / 6oz Plain chocolate - use the best you can afford, I used Bournville
225g / 8oz Courgettes - doesn't matter what colour, mine were yellow

• Sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarb, salt and sugar

• Beat the eggs with the oil in a separate bowl

• Place the chocolate in a Bain Marie, or in a bowl over a pan of hot water and let it melt slowly over the heat, don't let the chocolate bubble
• Grate the courgettes and squeeze them gently to get rid of excess moisture
• Beat the eggs and oil mixture into the dry ingredients and stir in the melted chocolate and courgettes

• Spread the mixture into a greased cake tin, I used a deep round one that I make the Christmas cake in, and bake at 180Deg C / 350Deg F / Gas 4, for between 30 - 60 minutes.  If you find the top getting burnt and the inside still yet to finish cooking, place a sheet of tin foil over the top.
• Remove the cake from the tin and let it cool.  Serve on its own or with cream, yoghurt etc

The finished cake - enjoy!

Stats today -

Eggs produced = 10

Sales -

1/2 dozen eggs £0.90

Expenses - 

Nil

Fab tomato recipe

I was watching Saturday Farm a couple of weekends ago with Dick Strawbridge (of telly smallholding fame), and he demonstrated a recipe of Tomato Tarte Tatin.

Now I'm always a fan of using home grown produce, but am never that imaginative, I always need a little help in that direction.  So watching him demonstrate the recipe was great, he made it look really easy and it was a brilliant way of using up a lot of tomatoes in one go.  Here's how he, then I did it -

Ingredients -
Pack of frozen puff pastry - I've since done the recipe again and tried it with half of one slab of pastry and it worked fine.
8-10 Large tomatoes - depending on the size of your dish
1 Onion or up to six shallots
Slug of Olive oil
Several good shakes of Balsamic vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste

Heat oven to 180 degrees Centigrade, Gas 4
Slice the tomatoes horizontally - so you have the nice pattern, i.e. not down through the stalk
Chop onion finely
Heat the slug of olive oil in a large frying pan and add onion. Cook and let them caramelise slightly.
Add the tomatoes to the pan, cut side down to start with, turning them over when they just start to break down.
Grease your dish with butter, I use one that is about 20 cm across.
Roll out your pastry, then place dish on top and cut round, slightly bigger than the dish.
Add a good few shakes of balsamic vinegar to the tomato pan, plus the salt and pepper, let this cook for a minute, then take off the heat.  Take each tomato half and place cut side down in your dish, then spread the onions over, adding any juice from the pan too.
Place your pastry on the top and put in the oven for 30-40 minutes.
Take out of the oven, the pastry should be lightly browned and risen, see pic below.

Take a dinner plate and placing it over the top of the dish, then invert, to leave the tomatoes on the top and pastry on the bottom.

The finished article - juice will come out of the tomatoes, because of their freshness

I served mine with potato wedges and a side salad - all from the garden of course!  The second time I made it I used Plum sauce instead of Balsamic vinegar and it tasted excellent too.

Do let me know if you try this and what ingredients you use.  It would look fabulous with different coloured tomatoes and maybe some spring onions too for extra colour.  It's also really tasty cold - if it lasts that long!

Stats today -

Eggs produced = 12

Sales -
Nil

Expenses -
Nil