Another busy week! Making up for the rain of last week we’ve been cracking on with the first part of our grape harvest and wine making. Harvesting and produce preservation continues, with tomatoes and quinces still being top of my processing list.
Volunteer Marjolein has been filming this week, which has given Jeroen a marvellous excuse for sporting a ridiculous hat. Doesn’t every good permaculturist have one?! You’ll have to wait for the film to see it!
Left to right, top to bottom:
1) Minnow, enjoying the sun whilst waiting for a mouse to jump out at him.
2) Krisztián doing a spot of landscaping. Filling in holes and flattening the path to make easier tractor access.
3) It’s a rubbish photo, but I couldn’t resist the colours of this chap who joined me in the outside kitchen for a whole day.
4) I’m trying to find the English name for this plant, known as ‘espargo‘ when we buy it at the local market. You eat the growing tips cooked like spinach, it has red berries, climbs vigorously and has a thick white root like a small parsnip.
5) Marjolein at work.
6) I spent a panicked half hour looking for this kitten, before finding it under the big cats! Three kittens need new homes? Can you offer one?
7) Love the colour of the pumpkins Charlie is harvesting here. Wishing we’d planted more squashes of all types this year as they’re a useful storing veg for both people and animals.
8) I’ve been making lots of quince jelly, which I should probably name quince honey instead as we like it runny. The goats have been loving the ‘waste’ product.
9) Rain showers have made dehydrating outside challenging, so I’m pleased to have a fabulous electric dehydrator to fall back on. currently drying pepper slices, halved yellow cherry tomatoes and raspberries.
10) Grape harvest.
11) And squishing the grapes the traditional way. This is the first batch of grapes which should produce about 180 litres of wine. Much more to come!
12) First fermentation. Look at those bubbles!
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