Archive for Uncategorized
February 16, 2009 at 11:51 am
· Filed under Gardening, children, food
There’s one sure way to get the kids out of the house on a cold February Sunday… all their dad had to do was ask if they wanted to have a camp-fire!
All children are latent pyromaniacs, and there hasn’t been such a rush for the wellies the entire winter. Both of them worked as hard as they could for the next hour clearing up the garden collecting kindling. Ian pretty much left them to it; they built a perfect fire, lit it themselves and then looked after it. When gnawing hunger distracted them they had a bowl of chilli but never left their positions on either side of the fire.
They decided to do some experiments in cooking fruit, and set up a production line chopping up fruit, mixing in raw cane sugar and wrapping them up in tin foil before placing them carefully in the embers. They quickly mastered the timing and Ian and I ate delicious caramelised apples followed by sticky toffee bananas (apparently they tried oranges too but didn’t like the results).
All in all the kids were outside for almost 6 hours; they didn’t come in until it was almost dark and the fire had all but gone out. They were covered in soot and ash and smelt of smoke, but they had such a lovely day!
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February 11, 2009 at 12:16 pm
· Filed under Uncategorized
Does anyone know why I can no longer see Stonehead’s blog? Every day when I try to look at it I get a screen saying “this blog is protected” and asking me to log on.
Is it just me? Have I lost the plot or the ability to use a computer?
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January 27, 2009 at 2:31 pm
· Filed under downshifting, france, self-sufficiency, work
I know I’ve been a bit quiet recently, but that’s just because I’ve been job hunting. I’ve finally drained the bank-manager of any good-will he may once have had, emptied out every piggy-bank and searched behind every sofa… and come to the sad conclusion that there is just no more money. And as it’s too cold to stand on the street-corner in a miniskirt I thought an office job might not be such a bad alternative to starvation.
People often think it’s “idyllic” to be living in rural France, watching chickens scratch around under the apple tree whilst sipping a large glass of wine; but of course that only happens for about 5 minutes per year and the rest of the time is spend struggling to survive. It’s not that I mind not having bought a single item of clothing for 3 years, not having been to the hairdresser for 5 years and not having had a holiday for 7 years – it’s just that the relentless brokeness gets very boring after a while and when the house has barely got itself above 12 degrees for the past 3 months even the hardiest of us can start to feel a little run down.
Luckily there’s absolutely nothing happening in the garden at this time of the year, even digging new beds is a no-no at the moment, so I hope to spend the rest of winter padding around in a warm office drinking endless cups of tea and ruining my already terrible sight with bright computer screens. I may even take to wearing shoes instead of wellies, and if things go really well I might even brush my hair and buy clothes that aren’t shapless sacks. I might even grow my nails!… no, no, sorry I got a little carried away there!
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November 21, 2008 at 9:48 am
· Filed under Gardening, downshifting, food, france, organic, permaculture, planting, self-sufficiency, smallholding, veg
Another computer meltdown puts my blog-writing on hold for a couple of weeks, but I haven’t been idle and will try to update things as soon as possible.
Firstly, the veg patch… and as things have slowed down a little in the garden (though not anywhere else!) it’s time to take stock of how well things grew and start planning next year’s growing.
I tried chard and sweetcorn for the first time this year, and was very impressed by the results. Not only did they do well on our terrible soil but they were easy to grow and tasty to eat. Next year I should have much more land turned over so I’ll be able to grow them in greater quantities.
Chard (perpetual spinach)
This chard (or ‘leaf beet’) was bought from Real Seeds. It’s like the ’spring greens’ many of us used to eat as children. If you leave the leaves they will grow really huge and develop a big, fleshy central stem, but I pick them when they are still young (maybe the size of my hand). I started them off in pots early in the year and they are still growing very well now – a few leaves go in almost every meal. I’ve never had success growing spinach here because the soil doesn’t retain enough moisture and the plants go to seed the second they pop their heads out of the soil. Chard, with a taste very similar to spinach (nicer, ever, I would say) grows absolutely fine here, and whilst some have now gone to seed the vast majority are still growing normally and very productively. They don’t seem to interest the slugs much either, so generally the leaves are perfectly intact.
Sweetcorn
I made sure I had enough seeds to plant a good-sized block of sweetcorn, as I know this is the only way to get well-pollinated plants. All together I had around 100 plants, producing lovely medium-sized cobs. This variety was Golden Bantam, but I have so little experience growing corn that I can’t really comment on the variety’s faults or merits as I have nothing to compare it to. However, the plants grew well and the corn was crispy and sweet, I have no complaints! Despite being a greedy plant for both nutrients and water, the sweetcorn grew really well on the patch of ground I had barely prepared for it. For the first week after planting (soaked seeds directly into the soil) I watered daily but after that they received no extra water at all, so I was surprised to get such an abundant crop. I also tried the classic permaculture technique of planting the corn with cucurbits – this time pumkins – and the plants have grown very well together. However, planting corn and beans was less successful as the corn wasn’t nearly as high as the beans wanted to climb and they tended to climb in all different directions turning the whole thing into a tangled mess! I think this combination works better in hot countries where the corn grows quicker and taller and produces a more convenient ‘pole’ for the beans.
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October 31, 2008 at 5:29 pm
· Filed under Gardening, downshifting, food, france, housekeeping, permaculture, self-sufficiency, smallholding, veg
It’s Halloween, an appropriate day to nominate the Smelly Smallholding’s Daftest Vegetable of the Year 2008. This is a pumpkin which decided to grow inside a pallet!
Luckily the others where more conformist and have stuck to a classic pumpkin shape. This year I grew a variety called ‘Rouge Vif d’Etampes‘ – dating apparently from 1700 and sometimes known as the ‘Cinderella pumkpin’ (its shape inspired the Walt Disney classic), it is also the most commonly grown pumpkin in France.
They have been delicious and very productive (so much so we ate lots when they were small) and the ones I left have grown to a good size, just right for making pumpkin heads on Halloween. All in all a very good variety and definitely one I will grow again.
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October 27, 2008 at 4:18 pm
· Filed under art, christmas, diy, forsale, shop
It’s almost that time of year again, time to start thinking about interesting and eco-friendly ways to decorate the house. I’ve started collecting cones and various objects from nature that will look nice on our tree, and I’ve made some apple pomanders which are drying over the stove.
If you’d like something a little different for your tree, why not buy some of these beautiful, original and hand-made christmas/yule decorations.
They are made from wool felt and stuffed with cotton, with sequin or bead detailing – each measuring 9cm across. They come as a set of 4. Each is hand stitched (no machines!) and the motif is on both sides. They are a beautiful and natural way to decorate your festive tree and will last for years and years.
A set of 4 costs just 20 euros (plus just 3 euros post and packing to anywhere in the world). If you would like to send them as a gift, just ask and they can be gift-wrapped.
Please note colours may vary from those in the photos, but the overall design will be the same.
Remember, they are made by hand to order, so get in quick or you may miss out! Click here to place your order and pay with paypal.
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October 22, 2008 at 8:55 am
· Filed under Gardening, downshifting, family, food, france, housekeeping, recipe, self-sufficiency, smallholding, veg
I was inspired by Stonehead’s latest batch of chow-chow making; but as I don’t have any green tomatoes left I decided to develop my own version of a cabbage-based pickle. I have also grown Stonehead cabbages this year (‘Tête de Pierre’, if you’re French) and they came out very white, really crispy and totally delicious.
So, here’s my pickled cabbage recipe. It’s for hardened pickle lovers – nice and tart – and I’ve added the apples as we’re in Normandy and everyone is giving away unwanted apples!
I’ve also, as promised, started to type up my other preserve recipes and you’ll find them under the ‘how to’ section of the Smelly Smallholding site.
Pickled Cabbage
- 1 large cabbage, sliced
- 2 red peppers, sliced
- 4 large cooking apples, sliced
- 6 onions, sliced
- 1 litre cider vinegar
- 1 tsp each of whole peppercorns, ground ginger, mustard powder
- 8 – 10 oz sugar depending on your tastes
- salt
Slice the vegetables and place in a large pot. Sprinkle over a good tablespoon of salt and mix in. Leave for 3 hours and then drain off the liquid. Put the spices in the vinegar (not in a spice bag) and simmer for 10 minutes. Pack the vegetables into warmed, sterile jars. Pour over the vinegar while still hot and seal. Ready to eat after a week.
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October 10, 2008 at 2:46 pm
· Filed under building, diy, downshifting, france, permaculture, renovation, self-sufficiency, sustainability
I promised a picture of the new fireplace, and here it is!
Obviously it’s not quite finished yet (what project here ever is?!) but we’ve restored the old stone pillars, plonked a gorgeous oak beam on top (locally sourced, well-aged and only 50 euros!) and Ian has been my hero once again and rebuilt the top bit with bricks we reclaimed from the fireplace that was knocked down. It’s not as deep as the old fireplace, and we’ve raised the height of the mantelpiece so that we can fit in our ‘new’ woodburning stove (which has made a dramatic difference to the temperature around here!). It may not be a beautiful stove to many people, but it really chucks out the heat and the way it’s built should last another 100 years!
The back of the fireplace behind the stove and the new brickwork has had two coats of lime paint (see recipe). There is talk of it one day having a top-coat of lime-green, but for now I like the soft-white of uncoloured lime paint so I’m holding fire on that decision.
The yellow wall just visible on the right will eventually get knocked down, and I still haven’t polished up the hearth stones, but we’re about 90% of the way there!
before…
and after…
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September 28, 2008 at 11:11 am
· Filed under building, diy, downshifting, france, permaculture, renovation, self-sufficiency, sustainability
One of the few things I hated about our new house (I still call it new although we’ve been here two and a half years!) was the fireplace. Our house is a 19th century peasant hovel built from local limestone and the chimney would have been an extremely simple affair made from plain, dressed limestone. Unfortunately, some idiot decided at some point during the 60s or 70s to build a new fireplace, and this is what I’ve been scowling at since we moved in.
Now, I’ve mentioned my feelings about the fireplace once or twice (a day) to Ian who has resisted the temptation to knock it down because he so rightly knew just how much work it would involve, and how much time it would take him to rebuild it all afterwards. But a couple of weeks ago I managed to catch him off-guard just long enough to agree that the darn thing would have to go!
It’s not just the aesthetics that I’ve been worried about; open fires like this are a notoriously inefficient way to heat a house. Last winter we got through huge amounts of firewood and yet the temperature in our kitchen was barely affected – all the heat goes up the chimney. This winter we are determined to be warmer and, amongst other heat-efficiency projects, installing a wood-burning stove will make a huge difference to our ability to heat the kitchen (which is our main living area too).
These snap-shots make it look like a quick and easy job, but in fact it took three of us the whole weekend to dismantle everything and clean up afterwards…
And unbelievably we discovered part of the original fireplace (the two outer “pillars”) underneath the crazy-paving monstrosity we so enjoyed pulling down.
I’ve since bought a new mantelpiece and this week Ian will rebuild the upper part of the chimney-breast. We’ve been given a very old but powerful wood-burning stove (a De Dietrich) which, whilst it may not be quite as beautiful or efficient as a modern stove is miles better than the open fire. New pics coming soon…
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September 24, 2008 at 1:16 pm
· Filed under downshifting, environment, permaculture, self-sufficiency, smallholding, sustainability, toilets
You’ll remember the saga of the blocked septic tank (fosse septique) and our subsequent removal of our normal flushing toilet for a compost (or sawdust) toilet.
Well, we’ve just had our bi-annual water bill and our water consumption over the past six months was half that of the previous period – 46 cubic metres instead of 100.
I’m pretty pleased with that. Not only do I pay less but we’ve managed to reduce consumtion despite having a constant stream of visitors since May (and all four of us having baths since there is currently no shower facility in the main house). As use of the compost loo is going well in all other respects, halved water bills is just another nail in the coffin of the ‘normal’ toilet! With a little more thoughtfullness, re-installing the shower and a couple more water butts in the garden I think we could reduce our consumption even further.
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