Blackberry jam and Apple Pectin

There is no artificial pectin here to make the jam set so I collected up a bag of windfall apples which I had been feeding to the neighbours sheep and set about trying to make my own pectin. It took a long time to cook them down to an apple sauce like structure and then not having any muslin to strain it through over night I had to sacrifice a white T shirt.

The jam still came out a little bit on the runny side after using the pectin but I think that is more to do with my impatience with the boiling process. Next is cider making. Most apples are left on the trees to drop as people seem to want to buy shiny, waxy, tastless varieties from the shops than pick their own. My uncle has a simple yet effective cider recipe so get ready for some explosions!

An Inconvenient Truth

I was given a copy of the Al Gore documentary on climate change - I know it's been around a while but I've only just got to watch it now. It's something you want everyone to watch. An image I couldn't get out of my mind after the film is that of the polar bears they have found drowned because they are having to swim further and further to find ice to land on. If you haven't yet seen it (or was I the only one?) then make an effort to get hold of a copy.

I have introduced the 'Piss Bucket' in the bathroom which means we don't need to pull the chain on the toilet anymore which requires the electricity to power the water pump to refill the toilet. Instead we use the bucket and empty the contents on the compost heap - anything else we still use the toilet for until we build our own dry composting toilet. I'm looking forward to reading my next copy of Permaculture Works as there is an article on what to do with our urine.

Monday 10 September

I've just been up to the bees to treat them for varoa - a little mite that has wiped out most of the bees in Europe. The idea is that if they are treated now in the Autumn they stand a better chance of getting through the winter. The varoa strips were different here. Whereas in the UK they are flexible and can be bent over the frame to hold them here they were completely rigid so just the comb was supporting them. The idea is that the bees will become treated as they walk over the strips and the mites will drop off. Maybe the strips are slightly different here as well because I had read that the mite had become resistant to some treatments. I have to remove the strips after so many weeks which is what a lot of people have not done hence they have built up a resistance.

The experiment with no wheat and no tea has been failing. I enjoy making bread and enjoy eating it even more but at least I'm making my own - now don't be rude, yest that is a loaf of bread in the picture. I managed to cut out the tea but find by mid-morning I'm looking for an excuse to have a large milky coffee! What I have stuck to has been going raw up to midday thanks mainly to the variety of fruit and juices and milkshakes.

In the garden the pumkins are coming in. I chose a variety from HDRA for their flavour rather than size but I've yet to taste them. I've got potatoes coming out of my ears from all my neighbours and my neighbours who come to stay here in the village where they grew up have been visiting for the fiestas and have given me a basket of peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers and courgettes. Have to find time to do something with it all!

Talking of fiestas there was a big one this weekend at a place called Cadeiras. Now Cadeiras is a beauty spot on a hill with picnic tables a church and a bar. It is usually deserted but this weekend it was packed. I went along with some English friends but we decided we need a lot more practise with the whole food thing. We did a typical picnic thing but we were very out done by the Spanish who had taken large tables, chairs, tents, lamb, pies, salads, lots and lots of wine, cakes etc. By the time they had decided where to put their tables we had already finished eating. Next year 'must do better'. Having said that we were the only ones walking up the hill to the event. There was not one other pedestrian or cyclist and we had three kids between us - mad English! This fiesta lasted three days with lots of food and various bands. It was lovely to see huge tables surrounded by families and friends from all over the Sober region. There are yet more fiestas to come. What great traditions and a great way of promoting the culture of the region through food, music and coming together.

Thursday 6 September

I have decided to get on my bike so twice a week I cycle my little girl to nursery. It has been great. The other day I rode on from the nursery to visit a friend who is trying to start a small organic agricultural business. I've offered to help her as a volunteer for half a day a week and to my surprise she's reciprocated the offer - an extra pair of hands and a bit of motivation from another person will be great. During the ride I thought how lucky I was to cycle through such beautiful countryside with mountains, forests and farms. It wasn't too hot as autumn is here and the leaves are starting to change colour. Today this impression was topped by a wonderful sight of a field of people digging up potatoes following the harrow pulled by two docile cows. What a good feeling this sight gave me. I'm so grateful that I've taken the time out to saviour all this. Of course I had to peddle all the way back again with a fair few up-hill gradients on the way and I really must try and get a softer saddle! Unfortunately I had no camera on me to capture this work of art so instead I am including my neighbours sheep who are escape artists.

1 september 2007

Gingo Biloba or the Maidenhair Tree is listed as one of the
Top 20 Plants by Plants for a Future http://www.pfaf.org/ who claim that it is one of the most exciting plants they are growing. I don't know if we have a female or male plant but the branches are horizontal like which apparently is an indication that it is female. Uses include food crop which are the seeds that are said to taste like a cross between chestnuts and potatoes. Other medicinal uses are sited particularly in chinese medicine. A good thing for me is that the leaves are supposed to be good for memory loss! Anyway we were determined to give this youngster a good start in life as the first addition to our forest garden. All being well it will grow up to 30 metres with a spread of 9 but it can take up to 35 years for them to be productive. Let's get planting these trees now for future generations.

The soil is quite compacted having not been cultivated for many years. It is well drained and appears to be loamy/sandy just what they like. There were quite a few stones unearthed in the digging process and it was a hot day!

We mixed some good top soil from 'the mountain' with a bit of donated chicken compost. Fitted a watering pipe and stake. We gave it a good watering and piled on the mulch which in this case is bracken as there is lots of it around here.
We placed a fence of three more posts and chicken wire around it to deter deer and boar. It was a lot of work for one tree so let's hope it grows even if it is just around 30cm a year!

I have my bees - I've had them for about three weeks now. I got a phone call one Saturday morning from 'Antonio de las abejas' only I heard 'Antonio de las ovejas' bees and sheep sound very similar the way some people say it. I soon cottoned on that we were talking bees and literally half an hour later Antonio and his wife turned up with two big colonies of bees. He helped me set up the hives in a suitable place and in the blistering heat I donned my bee suit and we transferred the angry bees into their new homes. I was very glad to be in charge of the smoker as they were not happy to have been shut in for so long. All is quiet around the hives now as they have settled in and gone about their business of making stores for winter. I have bought some strips to treat them for varoa which I will be inserting soon and some feeders to give them a bit extra before winter. Photographs to follow soon.

In the Kitchen

Our makeshift kitchen consits of a borrowed stove, washing up bowl for a sink with plastic bottle to collect water from the bathroom, store cupboards and a donated microwave. The one new item was the fridge/freezer. What have we been cooking? Well we have been foraging blackberries this week. They're not as sweet as the UK variety but we enjoy them and the blackberry pie went down very well. I have just read Steve Charter's book 'Eate More Raw' which was certainly food for thought. I am experimenting with a 50% raw diet which I started this week with a fruit breakfast. I've cut out wheat and tea (which I love). I've cut down on dairy and meat but culturally it's quite difficult to cut it out altogether as meat is a big part of food with pig killing fiestas being a big celebration. However, Steve himself lives in Spain so it is possible. I've had headaches and a sore throat for a couple of days but that could be coincidence. There are lots of greens in the garden although stray cows and escapee sheep have helped themselves to a few that I planted out on the mountain of top soil.
Apples are everywhere now - I just have to think where we can store them where our ever present mice friends cannot get to them. The neighbours who just come here for the fiestas have said I can help myself to their appples aswell.
We have in our possession a Ginko Biloba tree which I read about on the brilliant website 'Plants for a Future'. I've no idea if it is male or female but to watch it grow over the years will I'm sure give some pleasure and health benefits. I also read about the Monkey Puzzle tree which can give the biggest harvest of nuts than any other nut tree but it takes 40 years to do so. It is difficult to know which is male or female so they recommend planting about 4 (not something for the backyard).

So much to think about and so much to do!

I'm reading 'The 7 Habbits of Highly Effective People' by S. Covey. Will get back to you on that one.

Wednesday 29 August

I'm terrible at keeping up with these blogs and there are some great ones out there now to do with all things Permaculture. It's lovely to see it blossoming and spreading so much. I have been trying to create some sort of income and that is where a lot of my energy has gone during these weeks. I've been offered a space by the Asociacion de Amas de Casa to teach English in the town of Monforte which is 10 minutes down the hill from here. Now I just have to find the students. August has been a month of non-stop fiestas which are continuing into September. The amount of outdoor free musical events is amazing. A memorable one was a show of folk dancers and singers from all around the world - South America, China, Eastern Europe etc. I had an email from a fellow Permaculture Course friend discussing the loss of culture and how this can lead to violence and what role Permaculture could have in enriching and promoting culture. Here in Galicia there are always free musical events and fiestas celebrating their culture and Galicians come back form all over Europe to celebrate with their relations.

Apart from experiencing a rich culture and trying to find some students to teach I have been busy creating zone 1. Raised beds are coming along and I am shifting a mountain literally of top soil to fill these new beds. I admit I didn't design ahead and when they dug out the top soil from around the house I had it stored far to far from where I am putting the raised beds which means lots of trips with the wheelbarrow. I am nicknamed the Comi (Communist) because of the red bandana and hard labour!

The fire risk hasn't been as great this year because we've had a lot of rain compared to last year but it is something to think about in the design of this zone as we are surrounded by forest and a lot of pine. All my neighbours are saying what a bad year this has been for growing especially for tomatoes and peppers. For my first year I am quite pleased although tomatoes haven't been great - we had our first ripe one today! What has done well is my pot of basil and mystery perennial salad plant (my daughter mixed up the labels early on in the year) on the doorstep.

Other things that have done well have been the pumpkins and the beans that grew up around the corn. The corn on the other hand seems to be struggling. My neighbours have been very generous and in return with helping them with lifts to their fincas or rounding up stray sheep I've been given a good supply of potatoes, pears and wine. I also watered a finca while some neighbours were on holiday and harvested some delicious strawberries which have had a very good year. Jam was made when another neighbour asked me to help her harvest her strawberries which I willingly did.