trying to keep on top....

At this time of year I seem to be working flat out to keep on top of harvesting and finding something to do with all the produce coming from the garden. Every day we go out and pick a load of peas to eat straight from the pods but after a couple of days away I came back to find loads of pods bursting with fat peas. Past their best for eating fresh so tonight I made some pea soup.

A lot of stuff is going straight into the freezer and I'll figure out what to do with it when things calm down a bit. Luckily we have a large commercial chest freezer which we got from the village shop when it closed a few years ago. At first we didn't think we'd ever fill it but, as most of you know, the feast period of summer soon gives way to winter's famine and it's nice to know that there's always something we can turn into a meal (as long as the electricity keeps flowing!)

We’ve had very warm weather for the past week so I’ve been frantically trying to keep all the containers supplied with water. Even after lifting all the early potatoes I’ve still got seventy-four containers with crops in them. I revitalize the potato compost with BFB and chicken manure and recycle it for things like salad crops, turnips and chard, and more spuds which I’m hoping will give us new potatoes in the winter.

Her indoors is having a well-earned rest at the caravan. I'm never sure if the rest is from me or world in general! Anyway, when I took her through I had a wander along the river and photographed this heifer. Those big eyes always seem to make them look sad. Perhaps they have an inkling of their fate.