emptying the freezer

I’ve been under strict instructions to get rid of some of the fruit and veg. which is ‘cluttering up’ the freezer (her words, not mine) Accordingly I’ve had a making day today. Celery soup for lunch then I set to and had a jam making session. Mixed fruit as usual but this one has strawberries, raspberries and apples. While it was bubbling on the hob I concocted one and a half litres of blackcurrant and raspberry smoothie. Never made a fruit smoothie before and was quite surprised at how easy and tasty it is.

I can only spend so long in the kitchen before I have to get outside and do things. Had a furtle in one of the ‘Christmas’ potato sacks and uncovered a nice golf-ball size spud. They are growing so it’s now a matter of hoping for mild weather for as long as possible. Also checked some carrots growing in a bucket in the greenhouse. They don’t have a lot of top foliage but I pulled one and was surprised to find it as thick as my little finger. I got enough for a nice helping of baby carrots with our evening meal and will hopefully get at least another two meals from that bucket. I really love container growing because it allows me to extend the cropping season at both ends of the year. Having a big greenhouse also helps and I would say that some sort of glass protection should be number one on every grower’s list of priorities.

It was rather a gloomy day today so it was dark quite early but I did manage to saw up a big basket of logs for the fire before the light finally faded. Nobody likes to see pictures of grey gloom so here's last night's sunset and the four new wind turbines at Hell Rigg.

 West Cumbria has been called the 'energy coast', largely because of Sellafield and the proliferation of wind farms. They don't bother me especially but I'm sure there are more efficient means of producing electricity.