New Neighbors

We went looking for them, but the field is very big and we couldn't see them anywhere.

You wouldn't think 10 cows would be too hard to find!
Ah, here they are sheltering from the rain (photo fails to show that - not to put to fine a point on it - it is pissing down)

A local farmer who is a friend of the previous owner has put 10 cows in one of the fields. Good for us as it will get the grass under control and good for him as his cows are getting lots of lush spring grass.

Aidan and Doug demoing the length of the grass

Barranède beer

We bottled the first batch of beer...

and got straight on with the next. The first one won't be ready to drink for a couple of weeks yet though.

We used our new glass brewing vessel for the first time. The theory is that it is better for two reasons
1.) The first foam of fermentation bubbles off out the top. This is held to take some of the 'homebrew' taste out of the beer and give less hangover
2.) It will be easier to sugar it when we come to bottle because we will decant out of this container leaving the old yeast behind and then be able to stir sugar in. We have not been able to do it like this previously as we bottled out of the container we brewed in and it would stir up the old yeast which would end up in the bottles

It looks like a crazy science experiment

Easing in to self sufficiency

We keen to grow as much of our own food as possible. Both meat and veg.
We have the pigs and Doug is currently working out at current rate of progress when they are likely to reach slaugher weight. A few months is likely. It will be a wrench sending them off as we are fond of them and they are great fun, but we are looking forward to the resulting pork and other pig products such as bacon, ham, sausages, saucisson etc and it is not part of the plan to end up with expensive pets.

We plan on getting some other animals too. Ideally things that can turn grass in to meat. The pigs should result in a great product, but they will have been fed almost exclusively on bought food to achieve this.
We will get chickens and hopefully if they free range they will manage to feed themselves a lot of what they need from insects and plants (ideally not the veg patch) and avoid becoming themselves food for the fox.

Rabbits are a good animal for turning grass in to meat (apparently) so we are considering them. However I have some qualms about whether I could look Thumper in his fluffy cute little face and kill him. Doug thinks he can, so that is the first bit dealt with - but then Thumper needs to be gutted, skinned and chopped in to pieces. I like to think I can do this, as it seems a bit hypocritical being able to eat meat but being squeamish when you consider some of the process of preparing it. In the supermarket here they sell a lot of whole but skinned rabbit, I was going to buy one but the eyes are still there and they were freakishly boggling out of the packet at me, so I wimped out and bought the deheaded and chopped in to pieces one.

Oh no! I am not cut out to be a country folk who can kill animals with a twist of my wrist etc - I will progress next time to the one with the boggly eyes and from there to one that needs gutting and skinning perhaps.
The resulting stew was very tasty and I don't want to turn vegetarian!

Apricot Jam Recipe

We wanted to have something to take with us when visiting some of the people we have met so I set about making some jam. I wasn't sure how good the apricots would be at this time of year so I just made a small batch to start with. It must be one of the simplest james to make.

Equal weight of Apricts and Sugar (eg I made 700g Apricots with 700g sugar)

Remove the stones and cut Apricts in to pieces - you can leave quite bit bits eg half an apricot or chop smaller depending how you want the jam to come out. I like big pieces of apricot in the finished jam but not too big so they are hard to keep on the bread so I usually cut in to quarters

Put in a pan and heat gently until the fruit softens.

Add sugar and bring to the boil and boil for about 15 mins

Test for a set. I do this by pulling the wooden spoon out of the jam, if it flows of in a single stream it is not ready, if it is coming of the spoon at multiple points and in drips rather than a even flow then it is ready... or use your own method...

Put in to sterilised jars (I just put the jars through the dishwasher just before I plan on using them) and top with a wax disc (I often don't bother with these as I generally make small batches that will be eaten quite quick)

Mint Cordial Recipe

Another thing we have loads of is mint. Not sure what kind. Maybe apple mint?

1 liter water
1 kg white sugar
4 handfuls of mint (it depends how strong the mint is but you need a lot otherwise it comes out a bit insipid - if it does add more citric acid or more mint)
1 tsp citic acid
1 tsp cream of tartar

Put water and sugar in a pan and heat until boiling (stir until sugar disolved)
Add mint, citric acid and cream of tartar
Cover and leave over night
Strain in to sterilised bottles (we use old swing top beer bottles straight from the dish washer)

Quater size mini batch (for sorbet)

Elderflower Cordial Recipe

There are loads of elderflower bushes in the garden (grounds, land, whatever) and we feel compelled to make things from them. Having made some Elderflower Champange we moved on to cordial which keeps longer and takes more elderflowers to make.

15 elderflower heads (remove stalks if you want - apparently they can give a bitter taste but I have never had a problem)
1 liter water
1 kg white sugar
33g citric acid (available from health food shops or brewing shops)
1/2 a lemon cut in to slices

Mix sugar and water in a pan and bring to the boil (stir until sugar dissolved)
Boil for a few minutes
Turn heat off and add citric acid, sliced lemon and elder heads
Cover and leave over night
Strain and bottle in to sterilised bottles (we use old swing top beer bottles and sterilise by running through dish washer)

Elderflower Champagne Recipe

This recipe isn't alcoholic but is a lovely summer drink nevertheless. There are various ideas on the internet for cocktails with it if you must have alchoholic.
There is some reaction between the alchohol and the vinagar that I don't understand and would be interested if anyone knows what it is. On occasions we have had a bottle turn gloopy so that when we pour it it is like very runny jelly, I think this is related to this reaction and goes away if you just leave it.

6 large heads of elderflower
600g sugar
10 liters of water
2 lemons
4 tablespoons white wine vinager (or cider vinager or red wine or whatever you have)
A pinch of bread yeast if you want to be sure of a quick start
10 liters worth of bottles strong enough for fizzy drinks (eg fizzy water bottles - using glass not a good idea as the pressure can get high)

Juice the lemons and keep the skins.
Put everything (including the lemon skins) in to a container (eg a plastic food grade bucket or large pan).
Cover and leave over night
Strain through a sieve in to bottles

Ready to drink in about 2 weeks. You might want to release the pressure in the bottles a few times as you don't want them exploding.
We find that they are best drunk fairly quickly and do not keep very well as they become too dry (but not in a nice way). Some people report however that it gets better with keeping.

This is a mini 3.3 liter batch