After all the terrible weather we’ve been having this summer (the past week being no exception) it looks like we’re finally getting some sun! It’s been dry enough to start burning the garden waste we’ve been collecting, and the sun is helping to ripen the orchard fruit – albeit a little sooner than we anticipated. Perfect timing though for completing our Food Hygiene and allergy awareness courses last weekend, as we’ve ended up spending a couple of evenings and a large chunk of the weekend inside cooking down the fruit into chutneys, cakes and jellies (the green plum chutney seems to have worked well; but the crabapple jelly was a bit disappointing, with very little fruit juice coming out of the first batch making less than 3 jars).
We’ve also started our first batch of infused gin and vodka – it’s a nice way to do something different with the fruit and give us new flavours to try in cocktails. We’ve infused with damson before but not plum – no idea why not! Hopefully it’ll taste good.
Because of the bugs and birds spoiling the fruit on the trees, and then something (that looks suspiciously like our uninvited back garden rabbit has found its way into the orchard) munching on the windfall, we get a lot more unusable fruit than we’d like. This year has been worse than previous ones – partly because of the early sun and recent rain making the fruit too heavy so it falls before it’s ripe, and partly because we’ve not had time to feed the trees as much as we did last year. It’s a back-breaking task to pick it all up, but at least it’s good for the compost and tries to keep the wasps and slugs out of the main orchard. We’ve now learnt to recognise bug-infected fruit by the clear jelly-like deposit that’s left on the skin of the plum/damson at the point of entry – we don’t always spot them but we’re getting better for sure!
We managed to get some time in the garden over the weekend – planting out the seedlings that have been waiting for space and ironically, some we’ve held back until the hot weather passed – our cauliflower and broccoli usually just bolt when we plant them out earlier. It’s relieving to see the greenhouse start to clear just as the fruit (and many of the vegetables) is ready to harvest – otherwise we’d be so far behind our chores that there’s always an underlying feeling of stress.
Our builders have been somewhat hampered by the rain too, mainly focusing on ‘indoor’ jobs – although I spotted our stonemasons heroically mixing mortar in the pouring rain huddled under waterproofs one day. The first floor of our garage/communal building is taking shape – the breeze blocks are up to shoulder height now with the insulation in place, and the stone walls are coming along (as much as the weather allows).
The insulation is also down on the floor of the shippon, ready for the underfloor heating and screed to go down and out builders have marked on the insulation the areas not to lay the pipes over (such as our kitchen cupboards). I’m a little disappointed as I was really looking forward to doing this ourselves (laying the underfloor heating), but apparently this would invalidate the warranty, so we’re leaving it to the builders. We have enough to do ourselves as it is. Our builders have also put in the slate sill for our large lounge window, which is looking really nice and should now be ready for the glass to arrive.
The top floor of the farmhouse has been progressing too – all the insulation is now in and most of the bedrooms are plasterboarded (the landing is left to do). Each bit of insulation needs to be cut to fit perfectly between the rafters so it takes time – especially when the insulation boards are enormous to start. The rain hasn’t helped as the builders haven’t been able to cut the boards up outside where there’s space and fresh air, so they’ve had to carry them upstairs and manoeuvre them within the space they’re working in. The shower room is gradually being built up too – as well as the shower controls and cubicle, we now have a toilet cistern buried in the wall. We don’t know how much of the work is being done in this order because our builders are being held back by the weather, or whether this is the right order to build a new room in. It’s fascinating though!
Ley Farm Cottages 