Autumnal Delights

Our jamon is a year old and I took it out of it's drying cupboard to inspect it. It looks beautiful and tastes lovely. Tim and I are very proud of it. It is slightly salty to my taste but the salt was needed for preservation and it is very edible without the use of any cooking or refrigeration so the whole process has been a success.

My beans are still drying, some for cooking and some for planting next year, most of the seed saving is over for this year and I am starting to plan my planting schedule for next year. Just more of almost everything. I want to try more pulses in the new year, lentils and chickpeas perhaps, I shall have to consult online to see what is suitable for the Galician climate. Flowers continue to bloom, these chrysanthemum cuttings were a gift and they are stunning.

  The veggie patch looks very different now, minus the climbing beans, achocha and exploding cucumbers, it all looks much flatter. I have been continuing to plant over wintering beans, brassicas and lettuces. My leeks looked great until the mole rats started eating them from underneath. There are a few left, hopefully enough for Christmas lunch. The parsnips are thriving and I am looking forward to my first ever taste of salsify, I have two thongs growing.

 The hens have produced 8 lusty chicks this year which are growing fast but proving fascinating to the dogs, the terrier in particular, so I am keeping them apart until the chicks get a bit bigger. The terrier feels the cold so he sometimes sneaks into beds when he is not supposed to. Family have been here for a fortnight and they were letting him get away with everything.

Caught on camera, he can't deny it.

Remaining Positive

I haven't blogged recently because my husband Tim has been here for the last three weeks both working and holidaying. We both find it difficult to be apart but time spent together at Petas refreshes us both spiritually and physically. He reminds me of how much progress I am actually making, fruit trees cropping, meals eaten on the patio and grown here are extra special. It has been said before but fruit and vegetables which have just been picked are really completely different from the mass produced offerings from supermarkets wrapped in plastic. The blackberry jam is superb and breakfast usually includes stewed fruit (in season) and watching the sun rise over the trees and the changing view as the light changes is magical.

The vegetable garden is becoming very Autumnal now, the squash has been uprooted, the superb field beans have been harvested, saved for seed and resown to stand over the winter. The butter beans are drying nicely and today I saved some more seeds which have been hanging from the porch roof drying for a while.
I have bare patches where summer crops were, which are waiting to be planted up with the seedlings I have raised, kale, chard, quick growing broccoli more kohl raabi and various other brassicas and some more lettuces. Winters are milder here, still some frosts but many veggies make it comfortably through to Spring, as indeed I hope I do.

A Late Summers Day

The buddleja is in full bloom, along with the oregano, carrots and mint and with the warm sun on them, the air is full of scents and alive with the humming of bees. Five minutes in the garden with a camera and I saw too many butterflies to count, bees of all kinds and sizes and several humming bird hawk moths.

Most of the butterflies will not stay still for long enough for me to identify them but there are lots in all shapes and sizes. Since I have been here I have deliberately been planting bee friendly and wildlife plants to provide both nectar and food for the caterpillars.

This one did sit still for me to get a good picture, it is a swallowtail butterfly, incredibly rare in the UK but more common here. They are very large and eyecatching.

This is a painted lady butterfly, I also saw peacocks and many others of all shapes, sizes and colours that I couldn't identify.

There were also several humming bird hawk moths,once seen never forgotten. Humming loudly they look just like humming birds but their wings move so fast, and they dart so quickly they are very difficult to photograph.

This is a picture of one I found on the internet showing you some of the detail.
I think I might be the luckiest person on earth as I seem to have found the garden of eden.