Catching up

ETA:  Even more apologies for not replying to your lovely comments.  It´s an issue of logging in to Blogger through Google, I think.  But I have yet to figure out how to get around it.  Sorry!


Apologies for not posting in so long.  I´ve been busy with the flower farm and trying to minimize the destruction of the puppy princess.  Add to that ongoing family drama and there´s little time for blogging.


We´ve had a very unpredictable spring in terms of weather.  Heat waves in February and May, lately cold snaps and ¨cyclogenesis explosivos¨ or cold front rainstorms with high winds.  We even had a frost yesterday, in the middle of June.

It seems to me that I´ve been blogging about the garden for so long, and I don´t want to bore those who aren´t interested.  I have been visiting florists and the reception has been generally positive, though orders are non-existant.  I need to work on selling.

The latest culinary project is chive infused vinegar.  Very simple to make, it´s about 1 cup of chive flowers to 1 1/2 cups of white vinegar.  Crush the flowers (fresh and not too past their peak) before adding the vinegar.  Let sit 2 weeks at room temperature in dark storage.  Strain and ready for use on salads.  It turns a beautiful pink color.  I´m going to give more thought to edible flowers.

Briga continues to be a challenge at eight months.  Now weighing in at 30 kilos, her latest obsession, aside from digging and stealing footwear to chew on, is climbing.  We found her up on the ¨roof¨ of the barn the other day.  V nearly broke his neck getting her down.  At least the enclosure around the flower patch is finished and seems to be working.  Fingers crossed.

In other news, there are projects on the horizon.  I desperately need a space to store craft stuff and process harvested flowers, so I´m studying the Swedish empire catalogue for cabinets to finish the laundry area.  And we may finally see progress on the barn this summer.  Stay tuned.

Galicia remains bewitchingly beautiful, and thankfully far away from the horrors which dominate the news.  I´ve planted tomatoes, onions, carrots and green beans, along with more flowers.  The roses have been particularly spectacular this year. We have firewood that should see us through the end of the year.  Breo continues to be a miracle of patience and loyalty, especially when I´d like to strangle his little sister.

2018 in Review

It´s time again for that year in review post.

I´m afraid not much on the list of 2018 got done - again.  Once again, economics got in the way of the bigger projects.

No well.
No barn.
No laundry room.

But, I did make progress on the flower farm.  Didn´t sell anything at the market as they have a waiting list and a 2 page long list of administrative requirements, but I gave away several nice bouquets to neighbors (bonus points for social engagement), had lots for guests over the summer, started up an Instagram account, refocused the Romanesca Facebook page and got actual enquiries from other businesses.  Met some guys in Pontevedra who are absolutely deeeelightful and have exactly the same interests in wild, organic flowers and greenery that I do.  They are keeping me sane and giving me hope.  If you´re in Pontevedra check out Indigobygm.  And, I´m in a Whatsup chat with several other women who are flower farming around Spain, so I can ask questions and get experienced answers.  Thank you social media!  Did a lot of reading and planted a bunch of seeds and bulbs/corms in the fall for Spring 2019.

And Breo is now enrolled in school at Montegatto, in Oza dos Rios.  We´ve signed up for 10 classes with the trainer, who will help us out on basic obedience and getting him to cooperate a little more on the leash.

And finally, we brought home Briga!  She is growing apace, and starting to settle down into a good puppy.  Not quite so much ferocious biting, lots more tail wagging and we´re tremendously relieved she sleeps through the night now.  We´ll be applying what we learn with Breo to her, and hope to have 2 well-behaved, well-adjusted canine companions by summertime.

In the meantime, we´re stocking up on more firewood during this frosty spell.  Now looking at two weeks of rainy weather, and so, so much more weeding to do.

And started some sweet pea seeds for planting out in a few weeks.  Onward and upward.

Happy Holidays!

This was the best I could do this year.

Because then this happened.

Wishing all of you a happy, healthy 2019!!

In the garden

The new intern, while enthusiastic, has trouble following instructions and something of a problem with authority.

Mushroom season

Whilst we are incorporating Briga into the routine, getting anything done is a challenge.  So I thought I´d just post some photos of the mushrooms Breo and I have seen on our morning walks.  This seems to be a cracking year with so much rain in November.

I don´t know much about fungi. There´s a lot I don´t know about a lot of stuff, and frankly, mushrooms aren´t high on the list.  I don´t pick them for two reasons - 1.  I would no doubt poison myself directly and 2.  There are lots and lots of more knowledgeable people around who do, so I figure I should leave the ones I see to repopulate.  They are really beautiful and interesting in their range of shapes and sizes, so here is a selection.

A change in the weather

As predicted, no sooner had we put up the clothesline than the weather changed.  First, a plunge in temperatures with snow on the hilltops, then wet and rainy.

Leaves are starting to turn and mushrooms are popping up all over.  The woodstove is crackling.

Fortunately, the rain means the burn ban has been lifted, so we got 2 years worth of trimmings and weeds out of the way.  Last year, it started to rain in November, didn´t quit until May and something always prevented us from doing it when we had a permit number up to July when burning is banned for the summer, so at least we´ve gotten something accomplished.  This, after moving a pile of beams, will allow for expansion of the growing space.  Assuming it stops raining.

Musings on mulch.  I was delighted to find straw at one of the ag stores and bought some for mulch on paths and beds.  Unfortunately, as you can see, it doesn´t do the job.  And it also provides cover for the d@mn voles.  So off will come the straw from the beds and I will hand weed.

Got the foxgloves and the early sweet peas in.  Next up are the aquilegias, dutch iris and tulips.  And I´m unsure about when to dig and lift the dahlias, as they need a hard frost and there´s no telling whether we´ll get one or when.

And sadly, I learned of the sudden death of an old friend from my university days in Texas.  She broadened my horizons and deepened my understanding, both valuable things in your twenties.  I reconnected with her again after 20 odd years via social media, and learned of her passing the same way.  I always thought someday she´d come over and we´d share some good food and better conversation.  RIP Tipler, you´ll be missed. Suddenly, these misty autumn days are more poignant and melancholy.

And furthermore

Small improvements.  After discussing for years where it should go, we finally got a clothesline up.  Just in time for the weather to turn, and we´ll probably have to dry clothes inside anyway.

We had the posts made at a metalworks down the road. The trick was keeping it relatively close to the house, but out of potential traffic patterns, and far enough from the trees to avoid bird droppings.  Now lots of space for sheets and pairs of jeans.

The roses are giving their final performance.  Here, Apricot Nectar celebrates the cooler temperatures with an explosion of apricot. She seems to be hitting her stride in her third year.

The electrical crews came and laid waste to the areas under the high tension wires.  These guys don´t mess around!  It seems to me they might as well put down some grass and give a concession to a shepherd as pay a team of guys with heavy equipment every few years.  By next spring, this will all be bracken again.

Tasks in the garden are bringing in the (very few) pumpkins, taking out the remains of the veg, reconditioning the beds and planting fall bulbs.  The daffodils are the only bulbs that come back here, and I thought it was lack of chilling hours.  But since the voles ate half the carrot harvest and did some damage to the potatoes, now I think they ate all the tulips and crocus that were planted.

Fencing barriers and layers of grit aren´t practical in my cut-flower context.  My dear friend W, brought me a bottle of castor oil from my favorite chemist shop in Madrid on a recent visit, and I´m going to try a mix of oil, dishwashing liquid and water as a vole repellent.  I read that cats are the only reliable method of control, but Breo has vetoed that option.

In local news, a friend had an unplanned litter of puppies, so I figured flowers were appropriate for becoming a new ¨grandma¨.  More on this anon.

The sad, wet remnants of hurricane Michael are passing over this week.  Hopefully, the fire ban will be lifted and we can get the burn pile taken care of.  After that, I´m hoping to call the tractor guy to expand the planting area again and then I´ll have until next spring to trench, shape the beds and fence. 

Fall preps

Happy Equinox!

My favorite time of the year has begun.  The light is so lovely on our morning walks.

Busy times.  Still canning/bottling from the veg plot.  The courgettes/zucchinni are on their last and the pumpkin harvest this year looks miserable, perhaps 2 or 3.  The roses are doing their fall flush and the dahlias are still flowering, but shorter.  Ripping out the old annual flowers, bringing in manure and prepping new beds. Trying a little seed saving.

We bought in the firewood and stacked it in V´s latest structure.  Such a good feeling having it on hand.

I´ve been seeding hardy annuals, and the biannual starts that germinated.  I really need a course in seed starting, my germination percentage is miserable.  The ranunculus, iris and tulip order is on the way.  Not so many tulips as the ones I´ve planted around come up about 3 inches and then disappear forever.  Perhaps not enough chilling.

Still need to start the sweet peas for next spring. Garlic and grelos (beet greens) will be a project for October.

Hope your fall harvests are spectacular!

Cooking with gas

The guests have gone home, the mornings have an autumn chill, and I have veg and fruit to deal with.

The good news is that the tomatoes and tomatillos produced after all!  I took the advice offered and just waited to see if I´d get a crop, and while a number were brown and blotchy from the blight, there are quite a few perfectly acceptable tomatoes.  There is also, for the first time, some blossom end rot.

Mostly it´s obvious, as in the upper case here.  But, I have also found rot inside some that were apparently perfect on the outside, just as a word to the wise.  One of the benefits of quartering and roasting the tomatoes before saucing, I guess.

The tomatillos finally sized up on the ones I planted earliest.  Also roasted for salsa.  If only there were some cilantro left, but it all bolted weeks ago.  Hoping for at least one more picking and will try mixing in some golden tomatoes to the pan.

The potatoes were small and not very numerous and a number were nibbled.  As were these, so I pulled them all.  No sense encouraging the varmints.

And it´s a great apple year.  So I tried another apple pie recipe from Smitten Kitchen - Dutch Apple Pie, and I´m glad to report that it´s delish, and our apples didn´t turn to mush in the oven!

The crust is interesting on this one, more like cookie dough and not as elastic as short crust, and I´m afraid I rolled it out too thin, it wanted to collapse in the latticing.  And I had no raisins on hand, so I threw in a handful of walnuts.  But tasty, nonetheless, and I may be enjoying it for breakfast.

Hope your harvests are plentiful!