Christmas break, 2018

Spring cabbages, Nov 2018

Well, overall it's been a productive year;  I managed a full six months without buying vegetables and still have enough to tide us over for the near future.  I feel like I've earned this Christmas break and am looking forward to a homegrown feast including vegetables, eggs and homebrew.

I'll be back on Tuesday the 8th of January, 2019, with the food totals for December 2018, and later on with the grand total for the year.  Until then, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Lessons in self reliance

Big and tasty, Nov 2018

Over the past two years, documenting my gardening successes and failures, I've learned a lot about becoming self reliant.  Although I've been documenting my vegetable harvests for several years, I'd only begun my No Buy Veg Challenge and that first year showed me the importance of preserving the excess.  In terms of self reliance, while growing food during winter is helpful, preserving food for winter is key.

When first I challenged myself to five months without buying vegetables, the last month was particularly difficult.  I hadn't saved enough summer food to tide us over once the main beds stopped producing.  This was a big mistake, and a big lesson to learn.

In 2018, I made the decision to relinquish the pleasure of eating certain vegetables fresh in order to preserve them for winter.  We ate very little fresh turnip or beet, as I pickled most of what I grew (though not a particularly large harvest, unfortunately).  Every tender cabbage heart went to make sauerkraut--only the tough outer leaves were cooked fresh.  When we were sick of chard, I was still picking it to dry for later (though at the time I doubted we'd be able to eat it all, I'm now very glad I did).  Even the best French and runner beans were salted away;  it was important to me to have a variety of different vegetables put up.


I hope that in the near future, with the addition of my new allotment, I will have the ability to grow specifically for preserving, rather than skimming off the top of the summer harvest.  It will take some planning, but I will be trying it this coming year.

What's left?

Purple sprouting broccoli, nicely staked, Nov 2018

While 2018's No Buy Vegetable Challenge is over, that's not to say the vegetables are over.  We're still eating from the garden every day, whether fresh or preserved.  I'm saving the last big green squash (picked in September) for Christmas dinner--the Brussels sprouts too:  they're still hanging out in the Holding bed, waiting to be harvested.  In fact, we'll probably have some fresh chard and/or celery for Christmas while we're at it.

I didn't harvest a lot in November, but we ate plenty from our stores:  all but one of the big squashes (plus the little Halloween pumpkin), some dried chard and kale, two big jars of sauerkraut as well as some frozen cabbage, a big jar of zuccini relish, and more. 

I still have a lot of dried chard (it goes best crumbled into a stew), two small jars of pickled beetroot, another full jar of sauerkraut, and the big batch of salsa I've finally made, now that I'm allowed bought onions.  Actually, there's half a jar of fermented salsa fresca still in the fridge which I'm savoring as slowly as possible (it's so tasty, and I won't be able to make it till next autumn/late summer).

In the allotment, December 2018

Cabbage cutting (not at the allotment), Nov 2018

I'm gradually adding to the sheet mulch at the allotment;  between a quarter and a third of it is now covered, smothering grass (and some nettles, thistles and dock).  A fellow allotmenteer gave me some big sheets of cardboard, and I'm collecting boxes from work--about four at a time, none particularly big!  Well, it's better than nothing.  I also collect weeds and trimmings from the communal waste area, to pile on top of the cardboard;  this weighs it down (the cardboard smothers weeds underneath and also prevents new seeds germinating);  it will also compost slowly in place, adding to soil fertility.  The husband set up a ramshackle compost bin from pallets;  some of these trimmings go here too, and hopefully we'll have a bit of compost next year.

Four of my chickens are still tractoring the uncovered portion, strip by strip.  I think they're a bit fed up, now it's cold, wet and dark;  all of them are either currently or have just finished molting--none are laying. 

There is one bed with Savoy cabbages in it still, also growing grass and a thistle or two;  I keep hoeing, but I think they're winning.  A couple of the smallest cabbages have disappeared, but the rest are holding on.  Earlier in autumn, the husband brought home a few big sacks of spent coffee grounds from a cafe at his work, which he generously mulched them with--most of it has been incorporated into the soil now (hoeing, rain, but hopefully earthworms too).  It really could do with some cardboard as well, but I don't want to attract the slugs.  Instead, I better ask the husband for more coffee grounds.

November 2018 garden notes

Brassicas bed, Nov 2018

Roots

Harvested the (small) early leeks; they're not frost hardy, so had to pick them despite their size.  Long season/perennial leeks even smaller:  none of these harvested yet.

Started picking the celery:  good size, though not as big as last year.  Plenty more growing for the winter.

Planted 87 garlic cloves (from own grown garlic) in 2019's Roots bed (2018's  Brassicas).

Spread a load of partly composted chicken bedding (manure and straw) over the empty sections of this bed.

Peas and beans

Runner bean plants still standing, slowly maturing a few pods for seed;  one pod collected this month.

Brassicas

Staked purple sprouting broccoli, and attempted to stake Brussels sprouts.  Harvested a few sprouts this month, but no broccoli yet.  Harvested last cauliflower:  good size.

Transplanted curly kale out of the Holding bed to Brassicas and staked.  None harvested this month.

New spring cabbages growing a little;  the six in the cold frame more strongly than those in the garden.  Savoys at the allotment still growing, despite half of them wilting last month (some degree of wilting remains this month, and a couple have died).  Cabbage cuttings, few kohlrabi and Tuscan kale all growing slowly.  Harvested a small amount of cabbage regrowth (from last year's plants) this month.

Miscellaneous

Still picking a small amount of leaf lettuce, miners and lambs lettuces, and spring onion this month: all in containers.

Finished the achocha harvest (finally) by the end of the month, though the plants still left in situ.  Aztec broccoli finished, but also not cleared away--hopefully to drop seed for next year.

Harvested a couple regular and cherry tomatoes--a few more hanging on at the end of the month, despite most of the plants succumbing to frost.  Harvested a couple more red chilis, with some still ripening on the plants at the end of the month.

Harvested a modest amount of chard throughout the month.

Fruit

Nearly all fruit trees and bushes gone dormant by the end of the month, though there were still a few flowers and one tiny fruit on the yellow raspberry.  Finished eating the Sparta apples in storage.

Perennials and herbs

Only thyme and chives still have leaves by the end of November;  all other herbs finished/gone dormant.

All perennials gone dormant/died (hard to tell the difference this time of year), except artichoke which has strong new growth from the base;  I cut down the old growth at the end of the month.

I brought home some asparagus ferns with berries from the allotment communal waste, and put them down whole, covered, in my own Perennials section, but I think my three chickens might have found and eaten them all.  Also repatriated a handful of Jerusalem artichoke tubers;  not sure about the current state of these either;  the three chickens are free ranging through the whole of the garden, sans veg beds.

November 2018 Food Totals

Still ripening, Nov 2018

Vegetables:

8 oz salad greens (leaf lettuce, lambs and miners lettuces, baby chard)
4 oz runner beans
23 oz achocha
6 oz leeks
2.5 oz cabbage
0.5 oz spring onion
2 oz chili pepper
3.5 oz chard
9 oz celery
1 oz nasturtium leaves
29 oz cauliflower (including leaves)
7.5 oz Brussels sprouts
4.5 oz tomatoes

Total: 100.5 oz, or 6 lb 4.5 oz

Note:  I weigh all my vegetables after preparation:  peeling, trimming, etc.  Does not include some fresh herbs which were too small a quantity to weigh, i.e. less than 0.5 oz.

Fruit: 

No fruit harvested this month

Eggs:

Total: 21 eggs from 5 hens
Total feed bought: 2 bag layers pellets (40 kg)

Preserves:

1/4 very small jar fermented hot sauce
9 medium jars unsweetened applesauce (from a neighbor's tree)
1 large jar dried apple chips (from wild harvested apples)

Homebrew:  

4 L cider started from a neighbor's apples

4 L cider vinegar started using pulp leftover from cider making

Bottled up 4 L of previously made cider vinegar

Elderberry/blackberry wine still fermenting
Fizzy elderberry/blackberry wine still fermenting

Previously made cider still fermenting

Previously made cider vinegar still fermenting

Out of the Holding bed

Curly red kale, Nov 2018

In my Holding bed (one of five beds specified by John Seymour's gardening method), I grew on my winter brassicas:  Brussels sprouts, kale (curly and Tuscan), and cauliflower.  Early this month, the son and I transplanted the curly kale out into the main Brassicas bed where the dwarf French beans had just been cleared away.

Part of the specifics of the Holding bed is that plants are grown more closely than in the main beds:  in the kale's case, about six inches apart.  They're far enough apart not to have stunted growth, but close enough to get quite a lot of them together.

Once there is room for them in the main beds in autumn, these closely spaced plants need to be moved so they have more room to grow and, more importantly, produce.  In curly kale's case, the ten or so plants were pretty tall but quite leggy and not particularly leafy.  To transplant, I dug a much deeper hole to plant out, and then earthed them up as well.  A couple of them were close to waist height (a couple were under knee height though).  They seem to have adjusted to their new positions and hopefully will produce a bit more later this winter or in early spring.

What about the Brussels sprouts, Tuscan kale and cauliflower?  Well, it looks like the cauliflowers didn't survive the squash vine attack (overly luxurious growth overtook some of the Holding bed), while the sprouts and Tuscan kale remain in the Holding bed.  I did want to move the sprouts to a more sensible spacing, but they were already starting to produce and I didn't want to risk losing the harvest.  And it looks like there's just two (small) Tuscan kale plants, both already spaced far enough apart, now that the curly kale has vacated the spot.  They're staying too.

The end of the Challenge, 2018

We did it:  my No Buy Vegetable Challenge officially ends today.  Six whole months without buying vegetables* at all.  Not every vegetable we ate came from our own garden:  some were gifts or were otherwise obtained for free.  However, we did not buy a single one.

The husband will give a big sigh of relief when he picks up his first punnet of mushrooms in six months, I know.  And the son looks forward to some carrot and swede (aka rutabaga) mashed together on his Sunday roast dinner.  I'm also eagerly anticipating a lovely big batch of salsa with those three bags of ripe garden tomatoes in my freezer:  just need some onions!

We still have vegetables from the garden, both fresh and preserved.  We'll still be eating them.  And next year I'm pushing the Challenge to seven months in total.  Can it be done?  It'll take some planning.

*All fruits are allowed, as per the Challenge rules, including "salad fruits."  However, very few salad fruits were bought throughout this whole challenge--only cucumber from about the end of June onward.

Thanksgiving 2018

Ineffectual staking method, Nov 2018

Thanksgiving once more!  We celebrated it at our friends' house;  there were a total of four adults, and three children under the age of 10.  Because my No Buy Vegetable Challenge is still not quite completed (four more days now), we arranged that I would bring the turkey and gravy, and my garden grown Brussels sprouts, and they would supply the potatoes and another vegetable dish of their choosing.  We also agreed to each bake a pie:  mine being pumpkin--or squash in this case--which was homegrown as were the eggs (well, three of them:  only Cookie's laying and as she's a bantam, her eggs are pretty small).

---

It occured to me afterward that one of our spring hatched Australorp/Orpington cockerels would have made a fine Thanksgiving bird (not as big as the turkey we bought, but certainly large enough for a festive meal);  too bad we ate them long ago this summer.  It's something to think about for the future.

Using up the last green (and red) tomatoes

Bubbling away on my counter, Nov 2018

I bought two 1.4 L kilner jars from Ikea earlier this year, specifically to use for fermented/brined preserves.  They've been doing the honors with some salsa fresca;  the jar above has a mix of red and green tomatoes, a couple small tomatillos, some achocha, spring onion, garlic, and chili pepper.  I layered them all in--garlic, spring onion and chili at the bottom--then filled it up with a brine consisting of 3 tablespoons salt to 1 L water.  It went on my countertop for less than a week, before going in the fridge for immediate eating.

You can see the lid is clamped shut in the photo, but it needed to be loosened at least once a day in order to expel built up gasses: CO2 I believe.  At about day 4 it was very fizzy!  Even after going in the fridge after a week of fermentation, it still needs to be opened regularly;  an earlier batch from eight weeks ago (now nearly all eaten) is still slightly fizzy, though more of a tingle on the tongue than a volcano erupting.

This salsa tastes more like gazpacho to me, but I still love it.  I enjoy it on my scrambled eggs or on a salad as a replacement for fresh tomatoes (of which there are only a few left under glass in my cold frame).  Plus I could drink the fizzy brine like soda;  it's not sweet but salty/sour and so refreshing.

Still have the main bulk of the ripe tomatoes in the freezer, on the countdown to the end of the No Buy Veg Challenge...just one week to go!

State of the flock, November 2018

100% garden produce, Oct 2018

My flock is currently two small flocks.

At the allotment

Four hens are working hard in their tractor at the allotment.  They've gone over about half the available space (not including the planted cabbage bed or the sheet mulched section), and over the past two weeks or so, regrowth has been minimal.  Up until then, regrowth (mainly grasses but a few nettles and thistles) had been quick and lush.  They'll definitely have a second pass, once they've finished the first.  Hopefully a third pass too, before spring.

We're getting the occasional egg from these hens, though two of them are currently in molt.  Maybe 2 eggs a week in total.  I wish it was more but don't mind too much, as they are doing excellent work in the tractor and luckily not eating too much feed.

At home

Now that we've eaten the two male cheeps hatched this July, there is one remaining cheep left in our garden along with her adopted mother Cookie.  They're joined by Cookie's earlier hatched cockerel, the Australorp/Orpington cross who was bred from our own rooster and hen (both now sadly deceased).  He was hatched in early April, and had been at the allotment up until about three weeks ago.  We discovered he'd started crowing, and brought him back home, put a no-crow collar on him, and let him free range with Cookie and the cheep.

Family photo:  can you spot all three?  Nov 2018

This A/O cockerel is massive, particularly next to his new/old flockmates.  And he's been practicing mating with Cookie;  she honestly looks the size of a chick next to him, so I don't think this will be a successful endeavor.  His technique involves grabbing her by the back of the head (her comb is too small to grab, luckily for her) and pinning her down with his body with his feet on either side of her.  I'm glad he can't seem to properly jump on top of her, because it's entirely possible he'd seriously injure her.  Cookie for the most part seems quite happy for him to try, though the cheep still runs away from him.

Cookie has surprised us by starting to lay again. A Pekin bantam, she only lays eggs in preparation for going broody.  This is not a good time of year to go broody and we won't be giving her any fertilized eggs to sit on until at least February.  If she decides she wants to sit on eggs, we'll try to break her of broodiness;  hopefully it won't throw her off permanently, as we still want her to hatch chicks--just not in the coldest part of winter.

No eggs from the remaining (female) cheep just yet, though she's finally losing her cheepie call and is starting to say "bok" like the rest of them.  She, Cookie, and the A/O cockerel are all quite shy of us, though the cheep is the first to the gate when we bring out the corn!

Growing for Halloween

All homegrown, Oct 2018

Well, we did it.  My softball sized pumpkin became a cute little Jack O'Lantern.  I think in future all our carving pumpkins should be this small--after I cut the top out, it only took one scoop of a spoon to get the entirety of the seeds and pulp out.

I grew that tiny yellow pumpkin, too (variety unknown), from a seedling given to me by a friend.  It's the size of an old-fashioned tea cup, I think.  I do want to eat it, but it's so small (and cute) that I'm not sure it's worth the effort.

Size comparison, Oct 2018

And those two green/white squashes are still decorating that table in my living room, along with their youngest--though similarly sized--sibling (not pictured).  The son and I carved the pumpkin on Halloween itself (he drew the face on and I cut it out), then I peeled and chopped it for stew the next day:  a perfect size for one meal, and very tasty.

Kohlrabi

Too dry this summer for kohlrabi, Oct 2018

I like growing new vegetables.  Like the achocha and Aztec broccoli I tried for the first time this year.  Bonus:  I'd also never eaten (or even seen) them before. 

Well, another new vegetable for me was kohlrabi;  this however, I've definitely both seen and eaten before.  I'm not very successful at the usual root vegetables:  carrots, beets, onions, etc;  I thought this one might grow better for me, as it's actually the swollen stem that forms, not the root.

Well, I sowed seed in situ, both in the Brassicas bed--which it belongs to--and the far edge of the Roots bed--which it doesn't, but it was the only place with any room left.  This section is in partial shade and had extra chicken manure seeing as was the chickens' permanent yard two winters ago.  And wouldn't you know it, the one kohlrabi I harvested came from this partially shaded bed.  I speculate that it managed to grow (as did some turnips and beets) because of the combination of manure and shade:  the main beds got full sun and not enough water, where this bed was able to conserve its water for much longer.

I don't know if this counts as a success, though.  I mean, yes it was tasty and a good size, but there was only one!  I think there may be another three or four plants out there still (in both beds) but none have formed a bulb, and I think it's unlikely they will now, in November.

Will I grow this again?  Yes.  I'll try it again next year with hopefully a little more water this time.  The variety is Giganta (I think).  Mine definitely wasn't gigantic, but hopefully I'll improve next year.

October 2018 garden notes

Artichokes (and comfrey between them), Oct 2018

Roots

Harvested a handful of small beets (tasty);  another handful remain, but even smaller and probably not worth the effort by now.

No celery or leeks harvested this month:  both still growing.

Peas and beans

Harvested one small handful of runner beans per week throughout this month--even fewer French beans;  both pretty much finished by the end of October.  Left a couple pods on runner beans to save for seed.

Brassicas

Purple broccoli, Brussels sprouts, curly kale all growing strongly, but none harvested this month;  all started to flop over and need staking (only staked a couple so far).

One cauliflower resolutely forming a head;  the rest have disappeared.  Regrowth from earlier spring cabbages forming smallish heads.  Picked the one kohlrabi with an acceptably-sized bulb;  another three spotted, but no real bulbs to speak of. 

One small Savoy cabbage cutting still growing;  half of the Savoys (from seed) planted at the allotment have wilted terribly--root fly?  Don't know.  The rest are good sized, though not forming heads yet.  A couple old plants have regrowth;  harvested a few outer leaves this month. 

Planted out 18 spring cabbages in main Brassicas bed and six in the cold frame.  Sowed a tray of cauliflower seed in the cold frame.

Miscellaneous

Slow growth from youngest leaf lettuces (in planters);  self-sown lambs and miners lettuces and arugula also growing slowly.  Harvesting a little of each throughout this month.  A few smallish spring onions left in planters.

Still harvesting a handful of achocha per week throughout October--the vines of which have taken over most of the Misc bed.  Finished picking Aztec broccoli mid-month, to try and let the plants go to seed.

Harvested nearly all of the regular tomatoes, and just a couple more cherry tomatoes this month--a few of these still on plants by the end of the month.  Harvested a couple ripe chili peppers.  Picked one ripe melon (lemon sized).

Picking chard throughout the month, both as salad greens and for cooking.

A bit late for raspberries, Oct 2018

Fruit

Harvested all the Sparta apples, with a couple dozen left in storage by the end of October.  Harvested all the almonds.

More flowers formed on the yellow raspberry, with a couple tiny fruits too;  probably too late in the year to ripen.

Leaves beginning to fall on fruit trees and bushes by the end of the month.

Perennials and herbs

Picked a tray of mint to dry for tea.  Harvested a small amount of basil over the month (very nice in scrambled eggs).  Most herbs died/gone dormant by the end of October.

Old growth on artichokes died back, but plenty of new growth from the base this month.  A very small amount of growth spotted from the rhubarb, but asparagus is unknown.  Harvested a few young sorrel leaves for salads this month, though most of the plants have died back now.

October 2018 Food Totals

Spring cabbage seedlings on the left, random assortment on the right;  Oct 2018

Vegetables:

7.5 oz Aztec broccoli
10.5 salad greens (leaf lettuce, miners and lambs lettuces, baby chard, sorrel)
48.5 oz tomatoes
2.5 oz cherry tomatoes
37 oz achocha
18 oz runner beans
12 oz chard
1.5 oz chili peppers
4 oz patty pan squash
2 oz melon!!!
0.5 oz nasturtium leaves
4 oz beets
3.5 oz immature green squash
3 oz cabbage greens
9.5 oz kohlrabi
5 oz leeks

Total:  169 oz, or 10 lb 9 oz

Note:  I weigh all my vegetables after preparation:  peeling, trimming, etc.  Does not include some fresh herbs which were too small a quantity to weigh, i.e. less than 0.5 oz.

Does not include one large green squash which was unweighed.

Fruit: 

77 Sparta apples
156 almonds

Eggs:

Total:  23 eggs from 5 hens
Total feed bought: 1 bag layers pellets (20 kg)

Preserves:

1 very small jar fermented hot sauce
1/2 medium jar dried nasturtium leaves
1/2 medium jar dried chard leaves
1 small jar dried mint leaves

Homebrew:  

4 L cider started from wild harvested apples

4 L cider vinegar started using pulp leftover from cider making

Elderberry/blackberry wine still fermenting
Fizzy elderberry/blackberry wine still fermenting

Previously made cider still fermenting

Previously made cider vinegar still fermenting

Turning colder

One at a time, Oct 2018

I don't know if my remaining peppers will now turn red, considering the change in the weather.  Though I've been wearing my jacket in the mornings on the way to the allotment this past month, I've only needed a cardigan when walking the son home from school in the afternoons.  Just over the past few days daytime temps have dropped by about 8-10 Celsius:  definitely cardigan + jacket (+ hat + scarf + gloves)...

Though the Misc bed had mostly stopped producing by the start of October, I still haven't cleared away the old plants.  The pepper plants are all in containers on the patio next to the house--more sheltered than the rest of those summer Misc veg like squash and sweetcorn.  I know it's time to tidy, but I want to stay in out of the cold!  Unfortunately I put all the pepper plants into my largest containers which can't really come inside to finish ripening in the warmth--though the larger containers undoubtedly contributed to bigger plants and more fruit.

I've frozen a few ripe peppers--for making salsa soon--and have started a little jar of salted/fermented hot sauce on my countertop;  I'll probably mince the remaining green ones into the same jar;  what little I have is tasty and not quite as hot as the fresh pepper:  though the husband prefers hot hot hot, it's plenty hot for me.

October salad bar

Lettuce patch, Oct 2018

I have a few last lettuces growing in planters (after harvesting all the carrots).  They're only putting out new growth slowly, but we're still having a salad once a week.  Part of that is adding other salad greens to the mix;  most of my winter salad is self-sown:  bonus!

I've got a resident crop of lambs and miners lettuces which self seed every year;  they only germinate around now, as the temperatures drop, and they are mostly confined to my containers and cold frame.  I wouldn't mind if they spread themselves around the garden too, as not a lot is happening out there now.

Also in the mix are young chard and sorrel leaves, still putting out a little bit of growth.  The chard will stand over winter, though the sorrel dies back once too cold--it's quick to grow back in early spring, though--when most things are finished.  I've got young chard plants only just coming up now, plus some older ones started in spring;  all will produce a little over winter, plus a good amount of growth in the spring before going to seed.

There are a couple arugula volunteers popping up now;  the husband and I like these, along with the mizuna, but the son finds them a little too spicy.  Same with the nasturtium flowers and leaves;  I use the leaves as a pungent flavoring more for stew than salad, as cooking mellows the spiciness.

Besides greens, I still have a few spring onions and achocha, and just a couple of tomatoes left.  I also have some fermented salsa fresca in the fridge for a nice salad garnish (no chilis added, so it's a bit more like gazpacho).  I anticipate we'll be able to eat fresh salad up to the end of my No-Buy Veg challenge--27 Nov--and beyond.

An unexpected fruit

Back in spring, I sowed several melon seeds, saved from a supermarket specimen the year before.  One managed to grow enough to be planted out in a container on my patio.  There it grew--slowly--gently trained up a stick I'd put in to support it.  I nipped off the growing tip once it reached the top of the stick (approximately as tall as me). 

Here it is, Sep 2018

It proceeded to flower in late summer (very small flowers), and a few fruits formed--only to fall off.  Just one fruit stayed, and this one formed maybe late August.  By mid-September, the vine was wilting, much like the cucumber plants did.  That one fruit however, only the size of a lemon, still remained.

A week ago we had strong winds.  After three days, it calmed down and I realized the melon had fallen off its vine.  It had slug damage and a bit of mold on part of it.  But looking closely past the slug bites, I could see the inside was green and shiny--it looked ripe!

I cut off the damaged part;  I salvaged two tiny seeds to try next year.  The husband, son and I shared the fruit:  it was perfectly sweet and juicy.  I actually grew a melon!

About four bites, Oct 2018

Crowing...

We have three cockerels:  one Australorp/Orpington, about six months old;  and two Leghorns about 12 weeks old.  The A/O isn't crowing yet, but the Leghorns are:  it's time to eat them.

Pushmi-pullyu in the hen house, Oct 2018

Unlike our big black A/O cockerel, we have no intention of breeding from these little guys; I should be able to get another batch of eggs from the same source next spring if I so wish.

These little guys really are little:  they won't be much of a meal, unfortunately.  Even fully grown they won't have much meat on them, and once they start crowing they also start getting tougher and stringier--not meatier.  The A/Os were great in this respect:  fast growers and really big--but slow to sexually mature so even at 18 weeks they were still tender.  We'll cook and eat both Leghorns for the same meal;  I anticipate we'll get one meal of meat plus one of soup/stock altogether.

The husband has promised to kill these two, as I killed all three of the A/Os this summer:  it's his turn.  We're waiting till the weekend so we can devote time to it;  it took me and the son more than an hour to kill, pluck, and clean one of those big A/Os (the kill part was the quickest, and the pluck part the longest).  All three of us can pluck, hopefully making it go faster this time.

(Edited to add photo)

Dipping into my stores

To keep up our daily veg intake, and in order not to break my No-Buy Veg Challenge, we've been eating a little more from the pantry and freezer this month.  While it continues to be fairly mild temperature-wise, there is a definite lack of sunlight hours now we're in the middle of October.  Harvest is slowing down.  I'm slowing down too, getting ready for a bit of a rest over winter;  I've put in plenty of work this growing season!

I'm glad I've got a bag and a half of cabbage in the freezer, and several jars of sauerkraut--not to mention all the dried chard (and their stems, still frozen).  I've been throwing them into stews and other slow cooker meals.  And all the while, I'm still drying greens:  just last week I hung up a string of nasturtium leaves to dry (the plants have put out a surge of new growth after being mauled by caterpillars this summer).

We've baked a squash or two, saving them for our Sunday roast dinner;  the slow trickle of runner beans still coming from the garden get served on Sunday too, where I like to have at least three different vegetables--or more.

And we even cracked open a jar of zuccini relish:  first served with hot dogs, then added as a salad garnish and even padded out a stew (when I made it, I cubed rather than grated the zuccini which retained a nice crunch).

Just to clarify:  no vegetables may be bought during the Challenge, but all fruits are allowed, including "salad" fruits;  however, as such I've only been buying cucumber for the son to put in his lunch.  And we are allowed to eat veg obtained for free:  gifts, trades, etc.  I never turn down free veg, and have been actively ingratiating myself to any fellow allotmenters I happen to meet up there: "Hi!  I'm new;  my name is _____.  Wow, your _____ looks amazing!"

Peppers, 2018

So many! Sep 2018

I took a chance this year, and raised some peppers from seed.  I bought a pack of seeds in a £1 sale at the end of (a warm-ish dry-ish) summer last year.  I thought I'd grow them in planters in my warm micro-climate on the patio near the house, though realistically their prospects were doubtful in our usually cool summers.  Little did I guess what kind of summer we'd have this year--I took a chance and got incredibly lucky!

I harvested the very first red pepper this week.  I was initially unsure if it was sweet or hot, as I raised two varieties and there was a slight labelling mix-up.  I had a good look at the packet descriptions and decided it was assuredly a sweet pepper, and therefore picked it along with some tomatoes, lettuce and achocha for a salad. 

When slicing it up, I took a tiny sliver to taste, just to be absolutely sure;  the son isn't good with hot things, and I'm not a huge fan either.  Well, it turns out my diagnosis was incorrect:  my lips burned for the rest of the day!

Even though I don't really like hot/picante food, I'd rather have hot peppers than sweet ones as the husband does;  I want to make him some hot sauce, tabasco style.  There are a couple dozen peppers out there, most of them green (a few turning colors), but still very suitable. 

That one red pepper got chopped finely and chucked in the freezer to wait with the tomatoes until Red Salsa Day (when my No-Buy Veg Challenge ends 27 November and I can buy onions).  Though I did put a couple small slivers on the husband's salad.

Achocha and Aztec broccoli review

I grew two types of vegetable new to me this year:  achocha and Aztec broccoli (Huauzontle).  How did they do?

Little achocha, Jul 2018

Achocha

I sowed seed for this in mid spring, in a tray on my kitchen windowsill.  I think I ended up with about seven plants, which I transplanted out in May, about six inches apart.  They were initially very slow to get over transplant shock and start growing, but after a few weeks, they were ready for some sticks to climb up.  After another month, the vines were starting to take over their neighbors (sweetcorn, tomatillos and tomatoes);  by this time I still hadn't picked any achochas.  It wasn't till about July that I started to harvest, long after I'd been nipping back over-zealous vines.

The fruits are small and green with soft spikes.  They were described by the seller as tasting like green peppers, but to us they taste more like green beans, with a hint of cucumber (which they are related to).  It's a pleasant enough taste and texture, though nothing spectacular.  I prefer to pick them when the seeds are fully mature, as the fruits are a little more sweet, with less raw bean flavor.

However, the extra luxurious vine growth far outpaces its modest fruit yield.  They eventually overtook the sweetcorn completely (I had to search for those sweetcorn plants at harvest time), and mostly swamped the tomatoes and tomatillos slightly further away.  By September I'd given up keeping them in check with daily light pruning, and vines were exploring the morello cherry tree on the east side, reaching the lawn at the south, and going for the plum tree to the west (the north side is the patio which I refused to relinquish).

Will I grow this again?  

Yes.  With more care about placement and spacing.  And supports.  I used the fruits in salsa, in stir fries, in salads.  I like it enough to try and tame it next year;  I've saved seed and look forward to another go.

Aztec broccoli head, Sep 2018

Aztec broccoli, aka Huauzontle

This is not a true broccoli;  it's a chenopodium rather than brassica.  I direct seeded this one in a corner of the Misc bed (where it ended up being embraced by achocha, of course).  About 20 sprouted, and as they grew, I thinned them out gradually, ending up with about 4 plants.  Like the achocha, they were slow growing at first, and slow to produce.  By late summer, they finally began producing small flower heads.

This plant produces flower buds which I harvested along with an inch or two of stem and leaves.  I was able to pick a good handful at a time about twice a week, and although I initially started picking them quite small they are actually better when the flowerheads are nearly ready to flower.  Unlike true broccoli, the second and subsequent pickings weren't really any smaller than the first one:  the later flowerheads were similar in size to the early ones.

These don't taste like broccoli either, but they have a mild flavor somewhat like spinach, and to my taste a little like potato.  They are supposed to retain a little bite after cooking, but I cooked them mainly in stews in the slow cooker and they went very soft.  We liked them anyway.

Once the plants started producing, they maintained a consistent harvest all through summer and early autumn.  They grew to be about as tall as me, which made harvesting easy (less bending down).

Will I grow these again?

Yes.  These nicely behaved (unlike the achocha, for instance!), good tasting, and took care of themselves, really.  Plus they had an easy, constant harvest.  I hope to collect seed from them, but would certainly buy seed again;  in fact, they are supposed to self seed readily, so hopefully I can get them to naturalize, like chard and mizuna have already.

September 2018 garden notes

Laxton Fortune, Sep 2018

Roots

Harvested the last of the carrots in planters (transplanted lettuce seedlings after them).

Beets and celery still in the ground.  Leeks still growing slowly;  old season leeks putting out new growth and newest little plants (from this summer's bulbils) small but growing.

Peas and beans

Harvesting about a handful of French beans once per week in September and even fewer runner beans.

One volunteer broad bean plant up and growing.

Cleared away the mange tout vines and collected a handful of seed.

Brassicas

Took insect mesh off all remaining brassicas at the beginning of September;  no real damage from caterpillars this month, though a few butterflies around.

Planted out two Savoy cabbage cuttings (very small).  Savoys (from seed) at the allotment are a bit bigger and well established now.

Brussels sprouts very big and falling over--need staking!  Same with curly kale;  harvested a little of this but not sprouts yet.

The young cauliflowers which were overwhelmed by squash vines have mostly disappeared--only a couple left.  One larger, last season plant still determined to form a head, but only slowly.

Purple sprouting broccoli plants growing well;  two have been staked, though the rest need it also.  None harvested.

One kohlrabi has a nice little bulb, the other has only a very slight swelling.  None harvested.

Miscellaneous

All but about three lettuces gone to seed by the middle of September;  new seedlings have been transplanted out in planters and in the ground (keep disappearing in the ground though).  Still harvesting a few spring onions this month, also from planters.

Harvested five sweetcorn cobs, but disappointing flavor;  picked too late, I guess--they were completely hidden by achocha vines.  Still harvesting modest amounts of achocha all this month.

Still harvesting ripe tomatoes regularly all through this month;  cherry tomatoes pretty much finished by the end of September, but still more regular tomatoes on the plants.  A couple more tomatillos formed this month, but none harvested.

Picked five lovely green squashes, and one small pumpkin in September.  Still at least one green squash growing.

Picked a few small patty pan squashes, but no zuccinis.  Melon plant formed one small melon and then wilted, just like the cucumber plants did in July.

Harvested several bunches of Aztec broccoli all through the month, and good amount of chard too.  Cleared away chard left for seed;  put down the plants (with seed heads still on) in several locations around the garden, including the perennials section.

Little peppers still growing this month, with a couple starting to turn colors;  a couple more tiny chilis formed.  None of these harvested.

Fruit

Finished harvesting the figs (a couple per week) by the middle of the month.  Harvested the plums and  Laxton Fortune apples over a period of a few weeks.  Started picking almonds and Sparta apples by the end of September.

Picked the one remaining nectarine after it, like its compatriot, split from a hard rain and started to go moldy.  Although it wasn't fully ripe, it was either eat it or throw it away--and after waiting four years I wasn't prepared to chuck it!  Not particularly impressed, though.

Picked all the unripe pears off Williams (only three decent sized) after the tree trunk completely snapped from high winds;  that's it for Williams, I think.

Yellow raspberries dried up without fully ripening--been a very dry summer, and hard on all the raspberries;  a couple more flowers formed this month, however.

Transplanted two strawberry plants to the allotment.

Perennials and herbs

Still picking small amounts of chives, parsley, basil, and mint.

Artichokes still standing but not producing.  At least one asparagus plant has been spotted (no bigger than it was this time last year though).  Sorrel regrowing after hard chicken pressure over the summer, and one small rhubarb shoot spotted.

September 2018 Food Totals

Sparta apple, Sep 2018

Vegetables:

290 oz tomatoes!!
8 oz French beans
4.5 oz lettuce
16.5 oz patty pan squash
13 oz Aztec broccoli
17.5 cherry tomatoes
17.5 oz chard
20.5 oz carrots
12 oz runner beans
12 oz curly kale
19 oz achocha
6 oz sweetcorn
1 oz spring onion
18 oz Savoy cabbage
9 oz potatoes
4 oz salad greens (lettuce, baby chard, lambs lettuce)

Total: 468 oz or 29 lb 4 oz

Note:  I weigh all my vegetables after preparation:  peeling, trimming, etc.  Does not include fresh herbs which were too small a quantity to weigh, i.e. less than 0.5 oz.  Does not include 5 green squashes and 1 small pumpkin which were harvested but not weighed.

Fruit: 

1 nectarine
60 Laxton Fortune apples (incomplete)
5 figs
49 plums (incomplete)
17 Sparta apples (incomplete)
12 almonds
3 pears (and 1 immature pear)

Eggs:

Total: 44 eggs from 5 hens
Total feed bought: 1 bag layers pellets (20 kg), 1 bag mixed corn (20 kg)

Preserves:

1 medium jar plums (water bath method)
1/4 medium jar salted runner beans
1 large jar fermented salsa fresca

Homebrew:  

8 L elderberry/blackberry wine started
750 mL fizzy elderberry/blackberry wine started

Cider still fermenting

Cider vinegar still fermenting

Pears

The biggest, Sep 2018

Again, I have a very meager pear harvest.  I picked off all immature fruits from the tiny Kumoi pear tree this spring (as I should have done the first spring after planting given it's still shorter than me three years on).  It's grown a bit this summer--finally.  Still shorter than me, though.

I also have a very vigorous, very spiky native flowering pear which still hasn't condescended to flower yet (about five years old).  In August I attempted to bud graft it with buds from a pear tree growing at our local country park.  I had a look last week and it looks like two of my attempts failed, but I'm not sure about the other two.  Maybe.

And then there's the Williams pear tree, which has grown strongly and flowered profusely for a few years now, but still has only managed to produce a couple pears for me.  I think there were three pears last year--all small, too.  This year, one good sized one (unripe) got blown off in high winds and bruised.  I cooked it the next day (pear streusel tart, courtesy of The Joy of Cooking), since I knew it wouldn't ripen after being damaged.  Two days later the tree itself blew down:  completely snapped at the trunk below the graft.

Defeated, Sep 2018

Luckily the tree only landed on a bit of chicken wire and no other damage was done.  The son and I picked the remaining five or six pears, most of them quite small, none of them ripe. 

I will attempt to graft a few of the shoots back onto the rootstock, but I'm not confident;  I'm very new at grafting and am relying on books and youtube.  I fear this is the end for Williams.

A few more fruits, Sep 2018

New homebrew, September 2018

The newest cider, Sep 2018

After a full year in the jugs, 2017's cider finally got bottled up.  I used our entire collection of bottles (some new, some seen lots of use) and filled up the drinks cupboard.  We've pretty much finished off all our homebrew by now, so it's good to restock.  The cider's not extremely potent, but fruity and refreshing.  I think one of the five jugs actually turned to vinegar by accident, but that's ok--cider vinegar is useful too.

The son and I went to our country park and picked two sacks of apples from various wild trees we know.  We juiced them in our electric juicer to fill up two new jugs for cider.  It's a big job, juicing up 8 L of apple juice all at once!  I put about half the pulp into some big plastic tubs, topped them up with water, and let them ferment too--for vinegar.  Once they stopped bubbling, after a week or two, I strained out the pulp and have been stirring the liquid once a day to help the process along.

Elderberries and blackberries to brew, Sep 2018

The son and I also took two weekends in August to collect almost a full kilo of wild blackberries, again in the local country park.  We found a spot with some big juicy berries, very sweet.  We froze these, to wait until the elderberries ripened earlier this month.  When ready, I picked elderberries from two trees/bushes on the margins of our property and combined them with the blackberries, some sugar and yeast to start wine.  I made some in 2017 and we agreed it was much nicer than plain elderberry wine--and more potent than the apple cider.  I hope this new batch lives up to our expectations.

That's three out of five demi-johns in use now.  What to do with the last two?  I hope to pick another two sacks of apples, though we'll have to go slightly farther afield than our own country park now.

State of the flock, September 2018

Cookie (black) and two of the cheeps, Sep 2018

I've done some hard thinking, considered different options, but have decided we'll stay with our current flock size over winter.  We now have five adult hens, one juvenile rooster (Australorp/Orpington cross from this Easter's hatch), and three eight week old Leghorn chicks, aka the cheeps.  Two of the cheeps are boys, and will be dinner when they start crowing, probably in less than another eight weeks.  Ultimately, unless we have more unexpected losses, we'll have a flock of seven over winter:  six hens and one rooster.

Everyone--except mother hen Cookie and the cheeps--is working in the chicken tractor at the allotment.  It's not a big space, but they get moved every three days or so, and have been doing some good work clearing weeds and grass, and adding plenty of manure.  Cookie and the cheeps also have their own make-shift tractor here in the garden and are mowing the lawn, strip by strip.

The A/O rooster may have to come back to the garden at some point this winter if he decides he wants to try mating.  We know from experience that the older hens won't tolerate this at first (he's the lowest in the pecking order) and there will be fighting.  As our young rooster is so much bigger than the hens, and their tractor has so little room, there is every chance someone will get hurt.  He can come back and free range with Cookie and any remaining cheeps where's there's plenty of room to escape.

We have a gap in our succession of hens now:  our hens range between two and four years old, but no year old hens--last year's hatch have all died.  And with only one female hatched this year (out of seven chicks) it looks like my plans for self-reliance in eggs are on hold.  We're getting one egg a day: occasionally two, but just as likely none.  At least we're only buying one bag of layers pellets a month;  it's the cheap stuff too (though Cookie and the cheeps are still eating the expensive non-soy/non-GMO chick crumb).

I still want to continue breeding meat birds as well as replacement layers, but that will have to start again next spring.  Hopefully I'll be able to get a hold of another batch of Orpington eggs (for meat breeding), and maybe some more Leghorns or other egg layers. 

Squash harvest, 2018

My treasure, Sep 2018

Squash!  I had a nice compliment from a friend of the son (aged eight), about my "pumpkins."  They may be pumpkin shaped, but are a much more beautiful color.  There is at least one more still growing in the garden, though a good size, it formed late and may not have time to ripen.  These ripe squashes will keep nicely until later this autumn or winter, when the fresh veg is scarce.

The younger squash, Sep 2018

I have a pumpkin of my own too.  It's the tiniest specimen, but a little pumpkin is better than no pumpkin;  it may be destined for a bit of carving next month.  We were given a huge culinary pumpkin from a fellow allotmenter (I think his generosity was due to the overwhelmingly prolific pumpkin harvest he had).  This gift pumpkin put my own to shame--but I also saved seed from it, so maybe I'll get a massive pumpkin harvest next year too (I can only hope).

Summer squash, on the other hand, has been disappointing.  Only about four or five smallish zuccinis, and even fewer patty pan squashes.  Here too, we were given extremely large examples from another allotmenter.  I've been put to shame...though luckily only you and I know it.

In the allotment, Sep 2018

Well, for the past week or so we've had most of the chickens on the allotment, working full time:  they're eating grass and weeds, scratching up the surface, and leaving lots of manure.  The husband, with a little assistance from the son and I, fox-proofed (ish) the house part of the chicken tractor and we've been going up to lock them up at night and let them out again in the morning.  Luckily it's only an 8 minute walk away (and between us and school), and sunrise and sunset are at reasonable times now we're getting to autumn.  And so far we've only had one free range adventure AKA escape.

Cookie, our Pekin bantam, and her three half grown Leghorn chicks--whom I refer to as the cheeps--are still in our own garden, protected by bird netting;  we had a hawk scare recently so we're not prepared to let the cheeps out just yet.  While the chicken tractor is certainly hawk proof, I'm not ready to put the cheeps in there with all the adult chickens;  they're too small.

But back to the allotment:  the son helped me transplant about a dozen or so winter cabbage seedlings, and all three of us have been slowly pulling up/hoeing nettles and thistles (which the chickens won't eat) and adding to both the compost and the sheet mulched bit at the top of the plot.  I've been advised to put up bird scarers or netting to stop pigeons eating the cabbages over winter.

I have plans to get some strawberry plants in and hopefully some garlic this month.  I'll try and beg a few runners off other allotmenters (I've had an offer off one already, but haven't got any yet) and I've got enough of my own saved garlic luckily.

And speaking of fellow allotmenters;  over the past few weeks we've been given tomatoes, several zuccini (one of them the size of a log), a cabbage, a couple garlic and shallots, a massive pumpkin and two butternut squashes.  Where possible, we've reciprocated with eggs, but what a haul!

Tomato summer

This is the first year since I've been gardening here that I've had a full tomato harvest:  it looks like I might not have any green tomatoes left.  Even those plants out in the main garden have ripened their fruits--last year I only got a couple off those plants;  the bulk of them went to make green tomato salsa.  Looks like I won't be making green salsa this year!  I said to the husband, only half-joking, "what do you do
with red tomatoes?"  He joked back:  "throw them out, they must have gone bad."

So it's red tomato salsa!  There's half a big jar of salsa fresca in the fridge, made with spring onions, achocha (supposedly a green pepper substitute, seeing as I don't have peppers ready yet), garlic, and a touch of lemon juice and tabasco (no chilis yet either).  I'd like to make some bottled/shelf stable salsa, but the recipes call for more onions and peppers than I have--i.e. none--which would break my No Bought Veg rule.

Last year I froze my entire green tomato harvest until the end of the veg challenge (November), and then bought onions and peppers to make salsa. I've got a freezer bag full already--with hopefully enough to fill at least a second bag--the challenge ends 27th November.

August 2018 garden notes

Hooray!  Aug 2018

Roots

Celery and a few beets still growing in Roots bed.  Harvesting a handful of carrots once a week from planters, but have pulled up most of them by the end of August.  Leeks about the size of big spring onions;  one of last season's flowerheads formed tiny bulbils which I transplanted to various places around the garden (some still growing).  Not much else going on in Roots bed this month.

Peas and beans

Pulled up the last broad beans and harvested the dry pods for seed.

Been harvesting small amounts of French beans regularly throughout August, but hardly any runner beans.  Really disappointing harvest this year--too hot and dry I suspect.

Brassicas

Finished the last Savoy cabbages, though there are two or three left without compact heads which seem to be going to flower.  Much mauled by caterpillars.  Planted out new seedlings at the allotment.  The cuttings I took have rooted but have not yet been planted out.

Planted out purple sprouting broccoli (seedlings and cuttings) at the beginning of the month after the broad beans were pulled up, and put insect mesh over.  Growing strongly.

Curly kale and Brussels sprouts huge;  harvested a small amount of kale this month but not sprouts yet;  still under insect mesh.  Young cauliflower plants have disappeared under rampant squash vines, so not sure if they're still growing.  One last cauliflower from last season just starting to form a head at the end of August.

Two smallish kohlrabi seem to have formed from seed sown earlier, but neither harvested yet.

Most caterpillars seem to have disappeared midway through August, though butterflies are still about.

Miscellaneous

Been harvesting chard and lettuce (red leaf and romaine) all through August.  Started a new tray of (red leaf) seeds which have sprouted by the end of the month.  Harvesting spring onions regularly, with newer sowings growing well. 

Sweetcorn completely swamped by neighboring achocha vines--I'll wait to see if the cobs actually have any corn in them.  Achocha producing only modestly, rather out of proportion to its rampant vine growth.

Begun harvesting tomatoes by the middle of August, and picking cherry tomatoes regularly throughout the month.  Tomatillos forming a couple tiny fruits (only two plants seem to have survived and may not be close enough for full pollination);  none harvested yet.

One pumpkin slowly turning orange--it's slightly bigger than a grapefruit.  At least five big green kuri/hokkaido squashes still on vines, with a few smaller fruits formed this month;  the vines are competing with the achocha for complete dominance of the Misc bed.  None of these harvested.

Only a couple more small zuccini harvested, and one patty pan squash.  A few immature fruits still on the plants by the end of the month, but I'm not hopeful.  Too dry?  Melon vine in its planter has one very small melon growing, but as it's only walnut sized by the end of August, I won't hold my breath.  Cucumber plants finally gave up, though I've left a couple fruits on the desiccated vines to try and save seed.

Harvested a small amount of Aztec broccoli (nice, mild flavor).  Big plants for only a small harvest.  Many little sweet peppers formed on plants in planters, and one or two tiny chilis formed at the very end of August.  None harvested.

Fruit

Started harvesting Laxton Fortune apples and plums this month, and new season figs.  Lightly pruned plum and almond trees.  The son picked a few immature Sparta apples, but they won't be fully ripe till September.

Only one nectarine left--the other split after a hard rain and then went moldy.  Not ripe yet.  I can only find two pears on the Williams tree, also--and one is very small!  Oh well.

A couple fruits slowly maturing on the yellow raspberry.  The newly planted blackcurrants (from last winter) have struggled in the dry summer but are still alive.  Pruned old growth from raspberries;  it looks like the plant I moved over winter may have died (too dry, no doubt).

Made my first attempt at bud grafting, using four buds from a pear tree at the park.  Not sure if they've taken, but no loss if they don't.

Perennials and herbs

Stopped picking savory halfway through the month to let the plants flower and (hopefully) set seed.  Picking lots of basil (in pots on the patio), some chives and parsley.  New dill plants growing (in pots).

Still not sure about the asparagus and rhubarb:  dead or alive?  Artichokes still standing but no more flowerheads produced this month.

August 2018 Food Totals

New season (and a couple old) leeks, surrounded by squash and zuccini, Aug 2018

Vegetables:

33.5 oz chard
81 oz cherry tomatoes
12 oz cucumber
16.5 oz achocha
11.5 oz spring onion
5.5 oz Aztec broccoli
15 oz French beans
15.5 oz lettuce
13 oz zuccini
21.5 oz carrots
49.5 oz Savoy cabbage
5 oz runner beans
9 oz beets
1.5 oz basil
1 oz squash blossoms
101 oz tomatoes!
9 oz curly kale
4 oz patty pan squash

Total: 405 oz, or 25 lb 5 oz

Note:  I weigh all my vegetables after preparation:  peeling, trimming, etc.  Does not include fresh herbs which were too small an amount to weigh, i.e. less than 0.5 oz.

Fruit:

4 Sparta apples (not fully ripe)
50 Laxton Fortune apples
8 figs
22.5 oz plums (incomplete)

Eggs:

Total: 46 eggs from 7 hens
Total feed bought: 1 bag layers pellets (20 kg)

Preserves:

1/2 small jar salted French and runner beans
1/2 small jar dried savory
6 small jars plum jam
6 small jars apple jelly (from wild harvested apples)
1.5 large jars fermented salsa fresca
1 large jar sauerkraut
3 large jars zuccini relish (from gift zuccini)
1 medium bottle thyme vinegar
2 medium bottles mint sauce (mint from a friend's garden)

Homebrew:  

20 L cider bottled up

8 L new season cider begun, from wild harvested apples

8 L cider vinegar begun, using pulp leftover from cider making