Autumn fruit trees planting

Dear Family & Friends

So far, we have forty or so fruit trees already planted in our garden. But I thought I would still need around 6 more trees to fill up the mini orchard that I'm establishing. We dropped by the garden shop and brought home more fruit trees to join in the garden...probably after this, our garden won't and can't take more anymore!

Positioning the tree:  We're told to face the graft point facing 'south'

Fruit trees are good investment. Once established, they will bear fruits for years to come, with minimal care requirements. And who doesn't love fruits?  Fruits are good food!

It's good to add compost for a healthy start

Here's the five trees we planted this season:

1. Got another almond nut tree for a second tree. The first one is still OK but after 3 years, it is not really growing fast! So we need a back up.
2. A honey pear tree. The Sales lady went into detailed explanation on how sweet like honey the fruit is..and harvest time is later than other pear varieties. So I was sold out on that!
3. A pomagranate tree. This one cost only 4 euros...I paid 8 euros for the same tree two years ago, unfortunately it died on me...so, I want to have another go...after all, it's cheaper this time! Although all other fruit trees are priced for 2.50 euros only:)
4. A mystery tree. It looks like longish red fruit in clusters on the picture. I couldn't get the translated name in English. The sales lady said it's good for compote or as fruit juice. Sold again!
5. Persimmon. I've been looking for this fruit tree for years. Finally we found one! 

Planting fruit trees is a very satisfying job

Now that these trees are planted...we hope that by spring time, we will start seeing new shoots. In about three years, if not earlier, they would start bearing fruits for us to eat. Fruit trees take time to give the return, so it's good to plant them as soon as possible.

Another autumn gardening chore is done....but there's more for us to do. 

Wishing you a happy gardening day too:)

Yours,

Getting two new beehives

Dear Family & Friends

For two years, we kept a beehive in our garden which we bought from a local villager. Sad to say, we lost them in early spring this year. We still couldn't understand how it happened...but it was a very devastating experience. Nonetheless, we won't take it as a defeat.

our two beehives

Our fifteen year old daughter has been teaching English to a local little girl about her age. In exchange: she asked if her grandfather could supply us with a beehive family to replace the one we lost. They were pleased with the idea and are giving us two beehive families:)

To see a field of sunflowers always brings multi-joy:)

The  grandfather managed to secure two swarms for us:) For the moment, the hives are still with him as he is getting them established in their new homes. Once their hives has enough honey to sustain them, they will be handed to us to stay in our garden.

Sunflower field in our village

There's vast sunflower fields in our village area. Our two beehives are in the vicinity, so they can get and store more food as they settled in their new home. The kind grandfather visits them in the field and brings water to feed them.

This is a carrot that has bolted into flower to produce seeds for the next season:)

We are excited to have another chance of beekeeping venture. For the moment, I'm planting as many bee friendly plants in our garden, especially those early flowering ones for the benefit of the bees, and other beneficial insects which will make a happy garden - and a happy gardener:)

Hope you are keeping a happy and content - sending you wishes of a perfect weather today- one that is not too hot/and not too cold ...your way:)

Yours

The joy of collecting seeds

Dear Family & Friends

Summer is the time when you can take advantage of collecting seeds from your garden...either for kitchen use or for re-sowing back into the garden, without having to go and buy for more.

These are Lunaria flower seed heads

During the week, I have been busy and patiently collecting all of the Lunaria/Silver Dollar flower seed heads. The dried seed pods were peeled one by one so that I can use the empty flower seed pods on stem for flower arrangement. Some seeds were sown back into the ground directly so we can have some of the earliest spring flowers for the bees to feed on next year.

Inside each flat heads are flat seeds

Much earlier in the season, there were brassica plants, lettuces, radishes, chards, chives and onions that bolted as summer heat arrived...so after drying them....I managed to collect bottles of seeds and stored them. Most of them can be sown latter this summer for autumn and winter veggies. The cycle goes on in our garden. These work routines give me a lot of comfort.

The Lunaria seeds are attached to a papery case

More seed collecting will go on till autumn season... I always collect my summer flowering Zinnias seeds to spread them out in the garden for next year and to keep friends and families supplied too:)

After peeling off the seeds, I'm left with silver case still attached to it's stem

Oh the joy for collecting free seeds!! Whether you collect seeds or not at any season of the year, I wish you joy in whatever you are presently occupied in too!

Yours

Building our Mud Wall

Dear Family & Friends

Long time ago, they used to build houses and walls with mud bricks. They use mud (of course) along with straw and other organic materials and mould it one by one. It is a skill! It retains heat in the winter and keeps the house cool in the summer. I can tell you this because our house is made of three feet thick mud walls! It is a well insulated house:)

A wheel borrow load of mud bricks

These days, people uses red bricks/blocks because of convinience...but it is not the same! We found a house in our village, who decided to tear and replace their broken down property mud wall with cement blocks. So, we asked them if we could have their old mud bricks. They were just so happy to part with it and we were so happy to have this precious commodity!

Extending around two layers of mud bricks to add the height

A section of our front property wall is not high enough that if you're very tall, you could easily tip toe to see us inside our property. So, we decided to build it higher.

Layering very strong sun baked mud bricks with more mud mix to bind it together

It feels better when we have more privacy from public eyes, just by adding another two layers of mudbricks, two feet wide:) This very strong wall will last for hundreds and hundreds of years!

The wall is now higher after father & daughter worked on it for just a couple of hours 

We still got a few ready made mud bricks..so we are thinking of some good projects to put it to use. For now...we're still pondering on things.

Recycling free mud bricks that we salvaged from the village

One man's rubbish became another man's treasure. We are easy to please...but we are very convinced it is the other way around. In fact, if we haven't found the mud bricks...we were all ready to home make our very own! Phew! That would have been much harder!

All for today. I wish you a good and profitable week too.

Yours

Quick chow on busy days

Dear Family & Friends

Our neighbour rears some piggies and they usually slaughter them around mid to end of winter season. The meat is canned and preserved in bottles for future use. They also process dried sausages. Recently, we received some of their homemade dried sausages. I should think they are much better than a store bought ones as they are without preservatives.

Homemade Gift from our neighbour 

The Bulgarian dried sausage reminds me of the Chinese version of dried sausage, but the Bulgarian version is salty than sweet. They come very handy when I'm running out of time to prepare meals for my forever hungry family.

I think these dried sausages are ready to eat - but I must cook them. 

The locals normally eat them as it is...but I tend to pan fry it, without any oil, just to make me accept that it is cooked. I use them as toppings to fried rice or pasta dish. Making it a good convinience food to have on hand.

Lentil patties - a high protein meatless burger imitation

As gardening activity increases, I have to come up with food that is quick and easy to cook. My homemade patties of pre-boiled lentils, mixed with lots of herbs, some flour, eggs...and pan fried in batch...is always appreciated by all.

My tea time meal prepared by my little girl...they were yummy:)

While I prepare our daily cooked lunch meals, my little girl (the beautiful teenager who's 14 today) is in charge of our supper or tea for the evening. Usually she prepares sandwiches, but when we ran out of bread for the day...she would cook something simple. Yesterday she prepared her own version of a savoury pancake...full of fresh chives, topped with a slice of salami...it was delicious:)

Our family are so easy to please when it comes to food...as long as there's veggies and herbs...there's always never a complain. Nom-nom...Yum-yum:)

Hope you have a beautiful sun shiny day to cheer you up today.

Yours

Getting Ready For This Year's Gardening

Dear Family & Friends

The first month of the year is a good time to start planning for the year's gardening activities. I got out some of the seeds I have...some of which I bought last autumn on big Sales...at 10 stotinski (less than 5 pence) a packet. I love bargains...it makes me happy:)

seed packets brings a lot of joy and hope:)

Now is the time to check my schedule which seeds can be sown as early as February...indoors. Spring onions and leeks are some of those, as well as salad green leaves like lettuces and spinach.

spring onion seeds sprouting indoors - ready for spring planting outdoor

Sometimes I wish I have a green house...but I've learned to make do without. Life doesn't need all sorts of gadgets. If you don't have them, then it's time to be more creative. We got plenty of old windows and I've used them to make some sort of temporary cold frame which can house some seedlings for the few weeks before they could properly be planted in the ground.

My temporary make shift greenhouse out of old windows.

Not every plants needs to be babied...These onion sets can even be directly sown in the garden once the soil is defrosted.

50 pence worth of onion sets - best way to get lots of big onions by end of summer

I have also buried in the ground my Jerusalem Artichoke tubers by now. Last year I only grew a couple of them as I wasn't sure about this plant after reading some negative comments from other people. I've tried it and found that it's a beautiful plant. It has tiny sunflower-like bloom a few weeks before harvest time, then we get crunchy tubers by autumn for food which we cooked immediately..just as you would a potato..and it taste good. 

Jerusalem Artichoke tubers which can be planted outside by this time

Other plants that I have been growing indoors while waiting for the warmer weather are some herbs that we use a lot in our meal. I've propagated and rooted rosemary, lavender, thyme and scented geraniums in the kitchen window ledges. A recycled soda bottles acts like a greenhouse to aid these babies.

Propagating rosemary plant inside a soda bottle during the winter season 

As you can see, even when you've got no greenhouse or heated propagators....if there's a will, there's always a way. Some of my seeds are sown in recycled pots and I place them inside a clear plastic bag to germinate... they work just as well like that. 

my mini green house...seeds sown in cups, all snug and warm inside a plastic bag!

The important thing is to start and give it a go...don't let anything hinder or discourage you...life can be made simple. Gardening is something everyone can do and it's very therapeutic too...good for the soul:)

Wishing you a good weekend:)

Yours

This Is The Season

Dear Family & Friends

I got this nasty habit of complaining that it's very cold in the winter, and that it's very hot in the summer...once or twice, a local grandfather caught me whining and he simply brushed me off saying: 'but this is the season!!' Honestly, I must not complain at all because we truly have a well balanced season in this country. Three months each of: proper Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn! No more, No less!

looking up to the trelises in our grapevine area

 Today, I'm sharing with you the height of our winter season which is in January. The first lot of snow for this year fell right bang on new year's day. It stayed for two weeks before it was all melted by rain and sun shiny days. Not long ago, another big lot fell and it's slowly melting away too.

My Kitchen Garden area is planted with leafy greens all covered by snow

I don't always know what is best in the garden as I'm still learning. I have planted some leafy greens in my kitchen garden and didn't put any cover protection over it. Perhaps it will survive, perhaps it won't...it sometimes depends on how strong they rooted themselves by that time, and or how cold it would be this year. If they won't make it, I will just re-sow some more again later.

This Quince tree got all prettied up by the snow...they don't mind at all to be pretty:)

 Many plants and trees in our garden needs the cold snap to bear fruit properly. They know how to shut down their mechanism to go and take a short nap. Some plants simply couldn't take the cold but can reseed themselves back to new plant when warm season arrives. Good and bad insects take shelter but some gets eliminated in the process too.

Somehow, the snow acts as a coverage for the plants from any cold wind

Tin Tin, our free roaming pet Tortoise is also somewhere around the garden area.. but I can't tell you exactly where. He buries himself under the ground to go hibernation... since last October??...oh it will be a good six months before he wakes up, to roam around the garden again.

It's all nice and warm inside the house

 But it's all nice and warm inside the house...it's not so much of the snow that makes it cold...in fact, once the snow starts falling...temperature feels a lot more comfortable.

soft and clean :)

God is so creative...this, so called snow, has it's beauty that always captivates people (including those who don't like the cold weather much)...it falls very very quietly, then, it covers up everything giving an instant change of scenery...everything gets an all clean look, and yes, we need our pair of sunglasses as everything turns so bright!

Cold? yes it is...Complains? no, I'll try not to. Let's see the beauty around us more and learn to appreciate more...it's good for the mind and heart. Wishing you a good day.

Yours,

Indeed.. a good morning.

Dear Family & Friends

No news is good news out there...Europe is in chaos, filled with selfish gains, without regard of other human except the SELF! I checked the weather forecast before going to bed to enable me to plan my chores for the morrow...Hmmmm...although we have been having absolutely wonderful weather the past weeks...this too is changing...forecast is starting to look grim.

We woke up and was greeted by a double rainbow.

BUT...when morning came...the weather was warm, a glimpse of sunshine is breaking out, a bit of rain drizzled, then a five minutes down pour...Hey! It's all good for the garden! Most of all, we witnessed a beautiful double rainbow:) Rainbow is a reminder of God's promise! HOPE for the week!

Another new day

 My planned chores drawn last night all changed. Even the menu of the day was slightly altered. My chicken nugget got a revamp.. it turned into a healthier version...still a nugget but with lots of herbs and chopped veggies added to it. I remembered my big girl asking each one of us before we all said goodnight to each other if anyone is the same as her...getting excited going to bed - thinking what food she would be eating the following day. To me that's a compliment:)

A healthier version of my chicken nugget

Given another warmer day, I quickly went and dug up as many chives as I could. Recently we have been snacking on Chinese savory dumpling called 'he zi /jiao zi'...there's many version for this recipe. Known also as Japanese gyoza, a Spanish empanadita, or even an English version of small pasties. The fillings can vary...we fill ours with lots of chives. It's delicious, specially as we have tons of chives in our garden to harvest.

Chives taste good..we use lots of them

Little dumplings are good alternative snack as we are getting tired of the little pancakes that the girls make now and again.

Having a break from little pancakes

The morning's double rainbow was indeed a good morning start for this week...despite chaos...we do have hope...life is simple and we have to enjoy it.

Wishing you  a good week ahead too.

Yours 

Some of our last week's activity

Dear Family & Friends

We had some torrential rains for a couple of days and the chicken's food grain supply got a bit wet...so as soon as the rain stopped, the grains were spread to dry, to prevent it getting moldy. The bright yellow grain did look pretty next to the garden area.

grains of yellow corn drying in the garden area

Thinking ahead for the coming winter..we ordered only 4 cubic metres of logs for our home heating system this year. Last winter we only used 4 cubic metres of logs and so there were a lot left over for this year...having extra is always a security. Storing and stacking logs seems to be our yearly team work.

 logs were stucked up...previous and present year's supply

Taking advantage of the cool weather, it was also time to transplant and move around some plants here and there. Our Rhubard plants were grouped together in a row in our vegetable garden area. Some globe artichoke that were not happy in the most sunniest part of our garden were also moved to an area where there's more shade. Transplanting plants at this time of the year means that they will have a little bit of time to settle in before they go into hibernation, and by spring time...they will be happier in their new location. 

The most shadier part of our garden

Most of the villagers are now preparing their meat supply for the coming months. I think this is because the planting and growing activity have slowed down now and it's time to get the meat provision for the cold months ahead. One of our fattened duck got sorted too. 

cleaning up the bird for the table

Fortunately I didn't have to do it myself...we have kind neighbours to do it for us. So, peking duck was on the menu recently...but one of our girls completely  put her nose up on this delicatessen....

our two neighbours were happy to sort the duck for us 

Well, life is sometimes gross...perhaps it all depends on how one sees it... I always remind myself that this is part of life...working and eating.... although, I think a vegetarian life is less stressful...

I have to leave you now to go and de-stress myself for a while...until my next journal entry...hope you have a better day than me.

Yours

10 kilos of honey!

Dear Family & Friends

Excuse my excitement, but yes...it's another post on our homestead honey harvest! I still can't get over the fact that we got our very own honey from our garden bees without doing much work! Bees are the most amazing creatures that God created for us! Nothing is more wonderful than to have a free and pure honey...That's our greatest treat!

A bottle filled with pure sweet honey...with some hint of herb from our garden

We had our honey comb harvest extracted at our neighbour's home because we don't have an extractor equipment. Although it is possible to do without but it would take a while to drain all the honey out...anyway, they offered us to make use of their gadgets, and showed us how to:) 

Filling up bottles upon bottles of honey on our kitchen table 

We only have one beehive...and only harvested about 1/3 of the honey that is in there...the rest of the honey are left for the bees to enjoy ...after all, it's theirs and they really worked hard to produce litres and litres of honey. We are grateful that there are more than enough for them and for us too:) 

we bottled about 10 kilos of honey!

Honey is a very good food. We don't often buy them because they are a bit expensive... and a bottle of honey never last long on our table! So I am so excited with the extra bounty we received, it should keep us happy for a year before we go get another harvest:) Because we have lots of herbs growing like weeds in every corners of our garden...we noticed our honey got the herb flavours in it too...that's double benefit for us:)

If you ask me, it's all worth keeping honey bees in the garden.There's no big work involved. The bees are also my garden friends...I love them buzzing around me as I work in the garden...it is never true that they are out there to sting you for nothing. On the contrary, they are there to give you healthy food...their own honey, and maintain a very fruitful and beautiful garden for you too! Miss J got honey smirked on her face and the bees came to clean it all out for her...it feels just very ticklish till they finished their cleaning job! Isn't that amazing!

Yours

Food is to be enjoyed

Dear Family & Friends

I'm not one of those that enjoy using the oven specially in the summer... but as weather cooled up, it was nice to say hello to our little oven once again.

chicken and cherry tomato quiche

Having watch series of The Great British Bake Off... I decided that it's time to bake a pie. If Mary Berry and Paul were to judge my work, I think I will definitely fail because my pie crust is not pre-baked...and so ended up with a soggy bottom. But no one is fuzzy in our household...every pie is always delicious!

cake with rhubard crumble toppings

Miss L also took advantage and baked us a rhubarb crumble topping cake...no recipe, she just made it up with her imagination...it was good...all eaten up during that day!

homemade potato chips/fries 

With the potato harvest waiting for me, stored here and there...I turned a few of them into homemade chips/fries. Baked with lots of herbs and spices...everyone was so quiet, busy enjoying the spuds...yes, I must do this often as they polished off every bits in no time, and wanting more!

It's always a joy to cook and bake for the family...food unites family...home cooked food - even better:) Besides food, our family unit are all having a great time with our German language study. Miss J is polishing her skill to excellence, Miss L is encouraged to keep on, I'm hoping to get there as quick as possible, and Mr. R is doing his best too. That's us for the moment...and...

Here's wishing you a great time with your family, always sharing love and the joy of eating too:)

Yours

Our first honey harvest

Dear Family & Friends

Who would ever think we would one day harvest our very own home cultured honey? We wanted to produce our own honey years ago...but we were a bit daunted by the idea...due to our ignorance! Besides, there's also the fact that it would cost us for the initial investment.

Our first harvest of honey still in frames...waiting to be extracted

Then, one day we approached an elderly village grandmother who had an old beehive structure that needed some repair. She gladly gave them to us. We fixed it, and that's the start!

These are free honey from our garden courtesy of our garden friends...the bees!

Next, we approached a village beekeeper and asked him if he would be happy to teach and guide us through beekeeping. He was kind enough to come to our house to check what else we would need to start with...we also bought a bee family from him, He came to our house every other week for a couple of months to followed up with the bee progress and settlement...till he was happy to leave everything under our care.

eight frames of honey filled combs taken from our beehive

With all these kind people around us, we gathered confidence with what we are doing... Time has arrived, when we added another tier to the beehive so we can profit some honey for ourselves.

a trial piece of honey comb to taste

Today, another village grandfather came to teach us how to harvest our first honey! He even lends us the use of his honey extractor. We are indeed so blessed with kind people around us:)

honeycomb oozing with the sweetest honey

You should see the joy radiating through my little family's face as they sample the first little piece of our very own honeycomb filled with honey. Life is sweet:)

Wish you could share our joy in experiencing a simple sweet life in our village home. It only takes little to bring big joy.

Yours