Tag Archives: biscuits

Ups and downs

Another monthly recording session for the agroforestry scheme and more eggs collected from the poultry. There’s a grinding monotony about our daily tasks at the moment, probably brought about by short days and rainy weather, rather than by any actual increase in tedium.

A goat and a lamb both died over the weekend, which is always a depressing event. Added to the other goat that died last week it could be the start of a worrying pattern. We will have to see.

On the plus side – after numerous complaints to the taxi company they were on time at both ends of the day, which always makes things easier,  We were also visited by someone who used to work here and she brought cake! We knew she was coming, which was nice, and we bought shortbread in anticipation, which was also good. However, the addition of chocolate fudge cake really lit up my morning. I’m easily pleased. As usual I managed to eat it before remembering to take a photo, which is why I’m not a food blogger. However, I did take a picture of the biscuit tin.

I’ve also managed a book review, which I’ve been intending for some time.

If you want to try some exquisite cake (there were other varieties but I’m trying to hide the exact quantity from Julia) try visiting the The Clock House cafe and tearoom. I’m going to make a trip in the next few weeks so will report back for those of you unable to make it.

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Biscuits and beans

It’s National Biscuit Day and I missed. Fortunately I was able to get into the spirit of things because we bought biscuits for a meeting scheduled for 11am. At 10.10 they rang to cancel. It’s an ill wind that blows no good…

I know farmers need rain (or so they always tell us until they start telling us the rain will ruin them), but I really could have done without the rain today. We’re on clay (you may have heard me mention it a time or two) so it meant I couldn’t get on the newly cleared beds.

We could still get into the herbs and Julia has been potting some of the bigger ones for the plant stall on the 7th June. I’ve been on the raised beds near the kitchen and made a couple of runner bean wigwams. One will have the roots we’ve overwintered for the last two years, and the other will have some new ones from this year. Looking at the luxuriant growth of the old ones (already in flower despite being kept in a bucket in the polytunnel till now) and comparing it with the stringy new growth it doesn’t look much of a contest. We will have to see – when you talk to people about it the majority seem to think you are better using new plants every year. I will keep scrupulous records of cropping dates, numbers and weights and see what it tells us.

It will probably tell you that after the first week the reporting system fails. When you add my lack of paperwork skills to the effect of random harvesting by passers-by it’s almost a certainty!

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Gingerbread, stones and scarecrows

It’s not long after my last post but I need to catch a day up.

Today was an old-fashioned kitchen day with the smell of gingerbread, the sound of happy kids and the clatter of gravel. There seems to be some sort of unwritten rule that kids under the age of 8 have to fill their friends’ pockets or shoes with small stones. It makes for quite a lot of sweeping up but acts as a cover for me as I throw handfuls into the raised beds to improve drainage.

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Then it was scarecrows. Did I mention we are having a scarecrow competition on Open Farm Sunday – 7th June? More importantly, did I mention you can enter a photograph by email?

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Yes, it’s a fox guarding my new bean trial. Don’t ask.

Biscuits

We had a successful day today with a dozen children making biscuits before going out on  a bear hunt.

Not that we have any bears in the UK, despite plans to “rewild” the place. We just had cardboard tokens and bags of chocolate.

The tag line of the poster “What do your bears do in the woods?” would really have leant itself to a talk on compost, but I was over-ruled and they ended up with chocolate.

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