This post is a follow up from our first butchery attempts. We learned loads in that first year, and we’ve tried to learn from our mistakes, got better with our recipes and tried a few new things. The first thing we’ve done differently this year has been the timing. Last year it was still really…
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A very different May/June
After a lovely start to this year, May and June have had awful weather. Mostly dry, but with huge thunderstorms. It’s been so wet that most of our soft fruit crops have been lost to moulds, and those that have survived are pretty tasteless. So this year we have barely any greengages, strawberries, or cherries….
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What to make with a whole pig
We butchered our first pig on Monday. It was a monumental task, and we learned loads during the whole process. This is our attempt to document what we set out to achieve, how that went and what we learned from it, so we can remember for the next time as it will be a whole…
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The Non-vegetarian Smallholder
We’re killing our first pig today. Having raised him from a small piglet, back in May, today is the day we complete the reason why we got him. It seems to me to be fairly natural, especially as this is our first, to take a few moments to consider whether this is the right things…
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Danny goes on his holidays
It’s that time of year when the sound of a gunshot in the morning is a regular occurrence as people slaughter their animals ready for winter. We have been getting ready to do our pigs and have decided Richard will be the first to go then a week later Danny. One of my concerns was…
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Set backs and problem solving
This month hasn’t gone quite to plan. It all started when we realised the cement floor in the kitchen was only 2 – 4cms thick. Bearing in mind we have a pillar holding the mezzanine floor up and the cooking peshka weighs 140Kg we didn’t think the floor in it’s current state was up to…
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May update
One day there will be a day without fruit to prepare or pick, but today is not that day. May started off quietly enough with a bit of tree maintenance, mulching and adding compost to the trees, and building our reed bed with our helpers Christie and Jessie, but now it’s just descended into fruit…
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