In need of Padington Bear

The past week has been a mammoth marmalade making one. Here in rural south west France the Seville orange is tricky to track down, I have only found them in the organic shop, so when in town last we put our order in. When asked how many I should of calculated better, I should of noted down how many kilos I used last year, for that was not enough to last through to this. Farmer J likes his marmalade and it goes really well made into an ice cream with chocolate torte, a staple dessert dish on the gites menu and for breakfast should it be required.

So as I stood in Bio coop, trying to think how many kilos I needed 5 came to mind, no that might not be enough, 7, yes seven kilos please. Seven kilos of Seville oranges, not the prettiest of oranges and not edible when raw, once cut they do not have that bright orange inside and with quiet a few pips and pith which need to be kept essential for a good set is a lot of oranges. A lot of preparation, done in batches from good old Delia Smiths recipe. I also tried a batch of Nigel Slater's, but sorry Nigel your method is too messy for me.

First batch started fairly finely chopped, as batches went on the marmalade became chunkier, so much chopping by hand. I did try the kenwood blade last year but it didn't work so well. So this is artisan marmalade and apparently tastes pretty good just as well as I've made 17.5 kilos with every jar in the house used, from the tiny one slice of toast serving to a huge pot that held gherkins before.

A few jars have been given for gifts so beware you may just be looking for Padington Bear should I visit you.

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Snap shot

A moment from the week at La Singlarie Another steer went off on Wednesday. After spending 3 years with them it doesn't get any easier when they leave.

Weeding

Potatoes A sad looking patch Hunting for carrots The weather has now gone from one extreme to the other from rain, rain and a bit more rain to hot, sunny and hotter. Time to access the veggie patch after I planted everything in one hit and then it got very damp and soggy. Well the potatoes are growing well, although they are going to be a lot later this year, kind of Earlie's for late ones and late ones maybe ready for Christmas dinner ( if they survive the bugs, rabbits and moles). The weeds have and still are growing really well, this morning was spent finding the carrots and parsnips, which I have with no help from Sorrel, who after a quick sniff lazed under the shade of the apple tree (which by the looks of it hasn't got hardly any apples on it?) The poor herb seeds sowed don't look to good or the french and runner beans, think a hungry mouse have nibbled on them so I will have to resow (once I have weeded -again)

A problematic Ewe

While Master C and Miss F were here over the weekend we took the opportunity for their help in moving the two ewes, Gorgon and Thumberlina to the field where the donkeys had been. What with all the rain we have had lately the grass grow super quick. The only problem was Miss Fatty did not want to move from her safe field (if only she knew she was moving to new lush grass). It took farmer J and Master C to try moving her after pushing from me and Master C had failed and she fell to the floor not moving an inch. There try also failed so they were both lead through the field in another direction. Of course once in the new field there was no looking back. Gorgon on the other hand was a breeze to move, as long as you have food he will follow, you just need to make sure you have enough food!

The English Paysanne

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