Frugaldom: courgettes

Frugaldom is a voluntarily run recreational project. It is home to an abundance of wildlife, ponies, goats and feral cats. Set in rural southwest Scotland, we have dark skies and views of the Galloway Hills. We promote frugal living, recycling, sustainability and nature conservation. The site offers park-up for self-sufficient campervans & motorhomes (max 7.5m), off-grid hutting and wildlife watching opportunities. Open all year. You can join Friends of Frugaldom to help support the project.

Showing posts with label courgettes. Show all posts

Sunday, 25 August 2013

The Frugaldom Courgette Cake Challenge

Chocolate Cake with Courgette & Raspberries

We've been baking cakes with courgettes here in Frugaldom for several years now, so this year is nothing new - except several more of you have asked about how to make the courgette cakes.

This is a great time of year for making the most of your surplus fruit and vegetables, even if it does mean baking them into cakes of what one may normally consider odd combinations.

Believe me when I tell you that the combination of chocolate, courgette and raspberry is delicious.

Rule number 1 - Never be afraid to experiment with recipes if you are content to eat the end results, regardless of how they turn out after cooking.

Various recipes exist, but I use the following, based on Shaz's original recipe, adapted to suit what I have available in my baking cupboard and garden:

Original Recipe Ingredients

250g grated courgette
2 eggs
125ml vegetable oil
150g sugar
200g self raising flour
25g cocoa powder
Handful of lightly crushed pistachios (optional)
Half a teaspoon each of bicarbonate of soda and baking powder

My Ingredients Today

125g grated courgette (from garden)

125g raspberries (from garden)
1 duck egg (from garden birds)

2 quail eggs (from garden birds)
60ml vegetable oil

65ml melted margarine (25p per tin from Approved Food*)
150g sugar
200g flour (Gluten free bread flour with sunflower and sesame seeds from Approved Food*)
25g cocoa powder

Handful of raisins (optional)

Half a teaspoon each of bicarbonate of soda and baking powder

Method

Beat the eggs, sugar and oil/margarine together, add the dry ingredients, then the grated courgettes, raspberries and sultanas, stir well.

Grease and/or line 2 x 2lb loaf tins or 1 x 10inch round cake tin.

Split the mix into the two tins if using the loaf tins, otherwise bake it all in the larger tin.

Bake at gas 4 / 180deg C for about 45 minutes, or until golden and a skewer comes out clean.

Leave to cool before slicing.

If you decide to try making courgette cakes, don't forget to photograph them and share your results with our frugal baking challengers in the forum that can be found here.

Owing to the fact that I had no self-raising flour and chose to use the gluten free bread flour, my loaves didn't rise as well as they may have. Having now cooled, I have sliced the first one, three of us have had a sample - it is extremely tasty and has a moist, sponge-like texture. The top photo shows a close up of the finished, sliced cake.

In a word, 'yummy'!

This is my entry into the Frugaldom Courgette Cake Challenge. I hope you all enjoy taking part this year.

Off for a coffee,

NYK in Frugaldom

* Friend referral links

Tuesday, 20 August 2013

Frugal Food From the Garden. (NB: We don't eat the quail, we eat and sell their eggs.)

Make Hay While the Sun Shines

Photo from the old corn mill, Port William

Aside from the fact that I am constantly being distracted by butterflies at the moment, I did, eventually, manage to get around to doing some work in the garden, mainly by way of tidying up the greenhouse and sorting out the tomato and cucumber bushes. The tomato plants were becoming so leafy that no light was getting to the dozens of little fruits that were hiding among the greenery. Hopefully, I haven't done the wrong thing in removing many of the lower leaves to allow the sunlight to get at the tomatoes. I was very late getting my tomato seeds planted this year, so they are well behind some of those I've seen elsewhere.

I literally had to thin the coiling tendrils of the cucumbers because they were taking over the entire greenhouse and there's little enough room in there at this time of year. The closer I look, the more cucumbers I can see!

Down in the frugal poly-tunnel, I'm beginning to wonder if I've done the right thing is leaving the pumpkins - one each side supposed to be for each of my grand daughters in the hope of having pumpkins for Halloween. They are spreading at a terrifying rate and already have tiny pumpkins about the size of golf balls on them. The cucumbers will need to hurry up in there or they'll be swamped by 'the creature' that is a giant pumpkin plant!

Comfrey as green manure

A few weeks ago, some fellow frugalers and I were having a bit of a swapathon. I received some ginger mint, which is doing really well, and some small cuttings from comfrey, of which I had none in this garden. It's used as green manure and for speeding up the composting process, so I was hoping to be able to harvest it before the year ends. It's looking good! The above are the cuttings planted about a month ago. I'm delighted to say that the quail eggs I sent in exchange for the plants have, since, hatched - photo courtesy of Shaz.

Da- old Japanese Coturnix Quail, (fawn x tuxedo)

The herb gardens here are still growing at a an amazing rate, supplying herbs galore for friends and neighbours alike. The newest of the spiral gardens was constructed during the last week of May but it is already filled with herbs - and some unexpected 'guest' plants in the shape of sunflowers that have grown from seeds dropped by the birds. (Apologies for photo quality, the sun had set by the time I got around to taking these photos last night.)

Hands up all of you who have courgettes to spare! I know that several of out regular readers have, so we are now organising a courgette cake challenge. Chocolate and courgettes go well when baked together and I'd like to thank Gill for linking us to her carrot and courgette recipe in my previous post.

Yet another courgette trying to break free!

The Frugaldom potato patch is in full bloom and we have already had some of the potatoes. These were all grown from past their best potatoes left over from early in the year - left to sprout and then planted. We have a major slug and snail problem here, so things do tend to beat us to it in the veg-eating stakes, but there are enough potatoes here to last a few weeks at least.

We are still picking raspberries here but the rhubarb has now all gone and the bed being prepared for winter. I need to get a load of manure and straw to cover this over until next year. The next person past my door on a horse will be accosted and a request made for the contents of their stable. :) Next to be picked looks like being some blueberries and then there should be apples ready.

Blueberries

Well that takes care of the garden update for now - I'll pick and freeze the blueberries for ice-cream making, as there aren't many of them while the bushes are establishing themselves in my 'log-man' acidic (ericaceous) bed but here's hoping they start picking up for next year. That's them been in there for about a year, now.

Rounding up on the £4,000 budget challenge, I have £1,137.43 remaining to last me until the new year. That's after paying this month's telephone bill and purchasing the tickets for the frugal friends' fun day out to explore Carrick-a-Rede and the Giant's Causeway during our mini cruise to Northern Ireland later this week.

And just for good measure, here are this morning's photos. Yes, you got it... more butterflies!

Small Wall Brown Butterfly

Peacock Butterfly

Red Admiral Butterfly

I really tried my best not to include any butterflies in this post but they made me do it, I tell you, they made me do it! The above three photos were taken this morning while I was hanging out the washing.

I promise, no more butterflies unless I spot something really unusual.

Have a fun and frugal day,

NYK in Frugaldom.

Monday, 19 August 2013

Frugal Living Forums :: Chocolate courgette cake

Naughty but nice!

Check out Shaz’s chocolate courgette cake and try it for yourself. With courgettes aplenty at this time of year, let’s see those photos of your culinary delights baked from freshly picked or previously frozen courgettes.

Click here for Chocolate courgette cake

Hope you enjoy your cake and don’t forget to visit the frugal forums to share your results.

Until next time,

Frugaldom

Tuesday, 13 August 2013

Getting Cheap and Cheerful with Courgettes

Courgettes, Courgettes and more Courgettes!

Yes folks, it's 'that' time of year, the time when even your lonely, single courgette plant that survived the tragedy of snow and gale force winds in spring starts sprouting out courgettes. Two of my plants survived, but they're producing well, despite taking an early battering. I rescued these and transferred them to flexi-trugs on the patio.

As you can see, two plants make for a massive display, so you need a fair-sized space for them to grow. Mine are doing fine in their pots with about £2 worth of compost in each pot. Seeds were free, as I had them left over from previous years.

Nowhere sells courgettes about here and I was never a fan of them until I began growing my own. Now I know how frugal they are, I won't miss them out in future growing plans, that's for sure. This one plant has already given me two large courgettes and there are another three there that should be ready for picking soon. As long as I keep picking them, the plant will keep producing them until it's worn out - I'll let you know when that happens. In the meantime, I'm cooking with courgettes.

This is for tonight's dinner - I don't even know what it's called but it's all home-grown (some from a friend's garden) and I guess you could call it organic in as far as no chemicals or pesticides get used. I prepared it last night while making dinner using what was left over from the vegetables.

INGREDIENTS

1 courgette

1 large onion

2 beetroots

2 large potatoes

METHOD

Peel or scrub the vegetables then slice them.

Arrange them in rows in a roasting tin. (I sat mine in a loaf tin liner to make it easier for lifting them out and to save on the hot water when washing up afterwards.) I drizzled them with oil, covered the tin with foil and then baked the lot in the oven for 45 minutes at 200 deg C. Tonight, they'll get finished off in the oven with some cheese grated cheese over the top and served with grilled chicken. The veggies that didn't fit into the tin were set aside and cooked with last night's meal.

We call anything like this 'Bowl Food'.

In the wok, I stir fried some chicken with onions, courgette, beetroot, sliced potatoes, tomato and basil. It got seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic and some spice mix. Next, I added a pack of savoury rice - 6 packs for 99p from Approved Food* - and boiling water, then left it all simmering until the rice cooked. (Whoever asked if the cheap packs of savoury rice could be fried, the answer is yes.)

Once cooked, it looked like this:

It's a bit of a carb-fest cooking with rice and adding in leftover potatoes but there were only a few slices left over from doing the baked veggie dish. So, that's two meals each sufficient to serve two adults for about £1.35 plus an estimated 40p for electricity for cooking. Chicken price is based on using 225g chicken breast, which costs £5.00 per kilo from Muscle Food*

Next up will be courgette and chocolate cake - it tastes delicious!

Check out the frugal gourmet tab at the top of this blog and join in the foodie discussions on the frugal food section of the forums. I'm still banging on about bread in there after baking a huge 25p loaf this morning.

* Denotes a link to an affiliated, sponsor or friend-referral page

Monday, 20 August 2012

Frugal Living - A Means to an End

WHY DO WE DO IT? BECAUSE WE CAN!

Eco-renovation - it's a titanic task

Almost a month has passed since my last post, what with one thing and another happening within the family (RIP 'Wee Jean' 08/08/1918 - 29/07/2012) and various other circumstances beyond my control.

It's now time to get back on the frugal path to put this place in order, even if that path does appear very long and winding at times. I freely admit to occasionally stopping and wondering if it will all be worthwhile, but I also freely admit to saying a positive 'YES', it will be worth it!

My cousin volunteered to pose for this photo during one of our recent adventures and I thought it very apt for this post. :)

Work has restarted, once again. Once completed, the outbuilding will provide the much-needed space to allow work indoors to resume. I may even have a kitchen by the end of this year!

The (soon to be) studio.

The 'studio' is beginning to look good now that all the old wood and blocks have been replaced. We salvaged the old back door that was removed from the house plus half a dozen of the windows that were lying about the garden when we arrived here. There are still two more windows to be completed but the frames are in and all that's needed is for the glass to be fitted - this we have had to buy. (We got a really good deal from a local double glazing company who had spares lying in their yard.) One day soon, we'll have a studio workshop right on our back doorstep and working from home will become even more enjoyable.

As the year progresses, we're having our fair share of sunshine, even managing to don the shorts and visit the beach a few times to enjoy a splash about with the grand children. This, however, reminds me of how unfit and over weight I havew become, so it is time to address this problem in a much more serious way. Afterall, we have the best gym in the world right outside our doors and anyone is free to use it at any time!

The great outdoors can offer anything you want from a short walk to the post box to some high-powered aerobics, assuming you have the enthusiasm to just do it! Frugal living should never leave you needing, even if you have to create your own imaginery outdoor gym.

An eco-renovation doesn't come cheap if we're looking at eco-friendly building products but a frugal eco-renovation is about making things affordable. Whether it means cutting back on unneccessary expense so you can afford the right materials or recycling what is already available to you, it is still good! Ensuring you are fit enough to enjoy and appreciate all the years of scrimping, saving and hard work that goes into a renovation project has to feature strongly in your plans if you expect to reap the long term benefits. So I am making a new start RIGHT NOW!

GET FITTER, NOT FATTER (Pedometer cost 99p inc P&P via eBay.) I often hear or read of people trying their best to get fit and lose weight by spending ridiculous amounts of money on low fat and/or high protein foods, joining local gyms and/or 'investing' in fitness equipment. I have to admit to having thought about these things myself in the past, especially as my son is a fitness fanatic and into all sorts of weight training.

I have now cast aside those thoughts and am lookingg at the whole picture - the old joints have taken some serious punishment over the years, what with various falls, bumps, sprains, strains and fractures (mainly horse-related) and it has been quarter of a century since I weighed what I would like to weigh. That's 25 years of careless living that has slowly increased my weight and decreased my fitness. I certainly don't plan on taking another 25 years to redress this balance, but I do understand that it will be a long and arduous task, one that cannot be supplemented by unneccessary spending, dieting fads and paying to be told how to do it. The process needs to fit in time-wise and weather-wise with frugal living, earning an income and renovating a home!

I hope nobody minds if I post about my exploits during this frugal 'Get Fitter, Not Fatter' challenge, but I set it up online so long ago that even I am beginning to think of it as a bit of a joke.

The following items are what some people see as essentials to their fitness regimes:

rowing machine

treadmill

exercise bike

local swimming pool

weights

The following are what I have right here, right now:

This is my Rowing Machine. OK, so my rowing machine comes in the form of a small rowing boat moored at the edge of the nearby loch, but look at the spectacular views it offers and look at the space for sharing with friends, taking a healthy lunch and, if we so desired, trying our hands at fly-fishing. I haven't done the fishing bit, as that entails purchasing a permit that allows us to fish - not frugal - but rowing around Elrig loch is a brilliant way to get some easy exercise whilst communing with nature.

This is my Treadmill. The frugal treadmill will keep going for miles and miles, as the roads, lanes and tracks criss-cross the countryside. The whole point of spending years scrimping and saving is to afford to live debtfree somewhere we want to be, a place of our own that we can call home. If you can't see the possibilities of doing something like this on your own, then consider finding someone with shared ambitions. You'd be amazed at how many people jump at the chance to quit the rat race and follow their dreams as crafters, writers, artists or even for the simple choice of working their own hours in order to make the most of everything else life has to offer. Chaos is acceptable, no matter what others may think, if it is en route to realising your dreams.

The Exercise Bike (cycling) Almost everyone knows someone with a bicycle tucked away in a shed, forgotten, unused or surplus to requirement. Well, I borrowed one from a friend this summer. What with one thing and another, I haven't even managed out on it once, but there are no real excuses. They say that you never forget how to ride a bike... I'll put that theory to the test just as soon as my knees have agreed to bend and straighten in one smooth rotational action while synchronising with upper body balance and an ability to steer.

The Poolside - Living in a rural location means there's not really much call for such things as gyms or leisure centres with indoor heated swimming pools. Living within walking distance of the coast, however, offers all sorts of possibilities. Wild swimming can be done pretty much anywhere you find that's safe and clean enough for you to take the plunge. A friend has invested in a wet suit so she isn't completely restricted to only the hottest days of the year, swimming in several of the lochs that can be found within the region - her particular favourites are all within the Galloway Forest Park. I prefer the sea, as the thought of pike swimming below me puts me off even dipping a toe into any of our nearby lochs. As yet, I have not swum in the sea, only paddled.

Weights - Who needs dumbells when there are millions of rocks lying around the place? One local here power walks while carrying a rock in each hand, raising them and lowering them in step with his pace of walking. I'm sure this must provide an extra element of aerobic exercise and will be setting him well on his way to achieving his optimum heart rate.

My first challenge is to gather enough rocks to equate to the amount of excess weight I am already carrying. Granted, it won't come close to Stonehenge, but I'm sure it will amount to a tiny cairn, at least.

That's the tale of Frugaldom thus far - the indoor renovation works ground to a halt months ago, the weeds always seem to be winning the war in the garden, the greenhouse is still standing and producing some lovely tomatoes, I'm cooking courgettes in almost everything - bread and cakes alike - the derelict outbuilding should have a new lease of life as a studio within the next couple of weeks and I'm about to embark on a much healthier lifestyle, even if it takes me forever.

How could anyone not want to live this life? It's certainly never boring!

This post is also dedicated to all friends, family and other residents of Garlieston in the wake of recent events, the facts of which have been twisted out of recognition by certain newspapers that chose to feed the general public with outright lies! I would appeal to anyone who has read such garbage to cast it aside and never sink to the depths of allowing it to cloud their judgement on our wonderful area!

Regular updates relating to frugal living can be found in our forums at http://frugaldom.myfreeforum.org

Feel free to join us online anytime and invite your friends to do similar.

Thursday, 6 October 2011

Stocks and Shares of the Frugal Variety.

These Pay Dividends of a Different Type!

No, I'm not talking the London Stock Exchange, NASDAQ or Wall Street, I'm talking home made stock and the freshly picked produce that my garden shares with me on a regular basis.

But it still pays dividends!

Having roast chicken for dinner is always the precursor of Frugaldom stock trading. I trade the stripped chicken carcass for a lovely pot of stock! Obviously, you may choose to take (or make) this with a pinch of salt, but I prefer mine seasoned with the addition of pepper, as well. It's a pretty hot commodity, in my honest opinion.

Stockmaking all looks rather messy at the start, but boiling the bones is the only way to get all that lovely flavour into the water that will later become your soup. Strain off the juices and, for a lower fat version, allow the stock to cool, chill it and then skim off any fat.

I tend to make my stock over the period of few hours in the slow cooker - frugal and almost impossible for it to boil over when left unattended. If you have cheap rate overnight electricity, this is the best time for slow cookers, just use a timer switch.

This time of year is brilliant for thick soups, stews and broths and I always serve them with wedges of freshly baked bread or dumplings. I usually set aside a small carton of the extra meat that is always left over, then this also gets added into the final dish.

From the garden, earlier in the week, I had gathered sprouting broccoli, patty pan squash, beans, turnips, carrots, 5 courgettes and onions, plus I also had a mugful of stewed tomatoes to use up, from making pizza for yesterday's lunch.

Everything except the runner beans has gone into the soup pan and is simmering gently along with a decent helping of red, split lentils and a heaped teaspoonful of turmeric, for added autumn kick.

Despite this all sounding like a very strange concoction, the only ingredients that were paid for in cash were the lentils and seasoning, so this really is a frugal meal.

The pan used holds 6.5L of liquid, so I usually make 5L of soup, meaning that there is always plenty stored in the freezer for winter warmer snacks, lunches or suppers.

Never be afraid of experimenting with stocks or soup-making.

If you are vegan or vegetarian, use your scrubbed peelings, stalks, tops and tails to make a vegetable stock. Season it with whatever herbs or spices you prefer and then freeze the surplus for later use. Simmering some spaghetti in the stock makes for frugal noodle soup, while using this same stock for cooking such things as rice, pasta or cous cous always gives that extra bit of flavour and a few extra vitamins and minerals.

Within the realms of frugal living and housekeeping, there is probably no cheaper option than homemade soup. It is also one of the most nourishing foods for sipping when feeling under the weather or otherwise off your food.

We love soup, especially because you can make it from almost anything.

I'll upload a photo of this latest soup as soon as it is ready. Until then, I can't tell you how it looks or tastes, as this truly is a use-it-up recipe.

Edit: This soup tastes delicious! It is much more colourful than I had expected it to be, but looks very appetising.

Lunch for the next few days and enough left over for several servings to go into the freezer.

The tomatoes give it an interesting look, much less bland than ordinary green pea soup and much more interesting than chicken with rice.

We now have the big debate - to blend or not to blend?

NYK Media

www.scottishmultimedia.co.uk

Sunday, 25 September 2011

Cutting the Grocery Budget with Frugal Food

Spicy Courgette Soup - a Frugal Recipe at 4p per portion.

Every year, I set myself a target budget for grocery shopping. I've done this for so long that it has become more of a game - some might even call it a standing joke.

For the past few years, I have set my challenge at £1 per person, per day. And I have stuck to it!

The truth of the matter is, with finances being stretched to the limit, food waste is something that we cannot afford, nor should we tolerate it!

Elsewhere on this planet, there are people starving to death while many of us here, in this wonderful, 'developed' part of the world, take up ridiculous, faddy diets in an attempt to shift surplus fat. Sadly, at the same time, many also buy so much food that a percentage of it inevitably ends in the bin. Weird!

Frugaldom cannot afford the luxury of binning food, although it can honestly be said that I could afford to shed surplus fat! (But that's a whole other challenge.) In exchange for our happy-go-lucky lifestyle of simple living, splitting time between building up a home, earning a meagre living and developing a productive garden, we have given up on big luxuries like dining out, holidays, new cars and designer wear. All savings made, for now, are being ploughed into the house.

Without further ado, here is how I am currently coping with the glut of courgettes that are being harvested from the garden. I have only two plants, but I have lost count of the number of courgettes I have picked from each - certainly many more than I would ever have afforded to buy as part of the regular grocery shopping.

If you have read any of my posts about cooking chicken, you'll know that I can get at least three main meals from one (shop bought) bird and I always make stock from whatever is left. This time, with only two of us here, I have enough chicken for 4 main meals, the cat got fed and the stock got made. So what's next?

SPICY COURGETTE SOUP

INGREDIENTS

3 litres chicken stock (homemade)

1 large onion, chopped (homegrown)
Approx 500g chopped carrots (homegrown)
5 large courgettes, chopped (homegrown)
Coriander (None growing, I had to use ground variety from the spice rack)
Teaspoon salt

Teaspoon ground pepper

Teaspoon turmeric

I had been boiling rice for having with our chicken curry and like to add some turmeric or a touch of curry powder along with salt, to give the rice that lovely yellow colour and a bit of added flavour. Worrying that the soup may end up looking a weird colour once the courgettes had all cooked down, I reckoned the turmeric could also add a bit of colour and a bit of a kick, into the bargain. Next year, with luck, my new crocuses will provide us with saffron for such uses - frugal gourmet needn't cost the earth, it simply needs the earth in order for us to grow such fine delicacies.

The soup was simmered in the slow cooker for several hours then left overnight to cool. I then blended it (using a stick blender I bought several years ago for under £5) before splitting it into lunchtime sized portions.

I got 10 adult portions from the above, but can't really cost it up exactly when the sums are so small. All the veg came from the garden, the stock was a by-product of the chicken, which cost me £4.99 locally, and the herbs & spices are all things I have on my shelf. The electricity used was minimal, having opted to use my 300w slow cooker. At a guess, I would say the electricity used would amount to a maximum of 3 kWh, including making the stock. On our current electricity rates, this would work out at just under 37p

Looking good for around 4p per portion. Even if you had to buy stock cubes and vegetables, soup remains one of the cheapest meals to make if you are prepared to mix and match with your ingredients.

This started out as a bowlful, except H had already eaten half of it with a slice of homemade bread by the time I remembered I was meant to be photographing it for this blog post. He was slightly amused when asked to set down his spoon and step away from the soup while I pointed a camera at it!

This courgette soup is nourishing, very warming on a chilly day, handy for serving in a mug as a tasty snack and, most of all, you get a lovely hot kick from it, depending on how much of the spices you use.

Try it for yourself, adapt the recipe to suit your own tastebuds, thicken it with lentils if you prefer, and make the most of what you've got in stock. This is a seasonal soup and it freezes well. Frugadom highly recommends it and will be making another batch next week, as there are another 4 courgettes almost ready plus a couple of patty pan squash, which will also get added.

WE LOVE SOUP!

Friday, 9 September 2011

Who Needs a Roof when The Sun Shines?

September Sunshine

After several dull and rainy days, the sun shone for most of the afternoon yesterday, so blogging fell by the wayside in favour of being out in the garden.

It's sunny now, but I've already had my coffee while sitting out watching the rabbit bouncing around the garden, helping herself to whatever she fancies. Not much damage to be done at this time of year and I don't grudge her the bottom leaves from the brussel sprouts or kale, nor do I mind that she nibbles the carrot tops.

It costs nothing to sit out and enjoy the afternoon, frugal fresh air, the chance to appreciate nature and, if lucky, a walk about to gather in some of the fruits of your labours.

Who needs a kitchen roof when the sun shines? It's a case of making the most of the patio, even although that probably won't be fully cleared before next year. We did get the Saffron crocus bed made (seen on right) and all 60 of the bulbs planted, so I'm happy with that. I've had to lay wire mesh over the top of the bed to keep the cat from going in and digging, though!

Despite all its flaws, we bought the house to develop it into a home and, most importantly for us at the time, for the potential we saw in the garden.

Compared to how it looked 6 months ago, it's now unrecognisable. I'm really pleased with progress and I'm delighted that everything is growing so well.

I do sometimes look in dismay at what still has to be done out there, but the blog and photographs serve to remind me of how much we've achieved so far.

Decided to check on the pumpkins, as I'd really like to have one ready for carving in time for Halloween. These are meant to be giant pumpkins, but I had my doubts at the start. That was then...

Now, my football-sized pumpkins are approaching medinice ball size and seem to be growing by the day. Not sure what to do for the best, as I have never grown pumpkins before this. Having had to double the size of the bed they are in, I left a few marigolds scattered among them - mainly because I couldn't think where else to move them!

Watch this space for pumpkin news.

Further down the garden, behind the rhubarb, I had thrown a handful of sunflower seeds. It was rather late for planting them but they have managed to survive.

Yesterday morning saw the arrival of the first flower, so I'm quite optimistic that a few others will follow suit, assuming the weather doesn't suddenly deteriorate. Fingers crossed that the garden birds get the chance to enoy the seeds this autumn.

The garden is an absolute haven for birds, as long as we can keep an eye on the cat! (She's now onto her third collar with bells, as she keeps losing them while scrapping with the other neighbourhood cats.) One of these days, I'll be lucky enough to snap a photo of all the goldfinches and the bull finches that frequent this part of the garden. Item to be added to the next 'to do' list - tie up the sunflowers, as they have long, since, grown up over the top of their current garden cane supports.

The broccoli is now sprouting all ways. Not sure if I like this as much as being able to simply walk out and cut one large head off the plants, but the sprouting variety is certainly productive, so might prove to be more economical.

The raised beds are planned for next year, so I'm hoping to get back to some more 'square foot gardening', as I like the variety it produces, all from the one smallish space.

In the micro-orchard, the nine home-hatched ducklings are now almost fully grown. At only 9 weeks old, it's getting difficult to tell the white ones apart from Phoebe and Joey, the adults. They all seem happy together and spend much of their time waddling around the pond. Soon, however, a few will be leaving to go to their new homes.

Thankfully, 'Custard Cream', the pale coloured one, and 'Orio', the black and white one, both seem to be ducks, so they have secured their longterm home here in Frugaldom.

I'm not sure how many of the others will remain but I was intending keeping half a dozen ducks for eggs. We now need to decide which three of the others can stay before rehoming the other four. It's a tough decision to make, as I like them all!

Hopefully, my spring bulbs will arrive in the next week or so. This will let me get a bit more done at the front of the house, as I'll can plant up all the tubs. The nasturtiums are still flowering, as are the marigolds. The 'Millions of Bells', given to me by a neighbour, have started to flower and the tiny violas rescued from the cobbled gutter seem to be surviving alongside one tiny begonia.

Seed collecting has begun, from both my own flowers and by way of packets traded through the Galloway LETS group, so next year should be a colourful one. It might not be frugal as far as growing edible produce is concerned, but the splash of colour and the extra bird life it encourages is well worth it. Bird corner should take on a life of its own in 2012.

That's almost it for today. I did manage to make a huge batch of carrot and lentil soup, which has now been split up and frozen. The last of the heritage 'blue' potatoes got eaten with dinner last night and I still have a bucket of carrots, loads of beas, courgettes and the big tub of broccoli to blanche and freeze but space in the freezer is at a premium, so some creative thinking is required, especially knowing that the kitchen has to be emptied completely for the roof work starting. But tomorrow is another day. For now, I'm off to do a bit more weeding before it's time to make dinner.

Thursday, 4 August 2011

Quail hatch in progress - STOP watching, GO and pick dinner!

Japanese Coturnix Quail Chicks in Assorted Colours.

Yes, this really is the second blog post of the day, but I need to keep certain people up to date with the hatching progress.

First of all, I find it very difficult not to sit watching proceedings but the eggs were left in the incubator this time, as opposed to being transferred into the hatching box, which has a viewing window. This means I've been unable to peer in, so had to keep myself otherwise amused for most of the afternoon.

Bread has been baked, freezer has been repacked to fit in today's order and numerous cups of tea have been enjoyed on the patio.

Some weeding got done, the duck pond got topped up, more eggs were collected (and sold to neighbours) and then it got really hot outside, so more sitting about on the patio. By that time, I could make out at least 7 chicks bumbling around inside the incubator, but I daren't open the lid at that stage as the sudden drop in temperature and humidity can affect the rest of the hatch.

Outside, I cleared and swept a small space under the kitchen window, repotted some plants, planted the first of the strawberry runners into individual pots, sowed another row of peas (can but try) and then potted up all my herb cuttings.

From left to right, I don't know what the first plant is, the second one grew from wildbird seed, the third is Thai Basil, next it's the parsley seedlings and then the rosemary, which I rooted from sprigs I bought reduced to 10p in the supermarket.

The herb cuttings are an assortment of three types of mint - common, lemon balm and grapefruit - two types of thyme and several cuttings from my hardy curry plant that survived the -10C winter last year.

If I can get all of the above to develop into healthy plants, these will go into planters and get sat out on the little cobbled yard at the front of the house.

Dinner time arrived, so I did the frugal act of pulling some carrots and picking some peas. I also brought in some lettuce, a couple of courgettes and an onion, as I was desperate to see how these were doing.

As you can see by the photos, the onions are doing really well and are quite huge, considering how late the sets went in and the fact that the person who gave me them thought they'd be past their sell by date. Not in the least! These are growing great guns! I can hardly wait to pull them up and get them dried for winter use. This one will be going into tomorrow's spicy stir fry along with the courgette and some homegrown chilli peppers.

So, has anyone tried to count the quail chicks in the photograph? I can see 12, so am really happy that we've managed to achieve over 40% Even I am surprised at how many of these eggs are hatching, as they were neither stored correctly, nor turned daily prior to being incubated. These were simply surplus to requirement eggs that I decided to set in the off chance that a couple of them might be fertile. :)

Nice result, so far.

Pages