A cold chill

Yesterday was cold. I had to dress in warm clothes when I went down to the allotment. The bees were very quiet, staying in the hive rather than venturing out to forage. I was concerned about the new hive we set up as a result of an unexpected swarm at the start of this month. It would not have had time to build up a store of honey and if the bees weren't getting out to collect nectar, there was a serious chance the colony could starve. We had fed it a bucket of sugar syrup when we set up the hive three weeks ago but the chances were that the bees would have drained it. So I prepared a new bucket of syrup and we took it down to Apiary 2. Sure enough, the bees had finished the first bucket of syrup. My guess is that they will get through the new one in just a few days. The weather forecast for Sunday is looking better so we will do a full hive inspection then.

We didn't need official government agencies to tell us that the summer, which for statistical purposes ends today, was the wettest for one hundred years. Nevertheless, we were told the news yesterday that we already knew. The rotten weather has sent a cold chill through food production. We have felt it first hand. No honey crop so far and my hopes of getting even a small one within the next few weeks are fading fast. No apple crop. No sloes. Root crops are poor. Bizarrely the runner beans are doing very well.

The blackberries are late this year. Yesterday I went on a blackberry forage, hoping to gather enough to make some blackberry jam. I managed to pick enough to make a pie. The jam is on hold until more blackberries have ripened.

And then there were 10

Yesterday was another record breaker for us - 10 eggs from our hens. They came in a range of sizes and colours. We are entering 4 eggs in the Bowes Agricultural Show in September and will possibly use some of the olive green eggs laid by our columbines.

Half dozen olive green eggs

Another of my columbines started laying today. I noticed her behaving in a slightly agitated way, clucking loudly and exploring nooks and crannies on the allotment. I tried to keep her in the chicken run in the hope she would go into one of the henhouses and lay in a nest box. However, she wasn't going to make my life easy and made a bit of a fuss, running up and down the chicken run wanting to be let out. So I re-opened the gate. She headed to the side of the allotment where the fence is low. She hopped over into the undergrowth on the short embankment that leads down to someone's garden. In that undergrowth she laid an olive green coloured egg and promptly returned to the allotment. I clambered over the fence and retrieved the egg. So we have two columbines laying now. Two more to go. We now have enough eggs to fill an egg box.

9 eggs

A milestone on our road to self-sufficiency was reached today. For the first time we had 9 eggs laid by our hens. The previous record was 7. We have 17 hens now though 9 were bought only last month and we think only three of them have so far started laying. Eggs continue to be traded for other produce. Talking of which, I got to the allotment this evening and found someone had kindly left me a load of rhubarb. And Johnnie, on the neighbouring allotment, gave me a rather nice celery. We tried to grow celery last year and got nowhere with it. We didn't even bother this year. I suspect we will make it into soup. The rhubarb will probably go into a pie. I have been threatening to make egg custard for a while so a pie to accompany it won't go amiss.

The apple crop has failed

My worst fears about the apple crop are about to come true. There are a number of wild apple and crab apple trees growing near our village. I checked them this afternoon. Normally they would be sagging under the weight of fruit in August. This year, not an apple in sight. The blossom must have been wrecked by the heavy rain in April and May. And if it wasn't wrecked by the rain, the bees were stuck in the hives because of the rain, unable to get out to pollinate the blossom. This will cause big problems with our food supply. We use apples extensively in making preserves and chutneys. And of course, it is the main fruit we eat ourselves. This is bad news we could do without.

A few things we have made recently

I've been in the kitchen as well as on the allotment recently so I thought I'd bring you a few photos of some of what I've made recently.

Mint sauce

 

A corner of Dad's allotment is overrun with mint (you should plant it in pots, not into the ground as it is very invasive and once you have it, you're stuck with it). I picked some recently to make mint sauce.

Summer fruit jam

 

Contains raspberries, redcurrants and blackcurrants.

Wild raspberry jam

 

We have now finished picking wild raspberries (see photo below). The crop is finished. It was also later than usual. I spotted after making this jam that it comes out darker and browner than jam I make from the raspberries we grow ourselves.

 

Tomato soup

 

Alas, this was made from tomatoes given to me by one of our neighbouring allotment holders. Our tomatoes are late thsi year and I'm not convinced we will get much of a crop at all.

Radish leaf soup

 

Another soup, this time made from radishes grown in our polytunnel (though we have now taken off the cover.

Raspberry vinegar

 

I'll be making pancakes soon to test out this raspberry vinegar as a sauce.

Our first green egg

Just picked this egg up from our new hen house. Our first green egg. Last month we got four columbines and it now appears one has started laying - they lay olive green or blue eggs. Hopefully the other three will start laying soon.