Rhubarb Crumble

 We have a modest 3rd crop of rhubarb still to harvest but in the absence of anything freshly picked, we had lots of rhubarb in one of our freezers. You can't beat a rhubarb crumble!

Marrow stuffed with pigeon meat followed by trifle

It's that time of year when are inundated with marrows. Some will be made into curries and into chutneys. But first, we stuffed one with pigeon meat and baked it. It was then topped with cheese sauce. We've been having it for the past couple of days with a dessert of trifle which includes an old sponge cake made some years ago using duck eggs. It had been in one of the freezers for years and was rediscovered when we defrosted the freezer over the weekend.

 

Our latest addition

 

We have a new addition to our smallholding. This is Rex, a Texel ram which we bought last week. He is about 16 months old. He will service the 4 sheep we have - two of which are Texels. I'm looking forward to lamb next year!

Goats on the run - the video!

 

Monday and Tuesday are not necessarily days I wish to repeat. The billy goats' disappearance and their return took up most of Tuesday but I did manage to capture what happened in my video diary above.

They're back!

 

We eventually caught up with the missing billies today. After a brief social media campaign, the word got out into the local community that we needed their eyes and ears at the ready. The campaign worked. We were put in touch with one of the riding stables about a kilometre from our main field. They had found the goats in a neighbouring piece of woodland. So this evening we headed over to collect them. They were looking rather pleased with themselves when we got there. They are now in our most secure paddock where they will remain until we have repaired the fence of their usual paddock.

Missing

 

Yesterday, three of our billy goats escaped from the smallholding. Snow, Sunny and Perky disappeared through a small hole in the fence of their paddock when we were in Yorkshire buying a ram for the ewes. Despite an extensive search before it got too dark last night, and a further search this morning in heavy rain, we have not been able to find them.

I am aware of local residents who read this blog so if you see any goats wandering around near Sunniside or Streetgate in Gateshead, please email me on jonathanwallace329@gmail.com saying when and where you saw them.

Softfruit ketchup

 

Yesterday I made 6 jars and one small bowl of softfruit ketchup. This is a by-product of making jelly preserves. Once the liquid is strained off to make the jelly, the pulp is left over. Instead of discarding it, I press it through a sieve and the resulting fruit puree is used to make the ketchup (just add a pinch of salt, red wine vinegar and sugar). Lots of gooseberries went into this so it has a very tangy taste. It is great with smoked fish.