That was just what the doctor ordered…well not literally, but had I consulted one I expect that it was they would have ordered. A change is as good as a rest is how the saying goes, and so it proved to be. I did some work, a fair bit actually, but short days, and on Monday I took the whole day off and had a day trip to Brancaster beach on the north Norfolk coast. The weather was perfect and Nellie had a ball running on the vast open space of the huge beach and digging in the dunes (see above). It was lovely to feel the salty wind in my hair and feel the soft sand under my feet, a proper change of scenery, and it’s only a couple of hours away so there is really no excuse for not doing it more often.

It wasn’t all sandcastles and kiss me quick hats though, during the week I picked a further 300kg of apples that I took to be pressed on Friday. The weather after Monday was very changeable, and on a couple of occasions I had to run for shelter in the hay barn as the rain came down in torrents. I’m not sure if you can make out the stair rods in the photo below, but it was all pretty dramatic.

It’s not only the weather that has been dramatic, it has been a great week of bird activity. Early in the week on the Birdbrook Facebook page, someone that lives not much more than half a mile from the garden as the crow flies posted a photo taken in their garden with a Hoopoe sitting on their lawn. And a few days later while I was down in the orchard I am pretty sure that I heard one call, though I saw nothing. Hoopoes are rare visitors to the UK so this was quite an event to have one in this locality – below is the photo posted on Facebook

On Thursday evening I had a fantastic view watching a Ban Owl scanning the parkland in search of prey. Back and forth it tacked over its chosen patch of grassland, effortlessly gliding before turning on a sixpence to travel back to whence it came. On three occasions it suddenly dropped down into the grass in pursuit of a hapless rodent. Twice it took to the air with nothing to show for its efforts, but the third time it emerged with something in its talons and made off to a nearby Silver Birch to consume its prey. Such elegance and beauty. In addition, with the help of my birdsong identification app I detected a Hawfinch, Firecrest, Marsh Tit, Black Redstart, while picking apples, these were just the unusual ones. In addition there were Treecreepers, Nuthatch, Ravens, Woodpeckers and all of the normal Tits, Robins and Finches. I don’t know how reliable the app is, but even if it’s not 100% it does demonstrate that Moyns Park has a healthy and diverse avian population.

I also found two very active Hornet nests during the week, which I was very pleased about, because I hadn’t seen so many this year. It should mean that some queens will overwinter to start new colonies next year.

I hope that you got a view of the Northern Lights on Thursday. Here it was very red, not the greens and purples that other people captured on their phones. I tried to take some pictures but my phone is obviously not as good as those used by the folk who flooded social media with their offerings. My phone takes perfectly acceptable shots in the daytime, but in poor light it’s rubbish. It’s disappointing that the Aurora Borealis looks better through a camera lens than with the naked eye, but it does. What I didn’t get to see was the ‘comet of the century’ last night. Not because the imaginatively named Comet 3 was an estimated 44 million miles from earth, but because it clouded over here at the critical time (just after sunset), shame.

So everything is back to normal this week – deliveries and farmers’ market attendance. It’s a bit of a squash fest, with Uchiki Kuri, Delicata and Butternut, just right for delicious soups, or for roasting, or in stews and curries. I will be cutting red cabbages and there will be cavolo nero and purple sprouting broccoli. There will be regular carrots plus purple ones, beetroot, sweet potatoes, green peppers & green tomatoes, mini plum toms and mushrooms. Eating apples are russets, there are cooking apples, lemons (yellow), and satsumas. The last batch of those were rather green, though not unpleasant to eat I thought, if a little sharp. Hopefully they will be a touch more ripe this week.

Rather than making chutney with green tomatoes why not try this recipe for fried green tomatoes?

Fried green tomatoes

Ingredients

• 3 medium-sized green tomatoes, sliced into 1/3-inch slices
• Vegetable oil (amount varies)
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 125g of plain flour
• 125g of breadcrumbs
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon of sea salt

Instructions

1. Pour vegetable oil into a large frying pan
2. Heat to 190° degrees C. To test the heat, flick a few breadcrumbs into the oil. (If the oil doesn’t react/spit, it’s not hot enough yet).
3. Lightly beat the eggs in one bowl; set aside.
4. Put the flour in its own bowl; set aside.
5. Combine the breadcrumbs, sea salt, and ground black pepper; set aside.
6. Create a small assembly line next to your frying pan, or as close by as you can, so you can dredge your tomato slices and place them in the pan with less of a mess.
7. Dredge each tomato slice in flour, followed by the egg, then breadcrumb mixture
8. Carefully place the tomato slices into the hot oil, in batches, cooking for 1-2 minutes per side or until golden brown on both sides.
9. Remove the golden slices with a slotted spoon and place them on paper towels or a rack to drain absorb/drain the oil.
10. Serve hot with dipping sauce of your choice. If serving on their own sprinkle with sea salt.

Two thirds of the beds in the greenhouse have now been cleared, and I have planted chard and Pak Choi. Today or tomorrow I will be planting spinach and more Pak Choi. The whole of the polytunnel needs stripping out in readiness for the planting of salads, land cress and brassicas. It’s quite a big job and it will create a mountain of crop residue for composting – a filthy job too. Outside I need to gather the climbing French and runner bean pods for seed saving, and if it’s dry enough I will sow the broad beans to overwinter.

Right I’m off – things to do. It’s good to be back, see you soon.

Phil