It’s October! Can you Adam ‘n’ Eve it? Well yes I can actually, the indicators are all around us, not least the ever decreasing daylight hours. Sunrise is now at 7.00 and sunset is 6.30, and by the end of this month we will be into the dreaded daylight saving period, at which time the sun will disappear at 4.30 – eek! Another sign of autumn in the past week has been the sight of large congregations of deer out in the parkland at Moyns Park, this always happens around now, it heralds the start of the rutting season, so I will expect to hear stags bellowing and grunting down in the woods quite soon as they stake their claims to be head of the herd.
The peace and quiet for the deer has been shattered in the past 3 weeks, because there is a contractor in the woods thinning out the trees. There is a massive machine that does everything – it fells, trims, and saws the timber into lengths using robotic heads. It gets through huge swathes of woodland in no time at all. All of this is overseen by the Forestry Commission as part of a woodland management scheme. Interestingly they leave diseased trees or those with holes in them in place for wildlife, which is encouraging. There are various wooded areas on the Estate, so the deer can easily move from one to another to avoid the tree muncher.
Yes it’s Kartoffen Oktoberfest! There is a wide range of spuds on offer this week, to suit whatever preferences you have. There are waxy Charlotte salad potatoes, bakers, the good all rounder Marfona, and Cara if you like a floury potato. Don’t say that I don’t look after you. I know that Oktoberfest is always held in September, but our potato festival isn’t. Why is it in September? It’s because the festival’s final day has a fixed spot on the calendar, the last day is always on the first Sunday of October. It seems it’s because as the festival’s popularity grew the organisers worked backwards from the concluding day to capitalise on the warmer September weather….German softies!
We’ve got a couple of new hens at home, Dilly and Dot. They are only youngsters, we got them from someone who thought that it would be nice to have them, but found that they were incompatible with having a tiny garden, a 6 month old baby and a young terrier dog! They are the friendliest chickens we have ever had, they are happy to be picked up, they follow you around, and are happy to leave their calling card on the brand new kitchen floor! They lay an egg each a day and have assimilated well with our other hen Frieda and the two ducks.
I shared birthday cake with one of my customers whilst on my delivery round last Friday. After learning of my recent significant birthday Pauline generously gave me a piece of cake that was baked to celebrate her 90th! Thank you Pauline, I wish you good health and many more birthday cakes.
I took the apples to be pressed last Tuesday, and I am delighted to report that I will be collecting the juice in time for this week’s orders. The downside? There will be a very reduced number of bottles this year. I asked David who presses the apples for me why there are so few apples this year? He is convinced that it is due to the lack of pollinators when most of the trees were in bloom during that cool spring spell, which makes sense. In his own orchard he normally employs 12 pickers to gather the fruit, this year he has 3! It’s a bit of a side line for me, so a poor year can be stomached, but if it was your main business it would be a disaster. Such is the lot of the grower.
So what am I offering this week? Well there is the mega potato selection, carrots, onions, beetroot, turnips and the first swede of the season. I am going to be cutting Romanesco cauliflowers, which will be limited in number, red cabbage, and I should have some lettuce to harvest. I will be picking green curly kale and chard. Tomatoes are now in mixed bags. There are eating and cooking apples – the eaters are a Cox like apple, but not Cox, nice and crisp with a hint of tartness – if you like Cox I think that you will enjoy these. Lemons are now Fino, and I am getting some limes this week.
Wasn’t the felling of that tree by Hadrian’s Wall sad? It’s funny how emotionally connected that we become to iconic landmarks. I have never seen, touched or sat under the tree in question personally, yet I still felt a genuine sense of loss when I learned of its wonton destruction. There is clearly a story to be told about what motivated the perpetrator to do what he did, it’s not something that you do on a whim. I expect that there is more to it than meets the eye (spoken in a generic north country drawl).
As I write this my daughter Emily is enroute to UEA in Norwich to begin her 3 year doctorate course on her way to becoming a clinical psychologist. She has been working as an assistant psychologist for the Norfolk and Suffolk Heath Trust since graduating from Bath. It has been a road with many bumps and turns in it, but she has finally got to where she wants to be – or at least on the path to it. Go well Emily, I’m proud of your achievements to date, and when you become a doctor you can take a look at my ingrowing toenail.
Enjoy the week ahead dear hearts, it’s going to be another mild one. See you soon.
Phil