Archive for January, 2012
Very fine cut marmalade
It seems to come around so quickly, but it’s that time of year again to make the marmalade. The event is triggered by a call from our neighbour to tell us that the greengrocer has got in this year’s consignment of Seville oranges. Spanish Seville oranges are the preferred oranges for marmalade making as they have more pectin in than sweet oranges, so they’re perfect for preserves. You can make marmalade out of normal oranges, but you would have to add a lot more pectin (from lemons) or accept runnier marmalade. Read the rest of this entry »
Delilah (back) and Matilda exploring their new home
As promised here are the new occupants of our homemade chicken house – Delilah and Matilda. We decided to go back to the place we got our original chickens from as they offer a number of different hybrid breeds of chicken, and they are relatively local. We’ve broken away from our previous rule of buying a pair of the same breed and picked out a Black Rock (Delilah) and a Warren/ISA Brown (Matilda). We were nearly tempted to get a third, but if these and the current two lay as well as they should, four chickens is plenty for our needs. Read the rest of this entry »
Trying it out for size
Another year starts and another project begins! Looking back at last year’s blog entries and thinking back to previous Januarys, this time of year always seems to herald the start of a new project. Last year it was building log stores and preparing for pigs, and 2010 had us putting up fencing for the arrival of our first animals – chickens. And the start of 2012 is no different with us preparing for more chickens, which will boost our depleted numbers. Read the rest of this entry »