Since the last post the weather has been unbelievably warm, an average of 4C warmer than usual for November. I feel almost guilty for loving it so much as it must be an indication of the climate going crazy. Most days have been Tshirt weather and I'm still pulling edibles out of the garden. These gorgeous sweet cherry tomatoes are still producing in the small glass greenhouse and I've been harvesting cabbages, brussel sprouts and kale.
The winter cabbages make really good sauerkraut. Just shred and layer in a crock or glass jar with non iodized salt. Pack down tightly and cover with a weighted plate.
I use a nylon stocking to keep out any fruit flies. After a bit the salt will draw water out of the cabbage. (I had to add a bit of salted water to get it all submerged)
10 days into this I'm skimming "stuff" off the water surface, but that's normal as the cabbage ferments. It takes about 4-5 weeks to turn into delicious sauerkraut.
The kale I picked all through mid summer and fall is still producing so I have been digging it up and transplanting it to the glass greenhouse, to see if I can overwinter it.
Here it is nestled amongst the tomato plants and mulched with compost and lawnmower clippings. When the tomato vines succumb to winter I will just clip them off.
We get huge loads of leaves from our big linden trees and here is where they end up. I dump them on whatever part of the garden is in need of a nutritional boost and run over the piles with the lawnmower to shred them.
Then they get lightly tilled in so they dont blow away and by next spring nature will have disappeared them.
Here's a great load of 3 year old horse manure and leaves that went into the garden today.
But it's not all work! We are remembering to hike down to the beach while we can, to remind ourselves how blessed we are.
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| Jimmy waxes artistic and leaves his self portrait on the beach... |
