It was a very tiring Winter season. The cottage in which we currently live is made from stone and has no insulation. In the past this was alright as the cold period was short and mild. As things have been changing each year has had a slightly more drastic change in temperature during the seasonal changes. This past Winter was particularly bad as the frost came early and lasted longer than expected. The temperatures dropped very low, to the point where it was a regular occurrence to see our own breath while inside the house with all doors and windows closed.
It had been a long time since I had experienced cold in such a way.
Suddenly, at the beginning of September Spring hit us with an awful heat, high humidity, and little chance of rain. The past two days have been lovely with some drops and overcast weather. We have managed to get our seeds germinated and some plated in the ground. They are growing slower than desired, but they are still growing. We hope that when the rains come the plants will be able to handle the storms so they can grow big and beautiful fruit for us to harvest. As our grow area is rather small, we have a lot riding on the few plants we do have planted. Knowing that they will not sustain us an entire year we are mostly looking to slowly build the homestead and learn as much as we can before we one day purchase our forever home.
Since we have plans to immigrate in the near future we have decided not to increase on the growing area. This has led me to focus my attention on food processing and food storage. Both of which have been remarkably interesting in my eyes but also something that goes hand-in-hand with homesteading. I plan to do more on the side of food preparation in coming videos and blogs.
Signs of Life
The has been progression without the rain non the less. The days have started being noticeably longer and the quails have been enjoying it greatly. The past three or four days we have received 2 eggs a day from the quails. It just fills me with a ridiculous amount of joy when I find an egg, especially a healthy one. I know that the quails are doing well, and I know that in a few weeks I can start making quail egg pasta again.
We also had some fun harvesting a few radishes from the food chapels we recently built for the back garden as our raised bed system. So far, I have used some in savoury pies, soups, and savoury pancakes. We have ordered more seeds of other varieties to give a few a try and see which ones we enjoy the most. I never ate radishes before we started growing them. Mostly because they were not a part of my general daily cooking in any way. No though I probably wouldn’t live without it.
Keeping Things Cooking
While in the midst of waiting for a decent harvest or even possible purchase from our local fruit and veg store I have been practicing my skills in the kitchen. I have been overtaken by a constant desire for roasted vegetables and have taken the opportunity to roast a chicken for Charl and myself as one chicken can feed us for two to three days.
We also came across a Korean grocery store about 40 to 60 minutes’ drive from our cottage which has sparked a fair amount of Asian cooking. I particularly love South Korean and Japanese food but also love trying new dishes at home. More often than not it is easier to buy ingredients and make certain dishes as finding a restaurant with them in our vicinity is near impossible.
I would like to expand my skills within bread baking and pastry making while improving on the skill set, that I already have at my disposal. I am not sure where the road will take my home cooking, yet I never been so excited about just jumping in and seeing what I can create.
I hope you are all having a wonderful week despite all the chaos in the world.
