THE NORTH WIND DOTH BLOW, BUT WE SHALL HAVE SUN....

Two days ago (Tuesday) C and I picked a large amount of olives.  This is the first time we have harvested them.  Some were rather wrinkly, but apparently this doesn't matter.  The ones further to the top of the tree were big, black and shiny.  We hand picked most of them as we didn't have any old bedsheets big enough to place under the tree! Once we had a batch I washed them thoroughly and took out any obvious nasty ones I could find.  I then filled a 21l bin with fresh cold water and placed a fresh egg into the bottom of the bin.  Then I began to add salt, when there was enough salt in the bin the egg floated to the top. I added all the olives, sealed the lid and put them in the utility room.

Because we always do things before really reading up on them!!! I then went to the internet to glean a little more information about how to pickle/store olives from the tree.

It was at that point I realised I should have sorted through them more (to remove any wormy ones! yuk) and you are supposed to change the water every day for up to 2 weeks, or until the bitterness has gone from them, THEN..put them in salt water, with added lemon etc.  DOH!  Well, I decided I'd had enough for the day and thought I would do it yesterday (Wednesday).

I didn't get a lot else done today, by way of gardening & animals.  Our hens are still laying, although it is still a little sporadic, and some of the eggs are getting cracked because the hens kick the straw out from the nest boxes, so we need to keep an eye on that and perhaps try to find a different bedding for them!

This morning, I finished pruning the vines - I only had one left to do, so that's another job done.  I changed the water the olives are in and searched carefully through each fruit to check for wigglies! I threw quite a few out, but actually we still have LOADS left.  We need to pick the last batch over the next day or so, these I will attempt to dry cure instead of putting them in brine.

Here are some pictures. 

The beginning...

The first batch

Place a fresh egg into the bucket/bin with the fresh water.  It will sink - only rotten eggs float!

Add salt and mix round with your hand

When the egg floats, you have enough salt

Then throw in your olives with any seasonings you want, I chose lemon.

Then transport to a dry, cool place.













As mentioned I was premature in putting them straight into salt solution, so I re-washed and sorted them and now they are in water, which, I will change every day till a lot of the bitterness has gone.

Straight off the tree olives are very bitter and not at all pleasant to eat.  This is why they are soaked, pickled and marinaded.  They should be ready in about 3 weeks or so and should last us through the summer.  

We've had spectacular sunny days here for the last week and a half - or longer, I forget.  Long may it last, although the plants could do with a deluge.

More later folks....

THE MINI AND THE GIANT

Since the last post, we have had a steady succession of eggs (only one or two per day).  Some have been broken and found lying on the open ground, but near the hen house.  Some have been found in the hen house but on the floor and some, much to my happiness, have been found in the nest boxes.

We were finding a few eggs that had very soft shells so we've increased the hens intake of oyster shell and that seems to have done the trick.  As the hens are quite young still it is normal for eggs to be a little strange at first.  

For the last week J has been unwell with high fever. Now that is gone, but he has been left with a nasty head cold.  Needless to say he hasn't been to school since last Friday, so I took him to see his teacher and to explain that he wouldn't be participating in the School Christmas carol concert tonight at the church. 
I picked up his school report, which I have to say was excellent, and his polystyrene guitar (Paul MacCartney's Hoffner bass replica), that I made in a hurry a couple of weekends ago.  


Just as I was leaving the school, I had a hurried phone call from C saying the hens had laid again.  On our return home J and I went to the kitchen to view the eggs - 2 of them, one small, just like the previous ones and one - extra large! yipppeeeeee.  Bigger eggs!

The mini and the giant!














I am hoping that some of the eating oranges are nearly ready to pick, but we only have two trees of them, the rest of the grove are juicers.  The mandarins are ready, maybe another day or two.  Lots of them this year.

Last night I began making vol-au-vents for a 'do' we are going to on Saturday night at mum's.  I finished them this morning, I have no idea how many there are, but they are mini so I know there are more than 100!

Mini vol-au-vent order.









This morning C cooked a full breakfast using two eggs that were laid yesterday afternoon.  But the bacon fought back, much to his consternation.  That'll teach him to cook in last nights sausage fat - deary me!

C fighting with the bacon!

 J's fresh boiled egg, yummy.






So we are almost ready for a more basic Christmas this year.  We have had to tighten the reins considerably due to lack of work, but we shall be together and we'll be having a big family dinner on Christmas eve at mum's as well.  Everything else will be normal here as we have the animals to look after.  If the weather is good we will go off for a country walk with Ruffa - or perhaps a bike ride.

A couple more photos:

C closing up the coop after checking for eggs this morning.

Just before dawn with Venus as a bright dot.  It's a bit grainy as my mobile isn't good with photos!