Tuesday, 31 May 2011
Saturday, 28 May 2011
Rhubarb Wine
Rained today for the 1st time in weeks but only in the morning and fairly lightly. I did some weeding and the ground was bone-dry underneath.
Picked some more rhubarb with the intention of making rhubarb wine. From the recipes it seems I don't have enough to make a 1 gallon batch so I scaled back to about a third. Next year when I have 2 plants to harvest, I should be able to make up a proper batch.
I looked at my Quince trees on the way up. A couple of weeks ago the one tree was in bloom and I could see tiny fruit develop. Now, nothing. Like they all fell off or something.
On the other hand all the apple trees are bearing fruit and so is my pear tree. It didn't blossom last year so looking forward to fresh pears. The walnut tree is fruiting too so I have to remember when to harvest them for pickled walnuts. Best thing I made last years so I'll have the lot pickled this year!
Picked some more rhubarb with the intention of making rhubarb wine. From the recipes it seems I don't have enough to make a 1 gallon batch so I scaled back to about a third. Next year when I have 2 plants to harvest, I should be able to make up a proper batch.
I looked at my Quince trees on the way up. A couple of weeks ago the one tree was in bloom and I could see tiny fruit develop. Now, nothing. Like they all fell off or something.
On the other hand all the apple trees are bearing fruit and so is my pear tree. It didn't blossom last year so looking forward to fresh pears. The walnut tree is fruiting too so I have to remember when to harvest them for pickled walnuts. Best thing I made last years so I'll have the lot pickled this year!
Friday, 27 May 2011
Sunday, 22 May 2011
Körmend
Met up with Hobo in the pub about 8am. Its a bit early for beer, even for me, so I had a coffee. Two reasons to go to Körmend this week.
Met Hobo in a bar I'd never been in. i was quite pleased to have understood enough Hungarian to follow his instructions! He said that about 9am the people from the shop come in for a beer and we'd go over when they went back.
It was a different story from the last time I was in the shop looking for tile grout. This time no looking up stuff in the dictionary.
We got all the paint and Hobo said he'd arrange to have it picked up. i was relieved at that as the one can was bigger that the one we got in Budapest.
Went off to do some shopping while Hobo said he'd meet up in the bar in an hour.
Two hours later and its getting time to get the bus so I left the bar and went to the bus stop. Met a load of locals from the village who asked what I was doing. 'Waiting for Hobo' I said, at which point they all laughed so him not turning up would be the norm rather than the exception! (Reminds me of someone back home who swears blind he'll meet you somewhere and not turn up)
- Need some money for the week
- To get the paint for the fence.
Met Hobo in a bar I'd never been in. i was quite pleased to have understood enough Hungarian to follow his instructions! He said that about 9am the people from the shop come in for a beer and we'd go over when they went back.
It was a different story from the last time I was in the shop looking for tile grout. This time no looking up stuff in the dictionary.
We got all the paint and Hobo said he'd arrange to have it picked up. i was relieved at that as the one can was bigger that the one we got in Budapest.
Went off to do some shopping while Hobo said he'd meet up in the bar in an hour.
Two hours later and its getting time to get the bus so I left the bar and went to the bus stop. Met a load of locals from the village who asked what I was doing. 'Waiting for Hobo' I said, at which point they all laughed so him not turning up would be the norm rather than the exception! (Reminds me of someone back home who swears blind he'll meet you somewhere and not turn up)
Monday, 2 May 2011
Rhubarb
I gave Steve the first harvest of Rhubarb so the 2nd was for me. I made some rhubarb crumble and cooked it using the wood stove. Quite successful, apart from the recipe, far too much sugar for my taste. The next one will have the amount halved.
The wood stove is, quite frankly, the best bit of kit I've bought in some time. A lot of problems I had are now resources. For example, the large pile of rotten wood in the barn is no longer a disposal problem but a valuable resource. (ie it saves me the money it costs to buy firewood.). Similarly, the cardboard boxes are now kindling rather than rubbish to be thrown away.
As a side effect, the wood ash produced is a useful produc all in itself. I can use it on the garden as a fertiliser (well I use it as a substitute for lime where limes recommended in the gardening books) or I can use it to make lye. A project I want to do some time this year is to make soap which needs lye and fat.
The wood stove is, quite frankly, the best bit of kit I've bought in some time. A lot of problems I had are now resources. For example, the large pile of rotten wood in the barn is no longer a disposal problem but a valuable resource. (ie it saves me the money it costs to buy firewood.). Similarly, the cardboard boxes are now kindling rather than rubbish to be thrown away.
As a side effect, the wood ash produced is a useful produc all in itself. I can use it on the garden as a fertiliser (well I use it as a substitute for lime where limes recommended in the gardening books) or I can use it to make lye. A project I want to do some time this year is to make soap which needs lye and fat.
Thursday, 28 April 2011
Budapest
I had to go to Budapest for a couple of days to get my bank card.They still have my UK address and wont post overseas. I think you can change the address on the internet but I also locked myself out of that! One problem at a time.
Got the direct train to Budapest from Kormend so there was no faffing about changing trains anywhere (as I well remember from my trip to the UK by train). I got to the hotel a bit earlier than checking in time but the bloke manning the desk told me I could leave my stuff in the luggage room. He also wanted to give me a map and a list of sights to visit. I told him I've been before and then went off to get something to eat.
Its a bit of a tradition to eat something in the Caladonia, run by a bloke who used to drink in my local back home! Had a nice meal and a British beer and went back to the hotel.
I went to the bank fairly early. As this was Budapest I asked the teller if she could speak English. Since she said only a little I went on to describe my problems in Hungarian. I was quite pleased with this and managed to get my new card and new address sorted. I got let down by the internet problem as I needed a magic telephone PIN and the only way was via an automatic call centre. The Hungarian was way beyond mine so the girl went off to find some to translate the phone message to me!
Got there in the end. Celebrated my new card by spending some money on Guiness.
Got the direct train to Budapest from Kormend so there was no faffing about changing trains anywhere (as I well remember from my trip to the UK by train). I got to the hotel a bit earlier than checking in time but the bloke manning the desk told me I could leave my stuff in the luggage room. He also wanted to give me a map and a list of sights to visit. I told him I've been before and then went off to get something to eat.
Its a bit of a tradition to eat something in the Caladonia, run by a bloke who used to drink in my local back home! Had a nice meal and a British beer and went back to the hotel.
I went to the bank fairly early. As this was Budapest I asked the teller if she could speak English. Since she said only a little I went on to describe my problems in Hungarian. I was quite pleased with this and managed to get my new card and new address sorted. I got let down by the internet problem as I needed a magic telephone PIN and the only way was via an automatic call centre. The Hungarian was way beyond mine so the girl went off to find some to translate the phone message to me!
Got there in the end. Celebrated my new card by spending some money on Guiness.
Sunday, 17 April 2011
New Cooker
My parents have gone back so a quick summary of what's been done:
- Got a new wood-burning stove/cooker. There are several benefits for this
- Wood is much cheaper than gas so the cooker shold repay itself within the year.
- All the flyers can now be used as kindling, so it will cut down on waste.
- Its MUCH warmer than the gas central heating I got.
- The ash can be used as a fertiliser. (From my reading I can use it as a substitute for lime). Also I'm going to have a go at making soap at some point. Should be interesting!
- Did some digging. Well, did a lot of digging actually. I've only opened up small plots up until now so I joined several of them together to make larger plots. I also opened a much larger area adding about 25% to the area I can now grow stuff in. I'm guessing I've about half a standard allotment in area now.
- I've planted all my spuds, all the garlic and half the onions. I've also started off my "3 sisters" experiment. Seems more suitable to a much larger area but its an experiment. I've started off my tomatoes but I think 18 plants was a bit optimistic!
- My rhubarb plant (the one I grew from seed) seems to have survived transplanting to its new home and seems to be thriving. Its about 18 months old so it'll be a while yet before I get rhubarb off it. Next year maybe?
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