Farm life

Today I went out with the two boys to collect the eggs and feed the chickens and when we opened up the hen house door one of the chickens was in the middle of " laying an egg out of its cheeky pink bottom" said Arlo. It was pretty amazing to see.

Joel nearly fainted when we told him and went all wobbly gasping "oh god wash it, I never thought of it like that."

Anyway I ate it for breakfast. I am not sure when Joel will eat another.

We have been doing lots of science experiments lately, our slug eggs hatched and the babies are growing at a prodigious speed. Joel is fairly unimpressed with that project too. Arlo has developed a fear of snails which is so crippling that when he stood one the other day he screamed so hard and so long I though it must have been a bee. He was inconsolable. I am trying to reverse that with the slug breeding program, maybe I am making it worse?

Saucy

It is the start of Autumn here and that means lots of things but one is its time to make a years supply of Tomato sauce. My brother has an amazing veggie garden and dropped off 9 lbs of home grown tomatos yesterday and now I have it all bottled up and ready to tuck away for the coming year. Here is my mum's recipe. It is really delicious and very simple. I made a half batch but here is the recipe for a full version converted from pounds so the measurements may look a little strange. My whole house smells like my childhood now its lovely.

Vanessa's Tomato Sauce

9 kg of tomatos, roughly chopped

85 grams Garlic

1.58 kg's Granny smith Apples roughly chopped

170 grams Salt

1.13 kg's sugar

25 grams cloves tied up in muslin

25grams chillies

852 ml white vinegar

Boil Tomatos, Apples and Garlic for 1 hour

add Salt, Sugar and Spices, boil for 1 hour

add Vinegar and boil for 1 more hour

Heat glass jars in the over until very hot to sterilise.

Bottle sauce when still hot.

Place bottles on a wooden board to prevent cracking the jars.

Seal tight leave to cool before rinsing.

Sweet Potato

I am a pretty good gardener but somehow I have the kiss of death on indoor plants. I don't know what it is they can be glossy and perfect and with in weeks of being in my house get all rangy and drop their leaves. Recently a sweet potato sprouted in my veggie basket, I do realise that says something for the state of my veggie basket. Any how it had the prettiest heart shaped leaves so I put it in a pot and now it is the most gorgeous plant. I have just moved it inside so we will see how long it lasts but in the meantime it is looking fantastic.