New Website.

Hi everyone, we now have a new website up and running so if you would like to keep following us, pop over to 

simplecountryliving.co.uk

Leave us a comment and say hi. 

More Progress

Hi again, well, things have been cracking on here in Cornwall. The new chicken enclosure is up and now in use. It appears, so far, to be rat-proof ....... fingers crossed for that one. The rats have once again become a real problem and although I hate to do it, I will be putting rat bait down for a few days to try and get on top of the situation. I totally appreciate that living in the country, with animals that live outside, there will always be an issue with rats but they have started to take over the garden and sadly, it's time to do something about it. The chickens love their new space but to be fair, they spend most of their time free ranging on the front lawn digging up my flowers! There are still a couple of little bits left to do, the house is going to be raised up so the chickens have even more floor space and there has also been the addition of a new nest box, again raised off the floor because our chickens do love to fly and hop and climb .... weird little things that they are lol.

The new nest box .... I call it the penthouse flat lol 

The ducks are now 9 weeks old and finally have names and are now big enough to live outside on a permanent basis. Big Bird the Aylesbury, Coco the chocolate Muscovey and Lulu the Mallard now live in this gorgeous little des-res. Woodworking skills courtesy of my daughter and hubby 😀

The chickens were quite excited at the prospect of a new house and were mightily miffed when they were turfed out so the ducks could inspect their new home. 

We also re-located their pond so all-in-all, I think they are happy little quackers. 

We have also had some of our first veg harvest. It's so exciting to be able to go and pick what you need for dinner. 

I am totally amazed at how well the aubergines have grown in the poly tunnel and the sweetcorn as well however we are having one issue that is really, really, REALLY annoying me. We have mice in the poly tunnel and they are eating the tomatoes. And when I say eating them, they're not just eating the ripe ones but the green ones as well!! At first we had no idea what was damaging them until I spotted this ...... 

Mouse droppings on one of the tomatoes. I am absolutely gutted. We have hundreds of tomatoes in there and it looks like we might lose all of them to the mice. They aren't even just eating the ones low down on the plants, they're actually climbing up the stalks of the plants and eating them at the top of the bushes. This tomato is about 4 feet off the ground!! I seriously don't know what to do about it. If anyone has any suggestions I would be most grateful. Again, I understand the countryside comes with it's issues and pests are a big part of that but it's actually quite heartbreaking that we nurtured the plants for so long and spent such a long time making sure they grew well and now we might not actually get to eat any of them. 

On a much happier note, last month, our middle daughter got married and we spent a lovely three days at the Folly Farm Centre near Bristol with family and friends celebrating with her and her new husband.

I Wonder if there is anyone still out there?

Hi. I'm still here. I know it's been a while but things have been pretty hectic down here in sunny Cornwall. I think the easiest way to tell you how busy things have been is to show you. This will be a photo-heavy post so grab a coffee and maybe a biscuit or two and make yourself comfy. 

Ok soooooo, the poly tunnel is now finished. Not only is it finished but it's full of stuff.

The grow-your-own-pizza bed challenge :-)

Those pictures were taken a couple of months ago, this is what the poly tunnel looks like now, it's gone totally MAD!
The really huge plants in the middle are sweetcorn plants!

The front garden has gone from being a bare patch of not-very-nice grass to a productive area with raised beds and a nice circular lawn.

Before

After

There is still a way to go, including digging a wildlife pond, but we are slowly getting there.

The new brassica cage my husband built.

Now filled with brassicas

We planted loads of flowers

and loads of veg ...... and of course loads of bunting 😀

We also have some new additions to the family. They're super cute and totally fabulous to watch, in fact I could watch them all day if only I had the time lol.

We have already started harvesting our veg.

And we have even started building a new house for the chickens, which hopefully, will be rat-proof! We are having huge rat issues yet again so we finally but the bullet and have started to construct a new home for them with foundations and everything. Fingers crossed that it works. 

If you want to see more pictures of the stuff we are up to, then pop on over to Instagram and have a peep.

The button is at the top of the page or you can click the link HERE 

Starting Out - We're Finally on YouTube!

Well, the start of our new venture is almost here. A YouTube channel that will document what we are up to in all the gory details! From planting seeds and growing as much of our own food as we possibly can, to building the hay store, the chicken house, the poly tunnel and anything else my husband can get away with building (he's a man on a mission .... mostly a mission to buy power tools but a mission nevertheless!). The good and the not-so-good aspects of trying to live a simpler life on the way to becoming more self-sufficient. As soon as the first video goes up, I will post a link to it so you can have a look and you can let us know what you think. 

So, apart from that there has been loads happening. After such a long time dying to get some seeds into soil, it's finally March and everything I could possibly plant is being planted. I've been planting like a maniac and pretty much all my window ledges are full of pots and trays just waiting to burst into life. We actually have some seedlings already germinated which is awesome. I love this time of year, the planting and the getting ready for the growing season ahead. The nights are getting lighter and I no longer have to get up in the dark - which I hate.

The poly tunnel is now planted with seeds. They're doing really well and the radishes and lettuce I planted 8 days ago have already germinated.

So far this year I have planted

2 different types of sweetcorn, 8 different types of tomatoes, 3 different types of courgette, 2 types of patty pan, 2 types of spring onion, radishes, mixed salad leaves, 5 different types of basil, 3 varieties of potatoes, peppers, chillies, and some cat grass for my cats, which they totally loved and was gone in like 24 hours! Luckily, cat grass grows super fast so I can plant a pot for them and it's ready in like 10 days

Potatoes chitting before planting

Potatoes just peeping through the soil

Flowers on one of my fruit bushes. 

Trying to get sweet potatoes to grow slips

Broad Beans which were planted in the Autumn now full of flowers

Round courgette plants doing brilliantly

As you can see, I have plants growing like mad all over the place and the poly tunnel is gradually filling up with germinating seeds and plants getting bigger and stronger. Hopefully we will have a really good harvest this year and will be able to become a lot more self-sufficient as a result. I will keep my blog updated on the progress that we're making and you can also follow us on Instagram. There is a link in the right hand column at the top of the page if you want to have a look at some of the other pictures I've been taking and things that we've been doing and you can now also follow us on YouTube! We've only just started and we're total novices to all this so be kind. Here is a link in case you want to have a look. It's just the little introduction bit but please let us know what you think. If you like it, please subscribe and click on the little bell symbol to get notification of our new videos as we post them.

Wow, it all seems very real now!! Anyway here is the link of you want to have a look.

YouTube

All Change. New Job, New Start and New Challenges.

Well, you might have noticed I've changed the name of my blog. I have been thinking about it for a while now and because of all the things we have planned in the near future, I thought that now was the right time to do it. It's still going to be mostly me just rambling on and on about boring country stuff but I'm also hoping to get my husband to do a couple of guest posts on things like what we have learned during all the building of poly tunnels and chicken coops and garden planning and landscaping and stuff. Technical stuff that doesn't include flowers, bunting, animals or fluffy stuff, things that he's much better qualified to write about than because he's been the one that has been doing it. I have mostly been holding stuff, passing him tools and providing tea and biccies 😊 ie.very important stuff!

So, things have been a bit hectic and frantic down here in deepest, darkest Cornwall. I have just changed jobs. I know!!  ..... it was a total shock for me too. I had spotted a job on the job site website and although the deadline had expired by about 4 weeks, I applied on the off chance because the hours were perfect and it was really local. I submitted my CV and 20 minutes later I got a call asking me to pop along for an interview the next day. Twenty minutes after I finished the interview, they rang and offered me the job! I now no longer have to work weekends! You have no idea just how amazing that feeling is after 18 months of working pretty much every single weekend. Luckily I only had to give a weeks notice in my old job and I started my new job on Monday. Talk about whirlwind! 

On the poly tunnel front, great news ..... the cover is on! It's not completely finished, despite working 'til it was too dark to see on Sunday evening but the cover is on, the doors are fitted, most of it is secured with the wiggle wire, the paving slabs are down. Although there is some finishing off to do it's almost finished and the planting and growing and of course the decking out with bunting and the installing of the table and chairs and potting bench etc ..... basically the cool, fun stuff ...... can begin. I just can't wait I'm beyond excited. My bunting is ordered, my compost is waiting and my potting bench is being built by my lovely husband. 

Not quite finished, it was too dark to take pictures by the time we finished and I have been at work pretty much ever since but will take a few more pics this weekend.

The plan is now to get the new garden raised beds and the poly tunnel stuffed to the brim with plants and veg for us to both eat and sell on. And therein lies the new challenges. The growing and the planting is pretty straight forward but getting my head around successional planting and things like how many of each plant to plant, where to sell what we grow, how to preserve the produce to keep us going throughout the year with as little a 'hungry gap' as possible and basically building a small business in the next couple of years ready for the next step. Luckily, we have those couple of years to practice everything before things need to get serious which is why we have worked like maniacs for the last 7 months to get things into place so the practicing can now start in earnest.

Fruit bushes ready to be planted.

I have set up an Instagram account so people can follow on there as well as on here so if you want to pop along and see what we're up to I have added a link both HERE  and on the Instagram button at the top of the page. And please, any comments, suggestions or advice will be most welcome. 

Poly Tunnel Update

Just a quick update on the poly tunnel before I run back outside and carry on shifting soil.

The inside of the poly tunnel is now almost finished. A bit of levelling up of the slabs is needed but the raised beds are in and awaiting their mix of top soil and compost.

I've moved almost a tonne and half of top soil in the last couple of days and I have at least another tonne to move. Then there are the 40 bags of compost to lug through to the field to top up the beds so there is loads of nutrients in there for me little seedlings and I have also collected some llama poo, which I have in total abundance courtesy of my lovely llama boys to add some extra oomph to my soil.

I can't wait to get planting, I'm trying to control my urge to plant every seed I possess but it's getting harder by the second and finally, I have some seeds that I can actually plant so tomorrow, thats what I plan to do. Watch this space for a seed planting list and the biodynamic planting methods that I will be following this year.

Hummus and Poly Tunnel Progress

Well, there is much excitement in the field right now, the poly tunnel is almost at the stage where we can put the polythene cover on and get things ready for planting. You have no idea how excited I am. It's just laughable really but I have actually been having sleepless nights about getting things done in time for when the growing season starts! I know it's only January but I just can't help myself. 

The side rails are on, the rails half way up the sides are on ready for the metal channels and the wiggle wire to fix the polythene in place and the weed membrane is now covering three quarters of the inside. All we have left to do is level the end of the poly tunnel where my lovely table and chairs will be and then the raised beds need putting back together and the paving slabs need to go down and the doors need to be made and then it should be done. Actually, when I write it all down, it sounds like there is still a LOT to do :-) never mind, we will just keep plodding on and it will be done before we know it.

Before the side rails went on. 

The door frames are actually are level

Anyway, in order to take my mind off the fact that rain stopped play last week and we couldn't get anything done outside, I had a go at making hummus. I love hummus but it's getting really expensive in the supermarkets and more to the point, I tried some hummus that a friend of mine made a couple of weeks ago and it was so amazing the shop bought stuff was a pale imitation by comparison. My domestic-goddess-esque friend used dried, soaked chickpeas because she's so organised that she always puts me to shame but I used tinned chick peas because I had forgotten to soak and cook the dried chick peas I had bought and I used red peppers from a jar for the roasted red pepper hummus that I made because, sadly, I am nowhere near as organised and goddess-like as my friend. It tasted amazing though and I will definitely be doing it again. Here is the basic recipe. I tried making the basic stuff two ways, one I left coarse and chunky and one I blended into oblivion because apparently that's how it's traditionally meant to be. I have to say I preferred the chunkier version but my absolute favourite is the roasted red pepper hummus.

One point, if you use peppers from a jar, which are preserved in olive oil like mine were, reduce the amount of oil you add to the hummus initially because the additional oil that's on the peppers can make the mixture looser than in the original recipe. You can always add more at the end of processing if the hummus is a little thick. I also used a light tahini paste, not really because I wanted to cut down on the calories but because it was the only one they had in the supermarket. 

I'm going to try a lemon and coriander one next and then who knows what else I might add to the basic recipe. I guess the sky's the limit. 

Basic houmous recipe

Serves 6-8 as a starter

2 x 400g cans of chickpeas (reserve the liquid and a few chickpeas for decoration)
4 tsp tahini
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp crushed sea salt
6 tbsp quality extra virgin olive oil (plus extra for drizzling)
3½ tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
Paprika (optional)
Coriander or parsley leaves (optional)

Rinse the chickpeas in cold water and tip into the food processor. Add the tahini, crushed garlic, salt, lemon juice and seven tablespoons of the reserved liquid from the cans. Turn on the food processor and slowly pour in the oil while it runs.

When the mixture is fully combined and smooth, tip it into a serving dish. Drizzle with some more extra virgin olive oil and decorate with a few whole chickpeas. Sprinkle with paprika and finely chopped coriander or parsley leaves, for colour.

The recipe is a Jamie Oliver recipe and can be found here

Happy New Year to All

Hi everyone, I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas and New Year. Ours was so nice, I can honestly say it was one of the nicest Christmases I have had in a long time. I was thoroughly spoiled and despite only having Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off work, it was so lovely to spend time with my family that it's a real anti-climax now that everyone has gone home and it's back to being just the animals and me, at least during the week. Weekends are now full of hard graft trying to get the poly tunnel up and running, finishing off the raised beds on the front lawn ....... only one more to construct, paint and get into place and then it's sorted, and then, generally tidying things up and getting rid of the "building site look" before the growing season starts in earnest. I am simply so excited that it's getting harder and harder to face the drudgery of my hideously boring-but-essential day job. I know it provides the money for things like seeds and compost and plant pots and poly tunnels and paving slabs and the endless other things we need to help us on our way with the self sufficiency venture we have planned but the reality of grumpy, stroppy and downright nasty customers I have to deal with on a daily basis can be a tad trying after a while. Still, I am very hopeful that by the end of the year I will be able to quit my job and concentrate full time on growing, harvesting, making and baking and there won't be a pair of shoes or a grumpy customer in sight :-). 

Anyway, here are a few of the pictures we have taken over the last few months of the progress we have been making. 

The poly tunnel has gone from this 

The beds are laid out where they will be and the internal patio/potting/cooking/filming space has been marked out and once the ground has thawed out, we can get on with the levelling of the area ready for the paving slabs. There is loads more to do, mostly stuff I don't quite get because I can't picture it in my head but hubby assures me it will be "a piece of cake". I'm withholding judgement until I see what happens but he's pretty good at doing stuff like this so I'm hopeful it won't take too long. 

I drew a little picture on my whiteboard of how I wanted the poly tunnel to look. After my husband had stopped laughing at my awful drawing, he then sighed with resignation when he realised I was actually being serious and we set about designing the space ........ including the bunting which everyone thinks is bonkers but I don't care lol 

The cover will be going on now that the wiggle wire has arrived!! I kid you not, that's what it's called lol, it's a very cool way for stretching and fixing the plastic in place without using nails. It's been MIA for the last week until about 11am this morning when I donned my metaphorical "Sherlock" hat and went to find it. It had been delivered to totally the wrong place but after a process of elimination I managed to track it down and bring it home. Case Closed lol :-)

The chickens are under lockdown because of the avian flu risk. They'e none too pleased about life in captivity but it's for their own good. They have a new toy to play with. My husband read somewhere that chickens are inquisitive and that one woman had bought hers a child's xylophone to play with so I hopped online and bought them this.

I've not actually seen the using it yet but they like to go and look at it. They also have loads of shelves and ladders for them to hop about on and I've ordered them a chicken-safe mirror because apparently they like to see their own reflection lol. I have no idea if this is true or not but I'm happy to give it a go if it makes them more contented while they're on lockdown.

They've also been having the odd treat every now and then. They love water melon so I have been adding a few chunks to their bowl a couple of times a week and this morning, it was so cold and frosty that I made them some porridge. They totally love it. No milk or sugar, just oats made with water and given to them while it's still warm. Only as an occasional treat but they seem happy and contented enough and I'm still getting a couple of eggs a day from them so they must be doing ok.

The girls tucking into their breakfast this morning. 

Anyway, that's all I have time to write for now. Got to go chop and collect some firewood, fetch llama food from the feed store and make something hot and delicious for my supper because it's absolutely FREEZING here in Cornwall just now. I will just leave you with my favourite picture of my house this Christmas. I've never had outdoor lights before but this year I decided I would give it a go. I totally LOVE them and I'm never taking them down :-)

Happy New Year Everyone XxX

Much Excitement In The Field.

Well, there was much excitement in the field last Monday with the arrival of this fabulous bundle of things. After a hernia-inducing 20 minutes lugging the whole lot through to the field because the delivery driver just dumped them in front of my house and legged it so he wouldn't have to help, I stood back and surveyed my poly tunnel bits. 

For years and years I have been saving up for a greenhouse and every time I manage to scrape together the money to buy one something comes along and I have to spend the money on something else. Not this time. This time I will be getting my indoor growing space and it's going to be epic. My poly tunnel arrived. It's HUGE! Well, the pieces are huge so I'm guessing the actual poly tunnel will be huge when it's finished. I'm thrilled to bits and I can't wait to try and get it put together, hopefully this weekend, weather permitting - although the forecast for the weekend is not looking promising, I'm still hopeful that we can at least get the frame put up. 

This is what it should look like, this is the photo from eBay, which is where we got it from. Our's is probably a bit smaller but not much. We fitted one of the hoops together and propped it in place and it's so big you could practically live in it!!

I have so many plans for planting things and making the inside look nice ..... I know that's a bit girly of me but nevertheless, I want it to look nice as well as being somewhere practical to grow things. I have bought a little gas camping stove and a whistling kettle so I can spend my days out there getting on with all sorts of growing and planting and harvesting ....... do I sound like a compete nutty loon about all this? It's probably because I'm hoping to be able to be so self sufficient that I can give up work and do it full time so I am very, very keen to make a go of it but I promise I will try and keep my nuttiness to a minimum :-) 

I harvested the last of my beetroot a couple of weeks ago and spent the morning boiling, peeling and pickling and I eventually ended up with 4 jars of delicious beetroot. A couple of jars of normal beetroot, one jar of a pinky coloured beetroot and some that looks a bit like pickled pears but which is, in fact, beetroot. I planted mixed colours by mistake this year, normally I just plant a variety called Boltardy but I have a feeling that the mixed colours were ones that I got free with a magazine and I'm guessing I thought it was a good idea to try something new. I won't be making that mistake next year. I also made the mistake of using pickling vinegar this year instead of distilled white vinegar because I couldn't get hold of any of the distilled stuff and the spices in the pickling vinegar are a bit strong for the delicate beetroot and completely overwhelms the lovely woody, earthy taste. Another one to chalk up to experience. It's been a very steep learning curve this year and I'm guessing the next year or two are going to be even steeper. Besides, my husband didn't even notice the difference so maybe it's just me. 

I also harvested my leeks last week and turned them into leek and potato soup for the freezer. I know it's too early and because they went in so late they were quite small but we needed the space to get the last two raised beds in place before we can start to fill them with compost over the next few months ready for next year. There will be six raised beds in all and although there is now at least four times more growing space than I had last year, I still don't think it's going to be enough. I guess we will just have to play it by ear and see how it goes. 

My gorgeous new preserving pan. Not only is it amazing for making jam but it's brilliant for making vast amounts of soup. It's like my very own cauldron .... I love it 😊 (I found the new emoji button thingy, how cool is that) 

Anyway, hopefully, by next week I can post some pictures of my new poly tunnel ...... weather permitting, so watch this space. 

Oh and one final thing. If anyone out there has any tips for growing in poly tunnels I would be very, very, extremely grateful. I have absolutely no clue where to start.