Velagota: November 2008

Sunday, November 23, 2008

chickabiddies

the
chickens

have just moved into their new 'pad'- Dave the cockerel was not happy when we caught him and stuck him in a box for moving house this morning- i think the whole valley heard him squarking! but he's happy now with his five girlies- scratching about in the soil for grubs (they are even getting on well with the young ducks!)

tomorrow the chickens should be ok to let out into the big area which Paul has been busy fencing this week- coo it's practically a poultry village!

azeitonas (olives!)

Yesterday we helped our neighbours with the olive harvest (hopefully it will be our olives next year!)

The village is buzzing with the harvest. Tractors taking olives to the press, families beating the olives out of the trees and stopping for picnic lunches, or a glass of wine and a snack.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

sausages (and other stuff)

Yesterday we made the sausages from all the odd scrappy pork bits-

it was quite funny as the butcher assumed they would be for the dogs! Paul has just taken him up a couple of bags of fresh sausages to try (along with a jar of spiced pear chutney- don't know what he'll make of it all!)

We made two batches- one pork and apple (and thyme), and second a plain pork batch (with lots of black pepper, a little cumin and some sage and parsley). Supper last night was sausage baguettes with fried onions and home-made tomato ketchup, with a glass of home-brew bitter...what a life eh?!

The bacon is curing for four days (with salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, bay) then it will be hung up to air dry, and can be eaten after about ten days.

Can't wait for our first Velagota breakfast with our bacon, sausage and eggs!

Happy Days!

Monday, November 10, 2008

pig in a day (or two) with paul and shell

Well it's been a hard couple of days.

Saturday morning the piggies were dispatched- saturday lunchtime we were eating fresh pork on the barby- look away now if you're vegetarian!

Everyone worked quickly and efficiently and the slaughter was very quick with apsolutely no distress to the pigs (happily eating acorns!). Couldn't have asked for more.

Sunday was butchering day. With lots of help from our neighbours and butcher we have a freezer full of joints, chops and Christmas dinner is definately sorted!

The meat is incredible- nice and lean and wonderful quality- which is a credit to the outdoor reared, happy porcos.

Gloria, Graca and I made the blood sausages- with onion, parsley, cumin, ground pepper and chilli powder- apsolutely incredible aroma. We boiled one and then stuck it on the barby- wonderful.

(all too much for the dogs tho- notice a sleeping grunty weasel by the sausages!)

Still lots more work for us- today we are making sausages (good 'ole english bangers!) and bacon. Later in the week I will make liver pate and brawn- we are determined to use everything bar the oink!

Overall, it's been an amazing and positive experience. A steep learning curve- not only about the pig, the meat, but also the diplomacy and determination to get the job done the way we wanted it to.

Emotional, frantic, fun, rewarding, and bloody hard work!