If you go down to the beds today... Cauliflowers

Since we turned the clocks back at the weekend it is, once again, a pleasure to take a stroll around the garden at first light and take in the views we never tire of. Our neighbour has brought his few cows to the bottom field and their tinkling bells greet us as we take in the morning air.

Cauliflowers, we knew they were there but we weren't expecting to find them ready for harvesting. Taking an early morning stroll around the vegetable beds we suddenly spotted 8 full size, white and crisp, cauliflowers.

The warm weather, recent rains and bright autumn sunshine has worked their magic and everything seems to be growing vigorously and lush.

The cabbages are not far behind and many are ready for harvesting. The early sprouting broccoli seems happy and will shortly need further staking to protect them from the stronger winds we get at this time of year. We are using the leeks already but like the carrots we have plenty to go at. The fennel have regrown tender young heads from the first cut - often two or three on each plant.

I picked four beautiful cauliflowers today and I probably will make a large pan of cauliflower and cumin soup and a cauliflower cheese pasta bake. Luis took one to our neighbours who often brings us jars of jam and other gifts.

Elsewhere in Toriello the trees have shed their walnuts, hazelnuts and chestnuts. The birds are busy stripping the berries from the hawthorns and sloe bushes, the buzzards soar high above and the cooler nights draw ever nearer.

Perfect for supper - cauliflower cheese pasta bake

Cauliflower cheese pasta bake:

1 lightly steamed cauliflower
600 mls of cheese sauce - flour butter roux, add milk, thicken and then add cheese, salt and black pepper
100gms grated cheese
1 good handful of boiled pasta.
Pumpkin seeds

Mix all ingredients together - put in oven proof dish, sprinkle with a bit of grated cheese and a few seeds, bake in a hot oven for 15 mins until cheese is browned.

In celebration of carrots, carrots and carrots

You can tell we are overjoyed, by the title of this post. If you'd been disappointed by a poor or non-existent carrot crop for the past 5 years and were suddenly gifted these fine specimens, then you'd understand. For the first time since moving here and growing our own vegetables we have an abundance of fine, fat and sweet carrots.

Carrots feature a lot in our diet both as a raw vegetable for salads or used grated in nut loaf or grated in a rice, carrot and sultana salad. Using shop bought carrots has always been OK but fresh from the ground, grown without chemicals is better. This has happened since raising the vegetable beds and adding 13 tonnes of sandy topsoil.

Now we have a glut of carrots it will be great to be able to make one of our favourite soups: Carrot, coriander and orange. It really is very easy to make and is suitable for these cooler wintry days when a bowl of soup and a chunk of home-made bread goes down a treat.

Here is the recipe:

Carrot, coriander and orange soup

1 large bunch of carrots, peeled or scrubbed, top and tailed, chopped.
1 handful of rice
Zest or finely peeled skin of one orange (preferably un-waxed)
Salt and pepper to taste
Finely chopped fresh coriander for in the soup and to sprinkle on the soup
stock cube
enough water to cover ingredients

Bring to the boil, simmer for 20 minutes, leave to cool, blitz with a hand blender. If too thick it can be diluted with a bit of fresh orange juice. Serve warm with fresh coriander, a twist of black pepper and a slice of fresh bread bread. A meal in itself.

Edited to add: We also love carrot cake...

New Mosaic - Backgammon Set

Luis has just completed making this Backgammon Board. It is made from marble and limestone. It took many hours to hand-cut each tesserae and place them within the design. The board is made in the indirect method and it is always stressful towards the end hoping and praying that the cement has not dislodged any of the marble. Thankfully this piece turned out well. After cleaning, grouting and polishing it is ready to be mounted into an outdoor or indoor table or used as is.

The wooden counters and shakers were commissioned from a wood-turner  The pieces are turned in chestnut and oak.

This set was made as a present to celebrate a special event.

The Apple Harvest

It has been a disappointing year for apples, well at least here in La Pasera. We have five apple trees, all of which were already here when the house was built. The two cider apple trees which were very neglected produced very little as they were reduced in size by two thirds about three years ago and they are still re-growing. The three other trees are a Russet and two others we are really not sure about. One of the trees was grafted two years ago with other Russet stock from Luis' sister.

Most of the apple trees are old, diseased and ready to be replaced or grafted. As a consequence, the harvests tend to be unpredictable and dependant on a variety of things such as the weather and infestation. Spraying is not an option for us so we make best use of what we manage to harvest. One day last week we harvested what apples we had before further damage was done by the prevailing strong winds.

This year has been exceptionally dry and together with the strong winds causing early windfall, the harvest has not been that good. Luckily we have friends locally who often offer us additional apples. In addition, Luis' sister will no doubt send some for us the next time we visit.

The apples are stored in a cool dark place and sifted through regularly to ensure that any rotting fruit does not contaminate other fruit. We will use some for eating, a few for baking in desserts and the remainder either in chutney, drying or juicing.

Elsewhere in the garden, the spell of rain and intermittent warm sunshine has brought the insect population back out in a last flurry of activity before the cooler weather sets in for winter and the cheerful Robins have returned and regularly come to say hello.

Morning sunshine

I just wanted to share with you all to images I took from one of the back bedroom this morning showing the beautiful and warm sunshine we are experiencing at La Pasera after the much needed rain we have had over the past few days. This soft and plentiful rain will soften the soil before we start digging the empty areas within the vegetable plot that will be sown with oats, our preferred green manure. Oats as green manure sends roots deep into the soil helping to improve its structure, suppresses weeds during the Winter months and will return nitrogen into the soil when in the early Spring it gets dug back in the soil.

Rain and Sunshine: Weather

The rain has arrived with the full force of North westerly winds driving it almost horizontal at times. Many  a litre re-hydrating slow-baked earth and refreshing failing plants and trees.

After the driest summer for a few decades, the rains are welcome.

The temperatures have dropped and it is noticeably cooler both outdoor and indoor. With our wood store fully stocked, fires set and central heating fuel full to capacity we are ready for anything.

Wentworth and Gawber are sleeping longer hours and snuggle up together on their cushions in the workshop only venturing out when they can hear a calm in the weather.

The garden pond is once again full to overflowing and the fish and plants will surely benefit from fresh water. The toads and frogs are still singing and calling in between rain storms and the birds take advantage of the windfalls and earthworms that lay amongst greening grass.

The vegetable beds are no longer thirsty and the vegetables are growing before our eyes.

With the onset of darker nights, the time has come to re-focus on indoor activities and enjoy the glow of burning logs.

One thing you can count on in Asturias is a quick succession of weather fronts, torrential rain and then glorious, warming sunshine. No wonder they call it a natural paradise.

Foraging figs, peaches and walnuts

There is something very comforting about being able to forage food at different times of the year. Here in Asturias, there is a succession of crops, windfalls and wild food to nourish you throughout the year. Around the village there are many fruit and nut trees  that mainly lay to waste their abundant fruit. No-one collects or harvests much at all.

October has been a very dry and warm month so far with very little prospects for heavy rain and the driest summer in 50 years according to the locals and we are now eager for a few downpours. The warm southern winds bring a threat of rain but so far, only a few spots noticeable on the terrace. The 'pebbling' of the sky is a sure sign of rain to come so we will see. The fruit and nut trees are dry and with the advancing winds, they shed there fruit as windfall.

This season is a time for chutney and jam making and with a batch of Green Tomato Chutney, Picallili  and various jams made and stored it is time to harvest and forage more.

A wild peach called Piesco is collected from local orchards and meadows. It is a strong tart yet sweet peach flavour which makes the most wonderful jam or chutney.

Figs were a gift from the Gods according to the Romans. Around here, very few are harvested and the majority go to waste.

Overtime, we get to know which trees produce the best fruit and collect accordingly. If the tree is on a neighbours land we would always seek permission, knowing that in the majority of cases they do not bother at all with the fruit. Needless to say we collect several basketful to make jam or eat as they come. So sweet and soft.

We usually take a jar of jam or pickle to any landowners we forage from and we hear very positive reports back as most have never before tried such things, with spices they are not used to. Fig jam made with a generous helping of All Spice is truly, a gift from the Gods.

Walnuts are now coming to maturity and the green outer casing is beginning to split and release a fresh and tender nut. When we walk we generally carry a small bag to fill along the way. These are then dried in the sun for a couple of weeks and stored to hopefully, last all year.

We are looking forward to see what's on Mother Nature's Menu in the coming weeks. Buen Provecho as they say here in Spain.

Will we get Avocado fruit?

Much to our delight Avocados grow well in Asturias. In our village there is a mature tree that produces an abundance of fruit that no-one seems to eat. Remembering my efforts to germinate a stone using matchsticks and an egg cup, 5 years ago I managed to get one of these to sprout. It is now a 4 meter high tree, growing well in our garden.

The question is, will it fruit? Some say that we will need to graft from the original tree whilst others say it is a matter of time and it will fruit when it matures. We are hoping it is the latter.

I have recently sprouted another stone and will also plant it soon, if nothing more, their glossy dark green leaves look splendid in the Asturian sunshine.

If you can answer our query please leave a comment or email us....

Fresh home-made juice and juicing

Freshly picked for juicing

Anyone who grows fruit and vegetables will know that at times there is a glut and the more you harvest the more the plants seem to produce. This situation at times is compounded when family, friends or neighbours arrive bearing fresh produce.

Here at La Pasera, we decided to purchase a juicer so that we could not only use up more of our home produce but also benefit from drinking home juices that incorporate in the main, freshly picked fruits, herbs and vegetables.

From a health viewpoint, when you decide to start juicing, you will benefit from all their micro-nutrients,  especially the vitamins that easily oxidise and get destroyed or which are radically depleted in cooking. Natural sugars start decreasing as soon as fruit and veg are picked or with long term storage, so using them in this way, the natural sweetness is much more prominent.

One of the disadvantages of juicing is the loss of fibre due to the removal of all the solids but this is a small price to pay when you consider not only the sweetness but also the taste you get when juicing home grown produce you collected from the plot a few minutes earlier.

The juice combinations you can make depend not only on the fruits and vegetables available but also on what you add to them in terms of spices and herbs. There is no reason why you cannot add spices and exotic or seasonally purchased fruits in your choice of juices.

 Only your imagination and personal taste is the limit to the range of juices you can make.

One of my favourite combinations include: beetroot and apple; celery, apple, lime and fennel; pineapple, celery and fennel with a touch of mint, and what about orange, ginger and apple. My latest one was windfall russet apples and Asturian wild peach, simply decadent and I will be making more tomorrow.

Notus and the South Wind

Dawn at La Pasera

In ancient Greece, Notus was the god of the south wind and was associated with the desiccating hot wind of the rise of Sirius after midsummer and the bringer of late summer and autumn storms, and as such, feared as a destroyer of crops.

At La Pasera, we primarily experience the south winds during Autumn and they usually herald the arrival of rains when the winds die down. The intensity of the winds may vary from a gentle breeze to a very strong and howling wind that tend to leave a trail of damaged trees and some structural damage such as roof tiles being blown, damaged fences, chimneys, sheds, etc. Apart from the damage the passing of Notus may leave behind, one of the constant characteristics of this wind is how hot and dry it is.

At this time of the year, you may be woken up in the middle of the night or get up in the early morning as was the case today and be greeted by a temperature around 30 C and a humidity between 20 and 30 %, very dry living so near the coast where the air humidity is frequently close to 90% .

The locals refer to the south wind at this time of the year as "The chestnut Wind" as it is the one that causes the falling of this fruit....time to harvest.

I hope this time Notus' passing is a gentle one and leaves us with some much needed rain.

Midday at La Pasera looking towards the Sueve Mountains

The coast near home

When we were initially looking for a house we both said how great it would be if we could live on the coast or within striking distance. We drew a line on a map and started looking. After many disappointments we eventually found La Pasera. Situated just 1km (as the crow flies) from the coast it was perfectly positioned.

Most days when time allows we will walk to the coast on one of numerous routes. You can saunter on the quiet country lanes through a couple of sleepy villages, meander along farming tracks and animal paths or take the Camino de Santiago towards Ribadesella and veer off towards the cliffs. The scenery is spectacular and within a short distance by foot, car or bicycle there are some spectacular beaches and yet more coastal paths.

The Asturian coastline is unspoilt in the main with very little development and few facilities but that doesn't stop the visitors during the main holiday season in July, August and early September. Outside of those months it is rare to see anyone unless it is a particularly hot day and then you might get a few locals or weekenders.

The limestone cliffs near La Pasera are spectacular and peppered with blow holes known as Bufones. This is where the sea has undercut the rock and fissures act as a chimney. When high tides occur, the pressure of the water being propelled through the fissure forms a large jet of sea spray. Some of these blow holes are half a kilometre in land. On a still night when the tide is high you can here them breathe like dragon breath, a haunting inhalation followed by a long deep exhalation.

With over 200km of unspoilt coastline in Asturias there are many golden and clean beaches that only ever see tourists for about 8 weeks of the year. There is nothing better than walking along the shoreline, beach-combing on pristine and untouched sand, listening to the waves and watching the sea-birds gliding high above. The plants and animals that inhabit the shoreline never cease to amaze us and each day we count our blessings and remember how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful part of the world.

Growing and eating carrots

Carrots are a favourite here at La Pasera. Until this year our efforts have failed miserably and we have had to use shop bought carrots which on the whole are tasteless and dull. Things have changed. Since we imported the 13 tonnes of sandy top soil, all the vegetables have improved beyond expectations and for the very first time, we have carrots, variety Nantes.

The first sowing didn't do anything so we think it was a bad batch of seed. The second and third sowing are doing amazingly well and we have now begun harvesting them.

We have so little rain in the past 10 weeks the ground is extremely dry and soon hardens so before harvesting we water the carrots to soften the soil. Give them 15 minutes or so and the with a gentle twist and pull, the whole fresh carrot comes out without snapping.

The texture and sweetness of the carrots is great. Not too sweet and a clean crisp bite allowing that true carrot flavour and aroma to come through.

The culinary use of carrots is endless and we will have a great time preparing new dishes in which to use them. Raw in salads or as a snack is one of our favourite ways to eat them so I doubt we will have many to store in the long run.

This following recipe is another great way of eating fresh raw carrot that we prepare on a regular basis, it'll be a real bonus now we will use our own carrots.

Carrot, Rice, Seed and Mint Salad

6 small to medium carrots - grated
2 sprigs of mint finely chopped
Boiled rice - wild or basmati
1 teaspoon of honey
75g raisins or sultanas (pre-soaked and drained)
Olive oil
Cider vinegar
Salt and pepper
30g Pumpkin seeds
30g Sunflower seeds

The key to making this salad is getting a mix of ingredients and flavours that do not overpower each other. Mix to your own individual taste. The sweetness of the honey, fruit and carrot is offset with the blandness of the rice and the acidity of the vinegar. Adjust quantities to suit your taste and mix.

Apart from Carrots, we are harvesting loads of aubergines, cucumber, marrow, beetroot, peppers, blackberries and fennel. Our harvests this year have been so good that we are sending out gift boxes to friends and neighbours who appreciate fresh, chemical free vegetables. Fruit hasn't done that well this year with few apples, no pears to talk off and no evidence of greengage. The wild peaches are struggling but there are a few to collect and use for jam. The walnuts and hazelnuts look to be laden with fruit so we might have a better nut harvest than last year.

The wild peach known as piesco

Growing Basil and making Basil Pesto

There is no headier scent than that of freshly picked Basil. Having grown several varieties over the years we always seem to favour Sweet Genovese. This broad leafed and bushy basil does well here and despite a dodgy start, it has done wonderfully well this year and we have plenty to use on a whole array of dishes.

We will use the smaller, sweeter leaves chopped on fresh ripe tomatoes with thinly sliced garlic, rock salt and a grinding or two of black pepper. Alternatively we will use the smaller tender leaves in a mixed green salad but it can over-power other flavours if used in excess. We use a lot of herbs in our cooking and shredded basil is used in many of our vegetable, bean and chickpea recipes along with fresh oregano and thyme, a touch of sage and mint or fennel leaves for that wonderful rich and flavoursome Mediterranean meets north African flavour.

One use for basil that we have always wanted to try is fresh Basil Pesto. I can smell it now as I remember those simple Italian pastas and spaghetti we used to eat on pavement terraced restaurants in Rome on warm and balmy summer evenings, served with fresh bread and a glass of red, nothing better.

This year we have grown enough for several summer evenings.

Here's what we did:

Fresh Basil Pesto

100g fresh washed basil
2 garlic cloves
50g of toasted hazelnuts (or pine nuts)
180 ml of olive oil
60g Parmesan cheese
Squeeze of lemon juice
Salt and Pepper

Pop the hole lot into a food processor and blitz until you reach the required consistency. Add a touch more oil and stir.

It will keep in a jar in the fridge for up to two weeks and preserve well if topped up with oil to exclude the air from oxidising the basil.

So far we have had it with Tallarin (pasta), spread thinly on roasted slices of aubergine, with cheese and onion toasties and as an ingredient with stuffed marrow. My favourite though has got to be with plain and simple pasta. Couple of spoonfuls, knob of butter, splash of olive oil, black pepper mixed into freshly boiled pasta, served with tomato and garlic salad, fresh crusty bread and a glass of wine. Who needs Rome?