Feeling peachy and full of beans...

Harvests come and go and when you grow the majority of your own fruit and vegetables or forage fruits and nuts, you cannot delay harvesting or processing; if you do you risk losing them to the animals or to nature.

 

In Asturias we have a wild peach called Piesco that produces small fruits which have a strong peachy taste but once ripe, do not last. If the rain comes their skins spoil and the insects and birds can soon devastate the crop. Knowing when to harvest is paramount. The reason we use these wild peaches is because of their wonderful flavour and they are perfect for making jams, chutneys and for dehydrating. A kind neighbour lets us have their crop of piescos that grow on one of their fields as they don't use them and they know how much we love them. 4kg of them were used to make jam and a further 6kg were chopped and frozen for use either for jam or chutney. They freeze well and it is a great way to preserve as much as the crop as possible before they spoil, especially if you don't have the time to use them straight away. We will collect more this week for dehydrating; they make a great snack for when out walking.

The beans have just been harvested and just in time. The recent heavy rains has caused some damage to the outer pod but fortunately this has not spread to the beans inside. We quickly shelled them and have left them to dry for a few days in the sun after which they will be frozen as is for 24 hours, re dried and stored. The freezing part was a tip from a neighbour who tells us that it destroys any lingering bugs or bacteria and therefore they last much longer and in better condition. It works for us.

Elsewhere we are just about to harvest our first tomatoes which is always a treat. We still have lots of basil left so plenty of scope for some Italian inspired tomato based dishes. On the list of things to do this week include: making piccalilli, chopping wood, extending the stone skirt to the garage, beginning to thin out and weed the garden....enough already.

What are you currently harvesting and what jobs are taking up your time during September?

Autumn foraging: Chestnuts and Walnuts

We may have mentioned this before but walnuts and chestnuts are abundant around here. There are many fully grown trees on country lanes, on field boundaries and in cultivated plots. This year is a particularly good year for foraging as the trees are heavy with fruit.

The good news for amateur foragers like us is that very few people collect these crops, preferring instead to purchase from commercial sellers on the markets: convenience I suppose. When out walking or cycling at this time of year we will take a small bag with us and collect what we find along the way. It is surprising how quickly you can build up a welcome stock of sweet chestnuts and fresh walnuts.

So far this year we have collected about 25 kg of walnuts which we will continue to add to over the next couple of weeks as the emerging autumnal winds shake the fruit out of their splitting green outer casing. We will dry them in the warmth of the autumn sun and store them in a cool, dry room to be consumed throughout the coming months. Similarly with chestnuts, although these can be slightly more hazardous to collect due to the vicious spikes that protect them.

Over the years we have come to know the trees which produce the most succulent nuts and fruit and we will make sure our walks include them. Occasionally you will see the evidence of other foragers who have beaten us to it but they are few and far between. We have a mature walnut tree in our garden which is not in the best of conditions but with some TLC, this year it has quite a few fruits on it which will will harvest soon.

We mostly eat walnuts as they are or baked in apple and walnut sponge cakes. I take my Mum a bag full and she will use them in a wonderful coffee and walnut cake recipe. The chestnuts will either be roasted slowly on top of the log fire on a cool autumn evening or peeled, boiled and added to a chestnut and winter vegetable casserole...delicious.

You may remember that earlier in the year we pickled green walnuts. These are now ready for eating and can be enjoyed with cheese, salads, veggie burgers and so on....

Foraging for the wild peach

We always look forward to September in Asturias. The weather is warm, not too hot, gentle winds, not too strong, and misty dew-fresh mornings. The walnuts trees are laden with fruit, the hazelnuts begin to shed their fruit, the brambles offer up an abundance of blackberries and the wild Asturian peach (Piesco) is ready for harvesting.

The wild peach is small, the skin is slightly tougher than commercial peaches and the sweetness is not guaranteed however the intense peach flavour more than makes up for any other shortfalls. The peaches grow on small trees on the edges of fields and tracks around Asturias and most of them fruit well but are rarely harvested by locals these days as it is easier to go to the local supermarket and buy bigger and standardised fruit. We prefer, where possible, the wild and superior tasting Asturian Peach.

This year we have gathered enough to make a large batch of peach jam and enough to dehydrate for snacks. The flavour is intensified in both processes and is has just enough tang to get the taste buds tingling. The jam is made using our standard recipe of half the amount of sugar to that of fruit. It really is delicious on toast or as a sweet relish with cheese.

The dried peaches will be vacuum packed and will accompany us on walks into the mountains. They are packed with energy and will boost flagging stamina as we explore Asturias and the Picos de Europa in all its glory.

Ravaged by wild boar...

Those of you who follow our blog will know we have a trigger camera sited in the wildest area of the garden here at La Pasera. The area is deliberately left to its own devices apart from a quick cut of the wild flowers and grasses after the seed heads have dried. So far we have filmed: Badgers, Pine Martens, Fox, Weasel, Hedgehogs, Birds, Mice, Cats, Deer and Wild Boar. The latest films are the best to date of wild boar activity.

On waking up, the first thing we generally do is to check that the cats are around and then have a wander around the garden with them before breakfast. It's a good opportunity to see what needs attention and what crops can be harvested. As we approached the wild area Luis spotted a small patch of turf lifted next to a clump of wild orchids...a sure sign of wild boar activity.

Then we spotted the devastation. A large patch of meadow in the wild area had been systematically ravaged and decimated. It looked like a plough had been through it with deep troughs and mounds of turf. This was right in front of the night camera so a few good shots were to be expected.

What we saw was quite something. First a large male, working his way through the meadow looking for tasty treats such as worm and bulbs. He was then approached by a smaller female who joined him in his quest for snacks. A few minutes later another female joined in. I was surprised at the length of their snouts and the strength they must have to be able to upturn compacted meadow turf with such vigour.



In total, they worked this small patch of meadow for two and a half hours. As the camera triggers for a minute at a time then re-sets, I had an awful lot of one minute videos to watch. My favourite is this last one in which the male Sniffs the camera, looks at it, suddenly decides enough is enough, grunts and trots off followed by the females one of which turns and also looks at the camera.



Fortunately, there was little damage elsewhere in the garden with only a few vegetables trampled as they had walked through the vegetable plot to get to the wild area. Obviously they are not so keen on mange tout, onions, potatoes or kale... Well let's hope so. There are a few more videos on Youtube.

Lazing on a sunny afternoon

Having just been on an extended visit to the UK, I find that returning to Asturias takes a bit of getting used to; slowing down to the pace of life we have here at La Pasera. It seems strange to motor along main roads and motorways alone or accompanied only by a couple of cars or a lorry. It's feels odd to walk through our local town and see very few faces and empty shops and bars, the peace and quiet is a touch unnerving for the first few hours as your hearing re-adjusts to the rich array of sounds from nature. The light bathing the rich green landscapes overloads your optical nerves and is so vivid and vibrant, the autumn light is especially beautiful.

Apart from Internet access, we don't have constant contact with the outside world through TV, radio or newspapers. We don't shop more than once a fortnight or three weeks, we rarely have the need to go to a city for business and we seldom feel the need to experience the buzz of night-life for drinks or restaurants. In fact we lead very quiet lives with little distraction apart from our own pursuits and hobbies, maintaining the land, growing and processing our own fruit and vegetables and the occasional get together with friends and neighbours. Many would find it dull or boring and a few would be driven crazy but for us, it is a little piece of bliss.

My first Sunday, sunny afternoon back in Asturias was lunch on the terrace comprising home-made cream of marrow soup, grilled figs with blue cheese, aubergine pate and a glass of fresh apple juice. A quick catch up with the world news was followed by bottling pickled figs, a new recipe for us from Isobel - thanks Isobel, first tasting gets a big thumbs up. We then took ourselves off to our local beach for a dip in the ocean. We had heard that the water is the warmest it had been all year so we were both up for it. The sky was broken high cloud and at around 24 degrees C it was a really pleasant and comfortable afternoon.

We walked a circuitous route from home through the country lanes to Guadamia, a long and narrow bay that is fed from a small river that originates in nearby mountains. The river flows cold all year round but the warmed waters of the bay of Biscay temper the shock of the cool. We sat on the deserted beach for an hour or so, explored a few caves and then came back via a nearby village to collect more figs; this time for drying in the dehydrator. We stumbled across a large Sweet Chestnut tree and collected a handful of chestnuts which we will roast this this evening.

Back home we had a welcome drink in the garden accompanied by the cats and caught up with the goings on in and around the village...it doesn't take long to re-adjust.

Badgers visiting the garden for fallen cherries

We live on the edge of the village which is great as we are surrounded by fields and woodlands. There are a few natural caves dotted around and many untended plots which have reverted to scrub-land that are slowly becoming naturalised with native trees once again.

We see a lot of wildlife in and around La Pasera such as wild boar, deer, pine marten, voles, field mice and red squirrel in addition to the numerous insects, birds and reptiles. We have often seen dead badgers on the main road and knew that they were around but never thought they would be visiting our garden.

At the bottom of the garden we have always left an area as natural as possible. The area is dominated by an old cherry tree, with equally ancient oak, walnut and hazelnut trees. We recently set up our wildlife camera to capture any nocturnal adventures and we were delighted to see a group of badgers foraging on the fallen cherries.

We initially filmed three at once but over the past few night only two have been visiting. We were surprised to see what we think is one of our cats Gawber spying on a foraging badger. It is one of his favourite hang outs and with the weather being so warm at the moment the cats spend most of the night outdoors. You'll spot Gawber's eyes at the top right hand side of the video clip.

We have added a You Tube video page to our blog where you can access short clips we have filmed here in Asturias - check them out sometime via the link at the top of the page. We'll be adding more in the near future so subscribe for updates.

Making elderflower cordial

Friends, Birgitta and Manfred at Casa Belén recently gave us some homemade elderflower cordial which we really enjoyed. With its slightly heady aroma, a sharp sweetness and thirst quenching qualities, we thought it would great to go, sooner rather than later, to collect flowers to make our own. We were sure we had missed the main blossoming of the wild elderflower bushes but we managed to collect enough for a decent batch.

We set off along the Camino de Santiago which is about 500 meters from La Pasera and explored some of the many tracks that lead off it to the left and right. Many of the bushes were sited in overgrown meadows now inaccessible due to thick bramble growth which made collection difficult. We carried on as walking the camino is great anyhow and in the end we managed to collect about 50 or 60 newly blossoming flower heads.  We ensured we didn't strip entire bushes thereby leaving some to fruit later in the season.

We searched on line for a recipe and decided to try this one from River Cottage. We also needed to collect lemons but given the plentiful trees around the area we were easily able to gather enough for our needs. In this recipe we needed 6 for zest but only used the juice of 3.

In total we made about three and half litres which we will use over the coming weeks. We also made some ice cubes with the undiluted cordial for using in a nice sparkling wine or Cava. If we get chance we intend to make another batch but that really does depend on finding elder flowers that are not turning to fruit.

Gift

Over the past week the rain has been fairly constant and the cooler weather persists. Not being able to get out for longer walks, this weather pattern allows us to get on with a few jobs and tasks that you just don't want to do when the sun shines. I have been sorting out the stores whilst Luis has been away at the first Matanza of the season in his family home in Palencia.

Knowing only too well that he will come back with an estate car full of goods from his Sister Rita, it was important to take stock of what needed using up and also to create space for the additional produce. Sorting through our stores it once again came to mind how generous people i.e. family, friends and neighbours are.

Over the past few weeks we have been gifted:

A Christmas cake
A crate of home-produced cider
A couple of kilos of locally grown Avocados
Approx 20 Kilos of apples
A jar of rich brown sugar from France
several jars of jams and pickles
Sweet Chestnut Paste and eggs
A brand new leather jacket

In addition, Luis returned from Rita's with:

30 jars of Pasata concentrated tomato sauce)
15 jars of Pisto (concentrated tomato sauce with pumpkin, pepper, onion marrow and paprika)
5 dozen eggs
8 jars of preserved green beans
4 packs of Chorizo
8 kg of sweet oranges
4kg Quince
Cheese
8kg of frozen raspberries
an assortment of vegetables....

We could have also had as much pork, ham, salami, chorizo or pork products as we had wanted but Luis has stopped eating meat for the time being so there seemed no point in stocking up on food that we would not use. The four packs of chorizo he brought home are for friends and visitors. He decided not to participate in the actual slaughter of the two pigs this time as it is never pleasant and not eating meat he did no longer feel obliged to participate. There is always enough work to do following the deed so he was inevitably kept very busy with the processing of the animals.

Together with our own harvests of fruits, vegetables and nuts, our bulk buy products and the produce we process into jams and pickles, we have a well stocked larder and really do not need to do much shopping for the foreseeable future.

We frequently gift produce ourselves and enjoy giving family, friends and neighbours samples of our soap, hand-creams, jams, pickles etc... Our thoughts on giving can be found here on one of our other blogs. A big thank you to all.

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.