Well the sun has arrived... finally, the forcast is just..... sun... today its 80 degrees and set to stay this way for the next at least a week or so... it drops a bit here and there but never below 72... bliss !! Oh I love the sunshine.... hehe remind me I said that in August when its soooooooo hot I cant sleep....
It just seems to make everything better when its sunny, I dont have to think about lighting the kitchen range... tonight we'll eat outside, Ive some fresh sardines, we'll grill them, and I just make a salad and some lemon and herby cusscus(sp?) a glass of red and relax... what more could you ask... it even fits in with the frugal living style too... I bought the sardines for 1.48 per kl, but we'll only eat half of them tonight and I'll freeze the rest. the lettuce and toms will do us two nights, so costs are ...
Fish - 75 cents
Salad 1.23 cents
Cuscuss aprox 45cents
Add to that a dash of olive oil and lemon (free-my own) for dressing, a splodge of Balsamico.. some herbs from the garden... and its works out well...
Total aprox 2.50 and that feeds two of us very well....a nice slice of home made seseme soda bread and a glass of red wine given to us by a friend in the village who makes his own.... absolute heaven...
The garden is steaming along at a fast pace now, Rik is having to irrigate morning and evening, we've had a few problems, the peas have germinated very badly, its not just me, a couple of other people Ive asked who live scattered about have fared worse than us... Ive gone along the last few days poking peas in the gaps in the hopes that they will catch up...
The caulis look a tad weak ... some are fine but again some look pretty poor... I dont know why... just have to keep checking and hope...
We also planted 20 tom plants last just over a week ago and within 5 days had lost 8... It stupidly looks like frost scorch... we do get odd little frost pockets and it was before the temps shot up but still I didnt think it that cold... Never mind, we'll have to replant... but the cost is a bit of a blow when things are so tight...
Tonight when its cool Im planting more beans, a row of peas along by the toms plus some chickpeas Ive managed to get to shoot... never tried growing them before but we eat tons of them dried in the winter so its worth a go... If it goes well we'll plant tons next year...
The spuds plants are HUGE... Only hope the spuds under neather are growing as well as the tops....
Frugal living in the Portuguese countryside,Eco-tourism, Agri tourism, recipes,family life, self sufficency, eco living, vegetable growing, tips and self help ideas for country living.
