This post is a follow up from our first butchery attempts. We learned loads in that first year, and we’ve tried to learn from our mistakes, got better with our recipes and tried a few new things. The first thing we’ve done differently this year has been the timing. Last year it was still really warm in November when we…
Category: Learning skills
Gonna eat a lot of peaches
This post is for Michael, you know who you are! Well, we’ve moved to the country, and this year we’re sure going to eat a lot of peaches! We spent a very pleasant day yesterday with our friend, Ivan, preserving his year’s peach harvest, making 42 large jars of peaches in a thin syrup, ready for winter. It started off…
Back to work after our bit of a break
Well we finally got some proper snow and some freezing temperatures which the dogs have loved but Fog hasn’t been to happy about and has abandoned his rat/mouse control duties to guard the pechka. We knew it was coming so were well stocked up on the essentials but neither of us appreciated how long it would last. We are used…
Baking ( not as easy as it sounds )
Yes we can go to the nearest big supermarkets 30 miles away to get most of the ingredients you need for baking but we choose not to, we like to use what we’ve grown or can get locally at the market. Winter is my baking season, it’s just too hot in the Summer months and the cooking pechka is on…
What to make with a whole pig
We butchered our first pig on Monday. It was a monumental task, and we learned loads during the whole process. This is our attempt to document what we set out to achieve, how that went and what we learned from it, so we can remember for the next time as it will be a whole year before we have to…
Rocket stoves and Hugel beds
We’ve had a couple of extra helpers visiting for a few days last week. Anna and Olof are on a round-the-world trip, visiting various projects and learning about self-sufficiency, and practising permaculture. Danni and Richard are still here, but Anna and Olof’s interests (permaculture and rocket stoves) seemed too good to pass up! It was a hectic few days, with…
Many hands
We’ve had quite a good response for our request for volunteers on Helpex. Our first volunteers, Richard and Danni, have arrived from England and are settling in very well. They arrived on 5th March, having spent a few days in Sofia. After a couple of days settling in, we have worked them hard ever since! With their help we’ve got…
Making Sauerkraut
One of the things I’ve fancied having a go at making is sauerkraut. All that lacto-fermentation stuff sounds really interesting, so now, when the market in Popovo is laden with humongous cabbages, seems like a good time to try it out. I found a decent sounding recipe, and bought a cabbage. Because it was my first go, I only wanted…