Drying time.

The summer before last John made a small temporary dryer for drying tomatoes and fruit in - it worked so well that we used it last summer as well but this year  he has made a bigger one.  Completely different in shape, catches the sun from early morning as it creeps over the trees to almost sunset, although at that time the sun is not on the front of it but the side.  Still keeps the temperature high though.  The temporary one was a converted window on short legs with a black plastic base and didn't have much space to dry a lot at once.  This new one however has 4 drying trays in it and at the moment we have 2 trays of black figs and 1 of white mulberries in there.   It reaches a peak of about 60° inside between 2 - 3 pm.  Ideal drying temperature starts at 38° -  45° is better and 50° quicker still.  If it gets too hot things start to caramelise which isn't what we want!

Not sure what I'm going to do with the mulberries, it's more of an experiment as there was space and they were dropping off the tree.  Maybe put them in muesli?  Also we have a glut of strawberries again,  picking about 1 kg a day and even though we try, we can't keep up with them.  When there's space they too will go in the dryer - apparently dried strawberries are very nice added to cookie mixture, with cornflakes, in muesli or added to scone mix. Today's glut has been liquidised and frozen for using out of season - in a trifle?  on one of those sponge flan bases and then topped with cream and other fresh fruit?  Strawberry daiquiris??  Well John made us  one each a few nights back and it was more like a dessert in a glass not a cocktail.  Really thick and difficult to drink, could have done with a spoon not a straw.

And in the vegetable garden things are looking good.  The garlic has been harvested, we are picking/pulling carrots and kohlrabi as needed.   Growing well are kale, red and green cabbages, brussels, cauliflowers, sugar beet, swede, dwarf borlotto beans - some nearly ready for picking -  tomatoes - just started to pick this week - chillis, aubergines, peppers, cucumbers, courgettes and lettuces - cutting lettuce leaves as and when needed.  The leeks and celeriac are still rather small, not sure if they'll do well but there's plenty of time for them to do something. 

Some small onions are nearly ready for eating, these were the 'free' onions that I have mentioned before.  When you prepare an onion, cut off the root end and plant it.  After a few weeks it will put up a shoot and new roots will grow too.  If it makes more than one shoot, carefully divide the onion and replant.  Doesn't always work but if they were going into the compost anyway it's worth a try.  Mine have never grown as big as the original and so I use them for salads or as  pickling onions.


And did I mention strawberries?   It's our watering day today, the water is just running round the land now soaking in and everything is done, I just go and check it's all ok every so often and each time I find more ripe strawberries!  Either I'm not looking properly or they are ripening very quickly.