Summer days.

We have early starts on these long hot summer days,  the sun shines into the bedroom at about 7.30 and that's when the day starts for us.  Normally woken up by the dogs who like a walk,  preferably before it's too hot.   Also starting at this time are the runner bean and tomato pickers.....

On the way up to Yegen from here is a large area planted every year with runner beans and followed on with tomatoes. 

looking to the extreme left,

middle....

and to the right side...lots of veg!

Between 7.30 and 8am every day a 4x4 pulling a trailer full of empty crates,  followed by a van,  both of which have passengers/pickers in,  go up to this area.   Up till last week they went back down about 6pm,  all laden with crates full of runner beans.  Last week the van started going down at about 11.30 very slowly and low on its axles,    an hour later returning much faster.  Another trip about 2pm,  and again at 6pm followed by the 4x4 with a trailer and all full of tomatoes.

We were given some tomatoes recently,  large misshapen things all knobbly and of different sizes,   but they tasted wonderful. 

and just recently a van has been passing by,  stopping and beeping to see if we need to buy any vegetables.  He has had tomates verde,  it means green tomatoes but they are large and more like a beef tomato I think,  also has pera  which I call Italiano,  and basic round ones,  plus pepinos (short cucumbers)  runner beans,  and aubergines both purple and striped white/purple.  We bought some aubergines and a box of tomatoes (6kg toms/€4)

 from him that we cut up and dried for a day

1st batch of sliced tomatoes in the drier...

before frying and whizzing and freezing.  The frying gives a whole new flavour to the tomatoes,  it's not the way tomato frito is really made here,  you are supposed to shallow fry sliced fresh tomato but seem to need more oil as a fresh tomato sort of collapses,  but after a day in the drier it is easier.  Still a juicy slice,  in between fresh and dry if that makes any sort of sense!

We are on our twice weekly morning or evening watering cycle for the veg patches.  Mostly dwarf beans, chillis,  courgettes, strawberries  and baby red skinned potatoes at the moment with more beans following on,  the kohlrabi are swelling and the Jerusalem artichoke plants are taller than me - waiting for some flowers now - maybe soon - the squash plants and peppers are flowering well so fingers crossed,  the sweetcorn have been very disappointing,  small plants and not much of a corn - certainly not worth eating but they might do as seeds for next year....

By midday I aim to be done with morning stuff,  and by then I'm hot and sticky so it's in the pool for a swim.  20 'acrosses' (can't do widths in a round pool)  another 60 in the afternoon and the last 20 in the evening.  That makes about 800 metres all together - and a much more pleasant way of taking exercise than anything else in this heat.