Images from Velagota

Bad weather has stopped play this weekend but we are trying to get our olives picked- there's alot this year- some of the trees are apsolutely loaded and we're getting a whole sack full of olives from one tree. 

I love the olive harvest- Paul isn't quite so keen- up and down the terraces with ladders, long beating sticks and large sheets. You can guarantee the wind will  pick up as soon as the sheet is down but not quite secured-  blowing it off onto the terrace below. I have found this is easily rectified by using a handy dog- in this case The Weasel to sit on the corner of the tarp (just need three more Weasels and we've sussed it!)

 The boxers just can't understand what all the fuss is about- ''it's not like they're growing dog biscuits- these things taste awful!''

Elsewhere things carry on as usual- apart from the rain the land is so beautiful at this time of year. Lots of foraging for wild mushrooms- we've managed to find some Ceps or Porcinis, and plenty of parasol mushrooms. I've identified lots of others- Slippery Jacks, Boletes and Chanterelles but neither of us are knowledgable enough to be apsolutely certain and we only pick the ones we are really sure about!

 

 

The chickens really aren't impressed with the wet weather, although we are still getting wonderful fresh eggs daily, but the geese continue in their usual destructive manner- trashing anything that I have planted but forgotten to put a net or fence around.
In fact some of them will certainly be going in the freezer soon- look out guys goose is back on the menu!

Inside- progress plods on with the house- Paul has been working hard on our study- building some beautiful shelves so we can finally get some of our nick nacks out of boxes!

Flooring is going down and ceilings are going up- it's really feeling like our home now and not a building site!

 

Porco no Espeto- and a secret sauce!

We spent last Saturday doing some clearing on the land and the neighbours kindly offered to help. As is the way here, lunch was provided for the workers- this time it consisted of Fresh Sardines- simply salted and grilled on the barbeque (no gutting, no herbs/lemon- just plain old sardines with a good sprinkling of sea salt- perfect!)

 We have been saving one our free range black pig/wild boar pork legs in the freezer to do a Porco no Espeto or Spit Roast. Our neighbours kindly organised all the gear including the special 'Molho' which is the basting sauce and is a closely kept secret. At €3 per litre you can understand why they don't share the recipe- only sell the sauce! A large bay tree branch was cut and the leaves all tied to the front of the stick for basting onto the pork. The leg is then continuously brushed with the sauce and turned. As it cooks the pork is carved off and put into a pan to keep warm until there is enough to start eating! It was served with fresh bread, hand-cut chips and salad from the garden, and of course washed down with plenty of wine!

I have done a little bit of research to find the secret recipe and found a few versions of it- here is a list of the ingredients most base their recipes on, and then put their own take on it with fresh herbs etc.

vinho branco -  white wine
whisky -  whisky
cerveja preta - black beer (stout)
alho -  garlic
limões -  lemons
gengibre -  ginger
sal grosso -  course grain salt
pimenta - pepper
piri-piri malaguetas pequenas-  piri-piri chillies
louro - bay leaves
massa pimentão -  red pepper paste
oleo - oil
cominhos -  cumin
persil - parsley

some add a pineapple flavoured yoghurt!


The sauce is best made 24 hours in advance and stirred a number of times.

Spring '12

Sorry we've been slack with the blogging lately. I've been busy blogging over on the Puro site http://purosoaps.blogspot.pt/ and also trying to put a basic site together for our landscaping and pool company http://www.watersedgept.com/.

Lots has been going on- we had family with us over Easter and we visited Bussaco Palace which had a beautiful wisteria arbour in full bloom.

We've been busy working on outside areas- trying to get steps up from our small side garden. It still needs some work but it's already helping the rain issue- which used to run down the bank and mess up the garden at the bottom!

We've also got the vegie garden planted up- we decided to downscale it this year as the spring had been so dry and we were concerned about watering, but since we planted it up it hasn't stopped raining! We've just kept it to a small area and grown the things we use alot- various salads, courgettes, squash, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, chillis, and a few runner beans, cucumbers etc

The garden we planted up last year by the house entrance is filling out nicely aswell so we're feeling pretty chuffed that we are starting to create real garden areas out of the very rocky and very wild land we have here!

Puro Soaps!

This is our new puro soap blog site - please come and find us!
http://purosoaps.blogspot.com/

Pigs- Pork

 So its that time again- despatching and preparing the pigs for the freezer. We always call on some help to shoot/stun the pigs (before they are bled- we refuse to kill them in the local Portuguese method with no stunning first), and once they are removed of hair and cleaned, our neighbour assists with removing the guts- this is a very precise skill and needs to be done correctly. Once all this is done- with the help of Hugh and Ray- Pig in a Day DVD (we still use this for reference to get us started and remind us of the cuts), and a glass of local white port we can crack on with the chopping!

 We butcher our pigs in the traditional English fashion- which gives us a great selection of different sized cuts and joints- Spare Ribs, Rib Roast, Chump End, Loin, Tenderloin, Bacon, Chops, Rolled Belly, Leg, Hock, Shoulder etc, and of course plenty of sausages!

 Its such a rewarding time- there's something very special about filling up your freezer with your own outdoor reared, happy pork, the taste is far superior to supermarket pork, and a great feeling of satisfaction- knowing that we will have alot of wonderful meals to come and full tummies (and the dogs have a pretty good feed aswell!)

2012

All our visitors have gone for the time being and we are trying to get back into a 'normal' regime again!
The weather is beautiful here currently, and it really does inspire you to get out on on the land. We've been making the most of our precious days off, back in the woods, doing some clearing. It really is so rewarding when you face the day with an overgrown mess and end up with a lovely clear piece of ground.

It really feels like Spring is here, Glorias goats are in kid again and there is a hive of activity around the valley with everyone tying in their vines and getting prepared for the growing season.The first crocusses are popping up now aswell.

The two remaining pigs are very happy- it's given the smaller one of the original three a chance to catch up a bit growth-wise now the big fat greedy male has gone in the freezer!

The Geese are starting to get frisky and are acting very strangely!