The photo above is our first crop of okra harvested over the course of the past week - sadly we lost the very first crop - about a dozen okras - because we left it too long - they were enormous (apparently when it comes to okra bigger isn’t always better!) and when I cut them, they felt incredibly hard so I googled “how to harvest okra” to discover that you want to pick your okra when they’re about 2”-3” and no bigger - as they get too big, they are only good for harvesting the seeds which we’ve done so thankfully our very first crop wasn’t entirely wasted and we can use them for next years planting.
So, tonight we’re looking forward to some jamaican style fish parcels with our very own okra, onion & local scotch bonnet peppers served over local greens - if any of our aubergines look good for picking we may also bbq some of that sliced and brushed with olive oil - see the photos below of our aubergine plants which have seriously kicked off since Tony added Epsom salt to the soil - he’d read that if he added Epsom salts (1tbsp per gallon of water) to the soil, specifically to aubergine, tomatoes and peppers that it would encourage prolific, healthy fruiting (apparently it’s the magnesium and sulfur which are macronutrients and foster fruiting) and it has done exactly what it said it would and we now have almost a dozen aubergines in the making with many more flowers popping up every day (photo below of some of the first aubergines still growing).
Although sad not to be harvesting from our vegetable patch in France, we’re still thoroughly grateful for the opportunities that returning to Cayman has afforded us (especially the ability to continue paying for work to continue on the piggery in France). AND, we are today only 4 weeks away from returning to France for a very quick visit - just 2 weeks - and so Tony will be reunited with his tractor!! Photos to follow as I’m sure it won’t be long after we’ve arrived before she’s out of the barn and being taken for a “spin” in the fields!
Tony will want to investigate our old traditional bread oven in France (found in one of the outbuildings) as he’s been taking his bread making very seriously and the photo above is a loaf we enjoyed with our breakfast last weekend - home made bread with scrambled local eggs made with fresh picked scotch bonnet peppers and basil - I am definitely going to have to see if I can encourage scotch bonnet peppers to grow in France - watch this space.....
We’ve been off line for some time - I’ve got some work related exams this coming week so the past few weeks have been spent being rather dull but studious and so we’re very much looking forward to our time in France - although short, it is looking like it will be fairly action packed - we have some friends from Cayman who will be visiting family in Normandy and then driving down to see us - they’re also planning on a few days in the Bordeaux/St. Emilion area and have a few vineyard tours and lunches arranged and have invited us to join them which we feel would be rude not to do and look forward to blogging about our wine-soaked adventures in the last 2 weeks in June...
In the meantime we shall keep you updated on progress with the aubergines and okras and hopefully come up with some interesting recipes to include (I’m thinking there’s definitely a vegetarian curry in our future) :)
Happy Sunday one and all - it’s a rainy one here which is fine by me as I’m supposed to stay indoors studying all day but I suppose quite depressing for those who were looking forward to a sunny bank holiday weekend (Discovery Day here in Cayman tomorrow) - as my sister commented on the phone earlier this morning, “What do you call a sunny day after a rainy bank holiday weekend?.....Tuesday!” This won’t make sense to the retirees amongst my audience but will certainly ring true for my fellow cubicle dwellers!
