A Week in the Life of Shillingford: Mondays

Greetings!

So I feel like there is just so much to tell you about being here at Shillingford! I thought the best way is to take you through a week's routine here. Each day tends to have a particular role, and so, as the song goes, let's start at the very beginning...

So many carrots!

Monday: Mondays tend to be rather quiet, as there are only a few orders to do. Usually some of the more time-consuming jobs are done. I've had two Mondays here now. Both times, I've sorted carrots. These were picked earlier in the year and placed in large wooden crates in the 'fridge' in the barn. Both times, I and another Wwoofer, (Mel, then Hannah), have had to grade out the good carrots from the others. The reject list is as follows:

- too small or large

- twisted too much

- root fly has had a go

- mouldy or just not great!

cold!

The fridge room is pretty cold so it's important to have lots of layers, and a hat is always a good idea....here's me the first time: yeah, I'm pretty cold. Sometimes one of us will play music on our phones or chat, but it's a repetitive job. You do find yourself going into a bit of a trance as your hands and eyes work away, with your brain elsewhere! We fill up spare paper sacks and place them onto a fresh pallet, making sure that the bag openings are facing inwards, (this makes it much easier to transport). What is nice is that we will often get some of the birds hopping in to see what we're up to, either a cocky blackbird or a nosy robin. 

Other times, we will use the quiet time to wash crates with the pressure washer. As times like these, I am so glad I have decent waterproof trousers and jacket! And sorry to Mel for spraying in her face a few times! 

Basically, there are different sets of crates: blue, white, green, grey and black, (in order of size). Most of the picking is done in these measurements. I have no idea what each weighs, but the guys do, so no matter! Usually the order will be to go out and pick 5 crates of leeks, or about a green crate of brussels. Salads are usually picked using grey crates and the little black crates aren't used that much at the moment. During the week, these crates will get rather muddy and dirty, so when there's a chance, we clean them out. It's mainly the blue and white that get the most grubbiest, and there is a quiet satisfaction cleaning the red soil and mud from the white crates, ready to be stacked up for another week. (it's also a good way to clean your trousers too!)

The last Monday I was at Shillingford, We went to the top field to get kale, red cabbage, sprouts and cauliflowers. Caulies were few and far between as the frosts had been getting worse and so most veg stop growing or are spoilt. We were also picking black kale, which was fine, if a little sorry looking, but tastes just as great. The red cabbages are also doing well, all wrapped up for winter! 

Brussel sprout picking was memorable. First, you pull all the dead leaves from the stem, as high as possible. Then, because they grow in a spiral fashion, you have to get an "in", so find a weakly attached one, and go from there. Both hands are needed really for this job, so there's a grand sight of three of us, all bending over, hands working as quickly as possible. Now, being frozen means that you really have to snap these little guys off with force, and I was glad that I was wearing gardening gloves covered by my fingerless Thermalined wool pair. This made the job do-able! I asked Godfrey later why we don't sell them on the stalk, like a lot of other places do, (I think over the past few years, it has become rather fashionable) and got the answer I expected....the yield for us would be far smaller. Pretty obvious really. So, if your'e buying brussels this year, maybe don't get them on the stalk...as you'll be encouraging the farmer to use more land for the same crop and removing possible nutrients which could be put straight back into the soil in situ.

I found a chrysalis on one of the red cabbages so I
removed it carefully and placed it somewhere safe.

The first Monday also came with a surprise at the end of the day....Wolfie had caught a rabbit in one of the boxes and offered it to Mel and me for supper. So of course I said yes! (Follow the link for a picture of Wolfie skinning it) Now, time for the vegetarians to tune out....

Although I've eaten rabbit before, in Northern Italy, this was the first time I'd had to deal with one from scratch, so I headed straight to google. Wolfie had kindly left the kidneys and liver in, so I removed them, and then soaked the rabbit in some salt water for a few hours as I'd read this removes any "game-i-ness" from the animal. Then I roasted it in the oven, having slathered it in olive oil, garlic and dried herbs. Being unsure as to how long to cook it for, I did set the heat rather high, (I didn't want to poison Mel!) and so it did really rather quickly. If I were to cook it again, I wouldn't be afraid to cook it at a much lower heat, (around 170) for a bit longer, (hour and a half?). We grabbed a load of veg to go with it, my favourite being the carrots with honey, yum! I then fried up the liver and kidneys in a little oil and butter and had them seperately, while Mel winced in the corner. (I also saved a little of the liver for Tilly, which she was most happy about!) 

Rabbit is really tasty, a bit like chicken, but obviously more meaty. We also had it with salad, and about halfway through I noticed the irony of this....(salad...what rabbits eat?!)

What made me happiest about this meal was knowing that I was eating something that had been caught and killed that day, prepared and eaten all within a 10 metre zone. That's what it should be about in my book. It's local, it's fresh and it's (probably) organic. Oh, and it's humane. 

So, that's all for a Monday....next, Tuesday!