Salad days

A view of the "Rocks", the "Ruins" and the Vegetable and Herb garden. 

Ever since we arrived here, I knew I would regret not journaling more diligently about our settling-in days. But most evenings found us dead beat. So much had to be done, so much happened! I am sorry I didn’t journal each and every day. But here we are on the evening of Day 77 at Barrowfield. Better late than never.

On Day 75 our landlady, whom we had met only briefly once before, paid us a surprise visit. She arrived just as we discovered that our water tank had at last filled to overflowing. (See the post Finally!) I was trying to take a picture of this momentous occasion and George suggested that he stand under the overflow with an umbrella to demonstrate the marvel. So there we were, standing in the veld, he, clad in his blue worker’s overalls and holding a large umbrella, and I, sporting gumboots and camera.

I’m not sure what she thought of this spectacle, but we cut short the photo shoot and had coffee with her like sane people.

I’m afraid my mania showed through again when she gave us a large bucket full of figs from her orchard. Of all fruits, figs are to me the epitome of decadent luxury. Think figs filled with nuts and cream cheese. Think figs dipped in dark chocolate. Figs in syrup. Dried figs. Scones with fig jam and blue cheese.

As I don’t get my hands on them nearly often enough, and wasn’t aware of the bounty just across the road from us, I guess you can say I was very happy. So I duly sorted them into green, ripe and goners, planning on preserving the green ones and eating or try drying the luscious ripe ones.

It had to wait until the evening of Day 76 to be prepared to be preserved the following day.

This morning I got going preserving. I added some young fig leaves as it enhances the figgy flavour. George mentioned that the aroma met him coming in through the front door. I have a selection of recipes at hand, some from my books and a couple off the internet. All rather similar. I opted for the variation of letting the figs soak overnight in the syrup. To be bottled tomorrow morning, all fat and squidgy with sweet syrup.

We also tackled “the Rocks”, a stone built rondavel rather close to the kitchen, worse for wear but dry and spacious, that has been a storage room for all and sunder. Without planning too meticulously, the herb and vegetable patch happened around the edge of the rondavel and it now makes sense to use it as a garden and potting shed.

Also, we are recycling as much we can and need somewhere under roof for the 5 drums to be used for this purpose. Tin, Paper, Glass, Plastic and Waste. By late afternoon, the contents of the rondavel were sorted and re-stored to the appropriate spaces and we now have ourselves a neat if rustic shed.

So inspired was I, picking lettuce and chives from the veggie patch, that the resulting salad held most everything I could lay my hands on. All things edible, that is.

A crazy salad with leaves from our own patch.

Potting Shed Celebration Salad
Freshly picked lettuce, wild garlic and chive leaves.

A handful of cherry tomatoes, halved;

One cheek of a large bell pepper cut into long thin strips,

A chunk of Cucumber and a wedge of large Avocado cubed,

4 hard boiled eggs, quartered

2 teaspoons of bottled capers,

6 tiny anchovy fillets

6 slivers of Romano cheese

I made a bed of lettuce leaves onto which everything else was tumbled. Then added a drizzle of citrus infused balsamic reduction and olive oil(another gift) and a grind of black pepper and salt.

Somehow the large lettuce leaves became wraps for the substantial filling so we ended up eating the salad with our hands. Beverage: Icy cold water from the overflowing tank. Dessert: Fresh figs with Greek yogurt and honey.

Aaah, these Salad days.

Matilda

P.S. Photos taken by myself.