Last year we held a garden party and I made Scotch Eggs, our French friends loved them. A few weeks ago the same friends were visiting and I made them again, this time with quails eggs provided by our good friends Doug and Rhoda. This recipe is for standard size eggs as I realise that quails eggs are not always that easy to come by. Sorry no photos, we scoffed them before I remembered to take a pic! If you would like a copy of the recipe in French please add a message to the contact box.
SCOTCH EGGS
6 eggs
1 good quality sausage per egg plus 1-2 extra, skinned or 400grms sausage meat*
2-3 tablespoons herbs, finely chopped
1 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoons of mustard
45grms flour
70 - 100grms breadcrumbs
1.Place 4 eggs in a large saucepan. Cover with cold water and bring to boil. Boil for 5 minutes. When 5 minutes is over, quickly lift the eggs and plunge into a bowl of cold water.
2. Put the sausage meat, herbs, Worcestershire sauce and mustard in a bowl with plenty of seasoning. Break in one of the remaining eggs and mix well.
3. Break another egg into a bowl, beat with a fork. Put the flour on a plate and season well. Finally, tip the bread crumbs onto a third plate.
4. Peel the eggs. Now finish coating eggs. Set up the ingredients along your worktop in the following order; eggs, flour, beaten egg and the breadcrumbs, put a greased oven tray at the end to put the finished scotch eggs in.
5. Roll the egg in flour, shaking off excess. Sit egg on meat and mold around the egg to cover. Dip in egg, then roll in breadcrumbs to coat, and transfer them to your tray. Repeat to cover all the eggs.
6. Preheat oven to 220 and bake for 30 minutes. Traditionally Scotch Eggs are deep-fried in oil, but I cannot bring myself to do this, it just seems too unhealthy, also they are much less greasy if cooked in the oven, so long as they are at a high temperature they cook just as well.
* if you do use quails eggs you will need half a sausage for each
Enjoy quickly because they won't last long!
Tuesday, 27 August 2013
Friday, 23 August 2013
What They Don't Tell You About Electric Fencing...
The goats will be out of vegetation to eat in their compound within the next few days, which means they will start to think of breaking out! This means moving the electric fence, easy...no not easy when the vegetation around the compound is taller than I am! This photo is taken with the camera held above my head. Our pasture (not sure I should be calling it that at the moment, I will call it our jungle) hasn't had animals on it or been touched by human hands or machine for over five years.
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| Before |
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| After |
Yesterday early morning before the sun got too high in the sky, I went out to start hacking through 100 metres x 1 meter wide of vegetation with a machete (the strimmer is broken). I was quite pleased that I managed to get half of it done before it got too hot and despite the hideous yellow and black spiders that seem to like making their webs in blackberry bushes, urgh!
After I have finished hacking through the undergrowth I will then start to make post holes with this gadget (sorry I don't know the technical term for it, anyone reading know it? I just call it the fence post holer), this is it;
Then I will start to cut 2 meter lengths of 3-4" diameter posts (these are sapling trees that we have cut from our woods). I will then screw 4 isolators into each post.
After that I usually have to remove the electric fence wire from the old compound whilst hoping that the goats won't run off, however this time I have ordered some more wire as we will need it when we separate the males and females next month -this is to stop them mating too early and having kids in January/February when it is too cold.
Next job is to move the solar panel, battery and energiser, set it all up and test it to make sure it is working.
Electric fencing is great from a flexibility point-of-view but I didn't realise it would take a day or two of work each time we need to move it. Of course, this will get easier in time, the vegetation will hopefully not be as high once the goats and sheep have been on it, and the posts will already been in place.
I have been saved from more hacking by the awful weather we have had today, but I think the respite might be a temporary one, back to it tomorrow.
Monday, 19 August 2013
Wanted Dead or Alive...
The Pigs are on Death Row!
This evening the head of the local hunt called down to the house to say that we have to catch the pigs within the next week or they will shoot them, they don't want the local Sanglier (wild boar) stock contaminated by our pigs!
We finally finished the pig pen yesterday...
It doesn't show in the picture but there is pig netting on the inside of the gate and fence. I hope it will be strong enough to keep the pigs in, but we have to catch them first! Any volunteers?
We finally finished the pig pen yesterday...
It doesn't show in the picture but there is pig netting on the inside of the gate and fence. I hope it will be strong enough to keep the pigs in, but we have to catch them first! Any volunteers?
Tuesday, 13 August 2013
Training a Goat to Stay Put
I have five goats fenced with 4-5 strands of electric fencing (I have some pigmy goats and some normal size so need more strands for the varying sizes) they tend to try to go through the fence at just below their own head height.
It takes them a day or two to get use to the fencing, and often when they arrive they are disorientated having been moved from their previous home. I tether them for a couple of days, until I feel they know where there home is, then if they run off at least they have a good chance of finding their way back. I then undo the tether whilst I am in their paddock, then I step out of the electric fenced area and usually they follow and get zapped. This happens a couple of times before they associate going through the fence with pain (it isn't really horrendous just uncomfortable). If they are really stubborn then they have to have a bucket of water poured over their head and be pushed against the fence, a horrid thing to do but it does work, after a couple of times they stop going near the fence and you have lovely goats that stay put.
I have five that have now been trained for the electric fence, none of them came from place that used electric fencing, so it was all new to them.
I pop down a couple of times a day and go and do stuff in their paddock or chuck them some corn or other treats so they are use to people being about and associate me with treats, this makes it easier to get them back if they do escape.
I think at the moment they would only try to escape if they didn't have enough food in their paddock. I will let you know what happens when I more their paddock and I also need to move the females away from the males in September so they don't end up pregnant too early, that should be an interesting one!
It takes them a day or two to get use to the fencing, and often when they arrive they are disorientated having been moved from their previous home. I tether them for a couple of days, until I feel they know where there home is, then if they run off at least they have a good chance of finding their way back. I then undo the tether whilst I am in their paddock, then I step out of the electric fenced area and usually they follow and get zapped. This happens a couple of times before they associate going through the fence with pain (it isn't really horrendous just uncomfortable). If they are really stubborn then they have to have a bucket of water poured over their head and be pushed against the fence, a horrid thing to do but it does work, after a couple of times they stop going near the fence and you have lovely goats that stay put.
I have five that have now been trained for the electric fence, none of them came from place that used electric fencing, so it was all new to them.
I pop down a couple of times a day and go and do stuff in their paddock or chuck them some corn or other treats so they are use to people being about and associate me with treats, this makes it easier to get them back if they do escape.
I think at the moment they would only try to escape if they didn't have enough food in their paddock. I will let you know what happens when I more their paddock and I also need to move the females away from the males in September so they don't end up pregnant too early, that should be an interesting one!
Thursday, 8 August 2013
Feeling Sheepish
Well today was the day the lambs were being released from their pen-itentiary. All started off well, I took one out every five/ten minutes and they just hung around the pen until I let the last one out, then they edged away to nibble some grass and the goats did a charge attack at them, off they went straight through the fence. Rounded them up got them back in and set about lowering fence wires, whilst I was doing that they went through the fence on the other side (it was off because I was working on it). Rounded them up again and tried to get them back in the pen, managed to catch one and that escaped whilst I was trying to get the others, all this was not helped by Bandit (the goat) being in a stroppy mood and snorting in my face all the time.
Came back to house for a quick cuppa, then went back an hour later and all the sheep were on the track nibbling the grass, which is fine so long as they don't wonder off our land and the dogs don't find them!
By this afternoon they had moved onto the old goat enclosure, which has got electric fence around it so I know the dogs won't get in there (famous last words). I have now re-arranged netting fence in the hope I can lure them in with hay and trap them in there, there is plenty of grass there which will give me time to work out plan C.
The pigs were on the track again up at the old ruin, so I have plotted another master plan to get them back. Part of the ruin is still standing on three sides so if we build a big sturdy fence/gate with pig wire at the bottom, and I can lure them in there with pig nuts (already started putting some there to see if they will fall for it) and then I will quickly shut the gate, sounds so simple doesn't it? But of course it won't be. For one thing, that means I have to hide somewhere in close enough proximity to pounce out and shut the gate as soon as they go in, I don't think that is going to happen. For such large and cumbersome animals they move very quickly when they want to.
Well it has been an exhausting day, just off back down to try to lure the lambs into the new fenced off bit, wish me luck.
Photos will be posted on Facebook of my successful capture of escapees, hopefully.
Do you have a story about capturing and keeping farm animals where they are suppose to be? Would love to hear it, use the comment box or post on my Facebook page;
https://www.facebook.com/AnEnglishFarmerInFrance
Came back to house for a quick cuppa, then went back an hour later and all the sheep were on the track nibbling the grass, which is fine so long as they don't wonder off our land and the dogs don't find them!
By this afternoon they had moved onto the old goat enclosure, which has got electric fence around it so I know the dogs won't get in there (famous last words). I have now re-arranged netting fence in the hope I can lure them in with hay and trap them in there, there is plenty of grass there which will give me time to work out plan C.
The pigs were on the track again up at the old ruin, so I have plotted another master plan to get them back. Part of the ruin is still standing on three sides so if we build a big sturdy fence/gate with pig wire at the bottom, and I can lure them in there with pig nuts (already started putting some there to see if they will fall for it) and then I will quickly shut the gate, sounds so simple doesn't it? But of course it won't be. For one thing, that means I have to hide somewhere in close enough proximity to pounce out and shut the gate as soon as they go in, I don't think that is going to happen. For such large and cumbersome animals they move very quickly when they want to.
Well it has been an exhausting day, just off back down to try to lure the lambs into the new fenced off bit, wish me luck.
Photos will be posted on Facebook of my successful capture of escapees, hopefully.
Do you have a story about capturing and keeping farm animals where they are suppose to be? Would love to hear it, use the comment box or post on my Facebook page;
https://www.facebook.com/AnEnglishFarmerInFrance
Wednesday, 7 August 2013
Wannabe Farmer!
Ok, the title of my blog is slightly misleading, but I am thinking big....the title of the blog should be 'An English Wannabe Farmer in France'....
Follow my trials and tribulations whilst trying to register as a farmer in France, but please keep in mind that it might not actually happen, because that is the way things are in France. It might not happen for a number of reasons, not least because I have absolutely no farming qualifications and I have no experience of farming, but why should that hold me back? In the UK I would be considered a 'smallholder', but they don't seem to have the same concept in France, so I am told, but I will be doing more research, and will report back on progress.
Earlier this year my partner and I bought 12.5 hectares of previously agricultural land, but now in a sad and sorry state, with the land came a grange (barn) converted into a house without planning permission, oh and did I mention it has no mains electricity? There are also two ruins and another grange that is so inaccessible that even the animals groan when I mention popping down to it!
Just to give you an insight into the current situation, I have very recently, as in within the last 4 weeks acquired the following livestock;
5 goats
5 sheep
2 pigs
These are in addition to the 4 chickens, 2 dogs, 1 cat and too numerous to mention mice that we already have, I should just let you know that the mice came with the house, part of the deal so to speak ;-)
Do you have experience of working as a smallholder/farmer in France? I would love to hear about your experiences.
Follow my trials and tribulations whilst trying to register as a farmer in France, but please keep in mind that it might not actually happen, because that is the way things are in France. It might not happen for a number of reasons, not least because I have absolutely no farming qualifications and I have no experience of farming, but why should that hold me back? In the UK I would be considered a 'smallholder', but they don't seem to have the same concept in France, so I am told, but I will be doing more research, and will report back on progress.
Earlier this year my partner and I bought 12.5 hectares of previously agricultural land, but now in a sad and sorry state, with the land came a grange (barn) converted into a house without planning permission, oh and did I mention it has no mains electricity? There are also two ruins and another grange that is so inaccessible that even the animals groan when I mention popping down to it!
Just to give you an insight into the current situation, I have very recently, as in within the last 4 weeks acquired the following livestock;
5 goats
5 sheep
2 pigs
These are in addition to the 4 chickens, 2 dogs, 1 cat and too numerous to mention mice that we already have, I should just let you know that the mice came with the house, part of the deal so to speak ;-)
Do you have experience of working as a smallholder/farmer in France? I would love to hear about your experiences.
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