Beech Hill Farm

Hello!

It has been a while since we had a good opportunity to give you an update. Sorry for that...

Since we left Beaconscroft in Peacehaven I have been back in Holland for a business convention in Cologne. It has been a very interesting weekend with brilliant news. A good time also to catch up with business partners and have some quality time in Cologne. On the 12th of October we had Patrick's christening. The Carroll family from Ireland was over and it was really great to see them again. Last time it was on our wedding...

So what have we been doing since? Well, we now are in Rushlake Green, East Sussex. On a farm called Beech Hill Farm, run by Julia Desch. She and her husband bought this 20 acres  (9 hectare) property and started renovating the house and other buildings. It also contains a Coach House and a studio which she rents out. But her main passion are her sheep. She is breeding a special rare sheep called Wensleydales. They are quite big and look a bit rastafari with their curly fleece. There are 20 sheep and they are devided in different fields. The whole place called Beech Hill Farm is breathing peace and quieteness. And the house looks stunning... The amazing thing about it all is that she is running it on her own! Of course she is getting help of Wwoofers and other volunteers from the community but still... It's a big project! Our work has involved planting new veggies and doing some maintenance around the fields. Because the sheep get easily trapped in brambles we have been clearing some of the fields. We have also cleared the polytunnel and planted some new lettuce. And the fruit cage has undergone a good renovation beacuse it all looked a bit jungly. It has been a lovely time staying here and the best is: we are going to stay another week! So we will probably leave next Saturday and go back to Em's parents.

And that leaves us a week to prepare ourselves to New Zealand!! We are looking forward to go back where it all started. But we will give you an update and more piccies on Flickr sooner.

Enjoy and be happy!

Ray

A bit clangy and a bit jammy

As our five weeks at Beaconsroft draw to a close there is a mixture of feelings.  I'm sad to be leaving as I was really getting into the routine of things and really getting into the whole jam making thing (am so gonna put in on my CV under 'Hobbies and Interests' as today I cranked out a batch of 26 jars!!).  We're also pretty excited as our NZ trip is getting closer.  So we started contacting hosts to secure places in there busy season and are keenly awaitng confirmations.  Plus this weekend my parents are coming to Newhaven so we'll take them round the sights and sounds of East Sussex that feels pretty homely by now.

So apart from reworking this blog, over the last two weeks we've been busy painting, plastering, weeding, clearing areas, a spot of car maintenance, cooking and of course jam making.  We've made pasties and pies, hot raise pastry, potted rabbit (locally hunted and now turned into pate), a range of jams and jellies made of apple, quince, grapes and of course the marrows in varying combinations.

In early October when Ray gets back form the Netherlands we'll be heading back to East Sussex and going to our second host Beech Hill Farm.

Alough I can't help feeling a little sad to say goodbye to Dave and Vee as I do feel like part of the family but we can always pop in for a cuppa and to sample to the jam.

tata for now xxx

This week I have been mostly eating…apple and plum jam.

The more astute among you will have noticed that I have not mentioned my favourite topic to date. Yes you’ve guessed it…food. After finishing the pathways in goatland earlier this week, we have been busy in the kitchen. I say kitchen but I mean a separate utility room fitted with washing machines, dryers, worktops, hobs and a sink. Its handy having a dedicated place to cook that doesn’t interfere with regular meal preparation.

So we kicked off with 6 jars of apple and plum jam which was pretty simple. I had always thought that there was something complicated to the bottling side of things but all you have to do is wash the jars and pop them in the oven at 90-100 degrees so they don’t crack when you pour in the hot jam. Plus you have to fill them up to almost the very top to have as little air as possible. Of course there is a scary amount of sugar that goes into it, which is the same weight as the fruit you are using, but it looks and tastes lovely. After that we made some orange chutney but then we ran out of jars so our jam and chutney making has been put temporarily on hold.

We’ve had a shed load of marrows and have been trying out various recipes to make the ‘nothing vegetable’ taste of, well, something. Attempts include marrow rings stuffed with ham and mushroom and covered in a cheese sauce and stuffed marrow with runner beans and a cheese sauce. The most successful so far are marrow and ginger jam (don’t knock it till you’ve tried it) and curried marrow soup which is based on a pumpkin soup recipe.

We cook a couple of times a week so apart from our experiments with marrows we’ve made good old lasagne, moussaka, stuffed courgettes and split pea soup. Plans for this week include savoury pies, chicken korma, Louisiana bean stew plus of course a bit more jam.

Last weekend we drove to Lewes, which I have always mispronounced as ‘loos’ instead of ‘lewis’. Just as we were getting into town we noticed a rattling sound which was a little ominous. No red lights on the dashboard but the temperature gauge was, er, off the scale. So we parked up to let the car cool down and went for a pootle around town. We headed to the castle for some panoramic views of the town, then walked through Grange Gardens and on to Ann of Cleeves house were we chanced upon Cockshut Road (see previous entry). Returning to the car we topped up on coolant and drove on to the village of Glynde and had a tasty pub lunch (steak and Guinness pie – hurrah). Then we drove in a round about fashion along some a road through picturesque villages until we came to the ‘Long Man of Wilmington’ and the ‘White Horse’.

On Sunday we had planned to go cycling but as it rained in the morning we decided to go for a short walk which turned into an 8km hike. The pub on our map no longer existed so the kebab shop was a welcoming site after about 4 hours of walking.

As you might have noticed already we are trying to get a streaming slideshow of all our photos on this website so we hope to have more pictures up soon...

We hope you are all doing well and let us know what you are up to.

Big love
Emma & Ray

Poll No 1

Cocks hut Road or Cock shut Road?

Brambles and Beaches

pathway cleared through badger land

Hiya!

So we've been here about two weeks now, so time for a bit of an update eh? So as we said we've been busy clearing pathways on 'goat land' which is about 3 ares at the back of the main property and is home to two goats, their names escape me as we keep renaming them every few days. We've been hacking our way through over 200m of scrub land containing gorse, blackberry, blackthorn and hawthorn, which cane only be described as bitchin' sometimes. So I'm pretty handy with the old loppers now.

Apart from that we've been harvesting fruit and vegetables including plums, runner beans, marrows and courgettes and we've made raised beds in the new green house which is a recycled conservatory.

lots of lovely marrows

harvesting beans

Dave our host is a retired builder in his late sixties, he's a gentle giant that doesn't seems to ever get angry. His wife Veronica, who prefers to be called V has cheeky eyes, says it how it is and is a good laugh. They have five children who have their own families and live round about the area. They have lived here for 40 years and have built or altered everything on the property and Dave even built a windmill dung the 70s during the 3 days week. It just has to be hooked up to a generator and batteries.

the main house

In our spare time we've been going for walks, visiting the local pubs, we've been to the swimming pool in Newhaven, the local curry house (wikid veggie Dansak) and we got the on site hot tub working ;)

Last Saturday we spent the day in Brighton and it was lovely wandering around in circles looking at all the wacky shops and groovy cafes. Yeah I reckon I could live here!

packed at the beach

Brighton town

The Pavilion

The Cliff Walk at Peacehaven

Last Sunday we spent the day at Seven Sisters park and walked to the beach after a lovely pub lunch (first things first, eh).

Seven Sisters Park

Then we drove to Beachy Head for a bit more walking and to look at the wonky trees.

a fine specimen of a wonky tree

from Beachy head with a view of Eastbourne

Hope you are all well.

Big hugs from Peacehaven

xxx

First week Peacehaven

Hello guys!

Just a quick message from Beaconscroft. Our first week in Peacehaven was a nice one. The owners Dave and Veronique are lovely people. And they got 2 boxer dogs: Henry and Pop-Up.There are 2 more guests: Adam and Clarice. We have a nice lodge where we stay.

Our task this week was to create a path to the east border and clear out the south border. Sometimes it has been a bit hard labour but it has been nice to be working outside.

More info this weekend!





Ray and Emma