August was a busy month, and once it ended I slept for 12 hours straight. That was really nice, expect I woke up in September which is an even busier month.
Before I start telling you what's in store for September and what's already happened, I will fill you in on what happened at the end of August.
I went to Pontardulais Agricultural and Horticultural Show on Bank Holiday, which was lots fun despite being physically and emotionally exhausted at arranging our stall and filling the car thrice with produce and crafts and the early mornings of setting up and the long day of par-boiling in a marquee in full sunlight. Apart from that, it was great having hundreds of people walking around and seeing the stall and produce and crafts and everything local that our village has to offer. There was also cattle there, chicken and ducks and geese, local food, brand new John Deere tractors (which is definitely going on my wish-list) and the Horticultural tent with the giant marrows and things. Next year, I'm going to put some of my vegetables in that tent, see if they win anything. Which they would, because my marrows/courgettes/pumpkins and squash could double up as murder weapons. There's obviously something about welsh water...
So, that was that. I will definitely be there next year, come rain or shine.
Then I went to Reading for a few days, and a friend of mine took me to this shop called The Quince Tree in Henley. This is exactly the type of shop I want to own in the future. It had a food shop, everything inside being locally produced or made by The Quince Tree itself, and there was also a cafe, which made tea's and coffee's (all of which were local) along with cakes and pastries. Next door to this was a bar and restaurant, serving local food and also locally produced beers and ciders and wines. It was beautiful and delicious and wonderful and everything I want my shop to eventually be. One day. Must make a lot more jars before then!
September brings a lot of work; tomatoes are in full ripening mode, courgettes are coming out of my ears, aubergines are everywhere, crabapples are collecting themselves, beetroots are resembling tennis balls... Everything is happening in the garden. I have kilo's of things to pick, prepare, cook and jar, and also seeds to sow to replace what has been picked, and seeds to sow for winter/spring. With that, I have end-of-summer events coming weekly, and to top it off, I'm going to Puglia, Italy for a food-tasting, business-watching, "let's see how the Italians do local produce" trip for 3 days. very excited. Even though I get back home at 5am and have the Macmillans Coffee Morning the day after at 9am.
Oscar's Kitchen is booming at the moment, which is wonderfully exciting.
I love my job.
Ruth
