Haricots verts and wheat and rape harvest

More gardening today to get rid of the weeds which seem to have taken over various parts of the vegetable patch. We are picking beans with speed to par boil and freeze as there are so many. Last night we enjoyed a simple but very tasty dinner eating salads of red cabbage, beetroot, beans and cucumber – all freshly picked from the garden. This was accompanied by an omelette using our own chicken’s eggs. At lunch I made a gratin of courgette with cheese and butter and garlic and parsley using courgettes from our garden that were a little larger than usual but luckily were still soft after cooking and were not in any way bitter. The challenge at present seems to lie in being able to conserve all that we are producing and not let any go to waste. Our favourite cucumber recipe is just to serve it finely sliced with chives, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil and salt. However, the word ‘cucumber’ is apt to produce a rolling of the eyes from my girls who are eating it every chance I get to serve it up!!

The farmers meanwhile are hastily doing the harvesting of the rape and wheat now that the weather has stabilised into a dry spell. The sound of the combines can be heard until late and the air is filled with a fine dust. No doubt they may be partaking in that refreshment they like here called ‘mijo’ – I don’t know exactly how it is spelt but it is red wine with sugar, pieces of bread and sugar. It is served cold and some of my elderly people have it for their supper. I don’t like it at all but it is supposed to be a refreshment specifically for the time of harvest when the weather is warm.