What a lovely day it has turned out to be.
D.has been up the large damson trees, giving them a good prune (they really are too high) and throwing the branches down for one of our shared lives guys to pick. I have just looked in the kitchen and there are EIGHT buckets. eeeek! I have a sign at the door but I reckon I will be lucky to sell all we have from the door. Those buckets are from one and a half trees and we have another five to go.
A few days ago it was clear that there would be a surfeit of damsons and beans so I have taken the bull by the horns and booked a (car boot) table at Ripley market place for Saturday. YGD has bought some punnets with lids online, which have now arrived and tomorrow my friend J. from Cornwall will arrive too with her picking clothes on! The cost of the table is only £5, so if I sell 6lbs of Damsons I will make a profit. Worth a punt eh?
Poor J. doesn't know what she has let herself in for as there are two elderberry trees to be picked too. These will be frozen until I have time in the winter to make some wine.
I have finished papering and painting the corner for the new (to us) fridge. I am so pleased with it I may well have a bloggy unveiling for you all to see!
Yesterday I made, some more plum jam, which I might put on the stall on Saturday and also some really tasty tomato chutney from Chelmarsh Chunterings, I still haven't worked out how to do a link for you to follow CC, but please look her up she is worth a visit.
What is LETS ? I have seen the term a couple of times recently and think it might be some sort of voluntary scheme. Anybody know?
This evening's plan is -
Put the new fridge in place.
Put the cupboard back that goes above it and return the cookery books.
Make some damson jam, if I can spare the damsons tee hee...
Write a condolence letter
Make my organisation list for the next four days.
Make the guest beds up for J. and Adam who will both be with us this weekend.
Off to collect the eggs and pick a few more beans before tea.(Lamb curry)
Have a good evening all, the nights are getting a bit chilly aren't they?
Gillx
LETS is Local Exchange Trading, started years ago. people join, do things to earn credits then use those credits to "buy" stuff from other people. Works best in cities and big towns where people can get to each other easily.Need a good group to run it. People tried to run a group around here once but everyone is too spread out and not enough interest.
ReplyDeleteMaybe an idea for the future. I've heard of the scheme now you explain it. I didn't know its name. I guess it would work better in the towns, but might be MORE needed by those who were isolated in the country.
DeleteJust thinking if it would work where I live, but as you say it would need organising.
Wish you lived around here I haven't been able to find any damsons anywhere around these parts to forage or buy.
ReplyDeleteI belong to our local LETS group, members barter all sorts of things between them from their labour to preserves, eggs, pheasants, crafted items, reflexology sessions, plants, seeds, manure - I have had all sorts of things through LETS without having to spend cash.
Nice to see it works where you live. SSS (above) has had a different experience. it certainly makes sense when it works.
DeleteIt's been one of those years for Damsons for some folks. We had none last year, which was tough as we usually sell enough to help towards winter food for the animals.
When we were in Cornwall last week we were looking for damsons to get an idea of price. The only place we could find any was in Trago Mills, Liskard, and they were £1.99 a lb and they were as small as sloes!
if you live nearer you could come and pick your own!
Gillx