I always feel better when the animals can get right out on the grass – into the air and the dirt. The babies of the farm especially need to be able to lie in the grass on a warm day.
Yesterday we extended the cattle fence – lower of course – so that we could make a bigger field for the piglets. They spent all afternoon bumping into the wires and squealing when they weren’t rolling in the cow pies. At one point three were running in and out, straight under a wire, one after the other squealing every time their backs hit the current, back and forth but they soon got tired of that game. Thankfully. Last night they were all sleeping, burrowed into the hay mountain, in an exhausted pile.
We have started digging up a few of the Japanese Sweet Potatoes that are so like the NZ kumara that I love. I just could not wait any longer. I roasted some last night with a chicken. I will stop digging them now and wait for the leaves to yellow – they get better the longer we wait but after a frost they have to come out of the ground straight away so I won’t be waiting too long. The nights are definitely cooler.
Did I tell you that Pania the oldest peahen is sitting on eggs up high in the loft of the barn? We have surrounded her in bales of hay so she can keep her chicks safe from falling. Hopefully she can raise them this time but she is in an awkward spot as usual.
Today Nick gets to be Kitchen Mama and I am making ice cream and muesli. The team we have put together for September is wonderful. I cannot believe how lucky I have been with my student farmers this summer. A startling group of people have cycled through since April. The barns are looking amazing and the food has been fantastic. The gardens not so much because of all the rain but we could not help that. There is still food out there though and we are eating it!
I hope you have a lovely day.
Love celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
31 responses to “Out on the grass”
I’m so glad you have such great help. The piglets look like they are loving the grass. We are in Spain now and it’s been very hot, 28C. I’m going to break the rules and jump in the pool in a minute (during siesta)!
Reading your blog always brings back memories from my parents farm. I absolutely love sweet potatoes.
Sweet!! The potatoes and oh those piglets, smiling for all their worth. Love the pictures!
Sweet Sheila. She knows how to relax.
What gorgeous sweet potatoes! Both for savoury and sweet . . . but they look white on the ends . . .most kumara I can access are a deep orange: in my part of the world there has been a big changeover from ordinary ‘spuds’ to these much more tasty and healthy ones . . .
Your sweet potatoes look like the ones I grew this year and last. I got the slips from Annie’s Heirloom Seeds and they’re called Beauregard. It can be hard to grow them here because the season isn’t long enough.
If I had all those little pigs to watch I wouldn’t get a darn thing done!
They look exactly like the kumara we grow here. What a treat for you. I can just imagine being the same in your position, and not being able to resist digging them up. I hope they were yummy.
Funny piglets .. They sure do look like kumara! Enjoy Celi
such a lovely post- glad all is well!