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11:03 am
3rd Grader
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Sat 6-Aug-11
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Hello , I started looking for Hawthorn recipes online and ended up joning here.
My wife and I live with one son (second son works in Cambodia) Our home is a former hunting lodge in Wallonia, a big old 20s pile of bricks that sits on a forest edge.
We keep chickens,rabbits,sheep. I grow veg ,mainly ,peas, beans ,courgette family etc ,all using permaculture systems. I forage a lot for berries, nuts, wild food , mushrooms and hunt.
It has taken us over 15 years to arrive at a point where we rely on the system so little. There is still much to do though.
I stopped working for money five years ago ,and have worked at our smallholding. I have also set up a local bartering club,with mixed results so far. my wife still has a job, and will stop next year. We will both be 55 then.
I look forward to sharing with you all.
Kevin
11:19 am
Supreme Being
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Sun 30-Jan-11
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Hello Kev and welcome to this lovely forum, you'll learn a lot here (I have!) and will no doubt be able to pass on lots for us to learn from you, with all your experience.
I've learned something from you already! That is, where Wallonia is.......I had to google it as I'd never heard of it before 
. According to Wikipedia, it's the French-speaking part of Belgium.....unless there's another one somewhere else, lol.
learning to love veg…..except celery :-O
11:32 am
Moderators
Tue 22-Sep-09
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Welcome Kev! How did you end up in Belgium?
I'll try that again!
11:33 am
Supreme Being
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Tue 22-Sep-09
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Welcome Kev
sounds a lovely way of life you have there
1:03 pm
3rd Grader
New members
Sat 6-Aug-11
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Hi , Yes its not bad here. Sleepy and under populated. Not so much fun in the winter though. Kev
1:08 pm
3rd Grader
New members
Sat 6-Aug-11
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Hi Toffee apple ,
I moved to Belgium because I was fed up with life in the UK , that was back in 1994. We decided to rent here and stay two years, its now 17 years. We bought this place back in 1999.
Other reasons for moving to Belgium in no real order , Beer , simplicity of life , and work. My wife is also Belgian so that helped a lot.
Kev
1:12 pm
3rd Grader
New members
Sat 6-Aug-11
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Sooliz, Yes but Wallonia sounds more interesting than the word, Belgium, I was out to make a good first impression....
Belgium is federal and will probably split up soon, so we are getting used to just calling it Wallonia. Just as the Flemish market their location as Flanders more and more.
kev
1:48 pm
Moderators
Tue 22-Sep-09
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You've still no formal government there have you? I can tell you another good reason for moving there, the FOOD is fabulous and the Café culture is fine too. I love getting a little glass of booze with the coffee.
I'll try that again!
2:05 pm
3rd Grader
New members
Sat 6-Aug-11
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No gov, still its only been about 450 days or so. Give us a chance. Food, yep its pretty good to say the least.
Kev
4:14 pm
Supreme Being
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Mon 21-Sep-09
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WELCOME Kev,
Glad you decided to join us. Mmmmm the food there is great.....I remember elvers in a wonderful bright green herby sauce.....I have never forgotten it.
"The beautiful is as useful as the useful...perhaps more so."
from Les Miserables
9:55 pm
Knowledegable
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Mon 21-Mar-11
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Hi Kev,
Welcome, just out of nosiness what did you end up doing with the hawthorns?
Failing is not a fault, refusing to try is
1:36 pm
3rd Grader
New members
Sat 6-Aug-11
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Hi Redhead,
I am going to make some jelly out of hawthorns and then add it to my food storage. We also make a tea out of it.
Hawthorns are early here this year, and many are ready. I have, well I dont know how many bushes. Hundreds of them anyway. Great for keeping walkers out , and sheep in.
Kevin
1:39 pm
Moderators
Tue 22-Sep-09
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How many sheep? Do you use their wool? Do you make cheese with their milk?
I'll try that again!
4:09 pm
3rd Grader
New members
Sat 6-Aug-11
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Hi , We only have 15 sheep at the moment, normally I keep 25 or so. That figure swells to around 200 every spring. Some of my land is used as a holding area for a sheep farmer friend of mine. They graze there until Ramadan , and are then sold to the Muslim community in Brussels. Muslims are big consumers of lamb and mutton. Belgians rarely eat it.
My farmer friend pays me in lambs for the land rental, which I keep until November.
We do not make cheese, I only keep sheep for our own personal meat consumption. I would like to make cheese but time is an issue.
Often older sheep (mutton market ) that are shipped in are shorn here around June. The wool is burnt, there is no value here, and my loft is now well insulated with it.
I also keep four or so Belgian reds, a strong little sheep that fairs well in winter here. Pretty things as well.
Kev
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