August 30th (Sat.)

Rainstorms have replaced the oppressive brain melting heat of high summer. But not just rainstorms a monster deluge. Just for a change we didn’t bear the brunt of it this time and instead were able to watch the woes of the people in neighbouring Aichi prefecture. Roads that looked like rivers, shop owners upto their waists in water as they tried to rescue floating stock from their shop’s aisles.
Looked like another day in the rain with me getting soaked. I encouraged Yasumi to shoot me if I ask for anything, anything, other than a waterproof this Christmas. I can’t face the thought of another year with skin like a prune from water saturation.
The morning started with fine skies however and a fun time planting up the olive trees first. Yasumi reading the planting instructions informed me that we need to have it close to another variety of olive to get good propogation.

‘You knew that, didn’t you ?’ she chided.
‘Yes, of course.’I replied indignantly.
‘Mmmm’ came her reply as she handled the 2 saplings of the same variety I had bought suspiciously.

No, in truth I didn’t know that THESE ‘nevadillo bianco’ do need another variety for propagation. Olives are finickity in this respect. Some do some don’t. It’s a bit like some boys go for a local village girl and are as happy as a pig in a trough others like the exotic charms of an out of town girl.

The grape went in it’s big terracotta home and was encouraged to train up the horrible plastic portico monstrosity till I replace it with a wood one next year (?).

Job done. Family retire to inside as filthy black ‘200mm of rain in five minutes’ bearing rain clouds descend on daddy.

Today, while trying not to drown, I finally finished the weeding first by ripping it out by hand, then ploughing what remained into the ground. I discovered that if you use a 8Bhp tractor on metre tall weeds you can make a kind of grass rope from the weeds being twined together as the tractor rolls on. ‘Maybe there’s a market for this?’
I mused as the water rolled down my now soaking trousers and filled my wellies.

I know have a field primed for the autumn crops. In theory all I need to do now is tickle away between the rows with a hoe each week and wait for the stubble from the weeds to rot down into the soil.
Oh it all sounds so easy!

After that I’ll be raising the rows for those direct sown pots, garlic and shallots among other things.

As the clouds finally parted I decided to press ahead and plant up the peas and beans. Limited time has taught me that rather than waiting for the perfect weather to do stuff it’s usually best just to do it than not do it at all. I mean only a fool would plough in the rain with the field fast becoming a mud bath but rather that than the whole winter crops becoming a week late.

After a few hours in torrential rain I decide I can’t take anymore and give the gallery a quick rendition of ‘Singing in the Rain’ before proceeding with me shallots.

Right food time !
After a long soak I got on with dinner.

It seems unspeakable that I have been doing this blog replete with the culinary stuff and have not yet talked ragu.
By ragu I mean a basic Italian meat sauce, call it gravy if you’re Italian American (in which case you certainly don’t need me to talk about it) or otherwise Bolognese.
The recipe that I like to use was a culmination of translating recipes from Italian blogs. I spent a few nights, battling with my very wobbly Italian trying to find the most amateur no thrills blogs hopefully made by some mamma in a little village on a computer bought by her son. You get the picture.

I fine chop garlic, onion, celery leaves and stalk, and carrot. Really mince it to hell because I don’t want to see those in the finished sauce.
Then just warm the garlic in extra virgin oil and season well, add onion until softened, then the celery and carrot.
Then fine chopped prosciutto which is going to give up it’s rich buttery fat.
I stew that till it really breaks down and add the thyme and rosemary stripped off the stalk and fine chopped.
After those herbs have cracked and given off their scent into the pan I’ll add white wine and keep on stewing it down.
I don’t think you can rush this part of it, well actually you can’t rush any part, ha ha.
Once that’s reduced, caramellised and a glorious brown mush I can add the meats which should be a variety of chicken, beef, pork and (although I can’t get it) veal and choppped basil.
Then mix in tomato puree.
Then drained and chopped canned tomatoes. I find passata doesn’t hold the sauce together somehow and real fresh tomatoes are overpowering here. Sometimes crap ingredients are the right ingredients
When that’s brought up to heat I ladle in some good home made chicken stock and heated milk in equal measure and then a splash more the white wine.
Those liquids (except the wine) are preheated so you don’t arrest the heat in the pan which would be very bad karma at this stage.
I’ll put in some laurel too and a little ground nutmeg and set it on a gentle pop..pop.. boil.

It’s kind of done when it’s done. …which I guess is when all the ingredients have stopped being ingredients and have become something new and it looks like it will coat your pasta nicely.

If I was Italian the way the family ragu was made would be like a tatoo on my chest and any deviation invoke instant excommunication , luckily I’m not so can enjoy pissing about with it ad infinitum.

My cooking exploits where not over because I had a whole load of prep to do for those lab rats bbq tomorrow.

Finished up at 1a.m.