MK

R's brother M came to help with the onions this morning as promised. I think we are half way there now! His help is most welcome. He recently finished his matriculation exams and plans to go to college in the autumn. His family have a lot of goats. His mum makes excellent cheese from the milk.

D had some more positive news about another paper, so she's pleased about that.

Otherwise it's been a busy day and it hasn't finished yet. D is making dinner. We are having polenta as carbohydrate for a change. Recently we have been eating millet more often, having found the secret to cooking it properly. It's best to rinse it with cold and then hot water first.

SN rang to ask me for some of my millet. Where he lives, the soil is practically non-existent but millet is fairly drought tolerant and is sown very late, so he might be lucky. If I remember correctly, the last time he tried it, the pigeons from the forest ate most of his crop. I think it's quite a useful because of the late sowing time. This allows the farmer to eliminate some annual weeds before they seed so they can be brought under control a little without using sprays. The straw from it is happily consumed by cattle. Two years ago I ploughed it in with the stubble and the lupin in the following year did very well. It was once a traditional crop in this area, but it is rather out of fashion these days. They grow more of it in the Olsztyn area.