Well, unless you've been on another planet you can't have failed to notice that there was a wedding yesterday. We had a house guest who gamely put up with the telly being on so I could see the nuptials take place. What can I say? I think the couple seem genuinely happy with each other, and I like weddings, and seeing people being happy, and of course, taking the opportunity to people-watch and point and laugh at some of the god-awful outfits and hats on display. Money, it seems, can't buy good taste. The bridal party though were unsurpassabe, I have to say, I just loved that dress. It was beautiful. White and elegant and slinky. The bride's frock was lovely too :-D.
This might not be traditional wedding season, but it's certainly a season of fertility and sap rising and all that. Today is Beltane. I *should* be not far from William and Kate's alma mater with a lot of Pagans, setting up my chair in a garden and catching up beside a bonfire, before retiring early to catch some zzzz's in advance of a dawn dance round a maypole and jump over the bonfire. Instead I'm at home wih a sore throat and feeling shattered. I didn't want to risk coming down with a lurgy since I have to go back to work in a week. Hey ho. Sense prevails but I'm not exactly thrilled at missing out on a celebration with people whose company I enjoy and whose friendship means so much.
Instead I celebrated Beltane at home, quietly. Myself and D tied red, yellow and golden ribbons onto our apple trees while making wishes with each one, and there's incense and libations poured and in that small way, I feel I've welcomed in Summer. :-)
And - wow - hasn't it just?! It's glorious here. The allotment and garden need daily watering. I spent an hour today cutting down potato foliage and spraying with Bordeaux Mixture as once more, blight seems to have affected them. The crop in the autumn was, well, blighted, which prompted our decision to plant the potatoes in another bed. So I was frustrated to see that the new crop has been affeced too. I'm hoping we caught it early enough to ensure a half decent crop. At least the potatoes in the garden are doing well.
In the field that adjoins the allotments, a farmer has a flock of Jacob sheep, and today I watched as the farmer and his two rough collie dogs rounded up and herded the sheep. It was just like "One Man And His Dog" - brilliant stuff :-)
Tomorrow is May Day - D is taking me out to dinner to celebrate Beltane/ commiserate the enforced change of plans. The Boathouse in South Queensferry - I'm looking forward to it :-)
30 April 2011
26 April 2011
Confetti
One of those near perfect days today. It's sunny and warm, and the garden is a real sun trap and is blocking out the worst of the breeze which is cool on the exposed fields of the allotment.
I was along at the allotment this morning and planed out the broccoli seedlings, and covered them with the cloche tunnel. I also riddled over the soil in between the broccoli and red cabbage, since the Cavolo Nero and spinach seeds seemed to be doing precious little. The bed was planted with potatoes last year and there seemed little point - or indeed time - in riddling out that enormous bed, so the soil is pretty rough: stony and lumpy. But now part of it at least is soft and crumbly and just begs for you to plunge your hands in it. Or maybe that's just me! Anyway, I've re-sown some spinach and Cavolo Nero, making a note for myself here that I really must cover the kale plants when they grow this year, as last year they were absolutely decimated by caterpillars.
Speaking of caterpillars, we've been seeing a lot of the woolly bear caterpillars around the house. They seem to be migrating just now - we stood and watched one very determined one make fairly swift progress across the street and up onto the grassy verge. They're funny looking things, like their hairy bodies should be poisonous, but they're innocent enough. Apart from wanting to eat my plants of course.
Gardening work is over for today, and probably for a few days in fact as I'm pretty much on top of things for the moment. I've grown impatient at the lack of progress with the peas I planted at the allotment and have sown some in pots in the greenhouse to see if I can start some of there. It could be that it's just a bad lot of seeds - it happens. It happened sigh the sunflowers (Velvet Queen) - only two of them have germinated :-(
A surprise to me in the garden was the emergence of a plant which I'm pretty certain is Bergamot. It certainly has the same kind of foliage and the leaves smell faintly of orange. But I didn't label it, and chances are that it was a seed I sowed last hear and forgot all about it! If it is, it should have the most gorgeous raggedy pinky red flowers and be a real bee magnet.
My laissez-faire approach has spread to some self-seeders in the garden: acqueligias, or "granny's bonnet" as we call them here. I've tended to just let them settle where they may, and they're springing up in between paving slabs and at border edges, and since they're so lovely, and varied, I'm content to just leave them be. Sometimes a haphazard approach to gardening is one that can bring real joy and delight in my eyes. If gardening is humans shaping and controlling Nature, then it's only right that Nature be allowed free reign to some extent :-)
So just now I'm sitting out in the garden, with Classic FM playing out through the open patio doors. The hens are industriously digging through their run - except the one who's in lahiniv and chatting away to herself. The cats have chased off the mouse for the time being. Swallows are nesting in the eves and swooping up and down and chirruping noisily, and blossom petals from the pear tree and one of the apple trees, is floating off in the breeze and covering the patio and beds in a soft sprinkling of confetti...
I was along at the allotment this morning and planed out the broccoli seedlings, and covered them with the cloche tunnel. I also riddled over the soil in between the broccoli and red cabbage, since the Cavolo Nero and spinach seeds seemed to be doing precious little. The bed was planted with potatoes last year and there seemed little point - or indeed time - in riddling out that enormous bed, so the soil is pretty rough: stony and lumpy. But now part of it at least is soft and crumbly and just begs for you to plunge your hands in it. Or maybe that's just me! Anyway, I've re-sown some spinach and Cavolo Nero, making a note for myself here that I really must cover the kale plants when they grow this year, as last year they were absolutely decimated by caterpillars.
Speaking of caterpillars, we've been seeing a lot of the woolly bear caterpillars around the house. They seem to be migrating just now - we stood and watched one very determined one make fairly swift progress across the street and up onto the grassy verge. They're funny looking things, like their hairy bodies should be poisonous, but they're innocent enough. Apart from wanting to eat my plants of course.
Gardening work is over for today, and probably for a few days in fact as I'm pretty much on top of things for the moment. I've grown impatient at the lack of progress with the peas I planted at the allotment and have sown some in pots in the greenhouse to see if I can start some of there. It could be that it's just a bad lot of seeds - it happens. It happened sigh the sunflowers (Velvet Queen) - only two of them have germinated :-(
A surprise to me in the garden was the emergence of a plant which I'm pretty certain is Bergamot. It certainly has the same kind of foliage and the leaves smell faintly of orange. But I didn't label it, and chances are that it was a seed I sowed last hear and forgot all about it! If it is, it should have the most gorgeous raggedy pinky red flowers and be a real bee magnet.
My laissez-faire approach has spread to some self-seeders in the garden: acqueligias, or "granny's bonnet" as we call them here. I've tended to just let them settle where they may, and they're springing up in between paving slabs and at border edges, and since they're so lovely, and varied, I'm content to just leave them be. Sometimes a haphazard approach to gardening is one that can bring real joy and delight in my eyes. If gardening is humans shaping and controlling Nature, then it's only right that Nature be allowed free reign to some extent :-)
So just now I'm sitting out in the garden, with Classic FM playing out through the open patio doors. The hens are industriously digging through their run - except the one who's in lahiniv and chatting away to herself. The cats have chased off the mouse for the time being. Swallows are nesting in the eves and swooping up and down and chirruping noisily, and blossom petals from the pear tree and one of the apple trees, is floating off in the breeze and covering the patio and beds in a soft sprinkling of confetti...
25 April 2011
Easter weekend.
I feel slightly cheated this Easter weekend given that I'm still off sick and therefore can't really enjoy the feeling of having a few days off work! This is my last week off sick, officially I start back on May 2nd, but I've actually booked a few days off as leave so that I start back to work on a Monday and a full week, rather than on the truncated week after the May Day holiday.
As you'd expect, we don't celebrate Easter. There are some Pagans who celebrate Ostara, after a deity named Eostre, but the jury's well and truly out as to her existence. Though I suppose it does then segue into the argument about whether humans create deities out of their own needs/ requirements, or whether the gods exist without any input or need on the part of humans... So while I don't celebrate Ostara, I do acknowledge the Equinoxes, and in a few day's time will be celebrating, in rather spectacular fashion, Beltane.
The weather broke on Saturday with cold wind and pouring rain. Ah well, the Allotment and garden really did need it, and today it was sunny and dry, if not quite as warm as our English and Welsh neighbours have been enjoying.
So there was no gardening on Saturday, but we did make a trip to Edinburgh Farmer's Market. There were more stalls there than on our first trip and some terrific food selections. Given that our freezer is full to bursting, we didn't buy masses of stuff. Just some smoked mackerel, rabbit and apple chutney pie, buffalo stroganoff burgers, pork and marmalade sausages, and some pheasant breasts with basil and tomato dressing. Oh, and some tablet which is just EXACTLY like the stuff we remember when we were kids. And our dentists probably did too.
Allotment yesterday though, gotta keep those weeds under control. Or at least give them the opportunity to show me how well they're doing... And they're doing spectacularly well. The flower seeds I've been strewing around are starting to come up, but then I have to dig about to try and oust the grass roots and fear that I've buried the flower seeds that haven't come up forever...
The garden centre to which our allotment is attached was giving away freebie bags to the Allotment holders, plant labels, twine etc. And a notice that there will be an Allotment competition in August where an ex Beechgrove Garden presenter (Beechgrove Garden is a Scottish gardening TV show) will judge the best allotment based on various criteria. I spoke to a few other allotmenteers who say they aren't bothered... Aye right, I guarantee that there will be a rash of suddenly spruced up plots over the next few months...
This morning I decided to plant out some of the stuff in the greenhouse. So I put the butternut squash out in the garden, and took the courgettes, cabbages and some chard to the allotment. Tomorrow will be the turn of the broccoli. I'm all organised: have the glut of eggs baking as pasta frittatas, and I'll take a slice of it along with me for lunch so I can spend most of the day at the plot, planting and weeding.
Can't wait :-)
As you'd expect, we don't celebrate Easter. There are some Pagans who celebrate Ostara, after a deity named Eostre, but the jury's well and truly out as to her existence. Though I suppose it does then segue into the argument about whether humans create deities out of their own needs/ requirements, or whether the gods exist without any input or need on the part of humans... So while I don't celebrate Ostara, I do acknowledge the Equinoxes, and in a few day's time will be celebrating, in rather spectacular fashion, Beltane.
The weather broke on Saturday with cold wind and pouring rain. Ah well, the Allotment and garden really did need it, and today it was sunny and dry, if not quite as warm as our English and Welsh neighbours have been enjoying.
So there was no gardening on Saturday, but we did make a trip to Edinburgh Farmer's Market. There were more stalls there than on our first trip and some terrific food selections. Given that our freezer is full to bursting, we didn't buy masses of stuff. Just some smoked mackerel, rabbit and apple chutney pie, buffalo stroganoff burgers, pork and marmalade sausages, and some pheasant breasts with basil and tomato dressing. Oh, and some tablet which is just EXACTLY like the stuff we remember when we were kids. And our dentists probably did too.
Allotment yesterday though, gotta keep those weeds under control. Or at least give them the opportunity to show me how well they're doing... And they're doing spectacularly well. The flower seeds I've been strewing around are starting to come up, but then I have to dig about to try and oust the grass roots and fear that I've buried the flower seeds that haven't come up forever...
The garden centre to which our allotment is attached was giving away freebie bags to the Allotment holders, plant labels, twine etc. And a notice that there will be an Allotment competition in August where an ex Beechgrove Garden presenter (Beechgrove Garden is a Scottish gardening TV show) will judge the best allotment based on various criteria. I spoke to a few other allotmenteers who say they aren't bothered... Aye right, I guarantee that there will be a rash of suddenly spruced up plots over the next few months...
This morning I decided to plant out some of the stuff in the greenhouse. So I put the butternut squash out in the garden, and took the courgettes, cabbages and some chard to the allotment. Tomorrow will be the turn of the broccoli. I'm all organised: have the glut of eggs baking as pasta frittatas, and I'll take a slice of it along with me for lunch so I can spend most of the day at the plot, planting and weeding.
Can't wait :-)
20 April 2011
Busy busy
Wow, can't believe it's been a week since I updated!
I've had a busy week. On Saturday I was at the Pagan Federation Conference in Edinburgh, where I met up with people I haven't seen in far too long, heard some brilliant and interesting speakers, and managed to avoid the ones who I would have found less than inspiring. Vivienne Crowley's Grail talk was really interesting, and the lady herself funny and managing to combine healthy scepticism with belief. The other workshops of note were two run by Christer Ellingsen talking about Shamanic Trancework. His first session was talking about the trance work and the term "Shaman". It was interesting (and reassuring) to hear that he considers Shamanism to be a craft, a method, rather than a religious path. He was quite adamant that it is not religous at all, and that he does not consider himself a Shaman as that is a specific role which doesn't really have a place in today's society. The second workshop was a practical trance workshop which was incredible, with him drumming and which left everyone I spoke to afterwards feeling drained as though they'd been running.
As usual at these things, there's a real mix of the earthy and ethereal. Workshops about unicorns and chakras might suit some but I steered clear! The shopping stalls were as usual, too enticing for my bank balance so I bought a couple of things, including a pair of earrings from a very talented lady who I know, Peggy at MoonlightForest.com.
The evening entertainment involved my having to act as magician's assistant - a task which was suitably embarrassing! It was followed by the amazing Damh the Bard, who I have never seen live. He was fantastic. Great music which everyone sang along with, and the man himself self-deprecating and plain funny.
Despite having had next to no sleep the night before, I managed to last the whole evening and am so very grateful to my friend Andrew for being taxi driver :-)
A couple of days later I was up at Aberfoyle, resuming duties as Osprey information officer. The new chap in charge was keen to reassure me again about the lack of pressure to sell memberships. I have to say I was kind of shocked at how young he looked - am I getting old?! The room is completely re-done, with windows (hurray!!), more touchy-feely exhibits, more screens, more animals to talk about. It was great to get back into the swing of things again. There are birds on the nest - though not the usual pair who haven't returned :-( This pair are the third on the nest in the last couple of weeks, but look as though they're the ones who will hold it. Neither of them are ringed which means we have no idea about their history. But they're mating and nest building so we expect an egg imminently! Usual left-field questions - the best were "Which route does the West Highland Way go at Inversnaid?" and "Is the road through Thornhill still closed?"...
After a full-on couple of days I was totally exhausted. As I suspected, speaking to people is what really tires me out and drains me, so it's been nice having a very quiet couple of days since.
At the Allotment, all is going well, particularly the weeds... We've had such good weather I've had to water the veg beds, not that I'm complaining! The raspberry bush is spreading like wildfire - makes you realise how much of a rip-off raspberry plants are at garden centres! It's lovely to see everything springing up.
And the swallows have returned!
Summer is definitely a cumin' in :-)
I've had a busy week. On Saturday I was at the Pagan Federation Conference in Edinburgh, where I met up with people I haven't seen in far too long, heard some brilliant and interesting speakers, and managed to avoid the ones who I would have found less than inspiring. Vivienne Crowley's Grail talk was really interesting, and the lady herself funny and managing to combine healthy scepticism with belief. The other workshops of note were two run by Christer Ellingsen talking about Shamanic Trancework. His first session was talking about the trance work and the term "Shaman". It was interesting (and reassuring) to hear that he considers Shamanism to be a craft, a method, rather than a religious path. He was quite adamant that it is not religous at all, and that he does not consider himself a Shaman as that is a specific role which doesn't really have a place in today's society. The second workshop was a practical trance workshop which was incredible, with him drumming and which left everyone I spoke to afterwards feeling drained as though they'd been running.
As usual at these things, there's a real mix of the earthy and ethereal. Workshops about unicorns and chakras might suit some but I steered clear! The shopping stalls were as usual, too enticing for my bank balance so I bought a couple of things, including a pair of earrings from a very talented lady who I know, Peggy at MoonlightForest.com.
The evening entertainment involved my having to act as magician's assistant - a task which was suitably embarrassing! It was followed by the amazing Damh the Bard, who I have never seen live. He was fantastic. Great music which everyone sang along with, and the man himself self-deprecating and plain funny.
Despite having had next to no sleep the night before, I managed to last the whole evening and am so very grateful to my friend Andrew for being taxi driver :-)
A couple of days later I was up at Aberfoyle, resuming duties as Osprey information officer. The new chap in charge was keen to reassure me again about the lack of pressure to sell memberships. I have to say I was kind of shocked at how young he looked - am I getting old?! The room is completely re-done, with windows (hurray!!), more touchy-feely exhibits, more screens, more animals to talk about. It was great to get back into the swing of things again. There are birds on the nest - though not the usual pair who haven't returned :-( This pair are the third on the nest in the last couple of weeks, but look as though they're the ones who will hold it. Neither of them are ringed which means we have no idea about their history. But they're mating and nest building so we expect an egg imminently! Usual left-field questions - the best were "Which route does the West Highland Way go at Inversnaid?" and "Is the road through Thornhill still closed?"...
After a full-on couple of days I was totally exhausted. As I suspected, speaking to people is what really tires me out and drains me, so it's been nice having a very quiet couple of days since.
At the Allotment, all is going well, particularly the weeds... We've had such good weather I've had to water the veg beds, not that I'm complaining! The raspberry bush is spreading like wildfire - makes you realise how much of a rip-off raspberry plants are at garden centres! It's lovely to see everything springing up.
And the swallows have returned!
Summer is definitely a cumin' in :-)
13 April 2011
All change
As expected, the weather took a turn this week and we've been plunged back to more typical April weather: cold, damp, blustery. The salad crops I planted in the outside planter have done absolutely nothing, so I'm pleased that I sowed some in the greenhouse, though, at the moment it's not a lot warmer inside there.
The fruit trees are really starting to blossom though - the pear tree is now fully out, leading me to hope that for the first year we'll get a really good crop. Last year we got about 4 or 5 decent-sized fruits, in what is the tree's - what - third year since we planted it? By now the tree will be about 5 years old so it should be starting to get into its stride.
Isn't it just a thing of beauty?
The front garden is difficult to really plant - it's north-facing and most of the day is shaded by the house, so only the top of the garden - where the planters and tree are, get any consistently long hours of sunshine and that's at high summer.
And - another reason it's difficult to garden is our neighbour who is retired and as soon as you step out the house is there to "help" or offer advice. Bless him, he and his wife are retired and elderly, and I'm sure he just wants the company, it's just difficult to really get anything done when he's there.
Indoors, the courgette seeds I planted just a couple of days ago have erupted spectacularly into life overnight. I looked at the seeds last night before going to bed and saw they were still the big, flat, tear-drop shaped seeds I stuck point-down - I'd just assumed they'd take a few more days to germinate!
The fruit trees are really starting to blossom though - the pear tree is now fully out, leading me to hope that for the first year we'll get a really good crop. Last year we got about 4 or 5 decent-sized fruits, in what is the tree's - what - third year since we planted it? By now the tree will be about 5 years old so it should be starting to get into its stride.
Isn't it just a thing of beauty?
The front garden is difficult to really plant - it's north-facing and most of the day is shaded by the house, so only the top of the garden - where the planters and tree are, get any consistently long hours of sunshine and that's at high summer.
And - another reason it's difficult to garden is our neighbour who is retired and as soon as you step out the house is there to "help" or offer advice. Bless him, he and his wife are retired and elderly, and I'm sure he just wants the company, it's just difficult to really get anything done when he's there.
Indoors, the courgette seeds I planted just a couple of days ago have erupted spectacularly into life overnight. I looked at the seeds last night before going to bed and saw they were still the big, flat, tear-drop shaped seeds I stuck point-down - I'd just assumed they'd take a few more days to germinate!
The purple sprouting broccoli from the garden was a success: dark green and purple and very tasty with the individual chicken, bacon, leek and thyme pies I'd made (and frozen) a while ago. There are some more spears on the plant but I'm definitely going to grow some more - have to think about where to put it since it's a "long term" plant and is in the ground for up to a year...
I went into work yesterday to discuss my phased return to work with my boss. It was very constructive, we've agreed a return over 8 weeks rather than 6 as proposed by Occupational Health, and it'll be reviewed part-way through to make sure I'm not struggling too much. Just before the meeting ended my boss nipped out to speak to another colleague - at which point I admit I sagged as I thought he was going to try and squeeze in a quick work meeting while I was there - but instead he came back with a bunch of flowers, an orchid, an Amazon voucher and a card signed by most of the Division. I was struck dumb - and it's not often that happens! I was touched and delighted.
I think the visit though took a lot of out of me - and that was just for an hour. Today I've had to go for a snooze (with Poppy, who also snoozed so that we were nose to nose) and I feel a bit wiped. Hopefully over the next couple of weeks I'll be improved enough that my stamina for being in at work will be enough that I don't suffer the same exhaustion after such a short time. D is adamant though that if I'm still feeling exhausted, I'm to go and get signed off again - I really don't want that to happen. I suspect that part of it is not sleeping well due to being so cold at night now that we've changed (somewhat prematurely and probably inadvisedly) to the lighter summer duvet! Hopefully the weather will start to warm up soon - but regardless, it doesn't seem to be stopping things growing.
11 April 2011
First Harvest
We've been blessed the last couple of days with the most gorgeously unseasonal weather. Temperatures reaching for 20 degrees - at the start of April! Amazing!
Yesterday we went to the Farmers' Market in Stirling and picked up pigs' cheeks and bacon, and a piece of hot smoked salmon. Delicious.
In the afternoon, I went to the allotment. I was delighted to see that an allotment holder a couple of plots up, has returned and seems to be working on her plot. We thought that last year she had given up after being told that she could not paint her shed pale blue and had to paint it brown again. Which might come as a bit of a shock to her neighbour, whose young girl was gaily personalising their shed by painting flowers, handprints, squiggles and her name. I have to say, I really love those allotment plots I see from other parts of the country where the sheds and other buildings are a kitcsh, higgledy-piggledy and eclectic mish-mash of individuality. Alas, the planning permission for the field our plots are on, were specific in their rules about what is and is not allowed. So no trees, no painted buildings, no structures over 1m tall (more on that in a sec) and no livestock. That last is a disappointment, I had harboured hopes of a bee-hive...
The rule about 1m tall structures - being conveniently overlooked by the allotmenteers. Walk-in fruit cages and greenhouses etc are appearing all over the place as people plan a little bit more permanence and possession over their plot. Be nice to see them remain, but I know the people who live round about the field being quick to complain about any infractions to the planning rules, given they didn't want allotments there in the first place. Apparently there were vociferous objections to turning the field into allotments - living next to a farm I honestly am bemused by this: allotments are a darned sight quieter than a field that needs plowed, fertilised, harvested, cleared, etc etc.
Anyway. The highlight of the visit was taking a couple of rhubarb stalks which I stewed today to have in a crumble for breakfast tomorrow. The first harvest of the year! Very, very exciting! And, a purple sprouting broccoli plant that's been growing in the garden doing absolutely nothing, has now, suddenly, sprouted purple broccoli! I know that theoretically that's what it should have done, so hardly a surprise, but yet it is. So in another couple of days it'll be ready to eat. Makes me think I really should grow some at the allotment.
Update on the mice, the peppermint essential oil was an absolute... failure. It achieved absolutely nothing. They still seem to be there - at least, the cats are still enthralled by some of the clumps of geranium and the flap of the compost bin, and when I sowed sweet pea seeds this morning, one of the clumps shook violently and I thought I saw something flash by out the corner of my eye. *sigh*
Weather's supposed to break tomorrow, I'm not too disappointed in a way: Summer here is too brief most years, you always worry that a spell of good weather in advance of the summer months means it's peaked too soon! We expect cold, windy, even snowy weather in April, the last few days have been a welcome respite from the Winter we've endured, but I'd hate to think that this was as good as it's going to get!
Yesterday we went to the Farmers' Market in Stirling and picked up pigs' cheeks and bacon, and a piece of hot smoked salmon. Delicious.
In the afternoon, I went to the allotment. I was delighted to see that an allotment holder a couple of plots up, has returned and seems to be working on her plot. We thought that last year she had given up after being told that she could not paint her shed pale blue and had to paint it brown again. Which might come as a bit of a shock to her neighbour, whose young girl was gaily personalising their shed by painting flowers, handprints, squiggles and her name. I have to say, I really love those allotment plots I see from other parts of the country where the sheds and other buildings are a kitcsh, higgledy-piggledy and eclectic mish-mash of individuality. Alas, the planning permission for the field our plots are on, were specific in their rules about what is and is not allowed. So no trees, no painted buildings, no structures over 1m tall (more on that in a sec) and no livestock. That last is a disappointment, I had harboured hopes of a bee-hive...
The rule about 1m tall structures - being conveniently overlooked by the allotmenteers. Walk-in fruit cages and greenhouses etc are appearing all over the place as people plan a little bit more permanence and possession over their plot. Be nice to see them remain, but I know the people who live round about the field being quick to complain about any infractions to the planning rules, given they didn't want allotments there in the first place. Apparently there were vociferous objections to turning the field into allotments - living next to a farm I honestly am bemused by this: allotments are a darned sight quieter than a field that needs plowed, fertilised, harvested, cleared, etc etc.
Anyway. The highlight of the visit was taking a couple of rhubarb stalks which I stewed today to have in a crumble for breakfast tomorrow. The first harvest of the year! Very, very exciting! And, a purple sprouting broccoli plant that's been growing in the garden doing absolutely nothing, has now, suddenly, sprouted purple broccoli! I know that theoretically that's what it should have done, so hardly a surprise, but yet it is. So in another couple of days it'll be ready to eat. Makes me think I really should grow some at the allotment.
Update on the mice, the peppermint essential oil was an absolute... failure. It achieved absolutely nothing. They still seem to be there - at least, the cats are still enthralled by some of the clumps of geranium and the flap of the compost bin, and when I sowed sweet pea seeds this morning, one of the clumps shook violently and I thought I saw something flash by out the corner of my eye. *sigh*
Weather's supposed to break tomorrow, I'm not too disappointed in a way: Summer here is too brief most years, you always worry that a spell of good weather in advance of the summer months means it's peaked too soon! We expect cold, windy, even snowy weather in April, the last few days have been a welcome respite from the Winter we've endured, but I'd hate to think that this was as good as it's going to get!
8 April 2011
My Favourite Things
I'm a woman of simple pleasures.
Lots of things come under the heading of "favourite things".
Digging for spuds, buried treasure of precious golden (mis)shapes. Apple blossom on my trees. Watering the garden late in a warm summer day, revelling in the fact that it doesn't really get dark at Mid-Summer and I can be out there at 11pm in near daylight, in near silence.
And listening to my iPod at the Allotment. I put in my earphones, and put on a playlist I have as my workout music when I'm at the gym. It's an eclectic, up-tempo, utterly personal mix of music tracks that I mentally - and sometimes physically - bop around to when I'm weeding and I hope nobody else is around to either notice or bother me. So I listen to things like Texas "I don't need a lover"; All About Eve "Every Angel"; Treacherous Orchestra; Muse; Dr and the Medics "Spirit in the Sky"; T-Rex "20th Century Boy"; REM "The One I Love"; Peatbog Fairies; etc etc. Very much a mish-mash of stuff I like and don't care if anyone else does. I love it and will potter for hours, lost in music (if you pardon the pun).
So this morning I spent a very happy hour or so at the allotment, listening to music, and sowing the first of the "April" seeds: beetroot and Cavalo Nero. I liked last year having flowers round the borders of the plot as they attracted bees and looked gorgeous, so this year I have more calendula (which I really must use to make into cream), red poppies and cornflowers. I ended up opening all the flower seed packets and emptying them into a bag, shaking it and then scattering the mix in the ground so that there's a really lovely mix of flowers. The neighbour across the path from us was there and, glory of glories, building a shed! The last owner of the plot had said she didn't want to put up a shed, she wanted, in time, to put up a greenhouse, much to our dismay because we were hoping that her shed would break the full blast of the wind and give ours some protection. For whatever reason she no longer tends the plot and the people who now do, have decided to put up a shed. We'll wait until it's built then see about repairing ours and re-setting it on the plinth it was blown from.
Back at the garden I've sown chamomile seeds - I love the scent of chamomile and I love chamomile tea. I suffer from periodic migraines and drinking the tea when I have one is immensely soothing. Again though, I really should do something with the flower heads beside tea, and make cream. It's a very healing and soothing herb, great for burns and soreness.
Also sown courgette seeds - I admit that neither of us really care for courgette. But a friend last year gave us a plant and it would have been rude to not have planted it, and if was a roaring success. We were harvesting courgettes on an almost daily basis from July to November. A food magazine contained a recipe for a courgette and garlic tart, and since it required courgettes and lots of eggs, it seemed like an ideal recipe for using up gluts of both. And it was delicious, really lovely. Moreover, it froze beautifully, so I was able to make up plenty lunches for work. This year, based on the success of the courgette, we're going to plant a couple of plants - to be honest I think they're a better crop for us than fennel which we grew very successfully, then decided we really didn't like the aniseed taste and had about 30 fennel plants to get through...
Not sure whether there will be much planting tomorrow: we have to go to Stirling Farmers Market and pick up pigs' cheeks from Puddledub, and, since today has been gloriously sunny and warm, tomorrow is forecast to be misty and cool along the Forth.
If nothing else, it's nice to feel that I'm on top of things... How long do I leave if before I regret saying that?!!
Lots of things come under the heading of "favourite things".
Digging for spuds, buried treasure of precious golden (mis)shapes. Apple blossom on my trees. Watering the garden late in a warm summer day, revelling in the fact that it doesn't really get dark at Mid-Summer and I can be out there at 11pm in near daylight, in near silence.
And listening to my iPod at the Allotment. I put in my earphones, and put on a playlist I have as my workout music when I'm at the gym. It's an eclectic, up-tempo, utterly personal mix of music tracks that I mentally - and sometimes physically - bop around to when I'm weeding and I hope nobody else is around to either notice or bother me. So I listen to things like Texas "I don't need a lover"; All About Eve "Every Angel"; Treacherous Orchestra; Muse; Dr and the Medics "Spirit in the Sky"; T-Rex "20th Century Boy"; REM "The One I Love"; Peatbog Fairies; etc etc. Very much a mish-mash of stuff I like and don't care if anyone else does. I love it and will potter for hours, lost in music (if you pardon the pun).
So this morning I spent a very happy hour or so at the allotment, listening to music, and sowing the first of the "April" seeds: beetroot and Cavalo Nero. I liked last year having flowers round the borders of the plot as they attracted bees and looked gorgeous, so this year I have more calendula (which I really must use to make into cream), red poppies and cornflowers. I ended up opening all the flower seed packets and emptying them into a bag, shaking it and then scattering the mix in the ground so that there's a really lovely mix of flowers. The neighbour across the path from us was there and, glory of glories, building a shed! The last owner of the plot had said she didn't want to put up a shed, she wanted, in time, to put up a greenhouse, much to our dismay because we were hoping that her shed would break the full blast of the wind and give ours some protection. For whatever reason she no longer tends the plot and the people who now do, have decided to put up a shed. We'll wait until it's built then see about repairing ours and re-setting it on the plinth it was blown from.
Back at the garden I've sown chamomile seeds - I love the scent of chamomile and I love chamomile tea. I suffer from periodic migraines and drinking the tea when I have one is immensely soothing. Again though, I really should do something with the flower heads beside tea, and make cream. It's a very healing and soothing herb, great for burns and soreness.
Also sown courgette seeds - I admit that neither of us really care for courgette. But a friend last year gave us a plant and it would have been rude to not have planted it, and if was a roaring success. We were harvesting courgettes on an almost daily basis from July to November. A food magazine contained a recipe for a courgette and garlic tart, and since it required courgettes and lots of eggs, it seemed like an ideal recipe for using up gluts of both. And it was delicious, really lovely. Moreover, it froze beautifully, so I was able to make up plenty lunches for work. This year, based on the success of the courgette, we're going to plant a couple of plants - to be honest I think they're a better crop for us than fennel which we grew very successfully, then decided we really didn't like the aniseed taste and had about 30 fennel plants to get through...
Not sure whether there will be much planting tomorrow: we have to go to Stirling Farmers Market and pick up pigs' cheeks from Puddledub, and, since today has been gloriously sunny and warm, tomorrow is forecast to be misty and cool along the Forth.
If nothing else, it's nice to feel that I'm on top of things... How long do I leave if before I regret saying that?!!
7 April 2011
Grass
I garden organically. It's because I believe in beneficial planting and in a fairly "live and let live" approach (or, as it's also known, the "oh, can I really be bothered doing that?" approach). It works quite well, but it does mean that when I do knuckle down and weed, it's fingertip weeding that gets done which is time consuming and difficult at times.
I don't mind weeding, it's one of those jobs that you can really see a difference when you do it and makes the place look neater and more organised. In the allotment there's a wide range of weeds to cope with, but the one that really, really does my head in, is the grass. It is just impossible to eradicate. The roots run so deep and so far that no matter how deeply you dig, and how "rooty" the clump you haul out, you're not even scratching the surface. I swear, if there was a nuclear explosion, in addition to the cockroaches, grass would still be thriving. The allotment holder on the other side of us sprayed his plot with weedkiller last year (yeah, thanks for that), and he had I think a blissful week of hiatus between the dead grass and the new stuff coming up. So hauling up grass is a full-time job at the allotment.
It's a job that needs done, but I admit to feeling guilty at un-housing the ladybirds who shelter in the clumps of grass. And there were a lot of them today. I've ended up leaving a patch of ground wild, just so they have somewhere to shelter. I really want to make sure they hang around - they were terrific last year at keeping the aphids etc down.
We "bracketed" the allotment work with a visit to Craigies Farm Shop at South Queensferry and a visit to the new Dobbies Garden World in Livingston.
We'd heard great things about Craigies from friends, and have an order in for mutton, so thought we'd go and see. It was great - very well laid out, with a field full of free-range hens, an orchard, couple of (frankly enormous) pigs (thankfully sound asleep) and some cows. The shop has a great butchery bit full of Puddledub pork and beef, and a terrific deli. So we bought some pork stir fry, stroganoff meatballs, venison salami, free-range chicken liver pate, and some boar, cheese and tomato sausages. Delish.
Dobbies in Livingston is brand new and was absolutely heaving. Much bigger than the one we usually go to in Stirling, it certainly has a much wider range, and is much more geared towards the whole home-furnishings thing with furniture and - strangely - wall-mounted fires.
I think though I prefer the one in Stirling. Call me parochial, and a bit of a bumpkin, but I love the location of it and the fact that you're closer to hills.
Back at the ranch, I found the bag with seeds-to-be-sown in April which I had lost. I've searched high and low for the last fortnight and, whaddya know, as soon as I asked out loud, I find them a minute later. Handily "tidied" in a bag I was going to take with me to the allotment and then didn't take...
I also bought some peppermint essential oil and soaked some cotton wool pads with it, and scattered them about the garden where the mice seem to be. I'll let you know how that goes,
Tommorrow I am therefore going to start sowing April stuff: chamomile, courgette, kale, beetroot, etc. Looking forward to it :-)
In the garden it
I don't mind weeding, it's one of those jobs that you can really see a difference when you do it and makes the place look neater and more organised. In the allotment there's a wide range of weeds to cope with, but the one that really, really does my head in, is the grass. It is just impossible to eradicate. The roots run so deep and so far that no matter how deeply you dig, and how "rooty" the clump you haul out, you're not even scratching the surface. I swear, if there was a nuclear explosion, in addition to the cockroaches, grass would still be thriving. The allotment holder on the other side of us sprayed his plot with weedkiller last year (yeah, thanks for that), and he had I think a blissful week of hiatus between the dead grass and the new stuff coming up. So hauling up grass is a full-time job at the allotment.
It's a job that needs done, but I admit to feeling guilty at un-housing the ladybirds who shelter in the clumps of grass. And there were a lot of them today. I've ended up leaving a patch of ground wild, just so they have somewhere to shelter. I really want to make sure they hang around - they were terrific last year at keeping the aphids etc down.
We "bracketed" the allotment work with a visit to Craigies Farm Shop at South Queensferry and a visit to the new Dobbies Garden World in Livingston.
We'd heard great things about Craigies from friends, and have an order in for mutton, so thought we'd go and see. It was great - very well laid out, with a field full of free-range hens, an orchard, couple of (frankly enormous) pigs (thankfully sound asleep) and some cows. The shop has a great butchery bit full of Puddledub pork and beef, and a terrific deli. So we bought some pork stir fry, stroganoff meatballs, venison salami, free-range chicken liver pate, and some boar, cheese and tomato sausages. Delish.
Dobbies in Livingston is brand new and was absolutely heaving. Much bigger than the one we usually go to in Stirling, it certainly has a much wider range, and is much more geared towards the whole home-furnishings thing with furniture and - strangely - wall-mounted fires.
I think though I prefer the one in Stirling. Call me parochial, and a bit of a bumpkin, but I love the location of it and the fact that you're closer to hills.
Back at the ranch, I found the bag with seeds-to-be-sown in April which I had lost. I've searched high and low for the last fortnight and, whaddya know, as soon as I asked out loud, I find them a minute later. Handily "tidied" in a bag I was going to take with me to the allotment and then didn't take...
I also bought some peppermint essential oil and soaked some cotton wool pads with it, and scattered them about the garden where the mice seem to be. I'll let you know how that goes,
Tommorrow I am therefore going to start sowing April stuff: chamomile, courgette, kale, beetroot, etc. Looking forward to it :-)
In the garden it
6 April 2011
Wind, rain, sun - and mice
Wild weather the last few days - fluctuating temperatures, torrential rain and howling wind. At night we've been woken by the wind moaning, and venturing out in the street is an obstacle course with wheelie bins blown into the road. The other day was 6 degrees with a significant wind chill, today it's 14 and the wind feels warm. And the sun has now come out. It's like there's a battle for Spring and we're caught in the cross-fire!
The rain's been enough to keep me mostly indoors over the last couple of days, which has been fine because I've not been feeling great. Today though I feel marginally more like myself so decided to take the opportunity of dry weather to repot some seedlings. Potting delicate seedlings with those micro-fine trailing roots, and trying to gently ease them into new pots while the wind whips at the plant is a task that takes practise. Fortunately I get plenty of it! Of course, if I'd had my head screwed on I would have moved the pots that take up a shelf in the greenhouse and potted in there, tight a squeeze as it is. But I don't have my head screwed on just now which is why it takes me twice as long to do anything. Yesterday, driving to the agricultural supplies shop in Stirling I had one of those "tra la la... pretty birdie, gorgeous hills... - Whoooops, I'm driving, aren't ?! moments" I can tell you this because you don't live/drive near me so you can feel both safe and relieved... :-D
The greenhouse is starting to fill up nicely now. The planters for salad/tomatoes is doing the job of acting as a ballast to hold the greenhouse down and there are seedlings coming up. I ran out of plant labels so I can't remember what got sown in what part of the planters - it'll make a nice surprise I suppose!
The butternut squash is still living and the chard seedlings seem to be okay - bit shell-shocked but I'm sure they'll be fine, they're fairly hardy plants. I'm not sure how many chard plants to have... Never having grown it before I really don't know how much we'll use... I admit I'm growing it as much for looks as eating, the "Rainbow" variety looks so gorgeous and glowing jewel colours that even if I don't manage to eat all of it, it'll look good.
Elsewhere in the garden it's looking good. Bit drookit (soggy) but good. Shoots now present in all the potato bags, hopefully at the allotment they'll be starting to come up there too.
But - oh - nightmare, we have mice. Just in the garden, they were there last year and seem to be back. We live in a fairly rural area surrounded by farms, so it was inevitable, but still... The concern is more the neighbours and whether they'll point the finger at the bird feeders, compost bin and of course, the hens... The last thing we want to be accused of is being an environmental nuisance. It's difficult to see what - apart from dig up the garden and concrete it, get rid of the hens, discourage birds etc, we can really do. The cats are pretty good at harassing the mice (if not actually killing them, apart from on one occasion), and when they're in at night, our neighbour's cat seems to take over. The hens I'm not worried about - omnivores that they are, they will eat mice. Thinking about it, it's probably more the bird feeders that would be the cause: there's no food left out in the hen run once they go in for their roost, but the birds are messy and scatter seed around. I've found some sunflower seedlings coming up from discarded seeds. I hear that cotton wool balls saturated with peppermint essential oil and scattered round the garden is effective as the mice can't stand the smell. Will see about doing that.
Allegedly, it is to be dry tomorrow. I'll believe it when I see it, but if it is, then I'm off to the allotment to plant the onions which I sprouted (and are sitting in the seat-well of the car after I decided not to plant them the other day), and to measure my rhubarb leaves to see if they're long enough for me to take a couple of stalks to stew...
The rain's been enough to keep me mostly indoors over the last couple of days, which has been fine because I've not been feeling great. Today though I feel marginally more like myself so decided to take the opportunity of dry weather to repot some seedlings. Potting delicate seedlings with those micro-fine trailing roots, and trying to gently ease them into new pots while the wind whips at the plant is a task that takes practise. Fortunately I get plenty of it! Of course, if I'd had my head screwed on I would have moved the pots that take up a shelf in the greenhouse and potted in there, tight a squeeze as it is. But I don't have my head screwed on just now which is why it takes me twice as long to do anything. Yesterday, driving to the agricultural supplies shop in Stirling I had one of those "tra la la... pretty birdie, gorgeous hills... - Whoooops, I'm driving, aren't ?! moments" I can tell you this because you don't live/drive near me so you can feel both safe and relieved... :-D
The greenhouse is starting to fill up nicely now. The planters for salad/tomatoes is doing the job of acting as a ballast to hold the greenhouse down and there are seedlings coming up. I ran out of plant labels so I can't remember what got sown in what part of the planters - it'll make a nice surprise I suppose!
The butternut squash is still living and the chard seedlings seem to be okay - bit shell-shocked but I'm sure they'll be fine, they're fairly hardy plants. I'm not sure how many chard plants to have... Never having grown it before I really don't know how much we'll use... I admit I'm growing it as much for looks as eating, the "Rainbow" variety looks so gorgeous and glowing jewel colours that even if I don't manage to eat all of it, it'll look good.
Elsewhere in the garden it's looking good. Bit drookit (soggy) but good. Shoots now present in all the potato bags, hopefully at the allotment they'll be starting to come up there too.
But - oh - nightmare, we have mice. Just in the garden, they were there last year and seem to be back. We live in a fairly rural area surrounded by farms, so it was inevitable, but still... The concern is more the neighbours and whether they'll point the finger at the bird feeders, compost bin and of course, the hens... The last thing we want to be accused of is being an environmental nuisance. It's difficult to see what - apart from dig up the garden and concrete it, get rid of the hens, discourage birds etc, we can really do. The cats are pretty good at harassing the mice (if not actually killing them, apart from on one occasion), and when they're in at night, our neighbour's cat seems to take over. The hens I'm not worried about - omnivores that they are, they will eat mice. Thinking about it, it's probably more the bird feeders that would be the cause: there's no food left out in the hen run once they go in for their roost, but the birds are messy and scatter seed around. I've found some sunflower seedlings coming up from discarded seeds. I hear that cotton wool balls saturated with peppermint essential oil and scattered round the garden is effective as the mice can't stand the smell. Will see about doing that.
Allegedly, it is to be dry tomorrow. I'll believe it when I see it, but if it is, then I'm off to the allotment to plant the onions which I sprouted (and are sitting in the seat-well of the car after I decided not to plant them the other day), and to measure my rhubarb leaves to see if they're long enough for me to take a couple of stalks to stew...
3 April 2011
Timing is everything.
Visited the Allotment today, just for a little while, to see what progress, if any, had been made since our last visit.
Nothing much (including weeds - yay!!) apart from the rhubarb which has put on an almighty growth spurt and is now a good 7 or 8 inches tall, with leaves the size of - well, not quite dinner - but tea plates.
We bumped into our allotment neighbour Cath, and chatted for a while about the dilemma of whether to consider that the instructions on seed packets to sow in April, really meant that (for us in our more northern climes) or whether it would be more prudent to wait.
Monty Don in this week's Gardners World says to wait until the soil feels warm, but Carol Klein says that you can sow when the weeds are germinating. Given that the soil here doesn't really start to feel warm until July, I think I'll go with Carol's advice and go with when the weeds start making an appearance - but then - what weeds? Chickweed seems to grow all year round, couch grass grows from bird seed that the little beggars throw away, speedwell has been spreading like mad (it's a beautiful flower), so which weed??
Just to be safe, I think I'll wait another couple of weeks. It's no big deal: last year when we first acquired the allotment, we didn't plant until May, and that turned out well. Hmmm, maybe having the allotment is an easy deal after all - can't plant before May so may as well relax and not panic about getting everything ready...
Back in the garden, there are potato shoots coming up already in one of the potato bags: Anya. Very exciting!
The onions in tray seed tray have really grown to ridiculous levels so they really have to go in the ground soon. I've put them on the patio to harden off. The butternut squash has burst out of its pot so I repotted it in one of those tall pots that clematis come in, and put it in the greenhouse to start hardening off. Tomorrow I think I'll need to transplant the chard seedlings and the basil ones too.
PVFS-wise the last couple of days have been a bust. Definitely a case if two steps back. I did try and sleep yesterday afternoon, but ended up being "Poppied". Poppy, or "Tubs" as she is known due to her pudding-ness, loves, just loves, climbing on me when I'm in bed. She clambers on me, purring like an engine, and settles to sleep, snoring comfortably. Even when I lie omy side she's un-deterred, her ascent is a bit more precarious, but she usually finds her balance point and hangs on, purring, her tail thumping into my face (she can never quite master the art of climbing on me so that she faces me...) If she can't lie ON me, she'll lie as much on me as she can, and if she can't get close enough, she simply sits and wails... It doesn't make for a relaxing nap, but I'm a big softy and never have the heart to turn her out.
The hen coop needs a bit of attention, or, to be more specific, the timer that closes the door automatically. It's a wonderful, wonderful thing, but it's been a bit flakey recently, and last night, for whatever reason, the timer stopped at 8.30 and didn't move on, which meant that the door didn't descend. Fortunately I checked it, and adjusted the timer manually, but it's a bit concerning. It's even more concerning since I woke up through the night and looked out of the window, to see a fox trotting by the garden. It seemed totally unconcerned that there were hens living within a few feet of it (which is reassuring) but there is a healthy fox population and it just takes a really smart one...
Nothing much (including weeds - yay!!) apart from the rhubarb which has put on an almighty growth spurt and is now a good 7 or 8 inches tall, with leaves the size of - well, not quite dinner - but tea plates.
We bumped into our allotment neighbour Cath, and chatted for a while about the dilemma of whether to consider that the instructions on seed packets to sow in April, really meant that (for us in our more northern climes) or whether it would be more prudent to wait.
Monty Don in this week's Gardners World says to wait until the soil feels warm, but Carol Klein says that you can sow when the weeds are germinating. Given that the soil here doesn't really start to feel warm until July, I think I'll go with Carol's advice and go with when the weeds start making an appearance - but then - what weeds? Chickweed seems to grow all year round, couch grass grows from bird seed that the little beggars throw away, speedwell has been spreading like mad (it's a beautiful flower), so which weed??
Just to be safe, I think I'll wait another couple of weeks. It's no big deal: last year when we first acquired the allotment, we didn't plant until May, and that turned out well. Hmmm, maybe having the allotment is an easy deal after all - can't plant before May so may as well relax and not panic about getting everything ready...
Back in the garden, there are potato shoots coming up already in one of the potato bags: Anya. Very exciting!
The onions in tray seed tray have really grown to ridiculous levels so they really have to go in the ground soon. I've put them on the patio to harden off. The butternut squash has burst out of its pot so I repotted it in one of those tall pots that clematis come in, and put it in the greenhouse to start hardening off. Tomorrow I think I'll need to transplant the chard seedlings and the basil ones too.
PVFS-wise the last couple of days have been a bust. Definitely a case if two steps back. I did try and sleep yesterday afternoon, but ended up being "Poppied". Poppy, or "Tubs" as she is known due to her pudding-ness, loves, just loves, climbing on me when I'm in bed. She clambers on me, purring like an engine, and settles to sleep, snoring comfortably. Even when I lie omy side she's un-deterred, her ascent is a bit more precarious, but she usually finds her balance point and hangs on, purring, her tail thumping into my face (she can never quite master the art of climbing on me so that she faces me...) If she can't lie ON me, she'll lie as much on me as she can, and if she can't get close enough, she simply sits and wails... It doesn't make for a relaxing nap, but I'm a big softy and never have the heart to turn her out.
The hen coop needs a bit of attention, or, to be more specific, the timer that closes the door automatically. It's a wonderful, wonderful thing, but it's been a bit flakey recently, and last night, for whatever reason, the timer stopped at 8.30 and didn't move on, which meant that the door didn't descend. Fortunately I checked it, and adjusted the timer manually, but it's a bit concerning. It's even more concerning since I woke up through the night and looked out of the window, to see a fox trotting by the garden. It seemed totally unconcerned that there were hens living within a few feet of it (which is reassuring) but there is a healthy fox population and it just takes a really smart one...
1 April 2011
Waiting and watching
Back to the docs again yesterday where the doc agreed that I am making progress, albeit at glacial speed. So I've been signed off for 4 more weeks, in the hope and expectation that that will see me, finally, ready to go back to work. I think that's about right, I definitely do feel like I'm entering the last lap, feeling like I'm being more "me". Can you believe that that'll be 14 weeks since I came down with Flu?! I'm still tiring out really easily, but in between feeling much more normal. So, more rest/exertion balancing, and "social tolerance" (as the doc put it) build up. In other words, trying to get out a bit more in busy situations - I've been a bit of a hermit these last few weeks but if I'm to not be totally overwhelmed by being back in work in an open plan and busy office, I need to get used to being in amongst people again.
Pity, in a way. I've enjoyed the peace, but I'm lucky in that I can have a bit of both hustle and bustle but also retreat to solitude and peace. A lot of people I know don't have that luxury, either due to location or circumstances.
Growing-wise, there's not been much happening. No, strike that, there's not much I've been doing, I think Nature's being pretty darned busy without needing my input! I'm an observer at the moment, as much due to the weather as anything else. March roared out like the proverbial lion, and April has come screaming in, with gales and pouring rain. It's warm though, which is the weird thing - if it weren't raining I could be out in shirt-sleeves quite comfortably. The best of Scottish weather though: you don't like this weather? Stick around for 15 minutes and some more will come along...
We haven't been to the allotment for a few days because of the weather, but to be honest at the moment there's little we can do. It's just a case of waiting for the soil to warm up sufficiently to put in some things like fennel, spinach, cabbage, and of course beetroot. Our beetroot crop last year was a roaring success. We'd discovered roasting it with a bit of garlic, thyme, olive oil and balsamic vinegar (try drizzling olive oil and balsamic vinegar over a chicken, and putting in with the chicken in the roasting tray some root veg (including beetroot and new potatoes), and roasting until the chicken's done, it's beyond delicious), and D pickled some. This year he wants to pickle more so we're giving more space to the beetroot - both the traditional burgundy-coloured variety and a golden one, which when roasted, is sweet and mellow.
The plants in the veg boxes outside and in the greenhouse are slow to germinate, probably the temperature is a bit too erratic just now. The plants in the house are doing well though - the little smout of a butternut squash that had just two small leaves, is now 7" high and developing leaves as big as my palm. I'll wait another few weeks and then move it to the greenhouse to harden off. The onions I put in seed trays are doing incredibly well too: shoots so big I've had to take off the seed propagator cover. They'll need to go in the ground soon.
So yes, things are moving apace, and doing very well without intervention from me. It's a strange feeling - for me - to be an observer rather than a participant, but you know, that's not a bad thing really.
Pity, in a way. I've enjoyed the peace, but I'm lucky in that I can have a bit of both hustle and bustle but also retreat to solitude and peace. A lot of people I know don't have that luxury, either due to location or circumstances.
Growing-wise, there's not been much happening. No, strike that, there's not much I've been doing, I think Nature's being pretty darned busy without needing my input! I'm an observer at the moment, as much due to the weather as anything else. March roared out like the proverbial lion, and April has come screaming in, with gales and pouring rain. It's warm though, which is the weird thing - if it weren't raining I could be out in shirt-sleeves quite comfortably. The best of Scottish weather though: you don't like this weather? Stick around for 15 minutes and some more will come along...
We haven't been to the allotment for a few days because of the weather, but to be honest at the moment there's little we can do. It's just a case of waiting for the soil to warm up sufficiently to put in some things like fennel, spinach, cabbage, and of course beetroot. Our beetroot crop last year was a roaring success. We'd discovered roasting it with a bit of garlic, thyme, olive oil and balsamic vinegar (try drizzling olive oil and balsamic vinegar over a chicken, and putting in with the chicken in the roasting tray some root veg (including beetroot and new potatoes), and roasting until the chicken's done, it's beyond delicious), and D pickled some. This year he wants to pickle more so we're giving more space to the beetroot - both the traditional burgundy-coloured variety and a golden one, which when roasted, is sweet and mellow.
The plants in the veg boxes outside and in the greenhouse are slow to germinate, probably the temperature is a bit too erratic just now. The plants in the house are doing well though - the little smout of a butternut squash that had just two small leaves, is now 7" high and developing leaves as big as my palm. I'll wait another few weeks and then move it to the greenhouse to harden off. The onions I put in seed trays are doing incredibly well too: shoots so big I've had to take off the seed propagator cover. They'll need to go in the ground soon.
So yes, things are moving apace, and doing very well without intervention from me. It's a strange feeling - for me - to be an observer rather than a participant, but you know, that's not a bad thing really.
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