Knitting Nets

We've spent quite a long time today and yesterday, trying to stitch together the nets over the fruit cages. As they're quite large, the 6m x 4m nets aren't individually big enough, so we're having to join them. We tried using soft steel split rings (think crude keyrings), but they haven't worked very well, and there are significant gapes between rings.

Instead, we're now weaving jute between the nets, going in and out every hole, which leads to a tight join, if a visible one. However, jute's inoffensive, and actually blends in with the wooden posts, so they're looking fine. We've almost finished the bigger beds: the raspberry beds are going to be harder, as they're so much taller, and the nets will have to come off to be stitched. Never mind.

While we've been working on them, bees have been coming and going unhindered, which is reassuring. Speaking of bees: there are what look like two fruit trees that we were unaware of last autumn. One's near the daffodils on the south edge (reasonably large), and the other's in the corner copse. My identification skills aren't fabulous, but I think they may be cherries or plums...and with a little luck they might bear fruit.

If the weather holds, I'll mow the lawns tomorrow (oh, the joy), as they're looking badly in need of it. If I'm quick, I'll catch the dandelions before the go to seed. No; I'm not a very good groundsman, since you ask.

Repotting

We've re-potted the Christmas Tree, into a big half-barrel: it's not been looking happy, and I'm not sure if it's the soil exhausting, or a lack of water. Anyway; we donated some of our huge pile of topsoil, and with any luck it'll pick up.

To do so, we had to pot the previous occupants of the barrel: two conifers (doing well), a buddleia (leggy), and two skimmia (not so happy). There were, once, three heathers, but they gave up the ghost, it appears. No plan, yet, for where these pots will end up...

We also filled the gaps (given the small stature of the bushes at the moment) in the fruit beds with the gladioli. They'll probably be cut for bringing inside, rather than left there, which is always good.

Netting the Cages

We've spent most of the weekend putting netting up over the fruit cages. The posts supporting the raised beds are 5-6' taller than the sides, and are the supports too for the cages. I've run 1mm galvanized steel wire from their tops, and we're hanging 2cm netting to protect against birds (and rabbits, deer, and playful cats). It's quite slow work--we're about half done--but seems to work, and allows bees in and out uninterrupted.

We also popped out to the garden centre, and picked up some bedding (Busy Lizzies/impatiens), and some 'cottage garden' perennials. The latter are mostly to go in the planted wall at the front of the house: the bedding is to scatter in the front, and revitalize the hanging baskets (four of them on the front of the house).

The daffodils are still doing tolerably: they're pretty from a distance, but getting a bit dog-eared up close. The juneberry has almost finished flowering, although the foliage is still a pretty shade. The front's acer is leafing up rapidly--it's gone from quite red, to yellow-gold, and is looking lovely.

The apple, plum, and cherry are all in bloom, and I'm hoping that the frosts predicted for the week aren't too deep: they're all in protected corners, so I think they'll be fine.

I've checked over the wine that's been sitting quietly in the airing cupboard: it's settled and cleared, so I'm going to put it somewhere a little warmer, and we should rack it in the next couple of weeks.

Last Fruit Bed Completed

Finally, we've finished the fruit beds. I part-built the last bed on Wednesday evening, and another 6m³ of topsoil arrived on Thursday. Today I finished the bed (it was only a quarter done; just enough to move the last of the last batch of topsoil), and we've filled it.

The gooseberries, blueberries and currants are now all planted, including the two blueberries (Grover, and something unknown) and redcurrant that we already had.

They look really good, and I'm delighted. They've been hard work, though! Next weekend we need to put the wires up to support the netting. Shouldn't be too hard... Famous last words?

We've planted potatoes and onions in the spare space (obviously, the plants are all quite small), so hopefully we'll have some vegetables out of the beds, even though the 'proper' vegetable beds are some time off now.

Lastly; we visited my parents Saturday-Sunday, and have come home with a tray of goodies. I shall list them when they're planted, but they include a blue geranium I'm fond of, some geum, Sweet William, and a primrose.

More Top Soil Moved

A couple of days work on the raised fruit beds...I finished constructing the first of them, which was a time-consuming job as it has about 25m of perimeter, half of which is curved. Nonetheless, I finally managed it, and am quite happy with the curves. It's needed some supplementary pegs in the straight sections, as otherwise they were threatening to bow.

We then dug it over, laid some of the turves that have been breaking down in their stack, and filled it: we haven't quite finished the first delivery (6m³) of topsoil, but we're nearly there. About 1m³ left, I'd guess. I've then started the second bed, which is a bit smaller, and slightly simpler shape, but this time with a convex edge, as well as a concave. Still, I'm not very far into it (rain stopped play): I'll try to crack on during evenings of this week, as a further 6m³ of soil arrives on Thursday morning...and Liz would like somewhere to move it to, as she's on leave Thursday/Friday.

Here's hoping for clear, dry evenings this coming week!

The daffodils are continuing to look very pretty, and new ones in different varieties are coming up, so the show should continue for a while. No further puschkinia or scilla have emerged, and I'm now very concerned for the anemones. On the other hand, the flowering currants have been a hive of industry for the bees for a couple of weeks, but are slowly reaching the end of their season. To balance that, the Amelanchier (juneberry, forget which type) is looking excellent: its new foliage and flowers are always really striking, and although it can be a little 'plain' over the summer, it then brackets the season nicely with good autumn colour, so I'm a fan. The tulips (Pinocchio, and botanical) are looking good, and opening up on bright days.

The apple, cherry, and plum all have what appear to be flower buds that are a week or so from opening (I reckon): the lilacs also look to be coming in to bud. And the Astilbe (still in its pot) is coming up: Astilbe are a favourite of mine, for no particular reason.

First Mowing of the Year

Having had several fine days in a row, and realising that my lawn/moss patch was in need of attention, I've taken the opportunity to try out the new lawn-mower.

All-in-all, I'm rather happy with the mower.* It did a really good job of collecting the clippings, and changing the blade height was quite straightforward. Nothing can change the fact that there's a lot of grass to mow, but the 90 minutes walking up and down wasn't really too bad. And it even looks a bit neater now.

While the purists might suggest I should cut it twice-per-week during growing season, I really don't see me having the time, much less the inclination. If I have that much time to spend in the garden, I'll be devoting it elsewhere.

* As ever, the Amazon link, should you follow it and buy, will earn me a commission. I like to note this, from time to time. They're useful for me, as they provide quite a neat summary of a Thing that I'm talking about. And any such earnings will be spent on horticultural, photographic, or gustatory pastimes.

Three Completed Raised Beds

We're both rather stiff and sore, but the strawberry and two raspberry beds are now completed, and filled. It's taken about 3-4 cubic metres of topsoil, and they're looking really good. I'm in the middle of building the lower of the two mixed fruit beds: it's going to take a bit longer, as it's complicated by a curved side, and it's also quite a lot bigger.

The raspberries have been replanted, and are looking happy--some of them have a couple of new canes budding. The strawberries are mostly looking well: I reckon we've lost 9 or so of the Cambridge, unfortunately.

Many of the daffodils have come out, and are looking really cheerful: there's a good variety of type. The 'Cheerfulness' in the front aren't out yet, but the pinnochio tulips are looking very pretty. Still a bit short on puschkinia and scilla, and no sign at all of the anemones, which is worrying.

It's been a glorious weekend of sun; really still today, and a little cloudy, but that made it cool enough to work. Yesterday morning was brighter, but actually a bit hot. Long may it last.

Strawberry Bed

Just a quick note: we got home from work early, so we've driven in the stakes/posts for the strawberry bed. They're shorter than for the fruit beds: about 1' in the ground, and 21" above. That means I can hammer them in, rather than digging, which is much quicker! I'll screw the boards onto the posts when next out, as the first load of topsoil arrives this Friday. Fortunately, the forecast for the weekend is good, so hopefully we can make good progress with making the beds and filling them.

Almost all the Florence and Honeoye are looking good, and about 15 of the 25 Cambridge are doing well. They were the ones we were concerned about, but enough of them seem to have survived.

More of the squills have come up, though I'm not sure that the full 50 we planted are showing; similarly, there are meant to be 100 puschkinia...hopefully they're a bit slow, rather than dead...

Wedding

We got back from Hazel and Alex's wedding very late (about 0300), and--predictably--slept in. Today's a day for pottering, so we've ambled round the garden and admired the spring bulbs, and watched TV. Very decadent.

The wedding went really well: the ceremony was nice, and the reception appeared to be thoroughly enjoyed. Hazel and Alex looked great, and the photographer appeared to be doing a good job. I loved an opportunity to dress up (a black morning tailcoat, traditional black/grey/white striped trousers, a purple/lilac patterned waistcoat, and purple cravat/pocketsquare), and I think the toast was well received. Alex's mother produced a really excellent cake, too, which was very pretty.

The standard of dancing was incredibly high, as Alex and Hazel, and a lot of their friends, are keen ball-room dancers, so the first dance was--in a literal sense--awesome.

They're off to Scotland for their honeymoon: hopefully I'll be able to admire some photos when they're back.

A Few More Posts In The Ground

Just put a few more of the 2x2" posts in the edge of the berry beds. Two were straight-forward; one discovered a drainage channel two foot down. Bit of a problem, as I wanted it about 2.5-3' deep. Still, I've worked round that issue.

The daffs are coming, slowly: we're going to cut a few to get them to open inside (bit of extra warmth). The puschkinia are now looking rather pretty, and the squills are opening up. I also noticed a patch of--I think--chiondoxa hiding underneath a berberis (at the end of the upper existing bed, near the oil tank), which are rather striking. We'll have to relocate them/protect them while taking out the berberis. We've also found daffodils turning up all over the place (not just where we planted them last autumn), often hidden or obscured by something overgrown. What we suspected of being a flowering currant has confirmed itself as such, and the one we (slightly brutally) transplanted from the in-laws' garden has also started flowering.

The daffs in the front (Cheerfulness) haven't come up yet, but some of the tulips are near. And the hyacinths in the pots outside the kitchen window are looking good.

In other news, we're off to Cambridgeshire tomorrow, for Hazel and Alex's wedding on Saturday (actually nearer Peterborough, but we're staying with them Thursday & Friday night to help prepare. I'm nearly happy with my Best Man's speech (it's really more of an elongated toast, but there you go), and will be practising it on the journey down...

Easter Weekend

We spent the weekend getting on with the raised beds...it now appears that we're growing posts, admittedly, but it is coming along well. Most of the posts for the berry beds are now in: they're 3x3" posts for the corners, and we're putting in some 2x2" posts along the edges, as they're curved: the posts will hopefully help form the curves. They're all rather tall (the raspberries' posts are about 7', and the berry posts 6', to allow for a foot of raised bed, and then enough space for the bushes to grow.

There's still a long way to go, admittedly, and we'll then need about 20 cubic metres of topsoil to fill them all! I'm having to dig spade-width holes for the posts: they're too tall to hammer in, and--additionally--there are so many stones that it would never work.

The daffodils are coming up, but there are only a few that are imminently going to be out properly. The puschkinia are coming up, but looking a little small as yet. The siberian squills are there, but similarly small; but there's no sign of the anemones yet.

We also had a shopping trip, which led to a car-full of stuff...never mind. In addition to a couple of rolls of loft insulation (we can only fit a couple in at a time, so we get some whenever we visit: we need another 8 or so to finish the lofts), we also bought a lawn mower, a garden vacuum/blower, a new blender, and some odds-and-ends.

Although we currently have quite a lot of grass/lawn, neither of us is a big fan of lawn, so we'll be reducing it as the beds are created. Thus, there's unlikely to be much of an expanse that needs proper tending (read, striped and short). Combining this with the gradient and softness of the soil, I wanted a hover-mower, as only a self-propelled petrol would be a sensible alternative, and I just think that would get literally bogged down.

The vacuum/blower I'm absurdly excited about. I'm hoping it'll make clearing the leaves and twigs in autumn much simpler, and I'll probably try it out soonish on the remnants of last year.

The blender was a coup: nominal price £125, reduced to £50, but we had a £20 voucher after the delivery disaster with the freezer/washing machine. £125 blender for £30? Yes, please.

Starting the Raised Beds

I spent the weekend building the raised beds for the raspberries. The wood was delivered first thing on Saturday morning by the excellent Walker Timber: it looks like a huge pile, but then there's about 320m of plank, and around 100 posts/pegs.

I started with the raspberries as they -- along with the strawberries -- are the most in need of the new beds, and they're also the simplest (about 1.2m wide, and 4.3m long, simple rectangles). Because the corner posts are meant to be six foot taller than ground level, it meant digging 60cm holes for them (can't hammer the top of a three-metre post: I'm not that tall), which was actually simpler for being in clay. Once the posts were in, cutting and screwing the planks was reasonably quick, and both beds are now done.

I might order some top-soil for next (Holy) weekend, if they can deliver it, and then the raspberry beds will be done, and I can turn to the strawberries. The vegetable beds will be last, as the turf for them hasn't even been cut, though we did mark the beds out.

Chocolate, Fudge, and Mulching

I had a weekend of cooking and gardening, as Liz was working, and I had to entertain myself. There was a big pile of branches waiting to be chipped from last autumn. A lot of them were from the big gorse that was blocking the sitting room window until about September, and they were making the corner of the garden rather untidy. Thus, I borrowed the chipper from Liz's parents, and set to. Chipping always takes a long time, and I'm always struck by how a huge heap of branches turns into a small pile of mulch. Nonetheless, I now have several bin bags of chipped stuff, which will make its way onto a fruit bed sometime. There's still a bit more chipping to do, but that can be next weekend's entertainment, as I was subsequently distracted by making fudge.

This is what happens when I'm unsupervised. I made a batch of chocolate almond fudge (basic fudge recipe, but with chocolate and toasted almonds stirred in), a tray of fridge cake, and two sorts of Easter egg (blackberry brandy, and caramel filled).

I have good memories of making fudge and toffee with my father, when I was little, especially toffee apples; fudge is a favourite of his. I have a soft spot for almonds, so the chocolate/almond fudge is a treat. I prefer dark chocolate, so I use plain in the fudge, so it's not as sweet. Toasting the almonds gives them a better flavour, I find. The fridge cake, I've been having indecent daydreams of for the past couple of weeks, so I'm pleased to have finally made it. I've only had one slice (admirable restraint, I have to say), with a coffee, and am very happy. It's a different recipe to what I've made before, with condensed milk, and it's turned out very well.

Filled Easter eggs were also an experiment. We've got a set of moulds (a silly-priced 10p for four sheets of 18 small halves, and 2 single big halves, in the supermarket after Easter a few years ago), and we've made solid small eggs and a couple of hollow big eggs. However, I fancied trying my hand at filled eggs, so I made hollow small eggs, and then whipped up some caramel (70g sweetened condensed milk, 55g butter, 55g light brown sugar, heated a bit shy of 'fudge' (116ºC)), and a truffle (dark chocolate, splash of the same milk, butter, and blackberry brandy). I filled the hollow eggs, and sealed them. I'll take them out of their moulds and join the halves when I can...and hope that they've worked!

An entirely unintended consequence is that I have a mug full of 'spare' caramel. Oops.

Lights Fitted and Raised Beds Measured

I've now fitted those lights in the sitting room, and they're behaving just as hoped. The previous lights had big metal hoods which stopped much light from going up to the ceiling, but these have 'bare' candle bulbs, so even though the bulbs (cumulatively) have no more power, much more of the light bounces round the room. Very pleasing.

With the lovely weather earlier, we also went out to re-plan the vegetable beds, and measure up the perimeter of the raised beds. The first design for the veg beds was, really, too fussy, so we've simplified it considerably. There's a long bed at the bottom (about 7m by 1.25m), parallel to the fence, and continuing the lower raspberry bed, and then a C shaped bed (squared) above this (6.7m). Within the space this leaves, there's then an annular bed, with a path cutting into it. I'll do a plan, when I have a chance.

Anyway, doing that allowed us to calculate the perimeter of all the beds that want raising. We intend using 6" planking, two high: there's about 170m of perimeter, so it adds up to a lot (80-odd) of planks. I know where they're coming from, so I'll probably order them next weekend. The pegs for the beds will also form the supports for netting cages for the fruit, and we'll have to work out how we net the veg beds later. Then we'll need soil to fill the beds: I'm guessing about a dozen cubic metres, but I have the measurements to get a proper figure. An expensive installation (about £600 for the planks and posts, and about the same again for soil), but should be well worth it.

Boiled Home-Cure Ham

Just to quickly report: the boiled ham was delicious. The cloves in the wet cure worked nicely, and added a touch to the flavour. After the over-saltiness of the bacon, we soaked the ham for 36 hours: I think 12-24 would be sufficient. However, it was cooked (slow-cooker) beautifully (I'll note the recipe down at some point...), and tasted excellent.

No More Head Banging

We've found, after a few months of looking, new lights for the sitting room. They're from Homebase, and are a little more 'stately' than I might have intended, but -- once in situ -- actually look really good. The main/pendant 'luminaire' has five candle bulbs: each one's only 5W (fluorescent), but between them, and without the ludicrous metal shades that blocked so much of the light from the previous fitting (which had three 11W bulbs), they ought to light the room well. The second wall light (two 5W candle bulbs) will go in the corner with the TV. I have -- on order -- a second wall light, that will go at the foot of the stairs, which will be excellent when trying to get from stairs to kitchen.

The best part? They were half price, and then had bulbs thrown in, so the fittings were effectively only £3 (wall) and £12 (luminaire). Bargain.

I've not installed them yet, but the new ceiling light will be higher than the existing one, so I'll stop smacking my head. Technically, I've not hit my head for months, but Liz's dad does so every other time he comes round, and Alex seems to manage it twice every visit. Read into that what you will, but it'll be good to eliminate the threat.

Bacon Success

A very enjoyable cooked breakfast! The sausages were excellent, and the bacon has worked well. It's a bit too salty, though, so in future it'll want to be soaked briefly, I think. As expected from slicing it, it's not a particularly pink bacon, but it tastes the part. Next time, I might adjust the cure recipe, to have a bit more sugar, and a bit more saltpetre. I might also try a wet cure. Still, that's six months off.

In other news, I've finished putting up the cupboards in the utility room, and also installed a worktop under them/over the washing machine. It's looking really smart, and the cupboards are invaluable. The walls need painting, and the curtains need changing, but it's getting there!

The gap in the kitchen units (where the dishwasher used to live, and which was a hole under the worktop) has now also been filled, with three Contiboard shelves, which looks much neater, and is a useful space. We've also recently put up two long shelves in the workshop, above the big freezer, which has immediately been filled with ring-binders from our degrees. Still, it's better than having them in boxes in the garage, which was their previous residence.

Last two jobs of the weekend have been putting an extra foot of insulation in the loft over our bedroom. As I said in December, the existing insulation was ancient and thin, so this was an ideal way to improve things. It took six big rolls (and, actually, I need another half-roll), but was quite straightforward. The other two lofts (above the two bathrooms, and above the two guest/spare rooms) still need doing, which means getting another 10/11 rolls sometime...it's a slow process, as we can only fit a couple in the car at any time. Still, we'll try to get two tomorrow, as there's a B&Q trip planned. The other job was putting up a rail of coat hooks in the cloakroom, and taking out the sideboard that had been left there. That's now at the foot of the bed (an experiment), and the cloakroom's looking much better.

Busy weekend? Yes.

Bacon & Hams Ready

Well, I've just finished the bacon and ham curing. The bacon's been rubbed with dry cure every evening, and I've stirred and turned the hams in their brine most days, and today they were -- hopefully -- finished. I've washed the bacon, and sliced it into rashers (about 50-odd), and then cut the scrappy bits up for other cooking. The colour's not as pink as shop-bought bacon, probably because there was less preservative: not necessarily a bad thing. I'm planning a cooked breakfast tomorrow, and then a boiled ham on Monday, so we'll be able to try out the results.

A Weekend of Pork

Yesterday, we collected our half pig, which had been raised by a friend, slaughtered last Monday, and butchered this week. We'd specified our butchery requests, and it was ready on Saturday. The half carcase went into a number of components:

• 96 sausages (from the trimmings)
• 1 fillet
• 3 shoulder joints
• 2 belly joints
• 8 chops
• 1 loin joint
• 2 belly cuts
• 4 leg joints
• liver and kidney

We froze the bulk of it, with the exception of six sausages (for Saturday's dinner), and the belly and leg. The belly is destined for streaky bacon, and the leg for boiling/baking hams. Today, I've mixed up a dry cure for the bacon, rubbed it in, and put it in the spare fridge in a big Tupperware. Then we made a simple wet cure brine for the hams, weighted them down (another sealed Tupperware filled with water), and put them in a big bucket, also in the fridge. The value of keeping the spare fridge is suddenly deeply evident. The rest of the meat has gone into the chest freezer, and there's still plenty of space!

We decided to stick with a basic bacon cure: next time I might play with some flavourings. Ultimately, I'd like to build a smoker, and smoke some/all of the bacon, but that's a little way off yet. As for the hams' brine, it's also a simple one: again, next time I might try some beer, treacle, vinegar, apple juice, or spices. We'll see: I didn't want to overcomplicate our first go.

They'll be ready next weekend: the bacon will need draining, and more cure rubbing in every evening, and then we'll rinse, slice and freeze it. The hams should also be done on Saturday, and we'll freeze three, and try the fourth.

Reports on our success will follow...the sausages were extremely good, so we're working from good raw materials: any fault will, sadly, be our own.

New Pages!

I'd been hoping for a development like this, and it has come to pass. Blogger now has undated/not-blog pages, for extended about me info, or other things. I've used this to create a recipes page (also linked to the right), which I'll try to add to. There will, no doubt, be other ones over time --- I have a plan for a garden design one, for instance.

Pottering

It's a bit cold outside, and Liz is working, so I've had a fun day pottering. I've put up two new lights above the cooker, which is in an alcove, and rather dark: the existing light gave up about three months ago, but I've only just got the new one in. I've done some laundry in the new and exciting washing machine (hoorah!). I've installed the doorbells: cunningly, both buttons (on top and bottom front doors) can communicate with the single chime (in the middle of the house), but each one can trigger a different melody: excellent for knowing which door to go to. I've chopped some kindling, and tidied up the sitting room fireplace, which has needed some attention. And had general pottering fun. Time to settle down soon, and contemplate dinner.

A Day of Timber Construction

No, not the raised beds. Yet.

Instead, the near-to-overflowing state of our green compost bin meant that we had to get round to building a compost bin. I found an unwanted pallet some time ago, and broke it down into planks. Using some old fence posts (3 inch, yard long) as the verticals, we've made some sides using the pallet planks. Not high enough, really, but they will be once I find another pallet. It will, however, allow us to decant the council compost bin, which will be good. I just need to dig out some carpet to go on top, and I might also line the inside with plastic, to keep it warmer and a bit drier.

Secondly, we put back together the corner arbour. It went quite nicely in the corner of our last (micro) garden; it's now, in fact, back in the corner of this one, although it has rather more to look out at. The surroundings are still a complete mess (it's next to a pile of branches that need to be chipped), but it was getting a bit damp and unhappy sitting in an unassembled pile, so it's better to have it upright.

Slowly, slowly, getting things done. The complete lack of time during the week---and, for that matter, light---is frustrating, but there you have it.

Netting the Fruit Bushes

It's become apparent that some form of wildlife is taking advantage of our fruit bushes: some of the blueberries, gooseberries and raspberries have been munched. Possibly a rabbit, possibly a deer: both have been spotted in the garden at different times.

My suggested solution: a rifle. Venison or rabbit pie, both are good. However, this idea was frowned upon, so yesterday we went out and got some (nominally anti-bird) netting, and spent this afternoon constructing bamboo frames for it to go over. Looks tolerable, and I hope will discourage eating. I'm hopeful that we'll be putting in the raised beds in the next month or so, and at the same time, will build a proper wooden cage to support the netting, which should be much more effective.

Chutneys With the Last of the '09 Apples

Had a chutney-filled afternoon. After scrumping the apples from the hillside last autumn, the last ones were starting to look a little unhealthy, so we decided it was time to make them into something.

I've been wanting to try a sloe-including chutney, and found a recipe that uses the gin-addled sloes from sloe gin. Here goes:

• 3lbs of stoned, sloe-ginned sloes
• 2lbs apples, peeled, cored and chopped*
• 3 large onions, chopped*
• 1 lb sultanas
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped/minced
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground mace
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• 2 tbsp orange juice (it was meant to be juice & zest of two oranges, but we never have them in)
• 1lb 12 oz sugar (half granulated, half light soft brown)
• 1.5 pints spirit vinegar

*I tend to chop chutney ingredients quite finely: preferences vary.

Preliminary results are very encouraging! It's got good colour (thanks to the sloes), and isn't too vinegary: the proportion of vinegar is actually much lower than I'd normally expect, but I hope it'll keep well enough anyway.

Secondly, we made some 'plain' apple chutney: not enough sloes to finish the apples with the above recipe. The recipe's from an excellent book that was a Christmas present from Hazel and Alex, and which I can spend quite some time salivating over: Good Old-fashioned Jams, Preserves and Chutneys [I've used an Amazon Associates account to simplify linking to Amazon. If you follow the link and buy the book, I get a fee, so we're both happy.] Anyway, it's quite a simple recipe (apples, onions, sultanas, vinegar, ginger), but has worked out well.

The washing machine and chest freezer didn't arrive (problems with the lorry, the subject of a later rant, I think), but the microwave has (different problems with delivery, but resolved) and is looking good. The other two will get here at the end of the week...

Evolution of the Fruit Beds

Long promised, and here they are: before-and-after photos of the fruit beds; I've also added a photo of the igloo to the post about building it.

These (above) are looking roughly north-west. The next two are looking back the other way.

And a last one, without a 'before' equivalent.

From one snowy patch to another...

It's cold, but there's no more snow forecast---actually, it looks like (barring overnight frosts) it's going to be reasonably clear for the next week or so, as the snow that was predicted for yesterday didn't arrive.

No, the snow is work: I'm in the process of crossing over from one job to another, and am therefore rather preoccupied. Given the climate, I don't expect I'd be found in the garden anyway, so maybe it's well orchestrated.

However, we've finally got round to ordering a chest freezer, washing machine, and wonder-combi-microwave. The freezer is monster-big (360l, or 12.8 cu ft), owing to the fact that I want to put half a pig, lots of fruit, and considerable quantities of baking/pre-cooked meals in it. This does mean that it would comfortably fit me in it, Snowman-style. Not that this is on the cards.

The washing machine we have at the moment is an antique Hotpoint Electronic De Luxe. Which is to say, it being electronic is a luxury. We inherited it with our last house, and think that it was there since the house was built, which made the washing machine about as old as me. Oops. Anyway, the motor's not very well (I had to twiddle with the carbon brushes last summer), it leaks, and---basically---it doesn't wash very well.

The new beast is another Hotpoint (the age of its predecessor spoke volumes for reliability, in my book), but one that's got an 'Eco Cycle'; uses cold water. My parents-in-law have one from the same range, and swear by the cold wash (you have to use liquid detergent, but that's fine---it even works out a bit cheaper). The big advantage, in addition, is that---being a modern creature---it only requires a cold water feed, and heats its own water. This is much better for us, as it means not having to heat a whole tank (and then feeling we ought to do three loads to make use of all that heated water, which gets impractical).

Lastly, I'm looking forward to the wonderwave, which will mean I can use an oven for smaller volumes of stuff, rather than filling the main oven (which we feel we ought to do, but which is a bit of a pain). Now I just need to work out how to make it fit neatly into the 'integrated appliance' hole/surround that's in the wall. This may be more of a challenge, but I have my hopes.

Anyhoo; while, plainly, not a gardening-related post (unless you count the tangential reference to freezing fruit?), that's what I've been up to. That, and finding out how to do the new job.

Rain

Well, it's started raining, and the snow's turning to slush. The ice, though, is still icy. (Gosh.)

I'm hopeful that we'll be able to get out on Monday, and can at least start a normal week. We've been pretty much snowed in since this started (17th December), and have only actually gone out twice.

It's still pretty...but that's overlaid, now, with tedium and annoyance. Never mind...

Coming soon: photos!

I've uploaded an extra set of header photos (from Scotland, from Thorpe Perrow, and from home), which you might notice.

I've also got round to uploading some garden photos, showing the creation of the fruit beds, and now they're on the server, I might manage to embed them in a couple of posts.

No promises on how quickly that'll happen, though.

[Edit: the photos are now up: the fruit beds, and the igloo. 21 Jan '10]

Snowed in. Essentially.

Well, I tried to go to work. Walked to the end of the track, defrosted car, slid up a very icy road to the motorway, went one junction, heard the forecast for Wigan, Manchester, and home, and turned round. It's now snowing so heavily I can't see the other side of the valley, and my footprints have vanished.

We might have got to work (though I'm not sure about the last bit of Liz's journey), but I'm not utterly sure we'd have got back in. Even with no extra snow, the last bit of driving is deeply unpleasant. Apparently Calderdale Council is running low on rock salt, and is having to prioritize roads for clearing---this is unlikely to include the road our track leads onto.

Bit of a pain, as I had things I wanted to do today, and I also wanted to go into the city centre to visit the bank, M&S, and Moss Bros (to book my suit for Hazel & Alex's wedding); and Tesco on the way home for some bits and pieces. Never mind...we've enough food for a bit, at least! It was more important that I get in yesterday: I'm in the cross-over between two jobs, working part-time at both, and there was a staff training day at the new job that was useful yesterday. The old job would rather like me to make it in tomorrow, but we'll see how that pans out.

Cabinets

I've just put up two of the cabinets in the utility room. They're mounted quite high (so they don't annoy me at the sink): possibly too high, but we'll see. I can always drop them later. The third one will have to wait. They're white 'country style' doors, which I think work quite well in there. We want to put a worktop up: probably not a proper worktop, but a pretty deep shelf. It'll need to have an angled front, to get narrower on one side, due to the configuration of the room and the back door at the end.

It's still bitterly cold: managed to get to my parents (and back), as the roads are mostly clear. The track is---as expected---impassable, but that's tolerable.

Igloo

We've had Hazel and Alex (friends from Cambridge: I was a student with Hazel) staying with us since Monday, when they braved the snow to get to us. After lunch yesterday, we managed to get our car along the lane to near the 'main' road (which is not main, but is at least properly constructed, and gets gritted/ploughed). The car's been at home since the 18th, so we took the opportunity to get it out, as the track will be impassable longer than the road will be. Anyway, that will at least allow us to attempt to get to work next week.

Alex's parents live close to my parents (near Ripon/Northallerton), and Alex and Hazel have been staying with them until coming to us: they went home this afternoon. Not, however, before helping us build an igloo outside the kitchen window. It looks marvellous, and is big enough for the four of us to enter. I suggested taking drinks and mince pies out to it, but I think everyone may have been too cold...

On Sunday, we went out to B&Q, and picked up some 'kitchen' wall cabinets. They're actually going to go in the utility, which doesn't have any storage space, but which would be really useful. Also bought replacements for the lights above the cooker, and some coat hooks to mount in the cloakroom. DIY for another day; maybe Saturday.

We're off to my parents' tomorrow, for the New Year, and then have the weekend at home before work kicks off on Monday.

The cats are unimpressed with the weather: they're barely going out, and are a little bored---and cold.

Christmas Day

Well, we're not entirely snowed in any more, but it's still pretty tricky. On the positive, it's very pretty; went out after breakfast (before turkey cooking) and took a few photos.

We tried a new way of cooking the turkey: I deboned it, and detached the breasts as one, stuffed it, and reformed it. Much moister, and no compromising with the joints (which will become some form of casserole).

Tomorrow is ham day.

Received a pleasing Titchmarsh fruit & veg book, along with some garden supplies, and some kitchen goodies.

Anyway; disjointed post aside, a good day.

Not Going Anywhere

We're utterly snowed in. It was a bit tricky yesterday (got a lift into town, in a four-wheel drive), but today, although, ironically, the (ungritted) track is passable, the publically-maintained (nominally) road it comes off is ice. And steep. So we're not going anywhere; at least not immediately. Hopefully the turkey will still be delivered tomorrow...

I'm delighted, in some ways, to be past the solstice: it'll be nice to have dawn creep back towards when we're getting up. On the downside, it can be a very pretty time of year.

It is, however, extremely pretty. And there might be snowman (and snowcat) making later.

In the mean time, we're pickling onions, and doing other Christmas-related baking. Aaah, holidays.

Halls Decked

An altogether successful weekend, methinks.

The plumbing didn't entirely happen, but that was deliberate, as it were---not to make it sound as though I wander around accidentally attaching pipes. I went up in the roof-space from the main bedroom (i.e., into the eye-level cupboard, then through the ceiling, as you do...anyone who's visited will know what I mean, at least), and discovered a lack of anything. The roof-space confirms my suspicion about how the house is put together, as the loft is divided into three, corresponding to the two normal cottages, and the extra 'half-cottage' that contains the kitchen and both bathrooms. This much wasn't surprising. Anyway, the loft above the master bedroom is largely empty: the one access hatch, above the stairs, and beams and wiring. All looks fine, and the waterproof membrane under the roofing stones looks in reasonable condition (sigh of relief duly emitted).

Now, it shouldn't really have surprised me, as given that the separation of lofts was logical, then the tanks should---also logically---be in the loft above the bathrooms, but there were no tanks in the loft above the bedroom.

So, I climbed up the shelves in the airing cupboard (well, with the help of a step-ladder), and clambered into the corresponding loft. Where, behold, there were two tanks. So far, all to plan. One (biggish) tank to feed the hot-water cylinder, one smaller tank to top-up the heating system. I thought it must be an open feed CH system, given that the leak in the dining room (in mid-October) seemed not to affect the water levels. Obviously, also much easier to refill than a sealed/pressured system.

Anyway, having established that the tanks are there, and relatively easy to lock off, I decided to leave draining the system and re-fitting the radiator valve to blame for the October leak. Come next summer, I'd like to overhaul the system:

• New (double) radiators where there are only old ones, preferably moving them (at the same time) further from the walls;
• Possibly a pair of towel radiators in the two bathrooms;
• Thermostatic valves on all the radiators;
• A new room thermostat (the existing one, to maintain the house at about 15ºC (which, given our homeothermal credentials, is all we heat the house to) needs to be set to 22ºC. This seems a little silly.
• Running a pipe cleaner through the system for a bit, and then replacing the water with corrosion-inhibited water.

Given the last item, I don't really want to drain and refill the system just now. Anyway, that lot will be quite a pricey operation (I'd reckon £2-3000), so it'll wait 'til spring/summer.

I was, while in the loft, delighted to discover that there was minimal insulation.

Sounds bizarre?

Well, only a little. The house is big and old. There's nothing I can do, really, about the walls (which are stone and rubble filled, so no chance of cavity insulation), short of attaching plasterboard mounted insulation on the inside, which is ugly, and will make the rooms smaller. That'd be a 'no', then. The windows are a mix of single, double, and single+secondary glazing: the double are mostly satisfactory, but the single's awful (both halls are freezing; the top hall's not helped by a complete lack of radiator), and the secondary's not great. It also doesn't ventilate very well. So new double-glazing is on the cards.

But the discovery that the loft insulation is sub-spec is great, because that's much cheaper to install, and should make a noticeable difference: the upstairs is reliably cooler than downstairs, and this---and the windows, which are worse upstairs---is probably why. Hence, a trip to B&Q (or somesuch) to buy around a hundred square metres of something suitable will be in order...(£300?). Oh, and the pipes and tanks will benefit from new lagging.

Then, the more exciting stuff: we put the Christmas tree up, and a load of holly, and bits-and-pieces; there are even gingerbread tree decorations. Also tried out a recipe for poached pears (our guests next weekend may benefit from the success of this experiment!), with ginger, star anise, vanilla, and cloves. Very good. And we even got round to hanging some pictures, which has been waiting a while. The lower hall is still full of boxes, but hopefully we can get them a bit more sorted over the next week or so.

Crumpets and Gooseberries

Sadly, the two are not properly in conjunction: crumpets with gooseberry jam would be a delight.

Instead, I have just planted the three 'Invicta' gooseberries, and come inside for a couple of crumpets (which, of course, were toasty-hot, and well-buttered). It's a surprisingly lovely day outside: crisp and clear, and not too cold if you're moving about. Sadly, I've had to come back inside to work, rather than spending more time pottering.

I might, if I get round to it, append this with a crumpet recipe, just because.

Local Plants

Found this article on the BBC Gardeners' World blog, which (in turn) links to a Natural History Museum site where you can find out the plants local not to your country, not to your region, nor even your town, but to your postcode.

Shucks.

In addition to a large number of plants not considered 'garden worthy', there are a few interesting finds:

• Common poppy, which I've seen about, but not many. Would be nice to try, alongside some not-so-common poppies;
• Crane's Bill (cut-leaved, meadow, and dove's-foot), which a neighbour has in profusion, and is rather pretty;
• Autumn Gentian;
• Foxglove, which--again--the same neighbour grows plentifully, and which does rather well;
• Harebell;
• Honeysuckle, hop, and ivy (just as well, as the first and third are quite popular with us!);
  
• Daffodil;
• Yellow iris;
• Wild pansy;
• Wild strawberry, so hopefully the cultivars will do well;
• Crab apple (ditto re. cultivars);
• Elder and holly (absolutely no surprise there, as the moorland around us is studded with both);
• Yellow loosestrife (so, again, hopefully the cultivated Lysimachias will thrive);
• Common comfrey (useful for green manure/plant food purposes!);
• Bilberry, gooseberry, bramble, raspberry, which all bodes well for the fruit bushes;
• Alder, ash, beech, field maple, hornbeam, oak, rowan, silver birch, white willow and wild cherry are all 'native', which pretty much covers what's already present, tree-wise.

Fascinating stuff: stick your postcode in and see the results!

Raised Nano-Beds

The plants that arrived earlier in the week have now been planted: we did them in half-buried pots (eponymously), so that they have better drainage, but can still extend their roots. we'll try to actually raise the beds next season, so they can be 'permanently' planted.

The Cambridge Favourite strawberries weren't looking all too happy, so we also potted them. Hopefully that will help...

We're now off to Cambridge (city, rather than some strawberry destination!) for the weekend, so there will be no more playing in the garden until next weekend at the earliest. The last gooseberry still has to arrive, and will then be planted, but we're almost done, I think, with major efforts for the autumn/early winter. I could, of course, collect the last leaves that still litter corners of the garden.

Oh: don't forget Tree O'Clock tomorrow!

All Bar One

At last, almost all of the outstanding fruit plants have arrived. The three blueberries (V. corymbosum 'Spartan', 'Gold Traube', and 'Patriot'), the 'Red Lake' redcurrants, 'Versaille' white-currants, and 'Wellington XXX' blackcurrant, and two-thirds of the gooseberries ('Hinnonmaki Red' and 'H. Yellow', but not the 'Invicta') are all now with us. We'll be trying to plant them on Friday afternoon, before we head down to Cambridge for the weekend.

We may plant them in (biggish) pots that are half-buried, to improve drainage chances, and so they cope better if/when we raise the beds...we'll see. The beds aren't looking too bad, now it's stopped chucking it down, but I think raising them would be wise, when possible.

Now I just have to wait for the last few gooseberries to arrive...

Tree O'Clock

While I remember: this is National Tree Week, and on Saturday (5th December), the BBC is organizing Tree O'Clock, between 1100 and 1200. The idea is to set a world record for tree planting, and free trees (2-year-old whips, it seems) are being given away all over the place. We've got a little wild cherry to plant. Go on, join in...

735 bulbs

Today's bulb planting was not such fun. Yesterday was remarkably pleasant: wrapped up warm, and the snowy valley was quite attractive. Today was just wet. And grey.

We started by sorting out the strawberries a bit: although they went in ok last week, we're slightly worried about drainage in the plot: it looked extremely wet yesterday, so we popped out to get some grit/sand. We've dumped some on the strawberry and raspberry beds, and tried to put some drainage channels in to help. It's been pretty wet for the last week or two, and especially over the last few days (the spring opposite the house is running at full flood), so it may not be fair circumstances to assess this, but I worry that some major hydraulic engineering may be required to keep the vegetable/fruit garden drained. However, we can't really implement anything (raised beds, drainage pipes, and soakaways) until next spring (financially speaking, if not temporally). If it doesn't look, later this week, like the beds are sufficiently drained, we'll have to lift the rasp/strawberries, pot them, and keep them in pots 'til spring. Not ideal, but better than them rotting off.

Anyway, once that was sorted, we then planted the rest of our spring and summer bulbs. In all, over the weekend, it's been 735 bulbs:

•    5 mini daffodils
  
•   10 Brodiaea (pots)
  
•   25 Camassia esculanta (pots)
  
•   30 double daffodils (extending the 300-odd on the SE edge)
  
•   30 'Cheerfulness' daffodils (yellow, with double trumpets: in the front around the Acer/hellebores)
  
•   30 'Pinocchio' tulips (in the front, around the evergreen bed, and in pots)
  
•   35 Oxalis 'Iron Cross' (pots, all over the place)
  
•   40 Anemone de Caen (under the trees in the S. corner)
  
•   40 Allium sphaerocephalon (pots)
  
•   50 small flowering Allium (pots)
  
•   50 botanical tulips (pots)
  
•   50 Scilla siberica (under the trees, again)
  
• 100 Anemone blanda (under the trees)
  
• 100 Puschkinia libanotica (under the trees)
  
• 140 mixed crocus (pots).
  

We also put five Helleborus niger around Christmas's grave (in the copse), and increased the three round the Acer in the front bed to five. Which, coupled with the 300-odd daffs we'd already put in, makes for about a thousand bulbs. And that's nowhere near 'done'. Oops. We also sorted out the garage, so the car can go away: hard frost predicted for Monday night, and it's no fun defrosting the car in the morning before driving off.

Snow!

Waking up this morning, with intentions of a massive bulb-planting operation, we were somewhat surprised to find snow falling. This, in addition to being rather unexpected, would make digging little holes, and delicately dropping bulbs in, tricky.

Nonetheless, the bulbs needed planting, so we put on six layers and two pairs of gloves (seriously) each, and went out.

It actually wasn't too bad. The snow didn't last past lunchtime, and we managed to get the woodland bulbs in.

There's still quite a few more bulbs that need planting, so there will need to be further wrapping up and planting tomorrow: it's our last chance for at least a fortnight, by which time it'll probably be getting much too cold.

T2BEYCEGTUDZ

Summer Fruits

Although the weather's been horrible (70mph gusts of wind, heavy rain, flooding in the next valley), we went out earlier to put the raspberries and strawberries in. Madness, I know, but they needed to be planted. We moved three barrows of manure onto each raspberry bed, and four onto the strawberry patch. In the latter, from the far side to near, there are now 25 each of Florence (late season), Cambridge (mid) and Honeoye (early) strawberries (two rows of each) are now in the strawberry bed. 10 Tulameen (July/August) are in the north bed, and 10 Malling Jewel (mid June onwards) in the south, then 10 Glen Cova (July) split between the two beds (6 north, 4 south) at the east end. All sorted, and looking good. Given the weather, I didn't cut them back down (the light was failing), but I'll nip out Tuesday, check them over, and cut the canes down to 8" or so. Of course, they're all summer fruiting, and thus we won't have fruit until summer 2011, which will keep us in suspense. In the spring (well, probably in January) I'll put the posts and wires that the raspberries need.

Oh; the sloe gin is starting to look a suitable colour: still has a way to go, but it's getting nice and magenta.

Sloely Does It

Having waited so long for the sloes, and then to find time to do it, we've just mixed up a batch of sloe gin. It takes longer than you'd think, pricking all the sloes. Usual recipe: 255 g of pricked sloes, 130 g of sugar, into a jar with 750 ml gin. I've shaken them a couple of times, and will continue to do so over the next few days, and then they'll go into the pantry to be shaken when I remember...

Due to waiting for the first frost to collect them, I'm not sure the gin will be ready by Christmas; it'd normally be left for three months or so, which makes it mid-February. Never mind...as I've said, I think picking them in October, frost or no frost, will be the plan for next year.

Inundation

Absolutely torrential rain in the early hours, and on until nine-ish. There's a severe weather warning, it appears, for the area: apparently we might get a month's worth of rain in 36 hours. It's quite a contrast, coming from the Fens, the driest part of the country, up to the Pennines. It does, admittedly, make watering the garden rather easier: calls upon the hosepipe are fewer.

However, I am a little concerned about drainage. One of the raspberry beds was looking a little soggy a couple of days ago, and it wouldn't really surprise me. We'll have to keep an eye on it: might need to dig in extra manure, or some grit/sand to improve things.

The other disadvantage of the rain is that it's kept me from getting at the remaining sloes on the hillside. I might have to brave the wet tomorrow (assuming it is), and get them in. I realised we were a couple of ounces short for a batch of sloe gin, so I need to collect at least a handful. On a similar note, the blackberry brandy is looking rather good: I'm looking forward to that. Might have to try some blackberry, and raspberry, vinegars next autumn. This thought is prompted by memory of a cafe lunch a couple of weeks ago---while visiting Thorpe Perrow---comprising a rather good ham sandwich (sounds simple enough, no?), but with a really tasty, fruity vinegar. In my normal fashion, having seen/found something I like, I now want to try making it.

Hence, I'd better get those raspberry canes planted.

My Cat Likes to Hide In Boxes

Very exciting (well, for me) evening, with two boxes awaiting on our return home. One was stuffed full of bulbs:

• 30 'Cheerfulness' (a bicolour double narcissus)
• 100 Puschkinia libanotica (bluebell/hyacinth like)
• 100 Anemone blanda (mixed colours)
• 25 Camassia esculenta
• 50 botanical tulips
• 50 small Alliums

And the other had some of our fruit bushes/plants:

• Two of the blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum 'Top Hat' and 'Fruiting Dixi')
• 30 raspberry canes: ten each of 'Glen Cova', 'Malling Jewel', and 'Tulameen')
• 75 strawberries: 25 each of (early) 'Honeoye', 'Cambridge', and (late) 'Florence'.

We'll try to get them in the ground on Sunday. For the moment, they're sitting (bare-rooted, but wrapped up) in the utility room, which is cold and a bit damp. The bulbs, too, will hopefully go in the ground over the weekend. I'm delighted, because with the raspberries especially, the fruit beds will start to look as intended.

And the title of the post? Well, one of the cats has a particular penchant for empty boxes, so once I'd unpacked the plants, there was an all-too-tempting box on the floor, so in went the cat, with a little call and a bounce. So everyone was pleased with the delivery.

This morning, before starting work, and as the sun was just clearing the hills, I picked up another few bags of leaves. Despite the strong wind, it wasn't too bad: they're nice and wet, so they're sticking together well. I've cleared around the pots opposite the kitchen window, and around the potted strawberries (where the gladioli were until Sunday), and cleared the front garden (bit of a wind trap, so they accumulate). Looking much better...but there's still another half-dozen bags to collect, by my reckoning. Yes, I should have done them by now.

Bulb Arrivals!

Forgot to mention: when lifting the gladioli, we also planted four pots with hyacinths (mixed colours, in two large and two small pots). They're outside the kitchen window at the moment, where they can enliven the view in the spring. Some more of our bulbs arrived (40 Anemone de Caen, 35 Oxalis 'Iron Cross', 10 Brodiaea, five daffs, and 40 Allium sphaerocephalon): some are heading for the quiet corner in the east corner, some will go into the copse in the southern corner, once the rest have arrived. I don't want to try to plant the under-tree drifts before all the bulbs have arrived, or I'll be putting one on top another. So the early arrivals are in a cool, dark Green Room, awaiting their moment.

Lifting the Gladioli

Having been talking about it for some time, we've now lifted the gladioli. They're actually looking quite good; there's only about five I'd be concerned about. A lot of them still have last year's corm under them (it amuses me to think of un-lifted, naturalized gladioli lifting themselves over many years, on top of succeeding corms), so there's some tidying to be done. Several are splitting nicely, so there'll be even more next year. They're all in the garage at the moment (might need to move them to the workshop for a little extra warmth), and when they've dried I'll tidy them up and put them away for the winter. I'm wondering whether, next year, to cross-pollinate a few, and try to get some seeds.

After last Monday's frost, we went up on the hillside and collected a pound of sloes. I was expecting, based on how many there were in September, to be confronted with a bumper crop, but there were actually surprisingly few (and many split and unhappy ones): probably only about 3-4 lb. I think it's a bit late, really, though I was assiduously waiting for a frost; next year, I might pick them in October, irrespective of frosts. The purists, I know, will object, but better sloes that have been picked early and frozen then no sloes. Sloe gin mixing will begin tonight or tomorrow.

Completing the Fruit Beds

We finally finished cutting the fruit beds today, despite the wind (which wasn't actually too bad) and rain (which was, but only for the last hour). They're looking really promising, and I'm pleased with them: when there's a decent chance, I'll get a photo, to compare with the 'before' picture (which I've not posted; there's only a description of the plan). They got considerably wider as they moved 'up' the garden (really, along), and the soil also changed notably. At the copse end (southern corner), it's much stonier, and there's a shallower depth of good soil atop the clay. We'll need to manure it heavily, I think, but that's work for another weekend.

Before spring, I'll need to get the posts to support the bushes, and the wires, but that, fortunately, doesn't need to be in advance of putting them in, as they'll get cut right down to ground level when planted.

All Those Leaves...

Well, there's the answer to my musings about the fate of leaves on the roadside.

Frost

A fairly hard frost last night: it was cold in the evening, and almost entirely clear-skied, so no surprise. Defrosting the car was a nuisance: we need to clear the garage so it can put under cover.

On the bright side, it means that I can now wander up the hillside, and pick the glut of sloes that I've been casting covetous glances at for the last month or more.

End in Sight

A slightly misty morning, but quite clear, so we got 'straight' out to continue cutting the fruit beds. (A cat wanted his breakfast at 0720, which nudged us towards then getting up around 8.) We got on well, with rain stopping play neatly for lunch, and there's probably only another morning's work to cut the last stretch of both end beds.

As we progressed, the ground became noticeably more stony, which is interesting. As I was cutting the turves, rather than digging the ground over, I wasn't so aware, but Liz felt there were clearly patches of stones: perhaps remnants of a stone wall or stable. Either way, the stones to a decent depth (the clay underfooting) have been removed, along with roots, which are probably coming from either the conifer at the edge of the copse, or from the (overgrown) shrubs in the lowest terracing bed. Also of note was the change in soil: it's become noticeably more sandy as we've worked east. As before, we'll barrow plenty of manure onto the beds when we can: for now it's just dug over. The loam stack has taken over one of the future vegetable beds---I think the remainder will be sufficient to get started---and is looking reasonably neat: it's a bit more squared off, instead of resembling a ship burial.

We fleeced up the tender plants, and the gladioli: tonight's looking to be cold. Few more cuttings taken, too: an osteospermum's looking a bit leggy, so that, and a few of a variegated ivy. The gladioli will hopefully start ripening, and can be lifted soon.

Daffodils

Despite the vagaries of the weather predictions, it proved in the end to be mostly clear this morning, with rainy patches this afternoon, and not too cold. (This in contrast to the 'mostly clear' forecast on Thursday, and 'mostly wet' forecast last night.)

We made the most of the clear morning, and planted 200-300 mixed narcissi in a patch on the east border of the garden, at the top of the copse, before the bank. They're around the flowering currant we moved in a few weeks ago, and between trees that pre-date our arrival. Several hundred daffodils do not go far: they're around 10cm apart, which means that they only cover about 4 square meters. I hope they'll put on a good show in the spring, and naturalize well: they'll need some attention in a couple of years, to split up clusters and spread them out further. If there are any gaps, we'll deal with them next season (plant some bulbs next autumn in a nursery bed, let them flower, and then lift them to replant in the gaps); it looked like there were some reasonably small narcissi in the mix, so they might take a year or so to settle in. We'll probably get another few hundred next summer, and extend the planted area upwards, but they'll do for now: it's a nicely visible spot from the kitchen window, and should suit them. The rest of the summer bulbs (alliums, tulips, etc) that we've got ready will go into a new bed (more bed cutting awaits!) in the top corner of the garden, where there will, one day, be a seating area. Next weekend?

Having used the clear morning and early afternoon in the garden, we popped out to the shops this afternoon: new radiator valves (the big radiator in the dining room sprung a leak, and has been completely off for the last ten days), a new bike pump, and a food shop. Much excitement... I'll get round to the radiator repairs once I've worked out where the filling valve for the central heating is: my current best guess is behind the panel in the airing cupboard, with the hot water tank, but I don't really have much idea.

Cold Weather Closing In

It's been another cold and grey day, although fortunately one with electricity. I had hoped for a reasonable weekend (an optimism supported by the outlook), but the forecast changed a few hours ago to being wet tomorrow, although still reasonable on Sunday. Digging new fruit beds isn't really much fun in the rain, so we'll have to see if that happens. However, it might be dry enough to countenance putting out some bulbs (which is another necessary job)---and the temperature on Saturday night is expected to be negative, so I should also make sure that anything tender is tucked up before nightfall.

There're a few fuchsias that are tender, though we try to keep mostly hardy varieties. Other than that, we're going to need to wander round and check everything. I'll probably pop a list up on here, in fact, for reference.

I'm also working on a map/plan of the garden to post. I'm working from an aerial photo (from Google Maps), but I'm overlaying it with the changes we've made since the last fly-by, and the changes we have planned (in more or less detail). The aerial photo's actually quite recent, and I can date it quite precisely, as it was taken between me cutting the first half of the lawn, and finishing the second half, for the first time after we moved in. It's therefore in a window in late August, which is quite neat.

Lastly, I've played with the blog header, and managed to make it randomly load a different image. I've only set four pictures up, but I intend to increase the number. They're all crops of my photos, and currently all plants.

Grey and Powerless

We've got a 'scheduled' powercut today (some forestry work near powerlines), which is severely hampering my ability to work (limited laptop batteries). I was thinking, instead, of going and digging some more of the fruit beds, but it's also raining, and I know I'd get soaked (and freezing), and the ground would be too heavy to be effective. So I'm stuck, inside, in the gloom and the cold...

I'll retire to the sofa and find a cat to sit on my feet and keep me warm, I think, and find something to read.

Leaf Mould

I'm not sure whether it says something, but all the way home from work yesterday, I couldn't stop contemplating the leaves piled on the pavements. They'd make such nice leaf mould, if collected up: they were good and wet, and from really varied trees. Shame to think they'll probably just go to waste.

We've started collecting up the leaves from the garden, and bagging them up. It's a job by no means complete (there are loads of leaves, and on windy days I think more get blown up from the woodland in the valley), but it's a start. More effort, no doubt, at the weekend, and in a couple of years we'll have some pleasing compost.

Which leads me to another thought; we've now got two recycled pallets, so I only need one or two more and I can put them together to make a composting bay. Now, finding them (preferably free!) might be trickier, but I'll keep looking... It seems inherently right to reuse something to make the composting bay!

In other news, the cats brought a mole in at some point yesterday (we noticed it working its way round the kitchen at dinner), which leads me to wonder where they found it. Assuming---until evidenced to the contrary---that neither of them has learned to tunnel, I'm puzzled, as there haven't been any molehills in the lawn. Never mind; I'm sure we'll find out soon enough if we have a resident mole population. For now, that particular mole had a narrow escape (he was released, though pointed away from the lawn...).

Gladioli

Checked over the gladioli tonight: only four had discernible flower stems, two of which were spent (and thus were removed), and I brought the other two in. Having checked, it appears that it's not necessary for the leaves to die back before lifting them (although it might be preferable, I suppose): the usual criterion is to wait 6-8 weeks after flowering. As most of them appear to be blind this year, that doesn't help overmuch. While---if in the ground---they'd tolerate a frost, as they're in pots the frost might freeze the soil too much, which wouldn't be good. I think I might lift them this coming weekend, and get them stored for the winter. It isn't expected to get too cold this week (though it's very wet), so they should be fine waiting.

Strained off the rosehip juice that was prepared yesterday, too, which is looking tasty. It's been frozen for the time being: it'll probably be made into apple & rosehip jelly nearer Christmas.

Pie, Wine and Jams

The weather, as expected, broke last night: we've now got horizontal rain and much lower temperatures. No bed digging! Instead, we (well, actually, Liz) turned the contents of yesterday's Pumpkin Cat into pie. Much more successful than last year, attributed to microwaving the pumpkin first, and adding the spices last. Apparently. Whatever the cause, it's extremely tasty.

While she did that, I topped up the blackberry & elderberry wine that's fermenting: it was a little energetic when first mixed, and the airlock's been a bit gungy. I added water to top off the demi-john, and cleaned up the airlock. It's smelling good, and starting to clear. It's much more red than the blackberry that's next to it (which is very dark), which is to be expected. Still bubbling gently. I also sorted out some previous batches of jam (variants of blackberry, elderberry, and apple) which needed re-bottling (issues with sealing). Having done that, we realized that we still had some rosehips that needed a destiny, so they were topped, tailed, chopped and cooked, and are now dripping juice into a jug.

I must also confess a moment (well, several moments) of weakness, which led to ordering more goodies. Some narcissi 'Cheerfulness' (pale yellow, double cup: Liz was rather taken by them), quite a few Puschkinia libanotica (reminiscent of a hyacinth: white with blue streaks, which I think will go rather nicely with the S. siberica), mixed Anemone blanda, some Camassia esculenta (blue sprays of flowers on longish stems), some botanical tulips, and some assorted alliums (variety of colours, all small). Lastly, a dozen Christmas Roses (H. niger) for marking the first cat grave.