Of Steps and Stones

We continued digging out the herb garden/knot garden a week ago, in order to get the elephant garlic and normal Pink Germidour garlic into the ground, but couldn't get any further in the time, because it's such hard work digging out all the stones. We went back to it this weekend, and spent both Saturday and Sunday mornings on the task. I'd already lifted sufficient turf, so we just had to dig over the ground to make space for three more 'diamonds' of the design, in order to plant out the Radar over-wintering onion sets (36 per diamond). There were a few massive stones, and a lot of middling and small ones: red bricks, and dressed stone as well as random field stones.

Finally, we had the ground ready, and in went the onions. Yesterday afternoon was then a plumbing/electrics session for me: replacing the instantaneous water heater, which blew up while Ann and Alan were with us, with a new 10l storage heater. Although this requires a bit more notice (about 20 minutes to heat through), it has the big advantage of only drawing 2kW, instead of 9.5kW: 2kW can, realistically, be provided by the solar panels a lot of the time, which means hot water for free. (Obviously, 4kW of solar panels would only rarely make a contribution to 9.5kW, and never meet it.) It's also rather well insulated, and the water stays hot for a few hours, so it can be run off the solar panels mid-afternoon, and used that evening.

While I did that, Liz made two chutneys: the Windfall chutney we made two years ago, and a date and apple chutney that's new to us. Both seem tasty, but of course most chutneys improve (sometimes considerably) with 12-24 months maturation.

This afternoon, we finally got round to building some terracing steps from the back patio (outside the workshop door) down to the middle lawn. The grass slope there, aside from being impossible to keep mown, becomes impossibly slippery when muddy and wet: given that it's my route from wood shelter to boiler, this was a problem. I cut level bases for two sleeper sized risers, and filled the tread with a stone/brick retaining wall (so the sleeper isn't taking the weight) and topped with soil. We've then spread weed-proof membrane over the top, and put down chipped bark. It looks an awful lot smarter, and should be much nicer for walking over. At the same time, Liz sorted out the main path through the kitchen garden, where the uncovered membrane had rucked, and spread a few barrows of chippings on that, which has been planned for years.

Lastly, this evening, we've cooked down 4kg of elderberries to 4l of liquid, as the first part of making spiced berry cordial. We've only used elderberries this year, as it's a whatever-is-to-hand recipe. In the morning, I'll add the pectolase, and then we can strain, spice and sugar it. The recipe's for 500g of sugar per kilo of fruit (so, 2kg), and two cinnamon sticks, 27 cloves, and 9 teaspoons in total of ginger, allspice, and nutmeg (proportions as I see fit!). It's simmered for five minutes, and bottled.

Kitchen Garden Planting Planning

We've spent a lot of the last few days finalizing the vegetables we'll grow this year, and how they fit into the beds. It's a complex operation, but one we'll only have to do—hopefully—a few times, before being able to recycle previous plans.

We think we're there, and just need to translate the physical plan into an action plan (that is, what needs doing each month (sowing, planting, harvesting, feeding...), and order the necessary seeds. As part of this, we've also been out to the garden centre, and picked up a few bits in their sale, including a second cake platter, and a candle set.

Out in the garden, I've turned the compost heaps, and also lifted a couple of square metres of turf to go to Liz's grandmother in Ludlow (I managed to find a non-mossy patch!). I also had a tree surgeon out to look at some of the poplars on the edge of the garden. They're getting a bit awkward, and risk losing major branches in high winds. They're also not especially attractive, and might be shading the solar panels (slightly)—and I could use the firewood. We plan to have five of them taken down in the New Year, to give some space to the smaller trees amongst them.

Lastly, the foster-children have left: it's been in the pipeline for the last couple of months, and they've moved back to live with their grandmother. Jenny and Philip are now taking a couple of weeks off, before the matching process for their long-term placement children begins.

Microgenerator

Slightly ahead of schedule, our solar PV panels and kit have been commissioned. They finished yesterday, and the system's managing to generate today, despite bad weather, which is pleasing.

PV Panels being installed (© Philip 2011)

It's a full 4kWp system of Sanyo HIT panels, coupled to an SMA Sunny Boy inverter. The FIT application (for microgeneration payments) is being processed, but as of today we should now be electricity-negative (we ought to generate about twice as much electricity as the house consumes). Of course, because we use power overnight, and when it's gloomy, we can't match supply to demand, meaning we'll still pay for electricity — but the power we generate will find a use elsewhere.

Clearing, Cake, and Compost

After seeing half a dozen surveyers, and speaking to dozens of companies, we've settled on a solar panel installation. It'll be a 4kWp installation, taking up about half of the roof, and should be installed at the end of the month. Now we just hope there's no snow.

The decision process has taken up a lot of the last few days, along with surveys and so on, but it's been worth it (I hope). Nonetheless, we've also managed to do a first pass of leaf clearing, bagging them up into bin liners for now (after being unable to make more chicken-wire cages). I've turned the compost heaps, and added a large quantity to the first pile, as we've now taken down the top-growth of the peas and beans.

We've transplanted the dozen winter cabbages ('Frostie') to their final location, and done a bit of weeding. Unfortunately, we've not had a chance to repair the fruit cage nets, which should probably be a priority for the next few weeks.

All of the elephant garlic, garlic 'Germidour', and over-winter onions ('Summer Gold') have now come up, and seem to be doing well. The strawberries appear to have attracted a deer, and have been a bit trimmed: hopefully they'll recover. The sprouts are ready to start, which is fun; however, the frosts did (as expected) kill off the courgettes.

We also managed, yesterday, to make our Christmas Cake (bit earlier than last year), as well as a pumpkin pie (conversely, a bit late!).